hello ladies!
i've been receiving a few PMs on how i managed to buy my bags from the U.S. (
http://forum.purseblog.com/chanel/i-am-done-done-done-after-so-long-200402.html) and how the procedure is like, what type of credit card i used and etc, so i was thinking that setting up a thread to answer your questions would be beneficial to other local tpfers who wants to buy from the U.S. as well.
you could order through phone or mail from the U.S. as for me i prefer to communicate through email as there will be records of what has been communicated and that i can make references to. at times i would prefer calling SAs if the matter is urgent and needs immediate attention.
so far, i have only bought items from Neiman Marcus (NM) and SAKS.
all dollars stated would be in this entry are in USD.
for NM, i paid via AMEX Centirion, which my SA told me that it will automatically be enrolled me to get points (1 point per dollar, 5000 points minimum to exchange for a $125 gift certificate). AMEX Platinum allows you to be automatically enrolled to get points as well.
NM accepts ONLY AMEX cards or virtual gift certificates (for those who do not have AMEX but imho is a very tedious process)
for international orders.
my SA made an exception for me that will allow me to apply for an NM card, but it made me uncomfortable as i had to send my personal ID and PASSPORT document copies over. i did not want to do so as i am afraid of loss and abuse of information (you never know what will happen, your interests are not protected if you do so), so i decided to forgo the application.
the system that NM works on is that they do not ring the item up / charge you first but will locate the stock for you in their system. upon locating the stock, they then verify if you really want the item and will ring it up and charge it, unless the items you are looking for are highly sought after, you'll most likely be charged on your credit card first before they try to do a thorough search in the system which can take a while. this happens because you will have priority to receive the item if you've paid first (for example, my navy patent jumbo was done the same way as the demand is high but stock were little)
shipping costs to Singapore from wherever the NM store is located is
$50 via FEDEX international priority which will take around 3 - 7 business days (they usually say 7 - 10 just in case shipment gets delayed by customs but imo it's shorter than that). NM gift wrapping costs $7.50 (if you'd like to get a gift for upcoming Christmas).
you'll be expected to pay 7% GST on all items you buy from the U.S.
as for SAKS, i did not use my AMEX card b/c they could accept other cards unlike NM, but i did not use a local bank's card as they would take a longer time to go through (from a personal experience). i think the point system would work the same as well, 1 point per dollar i think, but SAKS gives out points through use of any credit card and EGC as well.
SAKS accepts all major credit cards.
the system that SAKS uses is different from NM. they will ask for your credit card details first, ring up the item you want in their system and will let you know if they are available. so this means, you'll be charged first (but not billed) for the item upon searching for it.
shipping costs to Singapore from wherever the SAKS store is located is
$45 via FEDEX international priority which will take around 3 - 7 business days. once again,
you'll be expected to pay 7% GST on all items you buy from the U.S.
** FEDEX will send you the tax billing via mail a few days after your shipment has been sent to you. please don't assume that you do not need to pay GST because you'll be expected to! all bags' values cannot be under declared (and shouldn't be for security reasons), and insurance for the bags will be based upon their bags' values (please request for your bags to be insured from your SA from NM / SAKS).
hope that helps! let me know if there's anything else i have not included. i've tried to make this as short and easy to understand as possible!
my personal advice is, make sure that what you want has been clearly communicated to your SA (for example, all tags, dust bags, boxes should match the bag and are all nicely packaged etc.) and check with her if she understands what you want to prevent any misunderstandings later. think about building relationship with your SA than to only get what you want. there is a high possibility of hiccups for your first transaction, so please try not to expect so much from your 1st order to prevent yourself from being terribly upset or disappointed.
make sure you are not TAXED with U.S. state taxes wherever the bag comes from, you should be refunded if they were to tax you and make it known that it is an international order and that you do not need to pay for any U.S. taxes (this happened to my balenciaga order and i had to issue a dispute over the loss of exchange that i incurred on my account which amounted to SGD160!!).
i have yet to buy anything from Chanel boutiques so for local tpfers who did, please kindly share with us your experiences here!
ACKS!!! i wanted this to turn out under Chanel Shopping sub forum but somehow it turned up under the Chanel sub forum instead, so sorry mods! please shift this to wherever is appropriate! many thanks!
