Shopping in America: What, Where, and How

Advantages of shopping in US stores from Russia and Ukraine

Hundreds of thousands of Russians buy goods in the USA every year. Tens of thousands of them work through us. Delivery of goods is not free, you have to pay from 760 rubles. So why do the most advanced shoppers choose this path? The fact is that online shopping in the USA has a number of advantages:

• Great prices. Many products are imported to Russia from America. Buying directly turns out to be much cheaper. And if you order to the state of Pennsylvania or Delaware (for example, with Pochtoy.com), you also do not pay any taxes.
• Huge selection. Amazon sells more than 670 million items. This is the largest online hypermarket in the world. Walmart and eBay each have 50+ million. Plus, almost every major brand has its own online store in the USA.
• High-quality goods. Even the same product for the Russian and American markets often comes with a different level of quality. A striking example is Samsung smartphones. For the USA, they install a different, more powerful and energy-efficient processor (Qualcomm instead of Exynos).
• No counterfeits. Unlike China, counterfeits are not sold here. This is closely monitored, and anyone who breaks the law will not get away with it easily. You can buy the most famous brands without fear that they are fake.
• Seasonal sales. With big (and real!) discounts. Black Friday was invented in America! There is also Cyber Monday and other days when goods are sold with discounts of 30% or more. Moreover, in the USA there is no such thing as in Russia and China, when sellers deliberately raise prices before sales in order to actually not reduce anything.

We checked and compared prices in American and Russian stores, here are the results in tables:

• price difference for Adidas clothing and footwear — 45%;
• price difference for Apple equipment — 33.6%;
• price difference for Donna Karan New York branded items — 149%;
• price difference for gadgets and PC components — 46.7%.

In some cases, the price difference allows you to save 25-30 thousand rubles when shopping in the USA. On a single purchase.

Of course, not every product needs to be ordered from the States. There are inexpensive or very heavy items (for example, large household appliances) that are more profitable to buy in Russian stores. But if you need good clothes and shoes, gadgets, children's toys, expensive items, something specific — it is better to first check if such goods are sold abroad. The savings can be very substantial.

 Main US stores for ordering and delivery to Russia

 The main online stores where our customers buy goods for themselves, we have collected here.

It is especially worth noting:

• Amazon.com — the world's largest online store, the main place for shopping in America;
• Walmart.com — recently Amazon's main competitor even in the online space;
• 6PM.com — the biggest discounts on clothing and shoes, great brands at prices 40-60% below usual;
• Sephora.com — top cosmetics;
• Carters.com — items for children;
• Newegg.com and BHPhotoVideo.com — the main electronics stores in the States, prices are often much lower than Russian ones, especially in the sections with discounts.

In other respects, when shopping in the US, we recommend visiting the brand websites directly. They almost always have interesting discounts and promotions, and also sell the newest models that cannot be found in Russia. Even for Chinese brands, like Lenovo, the store in the US turns out to be much more profitable. Especially if you take it on Black Friday, before Christmas or during other sales.

The only exception is Apple. Equipment from this company is actually more convenient to take on Amazon. For this, the store has a special section, it is the official representative of the company, all this is new electronics. But with a simpler and more convenient purchase (especially from Russia), favorable delivery within the US and regular discounts. Prices in the official Apple section on Amazon are either the same or lower than on Apple.com. And goods are almost always delivered free to Pochtoy.com warehouses.

 Main US Sales

Almost every month in America features sale days. Stores almost have to participate in them; it’s practically a tradition. Both large online hypermarkets like Amazon and Walmart, as well as small shops, run discounts. All these discounts are real, it really does become more profitable to buy, but sometimes the discount percentages are inflated.

For example, they might say that an item is “80% off”, although in reality the price reduction is only 20-30%. But this is still far from being as bad as in some Chinese stores, where “discounts” run all year round and, on sale days, prices are raised instead—in the hope that some customers won’t notice. In this respect, shopping in the US is safer: they care about customers here, and you won’t get caught off guard when making purchases. 

For sale days and promotions we have the “US Discount Calendar”. Also, to conveniently keep track of the biggest discounts, we recommend subscribing to our social networks (VK, FB, Instagram, Telegram). Well, if you know exactly what you’re looking for, DealNews.com is a useful site too—news about current sales is posted there regularly.

There are more and less profitable days for shopping in the US. That’s why following the news can sometimes bring very good extra savings. Missing Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime Day, or Veterans Day for even a few days is very unpleasant.

US Sales and Discounts on a Regular Basis.

 Shopping in the USA on your own is simple

• First, register on Pochtoy.com. Get a US address for free.
• Enter this address in the Shipping fields at stores. They will treat you as a US resident, so all discounts and promotions will apply to you.
• Stores ship items to our warehouse, we accept them, and they appear in your personal account.
• You choose how to forward the parcel to Russia. Some methods are more cost-effective or faster; the best option also depends on the weight of your item.

We answer common questions in detail with screenshots here.

And if something doesn’t work out, we have “Shopping Masters”. You simply give us a link to the item and its description — and our operators will buy and arrange it for you. This is especially useful for sites that don’t want to accept Russian bank cards.

Shipping from US stores to Russia

Shipping from US stores with Pochtoy.com will cost you from $12 (around 900 rubles). This is much cheaper than with other delivery services. As a result, savings when shopping in the US turn out to be very substantial, even taking into account sending the package across the ocean. For gadgets and good items, the savings amount to more than 10 thousand rubles on each purchase. And if you combine different packages when sending them as one, the total cost of delivery decreases additionally. Such a service (“Consolidation”) at Pochtoy.com is also provided free of charge.

We have been successfully offering our experience for over 10 years.

We invite you to take advantage of our experience when shopping in the USA!

Purchase and delivery of orders from US stores to Russia

from the intermediary package forwarder Pochtoy.com.

Top US stores:

- Amazon.com the largest online retailer with delivery to Russia.

- eBay.com the largest online retailer with delivery to Russia.

- 6pm.com the largest online retailer with delivery to Russia.

In these stores you can always find top items at the most dostpnym prices. Check out the sales section.