So you can buy online in the US, even if they don't ship to Spain

forwarding services

The most advisable thing if you want to buy in the United States and they do not ship to Spain is to use forwarding services. What are they? They are websites or companies that allow us to have a shipping address to send the purchase to and then that company sends it to you to Spain. That is, you send it to that delivery point in your name and from that delivery point they send it to you. As is logical, they usually charge a tax or a commission for doing this service, but you make sure that it will reach you and you can not worry about going through customs, for example.

In addition, the initial shipping cost is usually low because you send it to the same country, although later you must take care of the delivery from America to Spain. There are different types and you may pay for a subscription or plan depending on whether you want to make purchases frequently or just want to pay one time.

What should we consider?

In any of the forwarding services we have to meet certain conditions, of course. They all work the same: you have an address that you use to make the purchase and from those stores they send it to your country. But be careful because the cost of customs or taxes or tariffs is not included in the price.

We should also note that there is a list of items that cannot be shipped from the United States or have limited shipping options. This will not allow you to buy anything and receive it because there are products that cannot be shipped, of course. The list of prohibited items may vary slightly from one service to another, but it is practically identical in almost all of them.

You cannot buy: animals, chemicals, drugs, explosives, firearms, flammable or combustible products, lead acid batteries, lithium batteries, medical devices, poison, pornography, food, medicine, radioactive material, cans, tobacco, weapons . Of course, these products cannot be sent through the different services. But there are also others that have "small print" and that you should inform yourself before buying them. For example, shipments may be controlled or limited when buying cosmetics and beauty products, telephones, aerosols, jewelry, colognes... In many cases there are restrictions depending on the size of the product you are going to order, as is the case with perfumes that do not they could be more than 500 ml per bottle, for example.

Best forwarding services to Spain

Some of the most recommended to buy in the United States and receive it in Spain are the following forwarding services. All of them give us an address to send the packages that we make in our orders and then they send it to our address with a cost per shipment.

SkyBOX

Skybox differs from the other forwarding services below in that it works on a subscription basis instead of paying for each purchase to the United States. You pay a monthly amount to have addresses in the USA and Europe with which you will receive the packages. The way it works is the same as the others: you sign up and register and have your own SkyBOX address, shop online at the store of your choice and fill in the data with this address. Finally, you manage the shipping options, check that it has arrived and receive it at home or at the office in Spain.

From the website we can see where your packages are and you can track them with the different warehouses, for example. It also allows you to group your packages to save on shipments and you will see the detail of the customs payment, for example, in addition to real-time tracking until it reaches your home.

SkyBOX allows you to access a calculator where you can fill in the shipment with country of origin, destination, city, product category, product value, estimated weight of the purchase and estimated dimensions of the product. This way you can calculate how much the price would be to receive it. Keep in mind that products under 20 euros do not have customs taxes, for example. But you should also keep in mind that there are a series of prohibitions and restrictions that are common to all services and we cannot buy cleaning fluids, drugs, food, pornography, paints, medicines, weapons or parts of weapons, cosmetics...

Shipito

Shipito is one of the forwarding websites that is completely available in Spanish, which allows us to buy without being experts and with everything explained in a simple way. You have a shipping calculator that allows you to manage estimated delivery times or shipping rates, for example, although they do not include taxes or duties. Shipito has warehouses in California, Oregon or Austria.

The operation is simple: You register and get what will be your Shipito address in the United States, without having to pay a subscription or registration. Once you have your address, you buy at any store in the United States and send it to this place. They will notify you when your package arrives and you can even select options such as detailed photos of the contents to make sure everything is perfect or bubble wrap with extra protection. Once they have it, you must fill out your customs form, pay for your shipment and wait for one of the agencies to send it to Spain.

In addition, you can buy on several websites and it allows you to combine all the packages in one box to save money when sending it to Spain if they are small or lightweight and you do not want to have to pay for each purchase. They receive it in their warehouses and send it to you at home. It is available for more than 220 different countries, so it is not only practical if you live in Spain, but also in many other places around the world.

The shipping calculator allows us to choose the warehouse where we are going to send it, the approximate weight or dimensions of the product and the place where you are and where it should be forwarded. Once you have everything filled out, weight of the shipment or value of the package in dollars, you will be able to calculate how much the international shipment will cost.

MyUS

One of the "problems" of MyUS is that it is not in Spanish like the previous ones, but it also allows us to ask the United States to receive it in Spain and boasts of having more than six million members around the world. The process is identical to the others: you register, get an address in MyUS, start shopping in all the stores you want in the United States and the United Kingdom and write the address that you have been given. Once they have received your package at the facilities in the United States or the United Kingdom, they will send it home.

You receive an email as soon as the package arrives at your facilities and you can access your online account to choose how you want it to be sent to you and with associations with agencies such as UPS, DHL or FedEx that allow you to have the purchase at home in just few days. They promise that they can be delivered worldwide within two to four days.

There is no subscription or payment for registration, but you will have to pay independently for each shipment and, like the others, you have a calculator with which you can choose where the package comes from, where it goes and its weight. Once you fill in the data you will be able to have an estimate of how much it will cost.