Living outside of your native country is not the easiest thing and many times the decision to be an expat is made for us because of family or due to a job that needs us to relocate. In most cases, other countries don’t have the things that we need and miss from home such as food items or toiletries for example. When you live outside of your native country, you will miss home but thankfully, we have the internet and online shopping which is a massive industry. Online shopping is widely popular and there are tons of websites available that support this industry. You will need to be careful though because not all websites are good to use. For expats from America, there are many choices in terms of online shopping and this article will explore some of these choices.
MyUS
MyUs is an online shopping platform that gives shoppers access to thousands of online stores from the US and the UK, as well as being able to ship from the US to Australia. This platform ships to over 220 countries from Saudi Arabia to Japan to South Africa. You can buy anything from clothing items to hair care products, make-up, and accessories. This site offers tax-free shopping for US sales, discounted shipping rates, exclusive coupons, and savings, discounted carrier rates and there is a mobile app for users that gives users package alerts and push notifications. This is a good place to shop because they ship to many places all over the world and you are bound to find whatever product you need at this location.
Amazon
Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world that originally started out selling books but has since evolved to sell everything from handbags to linen to speakers and even clothing. Amazon ships internationally to more than one hundred regions and countries outside of the United States, all depending on the particular item that you want to purchase. The Amazon rewards visa card gives buyers rewards with every purchase and with the rewards signature card, buyers can earn 3% or 5% back on purchases they make on the site as well as at Whole Foods. You can also receive 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and certain drug stores. Amazon is a great place to buy from because there is a wide variety of products on the website, you will literally find everything including things that you didn’t know existed such as edible glitter or a life-sized inflatable elephant.
AliExpress
AliExpress is an online retailer that is based in China and is made up of small businesses located in China and other places such as Singapore. AliExpress does not manufacture their own products, instead, they encourage third-party selling, facilitating small businesses to sell their products to customers across the world. On this site, you can buy electronics, toys, tools, clothes, and accessories just to name a few. Shipping is usually free or extremely cheap and products on this site are all sourced and manufactured in China making them very cheap as well.
Social media is huge and you can sell on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. All you need to do is launch a Facebook business page where you can make direct sales and Instagram even has a store on their app that allows businesses to sell their products. This way of selling is more local to where you live and it is a great way to meet ex-pats. You can find anything on social media from clothing to food to cosmetics and social media is a great place to shop because people generally share their purchases on social media so you’ll be able to know about the product before you purchase it yourself.
Ebay
Ebay is one of the oldest online retailers and it is also one of the most successful. This site allows people to list various items for sale which other users can then bid on in the form of auctions. Ebay has a rewards program that rewards members when they purchase items on the website and when members purchase, they earn eBay bucks which can be redeemed for money. Ebay is a great place to shop because the fees are low and there is a giant market.
