Just want some advice here (From an online buying newbie)

K

Kezwick_Osaka

Student Council President
Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but anyway...

So, there's a figure I've been after for ages. However, since it's a pretty rare-ish one, that's under a pretty big demand, it's been hard to find a website that actually has one still left in-stock.

However, I've found one site that looks good; reasonable price, claims to still have some left in stock. I've checked around and from what I found out it's a legit site.

It takes both Visa and PayPal, however, it's a USA-based site. I've bought items from USA-based sites many times before which arrived in good condition, however, I've only used PayPal for these orders. Or should I say, got relatives who already had PayPal to order them for me (I've only recently got a PayPal account).

But since I own a debit card with the Visa logo, I'm pondering whether I should order it as soon as possible straight off my card or wait for a few days while my money is sent to PayPal. I'm mostly concerned about it selling out before the money actually goes in, however, I'm worried that ordering off a US site instead of a UK site may be complicated.

So, those who have ordered from US sites by card, could you help out an online buying newbie please? Which option should I go for; straight from card or by PayPal? What important things should I be aware of? Please don't ridicule me...

Thanks my dearies. :)
 
I've ordered from us amazon (not through the uk one). I just used my card details. You would be fine using your card, paypal just uses your card. Note that there may be a small charge for paying in a different currency that your bank will charge you, not the seller. You shouldn't have any problems

Umm check with others here though too, maybe someone here have had problems before
 
Re: Just want some advice here (From an online buying newbie

Kezwick_Osaka said:
Which option should I go for; straight from card or by PayPal? What important things should I be aware of? Please don't ridicule me...
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Paypal charge an extra 2.5% above the exchange rate when you shop in a foreign currency. I've never shopped on a US site using anything else (as I only have a Switch) but I believe Visa/Mastercard transactions charge 2.75%, or something similar.
I don't think the extra time it'd take Paypal to complete the transaction would have much bearing on your ability to buy the figure before stock depletes. That is, provided there aren't any issues with your Paypal account. If you order to an address that isn't your confirmed Paypal one, read the site FAQ to see if this would be a problem.
 
I'm horrible at maths (I mean truly dreadful, I got 0 out of 75 in one of my exams, I'm ashamed to admit), so if it's not too much trouble could you give help me work out an estimated cost for that?

The figure is about £52, since the website is shipping to a foreign country they can't give me the shipping price until after I order it. So excluding the shipping, how much extra would I have to pay, on both paypal and visa?
 
The only things I have found to be a bit of a pain using cards directly to buy from the US is, one some places ask for some sort of ID verification on the first order usually a fax or scan of you card with a block of numbers blacked out. Aand two that cost of shipping thing where they won't estimate shipping until you place the order and the shipping is as much or more than the item.
 
Kezwick_Osaka said:
The figure is about £52, since the website is shipping to a foreign country they can't give me the shipping price until after I order it. So excluding the shipping, how much extra would I have to pay, on both paypal and visa?
Click to expand...
Excluding the shipping cost, the item would only amount to £53.30 using Paypal, or £53.43 using a Visa (assuming the figure I gave of 2.75% was accurate, that is).

Alas, you have to take customs into account, unless the retailer is kind enough to help you avoid such charges (which most aren't). 15% VAT and a Royal Mail holding charge of £8 will increase the cost, ignoring shipping, to a little over £69. Note that this is an estimate, as the rate of exchange customs use to calculate VAT charges is only updated once a month, and can differ slightly with the rate Paypal use when charging you for the item itself. You can find out the current customs exchange rates here.

Note that you'll have to pay the currency conversion fee and VAT on top of the shipping costs as well. If the retailer uses USPS First Class (which is generally the cheapest option), you'll be able to estimate the base shipping price here, to which the applicable fees should be added. Note also that you'll have to guess the weight of the product in order to do this. We are in USPS group 5, if it helps.

If the shipping rate was $12, as an example, you'd have to pay roughly £8.50 for shipping once applicable charges are taken into account.
 
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