A trip to the United States is never 100% complete
if it doesn't include some shopping, right?
There are lots of things Americans may not appreciate
about how easy the process really is, but foreigners certainly do.
If you shop a lot here, you probably know a lot of what I'm going to say,
but I still hope to surprise you with a few ideas in this video.
First things first, don't wait untill you get here to buy what you're absolutely sure you want.
On amazon, things are normally cheaper and you can read the reviews.
But best of all, depending on what you're buying and where you're shipping it to,
there are no sales taxes, which is awesome.
Awesome.
Actually, some U.S. states don't charge sales taxes at all
Not the case here in Florida, but let me know if you want to learn more about that.
If you're visiting the United States and are staying longer than a week,
and your credit card charges international fees, this is what you do.
Leave everything ready on your Amazon account and as soon as you arrive here,
you buy an Amazon gift card. You'll find at drugstores
or 7-Eleven for example.
Then you make the purchase using this gift card.
Your credit card won't be charged foreign transaction fees.
Amazon tip number 2: don't send your package to hotels because some of them charge per package,
and occasionally they lose a few. It happened to my sister
And then, what are you going to do, as they were doing you a favor?
So this is what you do, use Amazon lockers. Very easy and free.
This video here explains exactly how it works, look at that.
When you're choosing the shipping address you can see what lockers are near your hotel, for example.
When the package is delivered, you get a pick-up code and you have three days to pick it up.
It's safe and I love it.
But if you enjoy going to retail stores? This is what I do.
Let's say I like this cooler here at Walmart
I open up the Amazon app and scan the code to see how much it costs on Amazon.
There.
Same product, do you see?
Starting at $36.14, so this is much cheaper here at Walmart
But it's not very well rated on Amazon so it's good to see that too.
You never know, some products are more expensive, others are cheaper
This is why I like to compare.
One thing not many foreigners realize is why there are two prices
The small one in red is price per ounce. The lower the better when you're comparing products
as it means you're getting more.
At Walmart, I also like to use their app inside the store, as it identifies I'm here
and sometimes it shows us some savings.
With the app you also have your own portable scanner.
Do you see how cool?
These are the exact same swimming goggles.
It's great actually for cases like this, when there is no price.
It's funny how in Orlando suitcases are always front and center.
Something else: after paying, open up the app and look for "savings catcher"
It's this little icon here, you take a picture of your receipt
and they will search online if you really got the best prices.
I just opened one I already had here, just to show you guys real quick.
This takes a couple of days and if they find the same thing cheaper elsewhere,
you get credits and you can use them the next time you go shopping.
Oh, and Walmart generally has free wi-fi for all of this.
Now let's talk about outlets and there's nothing new in what I'm going to say,
but I'm going to repeat in case it's your first time coming to the United States.
Every outlet mall offers discounts. There's a savings book that they sell,
but if you go online and register at the website, in advance, they give it for free.
Before, you needed to print and present here. But now, at least at Premium Outlets,
you can just show the information on your phone.
[Renata] Now we don't need to print anymore, right?
[Person] No, you can just log in and we're going to give it to you
[Person] Do you remember your e-mail and password? [Renata] Yeah
Here it is. All you gotta do is log in to your account using their tablet
and they're going to see you're a member of their VIP club.
It's free
Let me show you in detail what's here.
Look at that, so many discounts... Armani Exchange, Adidas,
Calvin Klein - 30 dollars off $300 or more. Wow!
Diesel, DKNY
Forever 21 - 15% off, cool!
GUESS®
$20 off a purchase of 100 dollars.
What else? Nautica... It's good... Polo Ralph Lauren
I like this store
10% off
And it goes on and on. Wow!
Tommy Hilfiger - another 10% off $150 or more.
Is this good? Yeah, but it can get better because shops also give their own discounts;
And how do find out? At the website of the outlet or the mall, and also the website of each store.
And the savings are different so you need to find out what works for you.
So before coming here, go to the websites of your favorite stores and subscribe to their mailing list.
Your going to get discounts like 20, 30, 40 percent off
and, best of all, you can use one discount on top of the other sometimes.
Let's say you arrive at the store and it's 50% off
Present yours as well and they're probably going to honor
But here at the outlets and malls in Orlando, be very careful because there are thefts
sometimes even inside the stores. Watch out if someone starts getting too close to you.
And here's something else, don't go back to the car to drop your shopping bags
because, unfortunately, there are thefts.
You go back and where are they? Gone.
Depending on when you go to an outlet mall, the parking lot is so full that it's hard to find a space
So here in Orlando it's already possible to book a parking spot online.
You even choose the location, it's crazy.
Do you see these black signs? These are bookable positions.
Here's the app if you're interested. Of course, it's not free, 3 dollars for the first two hours
and then 3 dollars an hour.
And there's more.
There are good and inexpensive stores also outside the outlet malls.
You probably know that already if you came to America before,
but I'm sure there's someone out there planning their first trip.
Stores like Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and others sell a lot of great products,
sometimes even cheaper than outlets.
Let's take a look at Ross.
Look at this huge Tommy Hilfiger purse, it even comes with a little pouch
119 dollars, the original price at Tommy Hilfiger. Here? $34.99
Calvin Klein travel bag. Look at the size, it even works as a carry on.
$240 in the original tag. It's genuine but from an old collection. $49.99 here.
And there's more, look at this.
Dress shirts for $19.99
This even comes with a tie for 2 dollars more.
$24.99 this Reebok, reduced price as it doesn't seem to be selling.
And this Adidas, $49.99
In Orlando there are so many great places you can go shopping,
all these stores as well as International Premium Outlets
are located in between the north end of International Drive and downtown Orlando.
In this same area there's also Orlando Outlet Marketplace. Ah, more stores here!
And there's Mall at Millenia, very close.
Some good finds at GAP.
On the other end of International Drive there's another outlet mall,
Vineland. This one is slightly smaller and doesn't have all the other stores around,
But if shopping in Orlando is definitely on your list, you should check it out too.
Same stores sometimes have different models and sizes, really.
There's another great shopping area in Orlando, it's around The Florida Mall
Outside there are even more stores than in the other area that we were before.
One of my favorites is this: Burlington
Currently, in my opinion, it's among the best in terms of price and variety.
Both at The Florida Mall and The Mall at Millenia there are stores you cannot find in the outlets
like MAC and Apple, and there are coupons as well.
[Renata] Hi, is it here that I come for this here, the savings?
[Renata] Thank you [Person] You're welcome
[Person] There are more coupons in the bag, ok? [Renata] Awesome, awesome. Thank you.
Here there's also a savings book and they even give you this bag,
full of other offers inside if you get the coupon online. There's a link on my blog.
Another entire book of discounts. Plus all these!
Look at this offer by MAC: show your passport and get 15% off 100 dollars. It's only for foreigners!
Let's talk about electronics. Rule number one: you need to choose your stores very carefully.
Some of them look like legitimate. You see Sony, Canon, Apple written outside
Inside everything is cheaper, but you may find fake products and no warranties.
Go to Best Buy instead. At this type of electronic store they even match prices
if you find a better deal somewhere else trustworthy.
The main sites used for price comparison are Adorama, B&H - that huge electronics store in New York
and also Amazon, as long as the product is sold by Amazon.
All you gotta do is show the deal to the seller, he will go online
together with you to see if the price is still good and it normally works.
Here's something else, when you're looking for something very specific
You may not find it in the first store you visit.
So go online and research, see if they have the product in the city you're in
and if they do, you buy, but choose "store pickup"
That means that they're not gonna ship somewhere else, but, instead, you are going to pick it up yourself
You get an e-mail saying 'hey, it's ready, you can come'. And there you go, very easy and convenient.
And now, drugstores. CVS, Walgreens and others are like mini grocery stores
where you find from make-up to cookies, but actually Walmart is cheaper than all of them.
In my opinion, it's only worth it to buy at drugstores when they send you discounts
and there are some really good ones, like even 30% off.
But to register you must live here because they ask for you address and phone number
So as a tourist, I'd go directly to Walmart and only buy at drugstores what you cannot find there.
I promise I'm almost in the end. It's because I got a lot of things to say.
These last few tips don't involve shopping exactly,
but as its about money I think it's important for you to know.
If you already know of a restaurant you wanna try,
go to their website and sign up for their e-mail.
They normally send a welcome discount which could be like a free appetizer
But don't do this too much time in advance
because these discounts are normally good the next 7-10 days. You'd lose.
Also water is always free and it's not embarrassing to ask for water for lunch
or dinner, a lot of Americans do that. Not necessarily to save money but because it's healthier.
Here's something else: on restaurants, rental car services, or anything that requires pre-authorization
do not use a debit card because with the pre-authorization you'll be actually paying
and then when it's time to pay, you pay it again, so you pay twice. Twice. Really.
But don't worry, you're not going to lose the money, they're going to refund
You don't need to do anything, but this whole process may take up to a month
and if you're short on money, it's going to give you a lot of headaches.
If you liked this video
hit that like button and let me know.
Also let me know if you have any more tips
on how to save money here.
Oh, go ahead no worries.
Well, I'm doing one more video here in Orlando and then I'm moving to Miami.
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