Black Friday started in the US - it happens on the day after Thanksgiving after all - and that's still where a lot of the better bargains are found.
For example at Walmart this year you can pick up an Xbox One S 1TB three-game bundle for £116 at the moment - compared to £129.99 at Argos for a two-game deal even after a £70 discount.
The good news is that shopping online from US stores is frequently as simple as shopping from the UK versions.
Just add “US” to a search for the shop you're looking for – be it Amazon , Apple or direct from the manufacturer.
Then there are stores like Walmart, Target and more that aren't over here at all. There's a list of the top US online shops here .
“The biggest hassle is still shipping,” Ramesh Bulusu, chief executive at MyUS , told Mirror Money .
And you don't need to pay for shipping for each and every thing you buy either.
You can get them all delivered to a single US address, boxed up and sent on to you in one package – cutting as much as 80% of the shipping cost overall.
Shipping companies like MyUS and USGoBuy give you a secure US address to have all your items delivered to , let you store packages there free for a set period (typically 30 days) until all of your orders have arrived, then box them up and ship them to you in one package.
You can also get cheaper deliveries, because the size of these companies – with hundreds of thousands of customers – means they negotiate better deals with delivery services.
Generally packages arrive in two to four days.
Potential problems and extra charges
Shipping might be the biggest concern – not to mention cost – but it's not the only one.
First, you need to watch out for customs charges.
“Anything posted or couriered to you goes through customs to check it isn’t banned or restricted and you pay the right tax and ‘duty’ (customs charges) on it,” the official gov.uk site explains.
You could end up being charged VAT, customs duty or excise duty on anything shipped to the UK – and if you don't pay up in three weeks, the goods get sent back where they came from.
On the plus side, things costing less than £135 are exempt from customs duty – and the cost is waived if it comes to less than £9.
You'll also pay VAT on the goods at the standard UK rate if they're worth more than £15 (or £39 for a gift) or on any alcohol, tobacco or fragrances.
You'll also be charged excise duty on any alcohol or tobacco you receive.
The whole process is a lot faster if you include customs forms with the packaging (something specialist shipping firms normally do automatically) stating what's in the package and its price in dollars. If this isn't done, there's also a risk the goods could be seized.
There's a full explanation of the rules here .
This is what you're not allowed to ship to the UK while here's a list of things that you aren't allowed to export from the US .
Is there an easier way?
Yes, yes there is.
Firstly, using a shipping company like MyUS means they'll automatically tell you if you've bought something that's banned as well as providing full customs documentation.
Secondly, if you head to a site like http://www.dutycalculator.com/ they will work out exactly what you'll need to pay.
And the more items you buy, the lower the shipping cost is. If you make sure you do your sums first you can still make huge savings .
