Shopping in the USA Your recommendations

[awesomebrownfamily]

I’m looking for some guidance on good buys to be had while in the USA, must have items that you can only get while there, or that are cheaper than you can get here….

 

[rossip]

For us it was : Quiksilver , Billabong , Roxy , Oakley and Rip Curl Surfwear all well under half what you'd pay here .

Levi's Jeans , a quarter of the price here

and

We bought laptops or netbooks I think they are called , $299.00 USD they are currently $540.00AUD on special in Dick Smith - all we needed to do is buy a power cord when we got home for $12.00

 

[darren123]

Phat Farm Demin Shorts for $15 and a pair of New Balance 636 for $ 29.95 and they are $120 here got them at Marshalls near the Disney Discount Shop.

And there is a are a few discount shops around that area and I got a T shirts for the Son in Law for $1.99

 

[awesomebrownfamily]

I was considering getting a new notebook or a net book before we head over, but it sounds like there’s serious saving to be made by waiting till we get there…..

One of the things I’ll definitely be on the look out for a couple of Resistol (cowboy) hats….

 

[darren123]

When I bought our new camera I paid $540 here in the US it was $199 I should have waited have a look at bestbuy.com or circuitcity.com for electronics. I bought a holder that sticks to the windscreen for my TomTom GPS here it was $120 at autobarn got it from circuit city for $35.

EG for you Circuitcity has a Acer Aspire One AO751-1279 Netbook - Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 2GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, 11.6" WXGA, Vista Home Basic, 3-Cell, Blue for $299.99 here $799+ but only has 1G DDR2 and 160 GB HDD in the Australian model.

 

[rossip]

EG for you Circuitcity has a Acer Aspire One AO751-1279 Netbook - Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 2GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, 11.6" WXGA, Vista Home Basic, 3-Cell, Blue for $299.99 here $799+ but only has 1G DDR2 and 160 GB HDD in the Australian model.

What we got !

 

[aussiegirls]

Just a quick Q for those that got bargain electronics. Were you worried at all that you now have no warranty in Australia? That was the one thing that stopped my buying much electronics, the fact that there would be no warranty or anything if you happened to end up with a dud.

 

[Feej]

We bought lots (and I mean lots) of clothes. Also, for me anyway, collectables like action figures etc are a lot cheaper. Same with DVD's, although didn't buy many last trip in Jan.

We usually leave with 2 suitcases and come back with 4 or so.

 

[awesomebrownfamily]

How's this for commitment to bargain shopping...we will actually be making a b-line for the Westfield in Culver City direct from the airport on the way to our hotel in Santa Monica.

I've been looking at the cost of hiring a GPS with our hire car and it looks like it would run us between $140 and $160 for our whole trip. So I thought I’d just buy the maps and use our own GPS, but that’s even more expensive, $189.

So while looking for bargains in best buy etc I noticed I can buy a brand new GPS with the Maps for under $150 (US)…less than the cost of hire or buying just the maps!

I figure I can either hang on to it and use it again on our next trip (if we go again), or list it up on ebay once we get back and just buy new one with updated maps if we go to the US again…..

 

[shushh]

That is commitment!

I personally love buying clothes in the US. The range is infinitely better with nicer designs and at much better prices. Like Feej, we have allocated 1 to 2 suitcases usually just for shopping!

 

[rossip]

Just a quick Q for those that got bargain electronics. Were you worried at all that you now have no warranty in Australia? That was the one thing that stopped my buying much electronics, the fact that there would be no warranty or anything if you happened to end up with a dud.

The netbooks came with a 1 year "travellers Warranty" valid around the world

 

[DizOz]

I was considering getting a new notebook or a net book before we head over, but it sounds like there’s serious saving to be made by waiting till we get there…..

One of the things I’ll definitely be on the look out for a couple of Resistol (cowboy) hats….

Just be careful that you look at the voltage of any electrical equipment as we operate a 240V service here in Asutralia and I think the US operate 120. I purchased a router in the US a few years back and when I plugged in the transformer here in Australia it got fried. You may need to purchase a separate transformer when you get back to Australia.

 

[awesomebrownfamily]

Just be careful that you look at the voltage of any electrical equipment as we operate a 240V service here in Asutralia and I think the US operate 120. I purchased a router in the US a few years back and when I plugged in the transformer here in Australia it got fried. You may need to purchase a separate transformer when you get back to Australia.

That's a really good point....I went O/S earlier in the year with work and had to check out all the gear I was taking to make sure it would all function as expected.

If the magic white smoke leaks out of your electronic equipment it's cactus....

 

[Feej]

Like Feej, we have allocated 1 to 2 suitcases usually just for shopping!

Did you also do the "pack the smaller suitcase inside the larger suitcase" thing?

 

[kylieh]

Did you also do the "pack the smaller suitcase inside the larger suitcase" thing?

We're doing this our next trip. Last one we took 2 bags, came home with 5!! So this time we're taking some our newly acquired bags and put them inside the others. I will have to be a bit more careful about weight though.

 

[shushh]

Did you also do the "pack the smaller suitcase inside the larger suitcase" thing?

Yes we did! We have one that fits exactly into another. Purchased especially with shopping in mind for when in the states, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore...

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

I may be outing myself as a serious shopaholic here.....anyway, I literally take 2 changes of clothes each and shop as soon as we get there. I only have 1 packed suitcase and have brought back between 8 and 10 plus cabin bags every time.
I buy clothes, linen, DVD's and DS games for DD's, kitchen stuff......pretty much everything is cheaper over there!
Have fun !!!!

 

[1rocky]

Wondering with bringing luggage back.
how does one go with the weight of luggage coming back home on the plane.
the shopping looks great.
and looks as though we will be buying big. Thanks

 

[Kalice]

Hi, we were permitted two cases per person with Qantas (plus carry-on), so were permitted 10, only came back with 6. Although, if I had more time to shop I would of easily gone to our limit. I thought EVERYTHING was cheaper, but alas, just no time to shop. One of our best buys last trip was our Flip video camera, just love it, it is so small I carry it everywhere.

 

[becpee]

I'm with everybody else when I say everything is cheaper
We get seriously ripped off over here