Live in Europe – Buy in the U.S.

Ever since the introduction of the Internet in 1990, businesses began using the World Wide Web to reach out to their customers and provide online retail services. In the olden days, shoppers were limited to local shops and local malls to go on a shopping spree or to buy basic household goods. If you lived in a small town and needed a special part for your lawnmower, you either had to wait weeks for a part to be ordered and then delivered, or you had to take a long trip to the big city to find what you needed. Avid clothing shoppers and fashion lovers had only a limited selection of styles, sizes, and colors to choose from. And if your neighborhood's shopping options were minimal, you had to depend on ordering merchandise from a catalogue|More often than not, many products and merchandise had to be purchased from a catalogue which was published only once or twice a year}.

Since the introduction of Web-based shopping, however, there is nothing you cannot buy from the comfort of your own home! Whether you're interested in the latest fashion fads and trends, accessories, jewelry, electronics, furniture, hardware, household goods, and more, you can find it all shopping online. Stores such as Amazon not only feature great sales on myriads of products, but actually keep track of your buying preferences and offer you tailor-made purchase suggestions. With the introduction of online buy-and-sell sites such as eBay, any seller can reach a global consumer base in an instant. You can also buy used items online, such as DVDs, computer games, and books. You can even comparison shop across multiple online stores via websites which list all the stores offering the product you're interested in, including the price they charge and customer feedback on both the product and online store. Finally and maybe best of all, gone are the days of driving through bad weather and traffic to go shopping, having to find parking, and standing in long lines at the checkout counter.

However in order to shop on the Web you must have access to a computer and own a credit or debit card. Furthermore, if you're shopping from Europe or from a location outside of the United States, you might be out of luck. The bottom line is that a large percentage of online stores and shops only cater to U.S. residents and will not deliver to locations outside of the United States. Without the option of international shipping, or occasionally the possibility of overseas shipping at exorbitant prices, many online shoppers are left frustrated and disappointed.

One convenient solution to this problem is signing up with an international mail forwarding service. These services, located in the United States, let you have your purchases mailed to their USA shipping address. Upon delivery, no matter where you are located around the globe, your parcels will be forwarded to you. Not only can you now easily buy everything you ever wanted on the Internet, but these services often offer additional benefits. With online tracking you can follow your parcels online to know exactly where they are en route and when to expect their arrival. And by making use of package consolidation, you can save money on purchases made from multiple vendors by having them all shipped at the same time in a single bundle. Finally, you may be eligible for personal shopper services, thereby enhancing your online shopping experience even more.