How to Shop the 2020 US Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales & Ship Your Packages Worldwide
The US is known for its crazy shopping sales, and among them, the most popular has to be Black Friday. It happens on the Friday after US Thanksgiving, and retail stores treat shoppers to an endless well of deals they only offer once a year. From 80% off discounts to buy-one-get-one deals, each shopaholic is in for a treat.
As if that’s not enough, they immediately follow Black Friday with the Cyber Monday sales, known for its deep discounts on gadgets and other electronics. Pretty much the entire weekend is a heaven for shopping addicts.
This year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are scheduled to kick off on November 27th and November 30th, respectively. But no worries if you’re not from the US – everyone can shop the sales through these stores’ online counterparts. For those who are relatively new to shopping from overseas websites, here is how you do it:
Sign up with a freight forwarding company to get your virtual US address.
Before shopping online, you first need to register with a freight forwarding service. These companies will then give you your own US address, which will serve as the shipping address for your packages before they get forwarded to you internationally. You might think: Why not just go with the international shipping service of the US store?
For starters, not all US stores offer international shipping. The ones that do often charge highly expensive rates, so going with a freight forwarder is actually the cost-saving option. When choosing your freight forwarding service, you might want to go for one that offers an address located in a tax-free US state. One that’s worth considering is comGateway. They offer their customers a US address based in Portland, Oregon, that allows them to shop online without having to pay additional sales tax.
Enjoy shopping from thousands of US stores during the sales.
So now that you’ve got your US address, you are free to browse and add all the deals you like from the sales to your virtual cart. For merchants that do not accept international credit cards, you can take advantage of courier services like comGateway’s BuyForMe, which can purchase your order on your behalf.
At checkout, do not forget to input your US address as the shipping address for your packages.
Wait for your package to arrive at your US address, thenship them internationally.
Your US address serves as a warehouse facility where you can store your packages before international shipping. Once your purchases arrive, you have the option to avail of additional services offered by your freight forward first before you ship internationally.
In the case of comGateway, they offer consolidation, repack, and package combination services to further lower the customer’s shipping cost. This is another advantage of freight forwarders as these services are usually not offered when you ship directly with merchants or with international couriers.
When everything’s set, you are now ready to ship. Depending on the shipping speed you have selected, your wait time varies from 3-5 business days for standard shipping and 6-8 business days for express shipping as per comGateway’s policy. They also use international couriers like DHL and FedEx to ensure the safety of your packages.
You don’t have to be hesitant when it comes to shopping Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales from anywhere in the world. With those three easy steps, you can easily join in on the sales and get your packages home before you know it! Good luck and have fun on your shopping journey!