Can (and Should) I Buy an iPhone from Overseas?

• 

  stirlo on 11/03/2021 - 10:24

  +10

  Bad idea.

  Australian iPhone get a 2 year warranty from the ACL provisions. This doesn't apply to overseas stock.

  As for the pricing by the time you take into account GST (there's no $1k threshold anymore) you're at $1000 AUD. Then there's shipping costs, US sales taxes (if you don't get it from a tax free state), package forwarding costs, potential loss during transit… I doubt you'll get it to AU for under $1100.

  Or you just go get 5% off JB cards and buy it with Australian warranty and support for $1140. Or wait for an eBay sale where you can get it cheap and pay with discounted gift cards there.

  • 

    87percent on 11/03/2021 - 10:26

    +4

    Also, while Apple never really enforce it, they CAN tell you to return it to the country of purchase for warranty

  • 

    ilikeradiohead on 12/03/2021 - 05:41

    Sales taxes apply to the destination in the US, not the source. Source taxes used to be the case but it was resolved a few years ago with big retailers like Amazon and Walmart (and supposedly everyone but small retailers still skirt it).

  • 

    itamaram on 14/03/2021 - 07:52

    Wait they cancelled the 1k threshold?

    How long have I been asleep for?!

    • 

      stirlo on 14/03/2021 - 09:25

      At least 2 years. If under $1000 you pay the 10% at the checkout if over $1000 customs collects it

• 

  Ughhh on 11/03/2021 - 12:10

  +1

  Overseas phone may or may not be compatible with Australian network.

• 

  SydStrand on 11/03/2021 - 13:27

  Apple's pricing is fairly consistent globally, once you factor in local taxes. And even if you order in a sales tax-free state, who will import it for you, a shipping forwarder? Well, you have to declare value, and they'll whack on the 10%. Including all the small fees like shipping, insurance, conversion, etc., no way it'll be <$1100.

• 

  Randxyz123 on 11/03/2021 - 14:02

  The prices are very similar imo. Taking into account US prices don’t include sales tax which varies from 0%-8% and if you bought it online you’d be slugged with GST.
  Take a iPhone 12 bought direct from Apple.

  Subtotal
  $829.00
  Shipping
  FREE

  Estimated tax for:
  10109 (NYC)
  $73.57
  Total
  $902.57

  Conversion $1,166AUD

  JB has the phone at $1,349 so the difference isn’t a lot. Especially if you need to pay the GST on that and we get the ACL warranty.

  Also the US is using different bands for 5G(some are the same though). You wouldn’t want to not be able to use 5G…

• 

  Brianqpr on 12/03/2021 - 10:34

  For an iphone I would say no. The amount you can save just isn't worth it. If paying the full amount up front is an issue, Apple do interest free repayments over up to two years on their phones ($5 monthly fee while you still have a balance owing). I've bought a couple for family members (not for me, I'm an android guy) that way and paid them off over a few months.

  Buy here and I would say buy direct from Apple as, for the newer phones anyway, the price is the same regardless of who you buy from. You will be able to get any issues fixed for two years. My wife has the iphone 11, purchased December 2019. Camera started playing up recently and they replaced the camera no questions asked.

  Personally I'm looking forward to the Xiaomi Redmi note 10 pro I've just ordered for approx $350 to arrive. More than enough for my needs and in that price range I'm willing to take a chance on warranty. I've bought 3 or 4 Xiaomis in the past and the biggest problem I've had was self inflicted when I dropped one and smashed the screen while out walking the dog.