SPCR

Hi, I am trying to order the components for a new PC to a friends house in NYC from where I can pick stuff up and return to the UK. However, I cant find an online retailer to accept my UK debit or credit cards. Does anyone know of such a retailer?

An alternative would be to pay my friend then use his card but where would this leave me in relation to the product warranties? Can anyone see any problems with doing it this way?

A final question regarding airports... I suppose I will only be able to buy smallish components i.e. not the entire case! As I need to keep them in my bag or else UK customs will nab me for import duty which would spoil the point in buying in th US! Out of the following:

Motherboard, (possibly?)
CPU,
Heatsink
VGA card
Memory
HDD
PSU (possibly?)
Fans

Which items would you think I could take as hand luggage through JFK ariport security and which would I need to put in the hold. Also, would the airport Xrays pose any danger to delicate items? (obviously the HDD will be new and therefore blank). Furthermore, I would be worried about putting something like a PSU through as it may look suspiciously like a bomb? Any thoughts or experiences?

Cheers
Dan

What issue(s) are you encountering when you try to place an online order? Some banks / credit card issuers may need to be informed beforehand that the card will be used for international transactions, and they may (or may not) require some sort of limit to be imposed. I don't know if UK card issuers are more stringent than their N. American counterparts regarding card usage. You may want to contact your bank / card issuer to find out if there are any stipulations regarding its usage for online orders.

The problem with using your friend's card is that, for product warranties and disputes related to the goods received, they would need to be handled by him/her because the orders were placed under his/her name. You're unlikely to have any recourse unless the item(s) come with a gift receipt, and seeing as you're in a different continent, they may be reluctant to honour warranties or RMAs of said goods.

This probably won't help you much in determining what's permissible as far as carry-ons go, but it's worth a read: TSA - Permitted and Prohibited Items. My guess is that if it's anything electronic or electrical in nature and it can't be tested when asked to do so at the request of security, they will err on the side of caution by confiscating the item(s) in question, i.e. they'll probably seize them all. You could ask an airport official upon your arrival to NY to determine if you can pack any PC components in your carry-on; if they say you can't, the next best thing would be your check-in luggage. Of course, TSA officials can open luggage randomly, and there's no guarantee that everything will be there when you return to the UK, but it's a better bet than packing it in your carry-on.

Thanks for your reply!
The problem that I have encountered is that all of the online shops I have found state specifically that they only accept US cards.. even If I managed to authorise the address with my bank it would be no help. After much searching I found that amazon.com appear to accept UK cards so that is my only hope so far. Amazon seem to have very good CD2 cpu prices so I will start there... however, other components are not priced so well!

It looks like I should steer clear of using my friends credit card.. so no route that way.

Regarding airport security, I have sent an email to the website you linked to so hopefully they will will me in.. if not then hold luggage it is. Apparently they use more powerful Xrays in the hold though, could this cause problems?. Plus there can be condensation etc so I will have to pack things carefully.

try jab-tech.com,several UK people have bought stuff from them so I assume they accept UK CC.

I think you'd have better luck getting through customs without paying import duties if you build the whole thing in the states. Rather than trying to smuggle a bunch of obviously new computer parts you can just claim it as personal property rather than a new purchase (ie, as far as anyone at customs knows you've owned this computer for months and brought it with you from the UK). You don't want to have retail packaging with you. As far as the warranties are concerned, you are likely screwed on the warranties if you aren't living on the continent you purchased the computer on.

For more information on avoiding getting screwed with import duties, try looking at Mac forums. Apple honours their laptop warranties worldwide and really screws Brits on prices, thus making flying to NY to buy a PowerBook an economical and popular choice.