How can I cheapen my already cheap MacBook upgrade?

December 4, 2006 3:10 PM

Tax Free Shopping in NYC. I'm visiting New York for ten days starting Boxing Day (woo!), and I'm wondering if it's a good time to sell my black MacBook here (in the UK) and pick up a 15" MacBook Pro in the Big Apple.

Whatwith the dollar being so weak against the pound right now, and my MacBook still having a fairly strong resale value over here (I've upped the RAM to 2gb, and there's a 100gb 7200rpm hard disk in there now), I figured it might be wise to use the opportunity to upgrade.

I can get around £900 for my MacBook. A new 15" 2.33GHz MacBook retails at $2,499 (~£1,265), but that's still a good £365 difference. Then I wondered if I'm able to claim back sales tax as I'm a foreign visitor (as non-EU citizens can in British Apple Stores). I know it's only 8.375% - but that's still £105! If I'm eligable (and presuming I forget to declare it on the way back into Heathrow...) do I get it rebated at the airport, at the store, or by mail from back home?

Additionally, any of you have any ideas about how to get this even cheaper?

Oh, and I know there's an NYC meetup this week, but how about a lil one sometime between Boxing Day and my flight back on the 6th?

posted by armoured-ant to Work & Money (19 answers total)

The price you have seen advertised is the price BEFORE 8.whatever% tax. Sales tax is not generally included in advertised prices in the US.
posted by nowonmai at 3:30 PM on December 4, 2006

I'm pretty sure you'd be well-advised not to try to get the sales tax back, seeing as how, if I understand correctly, you'd be liable for the VAT on your return (I'm certainly not telling you what to do, but it seems like it might be foolish to try to claim back the American taxes when you're not paying the British ones). However, I would imagine that sales tax in other places in the tri-state area (New Jersey and Connecticut) might be cheaper than New York. Some Googling suggests that both states are at 6%.

I might be up for a meetup if you manage it, but we Americans don't always know what you mean when you say "Boxing Day," FYI.
posted by lackutrol at 3:31 PM on December 4, 2006

Response by poster: Boxing Day is the 26th of December. It wouldn't be impossible for me not to not have anything to not declare.
posted by armoured-ant at 3:43 PM on December 4, 2006

Some Googling suggests that both states are at 6%.

NJ is actually 7% as of July 15th. It was the first change in years.

Given that, you can easily take the train 40 minutes up to Stamford in CT. There's an Apple Store in the mall, within walking distance of the train station, IIRC. Worth it for 2.75%? Up to you.

Or if you really trust someone, you could have them buy it from Amazon, which avoids sales tax entirely.
posted by smackfu at 4:46 PM on December 4, 2006

It's been a while since I've bought anything in NYC, but don't you get stuck for both the City sales tax, and the State sales tax there? Or is that only on lodging and food?

I think NYC Tax is 8.375% total; CT's is 6% ... so that's 2.375% difference. On a $1500 computer, that's $35.62. Sort of a tossup whether that's worth the ride on MetroRail.

On the plus side, you could always ride to New Haven, they have really good pizza there. :)
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:36 PM on December 4, 2006

Don't push your luck. If you're going to try and get a shiny new laptop past customs at Heathrow, then either find someone who can order it from Amazon, drive up to New Hampshire, or pay the bloody sales tax.
posted by holgate at 8:47 PM on December 4, 2006

I think Delaware is closer.
posted by smackfu at 9:43 PM on December 4, 2006

As said before, NJ's sales tax is 7% now. The trip to Connecticut isn't worth it in my opinion, Delaware has no sales tax but is about 125 miles/2 and a half hours away from NYC and you'll lose most of your savings on gas/tolls. Plus, if I was coming from the UK, Delaware would not be on my list of things to see.

Amazon could work, but you'd have to check if your friend would receive it in time for your visit.

If I were you, I'd just suck it up and pay the tax.

BTW, Kadin2048, I'd be surprised if New Haven's pizza is any better than NYC's.
posted by crashlanding at 10:35 PM on December 4, 2006

Oops, my mistake, I thought it was a $105 difference, not 105 pound. Delaware might work. The trip would cost about 50 bucks for gas/tolls I think.
posted by crashlanding at 10:37 PM on December 4, 2006

If you're going to be there more than a couple of days, you could always order it from Amazon yourself. Or you could order it before going to NYC to be delivered to your hotel.

I'm not sure we should be encouraging our international visitors to spend any more time on the NJ Turnpike than is absolutely necessary.
posted by paschke at 10:54 PM on December 4, 2006

To hi-jack this thread somewhat, is it generally a problem getting things past customs? I was thinking of buying a Mac Mini and asking my friend to bring it back for me (in her luggage). Thoughts?
posted by tomw at 11:11 PM on December 4, 2006

There's nothing wrong with the NJ Turnpike, paschke. Easy to use, quick, manageable. However, if we were talking the Garden State Parkway I'd be in complete agreement with you.
posted by crashlanding at 12:18 AM on December 5, 2006

Response by poster: If I was gonna get it back through customs, I'd leave the empty box back in the US, or maybe mail it back to myself. It'd look just as if I'd brought the laptop with me. In fact, I've every intention of CarbonCopyCloning my current laptop onto a firewire disk and restoring it when I got the new laptop.

Amazon seems like a good idea - I'm there for 10 days, and would be able to get it delivered.
posted by armoured-ant at 12:19 AM on December 5, 2006

I was thinking of buying a Mac Mini and asking my friend to bring it back for me (in her luggage). Thoughts?

Take it out of the packaging. Voila, now it's a personal item rather than a gift.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:26 AM on December 5, 2006

could you get me one
posted by baker dave at 2:57 AM on December 5, 2006

Not that I'm suggesting ways to subvert customs, but if you're going through with this you may want to get some U.K. keycaps for your shiny new U.S. laptop. If your customs person decides to get a bit nosy, an obvious giveaway on laptops is the fact the keyboard will have different keys depending on its intended market. The lack of a "163;" above the "3" is simple to check for.

Also, the Enter key may be significantly different between international models. I haven't seen a UK laptop for a long time though, and even longer for a UK Apple laptop, so I can't be 100% on that situation today.
posted by lowlife at 5:35 AM on December 5, 2006

grr mefi unescaping HTML £ entities!
posted by lowlife at 5:36 AM on December 5, 2006

If you are a student or have a student ID, the Apple store in my mall in Cincinnati, Ohio, you get 10% off your purchase, which would be a hefty chunk of change, especially if you're going to CT where the sales tax is 6%, which would end up saving you about $97.96 USD, after the 6% sales tax.

Also, whenever I purchase something abroad and don't want to claim it upon return, I take it out of the box and just act very casual about it. If it is completely necessary to have the box, just mail it to yourself a few days before you leave the US.
posted by banannafish at 7:16 AM on December 5, 2006

I think that when you show your student ID, they check against their database and give you the appropriate discount for your institution, no? That is certainly my recollection from the NYC Apple Store several years ago. In which case it might not work for non-US syudents, but it's worth a shot.
posted by nowonmai at 7:44 AM on December 5, 2006