How to Start Shopping in the USA — Simple 7 Steps to Overseas Shopping!
Online shopping in the USA is not only convenient, but also very profitable. Clothes, electronics, and shoes in the USA can practically all be bought at prices 2-3 times lower than in Russia and the CIS countries.
For many who are just starting to figure out shopping abroad, everything seems complicated and even a bit scary. In fact, ordering from US stores with delivery to Russia or other countries is no more difficult than regular online shopping.
This article is for those who have never bought from American online stores but have long wanted to try. Shopping in the USA is easy, fun, and really profitable!
Step 1. How does it all work?
To make purchases in the USA and receive them in your country, you first need to choose a mail forwarding company.
Mail Forwarding (or “your address abroad”, intermediary) is a service where you make purchases yourself and use the warehouse addresses of the intermediary company abroad.
Pochtoy.com is a mail forwarder that provides each client with a free personal address in the USA for receiving, storing, and further shipping your purchases.
Everything is simple: just complete quick registration on our website, fill out your profile and get your personal address in the USA!
We also offer the “Purchase with Operator” service — our professional staff can purchase items for you if you do not have an international card.
It’s time to place your first orders in US stores!
Step 2. What do you need to place orders in US stores?
First of all, to shop in the USA on your own, you need a personal payment card to pay for purchases. American stores accept Visa and Mastercard. It is important, however, that your card was issued by a non-sanctioned bank. If you have an active international PayPal account, you can use it for payment. Note: Russian PayPal accounts do not work at the moment, so you must use a PayPal account registered in another country.
For purchasing goods in American online stores, we recommend opening a dollar card at a foreign bank — in this case you pay directly in dollars and lose nothing on conversion. Of course, you can also shop with a card in your country’s currency and top up your balance in your personal account with tenge or Belarusian rubles (relevant for Kazakhstan and Belarus). The main thing is that the card must allow online purchases (you can check with your bank).
To buy with an operator, a Russian bank card will suffice — you can use it to top up your personal account balance. You can also top up your balance with cryptocurrency.
Step 3. How and where to shop?
There are a huge number of stores in the USA where you can find literally anything. On our website you will find a list of popular options to get started, but you are not limited — you can order from any store of your choice.
The ordering process in American online stores usually looks like this:
- registration (email and password)
- enter the delivery address (the warehouse address you specified)
- add payment information (your card details)
- select items and pay
- wait for the order to be shipped to the warehouse
Usually the store ships the package to our warehouse within a few days. Detailed step-by-step instructions for placing orders in specific stores can be found here. Overall, the process is practically the same in all American online stores.
Step 4. The order has been placed in the store, what next?
Essentially, the hardest and scariest part is already behind you. Now you just need to wait for the store (seller) to ship the order and provide a tracking number to track the package within the USA.
Where can I track packages (shipments within the USA)?
99% of all purchases made in US stores are shipped by the three largest delivery services in America:
- USPS — the United States Postal Service;
- UPS — the United Parcel Service;
- Fedex — another commercial delivery service (Federal Express).
If the store shipped your order with a different service, you can always track the order in the store’s account.
Once the store (seller) has provided the tracking number, enter it in the expected packages section on our site. Once the package is received by the warehouse, it will appear in your personal account (you will receive an SMS notification or an email).
Step 5. The package is at the warehouse — now what?
There are two options here.
- Immediately after receiving the first order at the warehouse, create a package for shipment;
- Wait for your other purchases and combine them all into one package (consolidate).
Consolidation is the combining of several packages (orders) into one common package.
The second option can be considered more profitable, because the heavier your package, the better the shipping rates. Keep in mind that for all delivery services without exception, the first kilogram is always the most expensive, and each subsequent kilogram is significantly cheaper.
We recommend the first method (immediate shipment) if you do not plan to make any more purchases in the near future and do not need to combine multiple orders into one package.
We offer free storage of all your purchases in the warehouse for 70 days.
Step 6. The package needs to be shipped — but how?
First of all, choose a delivery service. You can calculate the shipping cost in advance and select a service in our shipping calculator. You can read details about each delivery service, weight limits, etc. in the FAQ section.
Once you have chosen a delivery service, you can proceed to create the package and send it for assembly.
When the packages have arrived at the warehouse (all the ones you want to ship now) and appear in the Purchases at Warehouse tab, select the packages and add them to the package being formed (click “Add to package”).
Step 7. The final and most pleasant step
After the package has been shipped from the warehouse, an international tracking number will appear next to it, allowing you to track the package’s movement. Once the package is available for pickup, you will receive a notification (by email to your mailbox or SMS about the package being handed over to the courier, for example). To collect the package, you must have identification documents (passport) with you.
We recommend checking the contents of the package and the condition of the items together with postal operators or delivery service employees. After checking the package, take it home and enjoy your new purchases!
As you can see from this article, shopping in the USA with delivery to Russia (and other countries) is really simple and easy. If any points remain unclear to you, you can always ask your questions in tickets in your personal account or via the online chat with an operator.
