Hey,
Just wondering what y'all think I should buy whilst in the states that I can't buy at home. The only thing in my list is a Steam Controller.
Thoughts?
What to buy whilst in the USA?
Ltonyamazing on 21/12/2015 - 20:22
Comments
A house
A house
… That still has the copper pipes.
Heaps of Starbucks coffees
Large sodas with unlimited refills
I found Starbucks underwhelming.
But god the size of the soda cups was crazy.My gf wouldn't let me buy a 64 oz (1.8L) soda at a petrol station, had to settle for 32 oz (for 99c+tax). We were renting a Yaris and the silly Japanese car couldn't fit my giant American soda haha.
Omg I miss starbucks mocha frappuccinos, panera cinnamon bagels and 5 guys burgers. Eat lots for me.
I loved the outlet shopping, sneakers, watches and bags. Even with a lousy dollar it was still a bargain.
Buy American dollars. Wait a few months and swap them back into AUD.
A few months? I hope you're right I have some USD investments I might cash in if that happens.
The Martin armstrong blog may be of use, he's very accurate.
Order a bunch of designer brands from macys on clearance from the webstore, if u want cheap fashion.
Crack! I mean McDonalds! Why do I always get those two confused?
Starbucks double espresso shots. They're in a can, can get them anywhere including Safeway (like coles/wollies) etc. Best canned coffee ever!
I saw those EVERYWHERE but didn't try them :(
Cheap cosmetics!!!! Oh and 89c XXL Soda refills at Circle K, they help fuel many a road trip!
Check out Macy's if they have sales. If you bring your passport you can get 10% off in addition to what ever the sale price is.
I wouldn't bother with electronics you won't save any money buying over there. One thing you could do is buy something you want or need here (i.e a camera) and claim the GST back through TRS.trs works on jewellery too, got 1k back on engagement ring
By the way, you can get Steam Controllers in Australia via Amazon AFAIK
Oh I didn't know. Thanks.
A gun obviously
Headphones, a lot of electronics that does world warranty, laptop, etc. Though you'd be better off comparing products that you want before you buy them from America (some of them are cheaper here, some of them are cheaper there). That said, there are ones that I cannot get my hands onto in Australia that sells really cheap in America.
Big shoes. Not many big/wide shoes available in Aust. but easy to find in USA.
Bigger the Better. Size Does matter.
For clothes, shoes, homewares go to the factory outlets — they will be half the price or less of what you pay in store and the stores are half the price or less of what we would pay in Australia, but with a larger range. The department store factory outlets are for Macys/Nordstrom/NM/etc, but if you have a particular brand in mind for clothes it's very worthwhile, eg. CalvinKlein/Bebe/Skechers/Nike/MichaelKors/DKNY/RalphLauren/Hillfiger/lululemon/Levis/Nautica/etc at factory outlets can be ~60-80% cheaper than here — just look for what's in the state you're visiting. Even Guess/HugoBoss/Burberry are heaps cheaper at factory outlets even though they aren't US brands.
Electronics/Small appliances are a little cheaper than here but not dramatically, unless it's a US brand which is massively cheaper and you have to look closely at warranty.
No one has mentioned freedom?
Yeah, what ever happened to Freedom Fries ?
If there are girls in the family you're shopping for, buy some Mac lipsticks. $16-17 in the US, and $36 at Myer/David Jones. They don't take much room in a suitcase.
I went crazy buying heaps of stuff I didn't need last year.
Next year, I am going to spend money on memories rather than tangible items that I never find a use for back home.Shooting guns
Driving supercars
Helicopter rides etcWe bought household stuff like big nice serving plates which we love, very unique and won't clash with others when you bring it to parties here . Very cheap. Also go to yard sales for eye opener: someone selling 3 riffles!
I went into a 'Sports Authority' (US Version of Rebel Sports) in Colorado once looking for Snowboard gloves and couldn't help but notice the Baby Blue and Pink AR-15 automatic carbines (like a smaller version of an M-16) that locals would buy for their 10 - 16 year old kids. I knew they are gun crazy and I am ex-Army so firearms arent intimidating to me but the thought that they would make specific versions to market to kids really hit me! Certainly an eye opener to an Aussie!!
Converse shoes are cheap in the US only if our dollar was better. 50USD for the same type of shoe they sell here for $100AUD.
Clothes we think of as 'designer brand' here are pretty much ho hum there. if you go to any outlet mall over there you will almost certainly see a Hilfiger, RL Polo and Timberland outlet at the very least. You should be able to get things like T-Shirts and Polos in there for much less than Oz. Depending on which state you go to though remember they will sting you for additional state tax at the checkout! If you have a teenage boy that is obsessed with some US sport and needs to have the latest NBA hat etc or face social isolation at birthday parties etc, you can often find these at malls. Beware though, my experience shoping in the US is that the general full price shops arent much better than here unless they are having a big sale (Macys style) outlets though are pretty good.
I normally found good shoes are cheaper in the US and the range of sizes for shoes/clothes are also good. Here in Oz we are used to buying pants based on waist size and we accept we will need to have them shortened. Over there the pants normally come in a range of waist and leg lengths so you can get your right size straight out of the shop.
Ironically i have normally bought some of my best US bargains by shopping on the internet and having the stuff delivered to my hotel room. I avoid the normal killer of US deals, the international shipping. I once bought a laptop off Amazon this way and another time bought a Spyder Ski Jacket for about 90% off the cost of the exact same jacket here in Oz. have a look on a US OzBargain type site like www.slickdeals.net to see what is around.
What you can probably get great deals on is out of season stuff. Thick coats in summer and beachwear in winter. Their seasons are the opposite of ours so the stuff they are clearing on closeout is normally the stuff we are wearing at the time. If you can find out of season runout stock at the outlets you can get a great deal.
dr pepper, whataburger, chipotle, taco bell, western sizzling is the best buffet
super 8 hotels r the best for budget
drive thru atms rule
qantas points make all aa flight $5.60qantas points make all aa flight $5.60
What do you mean by this ?
Based on how quickly the Aussie Peso is falling against the USD, my unhelpful answer would be "only very cheap stuff".
A 3.8L bottle of Tabasco Sauce
Also make sure you hit up chipotle, Taco Bell, Torchy's Tacos (if you're in Texas), actually just food truck in general, mexican places there are really cheap and fill you up better than here.
big giant cheesburgers, massive pastrami sandwiches, large deep pan new york pizza. Man v Food style stuff.