How do I get British things sent to the US?

March 11, 2011 3:50 PM

Does a service exist that will allow me to purchase things overseas that aren't available in the US and have them shipped to the US? Some kind of forwarding service?

I occasionally want to purchase things that aren't for sale in the US. Usually these things are for sale in the UK (mostly clothing), and I could buy them online no problem, except that they want either a UK billing address, shipping address, or both.

Is there a service that can handle this sort of thing for me? That offers an intermediate shipping address in the UK or some method of making online purchases with a UK-based credit card?

Even more international would be nice, I'd like to be able to make purchases from anywhere, but the UK is the country I'm most interested in.

I'd obviously expect to pay some sort of fee for this kind of service. Does anyone have any recommendations?

posted by tylerkaraszewski to shopping (5 answers total)

I'm pretty sure that US-based consumers can shop at Amazon.co.uk

Do they sell what you're looking for?
posted by dfriedman at 4:18 PM on March 11, 2011

I had fantastic success (and got to know another awesome Mefite) by posting a similar request to MeFi Jobs.
posted by jamaro at 4:45 PM on March 11, 2011

For the shipping address, you want a remailing service. The billing address, I'm not sure about, but some remailers may offer that as an additional service.
posted by neushoorn at 1:58 AM on March 12, 2011

I can confirm that Amazon.co.uk is an option if they sell what you want, I've had success even purchasing from some of their associates (the "used or new" buying option if Amazon itself doesn't stock something). It takes a few weeks for regular shipping to get things over here, but it works.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 3:32 AM on March 12, 2011

Is there anyone over there who you lready do business with? Last time I wanted something unusual from the U.K. (it was the non-Americanized Harry Potter #7 paperback for kids, thankyouverymuch), I emailed a vendor who was already putting together a small order for me.

Since I was going to get some nice shave soap from Paul at Connaught Shaving, he was willing to pick up a copy of the book and mildly overcharge me for it. :7) So I got what I wanted without paying much extra shipping, and he got a happy customer plus an extra couple of pounds.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:27 AM on March 14, 2011