Realistic to Buy a PC From Abroad?

[Hoffacursed]

I've been reading Tom's Hardware recently and have been quite impressed with the support here and have decided to post.

I'm wondering if it is at all realistic to buy a Desktop PC from abroad and have it shipped without it being destroyed. I live in Taiwan and am looking to buy a new PC, however, I am appalled at the outrageous prices in comparison with the U.S. This may be a surprise, but I have conferred online with other expats here and the general consensus is that computers and parts are much more expensive simply because of a much smaller market in Taiwan.

I'd like something custom made, but would settle for one of the big brands for the right price and package.

The Ebay/Pitney Bowes Global Shipping reviews look horrifying, but I realize those may be skewed.

Any advice on reputable companies/shops that ship abroad would be greatly appreciated.

 

[USAFRet]

haha...Here in the US, almost every PC is shipped 'from abroad'.
From a factory in mainland China, direct to my door here in Virginia. (if I was inclined to buy a prebuilt PC)

 

[Hoffacursed]

haha...Here in the US, almost every PC is shipped 'from abroad'.
From a factory in mainland China, direct to my door here in Virginia. (if I was inclined to buy a prebuilt PC)

Great! Buying from China would not be out of the question. I'd love to get any details you might have on that. If it's a Chinese website with everything written in Chinese that is fine as I can read, speak and type the language having lived there in the 2000's (also Mandarin is the national language in Taiwan).

I fear folks out there won't get the situation in Taiwan, but people who are far more tech-smart than me on the ground here would tell you the same thing about the prices.

If I am somehow wrong I would be delighted to find out that I can get a PC in Taiwan for the same price as in the U.S.

Here is a link to the biggest online electronics site in Taiwan: PC Home

Any thoughts on these prices would be greatly appreciated. (The prices may show up as Taiwan dollars.).

 

[USAFRet]

No, what I meant was....buy an Apple system, it comes from a factory in China.
Buy a Dell, where was it assembled? China.
Buy a bare hard drive, China, Taiwan, Malaysia.
My new Fuji Camera? Japan, direct to my door here in Virginia.

Parts and fully built PC's are shipped all over the world, every day.

 

[Hoffacursed]

No, what I meant was....buy an Apple system, it comes from a factory in China.
Buy a Dell, where was it assembled? China.
Buy a bare hard drive, China, Taiwan, Malaysia.
My new Fuji Camera? Japan, direct to my door here in Virginia.

Parts and fully built PC's are shipped all over the world, every day.

I've been thinking about getting a custom made Desktop PC from a U.S. based builder/seller on ebay, but I'm worried that Pitney Bowes will end up damaging the item while shipping it to Taiwan. I know getting the thing shipped here when the parts were made in Asia may sound silly, but even after shipping I will be saving at least two hundred dollars.

Probably the most important information for me now is finding a reputable international shipper when it comes to electronics. I'd really like to know which company you use as that would greatly aid me in figuring this out.

 

[sizzling]

Have you looked into taxes and import duties. I'm UK based and while buying from outside the EU looks cheaper I know local customs will add tax and import duties and 99% of the time works out more expensive for something where you don't have local support should there be a problem.

 

[Hoffacursed]

Have you looked into taxes and import duties. I'm UK based and while buying from outside the EU looks cheaper I know local customs will add tax and import duties and 99% of the time works out more expensive for something where you don't have local support should there be a problem.

Thanks for your reply. It looks like when it arrives I'll have to pay 6 percent of the entire price which includes shipping. It appears that I won't need to pay tax on the U.S. side. I never have before when buying products from the U.S. Also, I have gone to the very last step of purchasing the PC I've been thinking about and taxes on the U.S. side never showed up. I realize folks just don't get buying a PC in the U.S. and having it shipped to Asia. Any desktop here that has that has all of the hardware that a functioning PC would normally have with at least 8 GB of Ram and at least a 1 TB hard drive is at least 600 U.S. dollars. It doesn't matter what quality the hardware is, once you get the 8 GB of Ram and a 1 TB hard drive it's six hundred U.S. and up. I've seen no exceptions whatsoever on any website or any store I've walked into. The PC I want is a little over three hundred U.S. dollars. It's got 8 GB of RAM and a 2 TB hard drive. I'm just worried it's going to get destroyed en-route to Taiwan

 

[envy14tpe]

Just wondering what happened in the end. I'm here in Taiwan and have built my own locally as prices are decent. In Taipei there is an area that has all one could ask for when it comes to PC builds. Message me if you need help.

 

[Hoffacursed]

Just wondering what happened in the end. I'm here in Taiwan and have built my own locally as prices are decent. In Taipei there is an area that has all one could ask for when it comes to PC builds. Message me if you need help.

Thanks for your interest envy14tpe. I ended up ordering a refurbished desktop from Yahoo 拍賣 here in Taipei and then reinstalled Windows 7 English as it came with the Chinese version. It cost me NT 4500 and is good as new. BTW, the most demanding thing I need from a PC is playing 720p rugby or NFL mkv and mp4 files.