The situation seems to be tense between the countries. But goods circulate at the same time. And even now you can buy an iPhone or game console directly in America. And it is very good to save. However, the process has become a little more complicated and has its own characteristics. We will tell you about them today.

In short: on the one hand, delivery has become more expensive since 2022 (mainly due to inconvenient payment methods). On the other hand, prices in Russia have also increased, because goods are imported via detours through China and India (it is now top-2 supplier iPhone in the Russian Federation, imagine). Therefore, the benefit of independent US purchases remains. On each gadget or branded item, they save from 6 to 20 thousand rubles. Especially if the item is rare or expensive.

So, what has changed over the past year and a half?

– Routes have changed. Previously, the plane with parcels flew directly to Moscow, or with a transfer in Berlin, and then to Moscow. Currently, it first flies to Finland, and then the cargo crosses the border by land. Therefore, parcels go 2 days longer than before (in eight days instead of six). And delivery prices have increased by $10-15 (say, the standard FastBox rate now costs $24 per half kilo, or $28 per kilogram). At the same time, at the last stage, the parcels are delivered to the Russian Post office, postamat, and by courier to the door of the house.

– The list of goods unavailable for delivery has been expanded. Now it’s:

• Any military footwear, clothing, accessories that can be interpreted as such (onions, paintball equipment, binoculars, thermal imagers, echo sounders, even kitchen and folding knives). At the same time, civilian clothes, tourist tents, and hunting clothes are allowed.

• Medical clothing, professional med. equipment. At the same time, devices for personal, home use (thermometers, tonometers, etc.) are allowed.

• Industrial components for mining, server, server equipment.

• All household and kitchen appliances, right down to microwave ovens, mixers and scales.

• Plants, seeds, agricultural products.

• Leather and fur goods (gloves, belts, bracelets, leather clothing).

• All power tools.

• All bags, from suitcases to makeup bags. Even school backpacks.

• Genetic tests, DNA tests.

• Money, documents.

+ At the same time:

• Gadgets, digital cameras are allowed.

• Hard drives, graphics cards (but not processors) are allowed.

• Computers and laptops are allowed.

• Keyboards, computer mice are allowed.

• Clothing and shoes worth up to $300 are allowed.

• Non-perishable foods, vitamins, supplements are allowed.

• Sports food, any sports goods are allowed (but not in commercial quantities).

• Products for adults are allowed.

• Lotions and shampoos are allowed.

Don’t ask why. We haven’t found the logic yet, although we’ve been looking. A complete list of prohibited and permitted product categories can be found here^{_{[ссылка удалена модератором]}}.

Paradoxically, the customs limit has now been increased. Now parcels with a price of up to 1,000 euros and a weight of up to 31 kg are not subject to customs duties. This requirement was removed in Russia itself, despite seemingly difficult relations with the USA.

It is very profitable for buyers of expensive equipment. Previously, it was necessary to pay 30% of the difference between the price of the product and 200 euros. Let’s say you had to pay $230 extra for a $1,000 iPhone. Moreover, I really had to pay extra, because American sellers honestly indicate what is on the parcel, unlike Chinese ones. Now you need to pay extra only if the price of the product exceeds the equivalent of 1,000 euros (about $1,100).

Similar conditions apply until October 1, 2023 for all countries participating in the EAEU (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan).

+ Cryptocurrency has finally entered the field. Advanced mail forwarders accept crypto and can even pay for your purchases with it. Working with cryptocurrency is much more profitable for the buyer. You can, of course, top up your service account with regular Tinkoff or Alfa cards, but this is the most expensive option. The exchange rate is about 100 rubles for 1 dollar.

Through us, gadgets are delivered to the Russian Federation and Belarus with a cost of up to $2,500 per product unit. When paying with crypto (most often it is USDT), the profit is about $300. Therefore, I had to learn how to work with all blockchains, from Ethereum to Tron and BSC. Separately, we personally liked the Polygon network – the fee for sending cryptocurrency is the lowest, 15 cents per transaction (others have a dollar, Ethereum – from $3).

If you want to pay in US stores directly, the easiest option from Russia is to get a foreign bank card. Today, it is easiest for residents of the Russian Federation to open bank cards in countries such as Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. You can, say, open a card at Alfa-Bank or Priorbank in Belarus and top it up from Russia. It requires much more effort than learning how to work with cryptocurrencies, but there is no need to pay a commission of several dollars to an intermediary firm for the purchase of goods.

It is also paradoxical, but it has become easier to work with some stores. In the past, Newegg, New Balance, and Macy’s were suspiciously part of our lineup. Like, why do so many parcels go there, and they are paid for with cards from Russia, aren’t they carders? Now we pay for the goods in a variety of ways, most often from our accounts in the US, so we are no longer suspicious, and these stores have stopped blocking our addresses for delivery.

Although the situation here is constantly changing, and if the store does not allow you to buy goods at our address (especially the official Apple website), now you know why.

How much savings now?

The savings in general turn out to be quite significant. A profit of 3-5 thousand rubles is obtained on almost any product priced from a hundred dollars. Let’s say, a year and a half ago we had a boom in Steam Deck deliveries (saving 20 thousand rubles), six months ago – Google Pixel 7. Almost every new gadget that comes out is accompanied by a surge in deliveries: the product is not yet sold in the Russian Federation, and the first samples that broke through the border cost too much.

But actually the most common purchases are clothes/shoes at 6PM and vitamins/supplements from iHerb. eBay and Amazon are also consistently in the top.

To make it clearer, let’s compare the order of prices. Random foreign (non-Chinese) goods are taken:

• Smart watch Apple Watch Nike SE: in DNS with a discount – 25.5 thousand rubles, at Walmart with a discount – 12 thousand rubles ($ 149).

• Google Pixel 7 smartphone: in M.Video – From 66 thousand rubles, at Amazon – From 49 thousand rubles ($ 606), at Target – 48.5 thousand rubles ($ 599).

• ASUS 15.6″ TUF Gaming A15 laptop with Ryzen 9: in DNS – 160 thousand rubles, in B&H – From 95 thousand rubles ($ 1179), at Newegg – 105 thousand rubles ($ 1299).

• Nvidia RTX 4090 video card: in DNS – From 156 thousand rubles, in Newegg, B&H and Walmart – From 133 thousand rubles ($ 1649).

• New Balance Fresh Foam Roav sneakers, men’s: in Yandex.Market – From 15 thousand rubles, at JoesNewBalanceOutlet – From 3200 rubles ($40), at 6PM – From 3500 rubles ($44).

• Levi’s Men’s 502 Regular Taper Jeans: in Yandex.Market – 12999 rubles, in Snick – 14700 rubles, at 6PM.com – From 2100 rubles ($25), at Macy’s and Levi’s – 5500 rubles ($69).

When we considered in 2019, the prices of equipment in the Russian Federation were higher by 47%, and Apple products – by 33.6% (There was also Adidas and DKNY, But they have now left Russia, so there is no comparison). Now the situation is generally interesting. The difference in equipment remained approximately the same, but in clothes and shoes it became lot more. Appliances are 20-40% more expensive on average, and American clothes and shoes are 200-500% more expensive, compared to prices in official outlets. Which is actually quite strange, because it seems that appliances were banned from sale more than clothes?

We have only one explanation so far. Four years ago, the largest markup in the Russian Federation was on items of the elite brand DKNY (149%). And now even New Balance and Levi’s items have moved to the “elite” category among Russians. And smartphones and smart watches are too easy to buy abroad, so stores don’t take too many risks.

However, here it should be taken into account that another 10-20% will have to be paid for money transfer due to the difference in exchange rates (if you do not use cryptocurrency). Another 7% will be taken by the intermediary for the purchase of the product (if a promotional code for free purchase is found). All parcels sent to the Russian Federation must be insured, which will cost another $3 for every $100 of the product’s price — in fact, another 3%. That is, if you do everything as unprofitably as possible, the product can cost 20-30% more than it seems at first. Which negates any advantages of buying abroad.

In general, the process of buying goods in the USA has become significantly more complicated over the past year and a half. Now you have to decide whether to pay the intermediary for the ransom, or get a foreign card and pay for the purchases yourself using a VPN. In any case, after that, all parcels are then delivered through an intermediary mail forwarder (as has been the case since 2014). The cost of services which increased by an amount from one thousand to several thousand rubles due to complicated logistics. Unfortunately, markups on the average foreign product have also risen by a similar amount during this time.

Buying in American stores, as before, is profitable not everything, and not always. It is very important to get a good discount – they are almost always available, and often real. Gadgets that came out 2-3 years ago cost almost the same in the Russian Federation and the USA. The difference is that in America they will be permanently discounted as stores try to clear out the warehouse. If you get such a discount, you can save 10-20 thousand rubles. Also, branded clothes and shoes from outlets are always profitable, even if you deliver one pair. In Russia, there are simply no such things.

But in general we can say that the purpose of AKIT and the Ministry of Industry and Trade achieved – purchases abroad from Russians decreased. However, it was not entirely due to the methods that were expected.