Reducing transaction fees for US goods.

Forums › Off topic › Reducing transaction fees for US goods.

gary1001

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Topic # 222789 28-Aug-2017 17:43

I pretty much buy most stuff from the US. Clothes, tech, audio gear, biking gear and even building supplies. Basically, its generally saves about 25%-50% compared to buying in NZ (the trick is to use a consolidating shipping company to save on shipping costs)

The downside, I get hammered on bank transaction fee for an NZ or AU credit card. Paypal isn't a heck of a lot better and some places don't accept it.

Has anyone found a smart solution? A US bank account with card would the best but on the surface, it seems unlikely without actually being in the US.

shk292

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Reply # 1854234 28-Aug-2017 18:22

You'd still need to get the funds to USA, which would incur a charge

DaveB

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Reply # 1854351 28-Aug-2017 20:31

Do you save much on NZ sales/GST tax? And do you have to pay US sales tax?

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Reply # 1854355 28-Aug-2017 20:56

gary1001:

I pretty much buy most stuff from the US. Clothes, tech, audio gear, biking gear and even building supplies. Basically, its generally saves about 25%-50% compared to buying in NZ (the trick is to use a consolidating shipping company to save on shipping costs)

The downside, I get hammered on bank transaction fee for an NZ or AU credit card. Paypal isn't a heck of a lot better and some places don't accept it.

Has anyone found a smart solution? A US bank account with card would the best but on the surface, it seems unlikely without actually being in the US.

You could try a Loaded card in USD or Cash Passport in USD however watch the exchange rate, especially with the Cash Passport.

Downside is you have to prepay the funds and you miss out on any rewards you could be earning on your credit card.

gary1001

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Reply # 1855025 29-Aug-2017 23:41

shk292:

You'd still need to get the funds to USA, which would incur a charge

Bank transfers are relatively cheap. Services like Moneywise or XE normally have reasonable rates with low or no fees.

DaveB:

Do you save much on NZ sales/GST tax? And do you have to pay US sales tax?

I pay the correct amount of tax in each country.

I'll check out cash passport and other pre-pay cards. I didn't think about that as an option. Thanks.

Batman

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Reply # 1855027 29-Aug-2017 23:47

Just saw a camera for US3300, and costs NZ6000. Hmm ... any cheap flights to the US ...

gary1001

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Reply # 1855029 29-Aug-2017 23:55

Yeah, I can imagine a point in the very near future where customers buy directly from manufacturers anywhere in the world. Just need banking to catch up. Go digital currency.

timmmay

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Reply # 1855065 30-Aug-2017 07:35

Try the Payoneer Card link in the footer of this page. It gives you a US credit card which you can load in various ways. Based on Big Daddy's recommendation (BDFL) I got one and it works well.

Payoneer charges a 1% load fee. I tend to load it from Paypal, which doesn't have fees to send money, but there may be fees to get money in there. You can probably load Payoneer directly.

Using your NZ credit card makes chargebacks easier. I had my Payoneer card number used once, they were fine about chargebacks and such.

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sbiddle

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Reply # 1855067 30-Aug-2017 07:48

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There are no conversion free credit cards in NZ that I'm aware of. Most other countries (Aussie being the closest example) have numerous such cards available.

I don't think 2.5% is excessive in the grand scheme of things but you'll have to work out whether using other payment methods to save 1% of so really offers benefits when it's so convenient to simply use a credit card.

Somebosdy else above suggested prepaid cards - these are really only of benefit if you're putting money on them and the $ then drops. The rate you'll pay on many of these (The Air NZ one as an exmple) are worse than a regular credit card.

Linuxluver

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Reply # 1855072 30-Aug-2017 08:16

Batman:

Just saw a camera for US3300, and costs NZ6000. Hmm ... any cheap flights to the US ...

There are lots of cheap flights to the US. Trumpty-Dumpty and the more aggressive security at the border / airports has suppressed demand somewhat....Many people don't want to go near the place while the Orange One is in the White House.....including many Americans who live in NZ.

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MikeAqua

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Reply # 1855120 30-Aug-2017 09:23

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Linuxluver:

There are lots of cheap flights to the US. Trumpty-Dumpty and the more aggressive security at the border / airports has suppressed demand somewhat....Many people don't want to go near the place while the Orange One is in the White House.....including many Americans who live in NZ.

We went through SFO twice earlier this year and there were no issues. The TSA guy smiled and cracked a joke and said welcome.

I've encountered ruder border staff returning home to NZ than I did in the US.

Heading to Hawaii in October so I will be interested to see if it has deteriorated.

Mike

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Reply # 1855589 31-Aug-2017 07:33

MikeAqua:

Linuxluver:

There are lots of cheap flights to the US. Trumpty-Dumpty and the more aggressive security at the border / airports has suppressed demand somewhat....Many people don't want to go near the place while the Orange One is in the White House.....including many Americans who live in NZ.

We went through SFO twice earlier this year and there were no issues. The TSA guy smiled and cracked a joke and said welcome.

I've encountered ruder border staff returning home to NZ than I did in the US.

Heading to Hawaii in October so I will be interested to see if it has deteriorated.

It's more just the experience.

If you haven't visited the US before and/or are on a new passport or ESTA typical CBP queues at LAX are around 75 mins. On a bad day it'll take you 90 mins to clear.

If you've visted before (don't get the dreaded X from the kiosk) you'll still find it's a pretty constant 45 mins to clear CBP. If you strike a good day you might clear CBP in 30 mins.

SFO used to be a lot better but based on plenty of anecdotal reports I've seen it's been getting pretty bad as well in recent months also.

frankv

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Reply # 1855601 31-Aug-2017 07:40

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sbiddle:

MikeAqua:

Linuxluver:

There are lots of cheap flights to the US. Trumpty-Dumpty and the more aggressive security at the border / airports has suppressed demand somewhat....Many people don't want to go near the place while the Orange One is in the White House.....including many Americans who live in NZ.

We went through SFO twice earlier this year and there were no issues. The TSA guy smiled and cracked a joke and said welcome.

I've encountered ruder border staff returning home to NZ than I did in the US.

Heading to Hawaii in October so I will be interested to see if it has deteriorated.

It's more just the experience.

If you haven't visited the US before and/or are on a new passport or ESTA typical CBP queues at LAX are around 75 mins. On a bad day it'll take you 90 mins to clear.

If you've visted before (don't get the dreaded X from the kiosk) you'll still find it's a pretty constant 45 mins to clear CBP. If you strike a good day you might clear CBP in 30 mins.

SFO used to be a lot better but based on plenty of anecdotal reports I've seen it's been getting pretty bad as well in recent months also.

Went through SFO in April... no problems, no long wait. Quicker than AKL on return.

The whole Trump thing is over-rated from what I saw. We see more of him on our TV than they do on theirs. Largely no-one there cares very much about him, one way or the other.

Geektastic

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Reply # 1856767 1-Sep-2017 15:39

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gary1001:
Yeah, I can imagine a point in the very near future where customers buy directly from manufacturers anywhere in the world. Just need banking to catch up. Go digital currency.

Yes. Bye bye Mr Middleman!