R J Kerr

Q: Visiting USA from UK. Should I buy my Macbook?

I live in the UK but am visiting New York next week. I am in the market for a new MacBook Pro (Retina) and they seem to be cheaper in USA than they are here. Are there any negatives in buying the Macbook while I'm away?

Many & various

Posted on Mar 18, 2015 3:44 AM

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Q: Visiting USA from UK. Should I buy my Macbook?

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  • by ChitlinsCC,

    ChitlinsCC ChitlinsCC Mar 18, 2015 3:09 PM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 5 (7,905 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 18, 2015 3:09 PM in response to R J Kerr

    R J Kerr wrote:

     

    ... Are there any negatives in buying the Macbook while I'm away?

    yes. warranty is honored only in the country of purchase - laws are sovereign

     

    When comparing prices, one must also factor in VAT / import duties, etc. - likely difference = meager - PLUS, no warranty service!

     

    ÇÇÇ

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Mar 18, 2015 3:51 PM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 7 (32,127 points)
    iPad
    Mar 18, 2015 3:51 PM in response to R J Kerr

    The hardware warranty on Macs is worldwide; however, some warranty terms differ from country to country; i.e. in Europe, there are additional consumer laws which Apple has to honor. You might want to check in store, but as far as I know, Apple does honor their warranty on computers anywhere (unlike iDevices which are only warrantied in the country of purchase). Here are the US and UK warranties:

     

    http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/embedded-mac-warranty-us.html

     

    http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/uk-ireland-universal-warranty.html

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Mar 18, 2015 7:44 PM in response to babowa
    Level 9 (54,676 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 18, 2015 7:44 PM in response to babowa

    The only iDevices which do not have an international warranty are those with cellular radios. You are correct that all other devices, including the Macs, have warranties that are honored despite where they are purchased.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Mar 18, 2015 8:06 PM in response to deggie
    Level 7 (32,127 points)
    iPad
    Mar 18, 2015 8:06 PM in response to deggie

    Thanks - that makes sense.

  • by seventy one,

    seventy one seventy one Mar 19, 2015 7:49 AM in response to babowa
    Level 6 (15,185 points)
    Peripherals
    Mar 19, 2015 7:49 AM in response to babowa

    As you say, the Apple warranty is international.   The local variations are specifically limited by the key words 'Purchased in Ireland or Purchased in the UK'.

     

    As I read this, the poster would enjoy 12 months warranty but no more than that.   He / She would not be able to take advantage of the European consumer law benefits.

     

    And as Chitlins suggests, it would be subject to VAT on arrival here (if declared) but the difference does not appear to be meagre, it could be 20% of the purchase price though I believe HM Customs allows a reduction for any US local taxes paid.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Mar 19, 2015 8:07 AM in response to seventy one
    Level 7 (32,127 points)
    iPad
    Mar 19, 2015 8:07 AM in response to seventy one

    Thanks; I figured the consumer rights law would/may not apply to goods purchased in the US; however: my main point was that there is indeed a warranty (the standard one year mfr's warranty) with worldwide coverage. It can get confusing for the OP when they are given incorrect information. I didn't mention the VAT since that had already been covered.

  • by R J Kerr,Solvedanswer

    R J Kerr R J Kerr Mar 19, 2015 9:36 AM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (40 points)
    Mac App Store
    Mar 19, 2015 9:36 AM in response to babowa

    Thanks to everyone. I have already spoken to HMRC (revenue & customs) in the UK and established that there will be no import duty (having established the tariff classification code for laptops). I will be  charged VAT at 20% but this is a purchase for my business and my company is VAT registered so I will be able to claim back the VAT.

     

    HOWEVER

     

    When I first started to look at this I was unable to get to the US AppleStore price because it kept taking me to the UK site whenever I wanted a price. But I got to the actual US price today and the new 15" MBP I want in UK is £1665 (ex VAT), but in the US they are $2499. So with the exchange rate sitting at 1.47 it turns out that the MacBook is currently a little cheaper for me to buy in the UK.

  • by ChitlinsCC,

    ChitlinsCC ChitlinsCC Mar 19, 2015 9:43 AM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 5 (7,905 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 19, 2015 9:43 AM in response to R J Kerr

    Excellent! Enjoy your new Mac.

     

    btw, seventy one is your fellow UK resident - and a doggone nice hombre. Very eclectic in his scope of expertise. I have read a little about the great Warranty by LAW provisions you folks have - very cool.

     

    RE: the "Location"

    the FlagBadge at the bottom-right of the page is clickable to change locations - very handy to get pages in other languages (if available) - but especially for the Stores*

     

    *be sure you switch BACK to UK before you buy

     

    ÇÇÇ

  • by Tom Gewecke,

    Tom Gewecke Tom Gewecke Mar 19, 2015 10:28 AM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 9 (79,385 points)
    Mar 19, 2015 10:28 AM in response to R J Kerr

    R J Kerr wrote:

     

    Are there any negatives in buying the Macbook while I'm away?

     

    I don't know if it's a negative, but normally a machine bought in the US will have an "English" keyboard, while one bought in the UK will have an "English Great Britain" keyboard.  You can check out the difference at

     

    How to identify keyboard localizations - Apple Support

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Mar 20, 2015 12:28 PM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 6 (8,506 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Mar 20, 2015 12:28 PM in response to R J Kerr

    &&& In the USA there will be a local tax on all sales.  It not in the price because it varies from location.  If I remember, it's 7% in NYC.

     

    Robert

  • by deggie,

    deggie deggie Mar 20, 2015 12:56 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 9 (54,676 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 20, 2015 12:56 PM in response to rccharles

    8.875

  • by ChitlinsCC,

    ChitlinsCC ChitlinsCC Mar 20, 2015 1:18 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 5 (7,905 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 20, 2015 1:18 PM in response to rccharles

    Robert

     

    Our Cowtown friend is right... at least there are no stated plans for Nashville - from taxfoundation.org

     

    The five states with the highest average combined state-local sales tax rates are Tennessee (9.45 percent), Arkansas (9.19 percent), Louisiana (8.89 percent), Washington (8.88 percent), and Oklahoma (8.72 percent). Virginia, Arkansas, Ohio, and Maine have recently raised sales tax rates.

     

    We here in DFW, TX enjoy 8.125%

     

    From https://www.gov.uk/vat-rates

     

    VAT rates for goods and services

    Rate% of VAT What the rate applies to
    Standard20%Most goods and services
    Reduced rate5%Some goods and services, eg children’s car seats and home energy
    Zero rate0%Zero-rated goods and services, eg most food and children’s clothes

    The standard rate of VAT increased to 20% on 4 January 2011 (from 17.5%).

    Some things are exempt from VAT, eg postage stamps, financial and property transactions.

    The VAT rate businesses charge depends on their goods and services.

     

    HealthCare is FREE though!

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Mar 21, 2015 1:04 AM in response to R J Kerr
    Level 10 (139,572 points)
    iLife
    Mar 21, 2015 1:04 AM in response to R J Kerr

    Another factor to bear in mind: EU consumer support is rather stronger than US regulations. A friend did exactly what you did and ran into a problem for an out-of-warranty repair. It was explained to him had be bought the Mac in the EU then he had a comeback that wasn't available as it was bought in the US.