Amazon is the go-to e-commerce retail site for many online shoppers. You can access the platform on your phone, laptop, desktop PC, or Chromebook. Amazon has numerous regional sites. They may not have a product in stock, although it is available in the US. You might wonder if you can order the item from a different Amazon region and get it shipped to your country. This guide has the answers to your questions.
Does a regional Amazon service ship internationally?
Yes and no. Amazon offers numerous regional sites for around 100 countries. All these versions of Amazon collect products from around the world to display. But here’s the catch: not all products ship to every country. That varies based on tariffs, bans, shipping laws, transportation costs, and other factors.
The trick is to show what Amazon can ship to your area. That way, it doesn’t matter if the product ships from another country. Amazon handles the details of getting it to you. You can look up the latest Samsung phone and check the price in your area, then quickly compare it to other prices online for the same model (among other tricks).
- First, sign in to your Amazon account.
- Go to the Account & Lists tab in the top menu.
- Under the Your Account section, select Account.
- Under Ordering and Shopping Preferences, select Your Addresses.
- If you have the international address you are shopping as one of your Amazon addresses, make sure to set it as Default.
- If you haven’t added your international address to Amazon, select Add a New Address and input all your information.
- Choose to add the address, and then set it as Default.
Amazon automatically switches its listings to products that are available to ship to you, whether they are shipping internationally or not.
Source: Grabr
By default, Amazon’s site will probably switch to your regional version if it’s available, even if you don’t update your address. If you switch to the United States version of Amazon while shopping from a different country, the products you see may not be available in your region. That’s why it’s crucial to shop using the regional version of Amazon when possible. That makes it easy to tell what can ship in your area without giving the wrong impression.
Alternatives to international shipping
Amazon’s regional shopping options may not solve your problem. What if there’s a product available in the US store, but it’s not available in your own country?
There’s an answer to that. Specific shopping services connect you with shoppers in a particular country who will buy a product for you and forward it to your international address so you can still get it. Now, that’s expensive. Sometimes, it costs even more than the regional shipping prices. But it’s also a guarantee that you can get what you want from any store worldwide. If you’re interested, explore some of these popular services.
Grabr
Grabr is one of the more popular services. Grabr allows you to pick a specific online item and alert the whole community of travelers that you want it. If they’re heading to your area, one of them may agree to pick up the item and deliver it to you. In return, you agree to a cash reward for them. That has limits, as not all items are available for all travelers coming to your area, and it tends to work best in popular urban areas. However, it’s easy to use and understand, and costs may not be as high as other options.
Shipito
Shipito is an international forwarding service that takes the guesswork from getting packages. However, it requires a membership and only works when shipping packages to a United States address from another country.
Shippn
Shippn has you choose a willing host (not in a creepy way) with an address you can use to shop from, find a product, and arrange a purchase. Shippn works to forward your item to your real address using common carriers in your area. It works in countries outside the United States but relies on participating and updated hosts and may cost you a bundle.
EshopWedrop
EshopWedrop allows United States customers to shop from local stores in Europe and Asia and then get deliveries to the US. Some people use it to shop for deals, and others use it to access products they can’t otherwise find.
Related
How to contact Amazon customer service by phone, email, or chat
Late orders, missing packages, or tricky returns are a few reasons it’s better to talk with Amazon’s team
Ready, set, order
Amazon will ship items to your default shipping address. If you can’t find a specific product on your regional site, you can try services like Grabr, Shippn, or EshopWedrop. They help you connect to others and use ship forwarding. Although these workarounds are expensive and time-consuming, they get the work done. You can check your Amazon order history if you want to return an item or see how much you spent on something.
