Nothing fancy here, just difference of prices/taxes in markets. Same as any YouTube video showing "I flew to Korea and got iPhone 17 Pro Max for cheaper".
So there are individuals who do that and it makes sense (if you enjoy the flying / traveling) and it's not considered "time is money"
There are also common parallel importing in many countries who find a dealer at some country that has the same product in lower local currency, buy bulk and get some discount, then resell it in the country where the official distribution is expensive.
That's why it is possible to find no eSIM/NFC iPhones in some stores (imported from China) or eSIM only ones in regions where you'd expect them to have also physical sim tray.
Practically speaking, in 2026, are there any big ticket items an American could buy abroad and have the travel economics work out to their favor?
The big one I do is medical tourism, though I have family in Taiwan. I've done a bit of dental works where the cost in the US is $3k-$5k after insurance, and at Taiwan is maybe $300-$500 (10x diff) cash pay. I've also done scan-all-the-things health spas in a Taiwan hospital for $300-$500, where American equivalents are again 10x.
Weirdly for me: IKEA. I’m within ~240 miles of an IKEA in Canada and an IKEA in the US.
While they’ve started to inflate some items to meet currency conversion rates, some items are still cheaper for me to purchase in Canada directly and bring back to the US.
For instance, even at small scale: one BILLY bookcase, article number 205.220.46, is $90 CAD (~$65.70 US) at IKEA CA and $79 USD at IKEA US.
YMMV coming back across the border but in my experience I just got waived through the border every time I told them I was “just coming back with some cheap crap from IKEA”.
There's no real arbitrage opportunity because he booked the hotel and flights on points. It likely would've been considerably more expensive overall if he'd booked in cash.
I am surprised they aren't Brazillian. Some Brazillian friends from school did that, they would fly to Miami to go shopping, buy game consoles, etc.
A brazilian coworker bought a suitcase on his trip here (circa 15 years ago) and then bought a playstation and an xbox to bring back.
Brazilian customs figured this out awhile ago, be too obvious and you’ll get one hell of a fine.
Meanwhile here in the US the drives are double what i paid in 2024 and I'm trying to see which country i can fly to lol
There are small suppliers in Hong Kong who sell refurb enterprise drives at less-exorbitant prices. I've had good luck with this over the years. I stuck with reliable, well-known models like the 4TB HGST, 16TB Seagate Exos (X16), etc.
I used to get them with a year or so of warranty remaining, though last order I got units that must have been from a bulk OEM purchase and weren't warrantied through the manufacturer.
Regardless, I've had good luck this way and failure rates have been within expectations. I started with a few different suppliers to mix inventory in case one source turned out to be a dud, then eventually consolidated on a single supplier who does a great job and has consistently delivered good drives. This method has worked for me for over a decade. Definitely easier than flying around countries, and in my case cheaper than if I'd physically gone to the US like this guy.
Flying to the USA is a bit risky right now. It would be better for someone already in the USA to mail them to you, right?
Most places with heavy duties/tariffs also intercept mail and apply said duties/tariffs (and sometimes just seize everything).
He declared the import and paid the VAT.
> Flying to the USA is a bit risky right now.
Please be serious.
Please read this
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton...
In the 80s it was a thing to fly from Europe to the US to buy PC hardware and software. The price differences paid for the (expensive) flight costs and then some.
I remember when Adobe Creative Suite came out (I think?) and Australian said that a first class flight to Los Angeles and the American price were less than the Australian price. Hoping Bruce or Sheila [1] Cunningham [2] can chime in
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNBy1D1Y0h4 damn I was only familiar with the audio; this aged extremely poorly.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham#Cunningham's_L...
In the 1980s, a friend got his start by buying packaged software in bulk from the US and reselling it in Europe. The retail price differences were large enough he made bank on it.
It's called arbitrage.
Eventually, other people figured it out and the prices leveled out.
Arbitrage opportunities crop up all the time.
It's been true (maybe still is? Haven't checked) for quite awhile; people I know would always hit up the Apple Store when visiting the USA and return bearing gifts, because the price savings was quite noticeable.
~2012 was the same thing. The usd was very low compared to eur, but the apple store sold things in ~same value in eur + tax. So you could legit buy an airplane ticket (not even a low cost, regular line was ok), visit NY for a weekend and buy a macbook, come back, and end up paying the same amount.
Not just Apple. Around 2010, I bought a tripod and head from the US. Had it delivered to France, paid all import duties and taxes and VAT (I single out VAT because, since taxing is the national sport, it's levied on top of the other taxes, which are also levied on shipping a big hunk of metal). It was around 25% cheaper than buying from a local store.
Here's the kicker: the tripod and head were both produced in Italy. So it was somehow cheaper to ship them halfway around the world and pay import duties twice than to buy locally with no import duty (since it's the EU).
Someone somewhere along the way is definitely making money.
The secret ingredient is.. crime.
not really, they paid import duty
No duty, only VAT. https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/84717050...