We buy goods in the USA: Qwintry

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We will not once again explain and tell you how cool and profitable it is to buy goods in the USA. You already know everything perfectly, and with a high probability you have already tried all the charms of getting high quality goods at low prices.

We're just going to tell you about one very good shopping service in the United States called Qwintry. We have experience of communicating with them, and given the fact that many people still, for some unknown reason, compensate for the greed of the owners of domestic online stores from their wallet, shopping in the USA becomes at least reasonable.

So, "Qwintry" is a classic shopping service in the United States, eliminating the main problem of many American stores: the inability to make a purchase due to the lack of delivery to other countries, including Russia and Ukraine.

After registering in the system, the user receives a Qwintry address in the USA for use, which means that now, when buying on the same Amazon, you can specify this address, and therefore make a purchase. Further, Qwintry receives your purchase, if the client wishes, it "pumps" the package in a certain way and examines / photographs / measures its contents, and then sends it to the client's address.

This is how almost all such services work, but there are several subtle points that distinguish one service from another, and they need to be known, especially for beginners.

1. Transparency of calculations and absence of extra charges

This is the lure of most unscrupulous services: they hide the true cost of their services behind links and asterisks, displaying supposedly "the lowest prices for services." Qwintry has a calculator, and after entering the purchase price and specifying additional services, the user is immediately informed of the final price. No surprises. In addition, they have a link on their website to an official calculator for the cost of a parcel directly from the US Post. If you compare the prices in these calculators, you will find a nice thing: there are no extra charges for mail services, for sending a parcel, for consolidation and similar services. Qwintry prices = US Post prices.

2. Savings

There is one important point here: in the United States, taxes vary from state to state, and if the owner of the service initially settled in the wrong place, then he will have to pay additional amounts when receiving customer goods to his transit warehouse (and he is unlikely to do this from his wallet) … Qwintry has a warehouse in Oregon, there is no sales tax, and this alone saves up to 10% compared to less thoughtful middlemen.

Second point: process optimization. According to the assurances of the creators of Qwintry, over 3 years of work, they have been refining their internal work processes in order to minimize costs and errors due to the human factor: a professionally organized warehouse, practical packaging and automation of packaging / sending parcels. As a result, the system works faster and brings more money, which has a positive effect on the client's wallet.

3. Required services

This includes a list of services that may be in demand by the client. The fact is that parcels from US stores are not designed for long-term transportation and transfer from one hand to another, therefore, the requirements for their packaging are not so high. When ordering through Qwintry, the packaging can be significantly upgraded (plus the standard procedure for combining several parcels). Viewing the prices of the US Post for such services is surprising: their packaging upgrade is more expensive than that of Qwintry.

In practice, poor packaging results in a situation where a seemingly whole box is opened by someone before us (yes, these are the harsh realities of our mail), and an expensive product has become the property of someone else. In this regard, Qwintry stands out for its security tape service. A security tape is such a tricky scotch tape that, when you try to do something with it, it reveals a characteristic text on itself.

If the parcel is pasted over with such a tape, then at first glance it will become clear: have they been in the package before you or not. When ordering expensive goods, this is a must have.

4. Simplicity

In fact, if I don't understand the menus and other interface elements in 5 minutes, then I'll just spit on it and go to the site of another intermediary. In this regard, you can't scold Qwintry: the account and the order / tracking forms are simple and clear. All information is accessed from one page.

If we digress from the internal interface and look at the site as a whole, then the developers have correctly placed in prominent places all the "eternal" questions and answers that are asked when familiarizing with such services. Everything is fine here.

In order not to overwhelm the text with screenshots, we suggest watching a short video demonstrating the ordering procedure:

5. Cons

Nothing is perfect, and Qwintry is no exception. The service does not work with Apple products. Generally. The rest of the limitations are inherent in other services: various sights and gadgets for gun lovers, tobacco, and so on.

6. Our experience

The Lifehacker team uses the services of Qwintry, and there were no complaints during the work with them. If you recall something special from the latter, then here is the experience of our colleague's December order:

Before the New Year, it was necessary to order snowboard pants, jacket, mask and bindings. I ordered absolutely everything from Burton, which simply does not send anything to Russia. It was here that the question arose of whose services to use, I wanted to quickly and without much hemorrhoids, but so that everything was transparently tracked. Qwintry promptly advised me on all issues and I decided to work through her. Registered, received an address. I made orders in all stores, indicating the address of the parcel post and just waited a few days for all the parcels to be collected in their warehouse, then the exact amount for your shipment is displayed and you already deposit money and register. From them, the parcel went to Yekaterinburg for 12 days, and this is taking into account the fact that it was already in December. Everything was perfectly packed, inside the package there were still some goodies waiting for me: a chocolate bar and a postcard with the landscape of their state:)