Personalized t-shirts & clothes you can ship worldwide

Check out Printfection - they're currently running a $2 white t-shirt promotion. Yup. Just $2 and you can design your own shirt - excluding shipping, which is another $6.99. Still a fantastic price for that shirt you've always wanted to make your sister for her birthday (I ended up drawing my own. Some people thought it was pretty scary...) They've got t-shirts and sweatshirts, but they also sell water bottles, mouse pads, cutting boards and aprons.

You can even personalize coasters. If you buy just one, it’s $4.49 – but if you get a set of 6, you’ll pay only $3.99 each.

At Shopbop, you’ll have to shop their sale items to find anything under $50, but they do have some. This shirt is just $13.50 – and they offer free shipping everywhere. They currently have an extra 20% off of all sale items that are 50 or 70% off, which would mean an extra $2.70 off – that’s $10.80 (coupon code EXTRA20). You could also get this dress for $34.50 (before the extra 20%) but I have to admit it looks more like a slip than a dress to me… And then there are leggings on sale for $30. You’d have to pay me much more than $30 just to try them on (in a private dressing room, preferably with no mirrors so I wouldn’t have to suffer) but hey, it’s a matter of taste (or lack thereof…), right?

Freepeople is a site worth going to whether you’re looking for clothes or just like beautiful websites. It’s actually 3 sites – Free People, Intimately and We the Free. Free People sells clothes, accessories and shoes. Intimately sells beachwear, bras, undies (their word) and more. Their shipping is expensive ($35 international flat rate), but wow – I love the site…

More shops coming soon…

Revisiting & updates

Book Depository - great site. I've now bought quite a few books from them and I love the freedom of being able to just buy a single book on a whim. Several of the items I've posted about have gone out of stock, which makes me wonder how much stock they hold...

Hong Kong Silk continues to offer a variety of items with free international shipping, like a silk scarf for just $10.99. Their other items include silk pillowcase covers, a variety of boxers, briefs & panties; camisoles, nightgowns & robes.

Jewelry: Trader Lou* is awesome. I highly recommend joining their mailing list to find out about their specials. I ordered a $5 surprise pack they offered & I got a really cute silver charm. The $5 included international shipping - who can beat that? CeeGee* continues to have beautiful items & with shipping at just $5.00 worldwide (and just 50 cents for a second item), totally reasonable.

Cosmetics: Strawberry Net is having a sale & some of their items are 65% off - If you're thinking about buying make up, hair care products, or fragrances - check them out now. All of their prices include free shipping worldwide. The Pupa make up set I featured at $22 is now just $17(!)

Brabraland* is now also selling women's clothing - suits for $30 with an additional $13.40 shipping.

Gadgets: FocalPrice is running a Christmas sale with 99% of one item for every order over 99 cents. They choose the item and I believe it changes daily. DealExtreme continues to surprise me with new items (check out their New Arrivals section). I got their silly spoons last week - love them (collecting interesting spoons is a hobby of mine)!

eOutlet4U* which sells children’s clothing (OshKosh, Carters, Ralph Lauren & Disney, mostly) is running a 15% off sale on everything (not including shipping). You can only see their shipping costs once you put items in your cart, but I've found it runs around $12 for the first item and much less for subsequent items.

I added several links on the right - a whole section for glasses & contact lenses; PinkApple - a site that sells feminine products (like the difficult to obtain Gynol II contraceptive jelly, and a wide variety of feminine hygiene products, massage oils, ovulation & pregnancy tests, books and more); UndercoverCondoms - a site that deals almost exclusively with every type of condom I never knew existed (and those I'd heard about too). At both these sites, international shipping on your entire order is just $11.95.

Coming up next – where to buy fancy dresses for girls for prices you won’t believe.

* I am in no way affiliated with these sites & do not receive any payment or commissions from them

Baby gifts with international shipping

Who hasn’t needed to buy a baby gift and have it sent to someone?

Books always seem to be a good option – inexpensive, meaningful & don’t take up too much space. Here are some of the ones I really like.

Time for Bed by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jane Dyer. Runs just under $6.50 (including free international delivery). It’s a gentle book in which the various animals send their young to sleep. I especially like the cow who asks her calf, “What happened today that made you laugh?” This is a board book, probably for kids up to age 3.

Paul Zelinsky’s incredible “The Wheels on the Bus” book is one you shouldn’t miss. It’s got everything from an opening and closing bus door to windshield wipers that swish-swish and babies that cry as you pull their toes (gently, of course).

The illustrations are fabulous and there’s a whole other story going on in the book, so there’s always something new to notice, every time you read it.

This book is $18.50 (including free delivery worldwide) and worth every cent :-)

Glasses & contact lenses with international shipping

Buying glasses over the internet requires having measurements taken by your optometrist or ophthalmologist, in addition to having your exact prescription. Once you’ve done that, it’s mostly a matter of choosing what frames suit you and ordering. I’ve found it very practical to have extra pairs of glasses around, especially for kids – and if you can get them so inexpensively, it’s really worthwhile.

Optical4less has glasses starting at $15/pair. International shipping for a single pair is $8, but if you order 2 or more pairs, the shipping is free. They do charge an additional $59 if your cylinder is lower than -2.75 or higher than +2.75 and $3 for each degree of prism correction on each lens. Of course, they’ve also got other options that can make the glasses more expensive, but you can actually get away with 2 pairs for $30, including free international shipping, if you go for a no-frills look... Optical4less also sells Acuvue, Bausch&Lomb SofLens & FreshLook Colorblends contact lenses starting at $16.25 a box (although, interestingly, the links from this page take you to 1800contacts – which also ships internationally...

Goggles4u also sells prescription glasses and sunglasses. It seems like their search is easier to use (you can plug in the width, height, bridge & other measurements & it lets you know what frames meet your needs). The glasses I needed ended up being $29.99, including free shipping.

Zennioptical offers a complete pair of prescription eyeglasses starting at $8. This includes frames & lenses with full UV protection, anti scratch coating,;a glasses case & microfiber lens cleaning cloth. International shipping is $5 no matter how many pairs you buy! Having your glasses tinted costs under $5 and they’ve got pure titanium frames starting at $39.95.

Know of any others? Let me know!

Gadgets with free international shipping

In addition to Deal Extreme, which I've ordered from several times (and highly recommend), I recently got an email about FocalPrice. The email was from PayPal, which makes me think they're probably totally legit... They've got more USB fans than I knew existed & a selection of inexpensive watches like this one on the right. It runs $3.70 if you buy one, but just $3.41 if you buy three or four. The price continues to go down if you buy 5 or more. These sites are great if you’re looking for watch batteries, cell phone batteries, or any of those little batteries for car alarms, digital scales, etc. (I just got a 10-pack of the kind I needed from DealExtreme for $2.14.) They’ve also got a crazy selection of computer and other gadgets; ipod, nds & psp accessories – including chargers, carrying cases, etc. The stock is always growing, so it’s worth checking out the “New Arrivals” section every few days.

How can you resist this adorable 5” bear for $3.33 (including free international shipping) – and only $3.05 if you buy 3 or 4…

1freeaday is another one to check out. They offer one free item per day with $3.49 flat shipping. The other items on the site include free international delivery on every item. They’ve got a wide selection of items – from baby products and clothing to laptop keyboards, various cables, usb hubs and lingerie (yeah, I’m not quite sure how these fit together either). This picture (on the right) gave me a laugh, but the item itself looks pretty nice – a hood you can wear as a scarf when you go inside -it’s $8.27 including worldwide free shipping.

And what girl wouldn’t love this pink tutu that costs just $10.07, including shipping anywhere in the world? (Currently only available in 3-4yr size).

Bras with international shipping

Brand-name bras tend to be expensive everywhere, but especially when you're outside of the US, prices can be outrageous. Here are some places I've found where you can get not just decent but AMAZING prices on bras.

Brabraland (funny name, I know) on eBay sells a wide variety of bras - Bali, Barely There, Bestform, Champion, Curvation, Danskin, Exquisite Form, Famous Maker, Frederick's, Gilligan & O'Malley, Goddess, Hanes, Just My Size, Lane Bryant, Lily of France, Lilyette, Maidenform, Olga, Oscar de la Renta, Playtex, Prospirit, Rene Rofe, Secret Treasures, Vanity Fair, Vassarette, Wacoal, Warner's and WonderBra. She also sells other undergarments - briefs, camisoles, lingerie and more.

Playtex bras, for example, start at $6.99 - that's the minimum you can bid. If you want to buy right away, you'll have to pay an additional $2. I waited it out and 'won' several at the starting price. Shipping for the first bra is $8. After that, it's a little under $4 each. The ones I got came with the original tags, including the price - $26(!) - the total I paid for 3 was $37, including shipping!

Other options are:
Natural figures offers low cost international shipping - 5.95GBP. Make sure to compare the prices - I found that their exchange rates weren't exactly the same as the bank (when I was checking, it was cheapest to pay in Pounds) - their prices start at $11 for a bra.
Bigger bras caters to women from size 32AA to 56K(!) Their shipping cost is $40 - pretty steep unless you need something pretty specific...
Freshpair that offers flat rate international shipping (to Israel, for example, it starts at $9.95) - look for it at the top of your screen when you load their page.

Vitamins and Supplements with International Shipping

My brother, Ben, introduced me to this site - Vitacost.com (get $10 off if you sign up via this link) - that sells vitamins, dietary supplements, herbs, diet products, bath & beauty products and more. Not only are their prices amazing, they ship internationally for just $5. (You can see a list of the countries they ship to on this page). Ben said that their home brand, VSI, usually comes out the cheapest.

Vitacost also sells kosher vitamins, vegetarian Omega 3 & they provide a variety of tools, including recommendations for what vitamins you should be taking based on a questionnaire you fill out (I forgot to fill in my height, leaving it at 1 foot tall, and was informed that I'm overweight - you might not want to miss that field :-))

Another awesome site is iHerb (Get $5 off your first order if you order via this link) - They offer a wide variety of food products, vitamins and more - and offer really cheap international shipping - just $4 for a package. It's limited to 4lbs, which means that you can't order that much, but it comes super-fast (usually) and packaged nicely.

Wishing you all good health!

Skin Care, Make Up, Hair Care & Perfumes with Free International Shipping

One of the things expats miss most is the products they used to use – knowing exactly what you want makes it pretty easy to shop online – whether for yourself or for someone you want to send a gift to.
StrawberryNet Cosmetics sells skin care products, make up and fragrances for men & women – all with free shipping anywhere in the world. They’ve got literally tens of brands – Ahava, Aramis, Bare Escentuals, Biotherm, Chanel, Christian Dior, Clarins, Clinique, Decleor, Dermalogica, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Guerlain, Guinot, Hugo Boss, L’Occitane, Loreal, Lancome, Nina Ricci, Payot, Shiseido, Stendhal and Yves Saint Laurent – to name just a small sample!

This Pupa Make up set (Diamond Pochette) that includes all over powder, 6 types of eyeshadow (2 glitter) and 6 lip colors costs $22 – including international shipping!
StrawberryNet currently has a deal where new customers get a free Stila make up set (with a choice of colors) with any purchase over $25.
Feel Unique is a similar store, also with free shipping worldwide - an example of one of their products is Lancome Hydra Zen Day Cream Set for just $33.15. If you'd like the site to only show products that ship to your country, select the currency - in the box that opens, a checkbox allows you to filter the items in the site, so you see only ones that can actually be shipped to your country!

Pashmina Shawls – with free international delivery

I just came across this shop – Pashmina International - that sells a variety of Pashminas and Cashmere shawls. Their shawls are all made out of Cashmere goat wool and silk. The Pashminas run $27.40, Merino wool shawls are $31.25 and pure Cashmere shawls are $76.50. Free worldwide shipping means that’s the final price.

They’ve got a nice variety of colors and also provide information on the site to help you distinguish a real Pashmina from a fake. Having recently been in London and seen Pashminas anywhere from 5GBP to 115GBP, this would have been interesting information to have.

Interesting too is the fact that they support the International Breast Cancer Research Foundation and donate 5% of every sale that includes a pink Pashmina… (see here).

Jewelry with free shipping worldwide

I love jewelry. Two summers ago my big kids and I bought over 2000 pieces of jewelry on eBay – pearl necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings; bracelets from Tibet, earrings and bracelets from Peru and much more. We had a blast deciding what to buy and waiting for the packages. We sold some stuff, discovered other to be junk and used quite a lot for Bat Mitzvah and other presents. It turned out to be a good investment – we’ve more than made back what we spent AND we still have tons of jewelry left… and with four girls in the house, there are plenty of people to wear the jewelry too. I plan to write a guide to buying on eBay, since I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it, but for now you’ll have to settle for this tip.

Trader Lou, Merchant Adventurer (that’s what it says on the site) is a really cool shop. They’ve got a wide variety of sterling silver jewelry at totally affordable prices and they ship worldwide for free…

The Bellisima Cinderella pendant on the right runs $28.53, including international shipping.

By the way, Trader Lou doesn’t only have  jewelry. They’ve also got gemstones, beads, shoes, handbags and other items. You can sign up to the newsletter to get information about sales or specials. Enjoy!

Silk with Free Worldwide Shipping

The Hong Kong Silk Co. sells a variety of items on Amazon - all with free international shipping! Check out this Sensual Slip Set, for example that runs $29.99.

They've got many other items -
Red Paisley Silk Scarf for $19.99
Japanese Silk Kimono Robe for $99.99
Silk Bow Camisole for $54.99 in either red or marigold yellow.

Amazon has a fairly good overseas shipping policy
for books and their prices are often competitive.

Free International Shipping - CeeGee Jewellery

If you haven't heard of Etsy, you should. It's a marketplace for craftspeople from all over the world & they've got some incredible things and amazing deals.


CeeGee Jewellery who has many beautiful items, is offering free international shipping on all of her items during August.

Check out this Opal pendant for $27. She even has a few items that are under $15. Not bad for a gift (or a gift for yourself), especially when it includes shipping.

Shops that ship internationally - Welcome

I was born and raised in the good ol' USA, where shopping is entertainment. On Sunday afternoons, we hit the mall (if we were lucky) and going shopping with my mom was fun. The shopping where I live now is somewhat less exciting, more expensive & with less variety. I've spent loads of time searching for a resource for online shops that ship internationally, especially ones that ship for free and I've never found any such resource that doesn't try to tack on various fees.

So far, I've found quite a few shops that do ship internationally & in this blog, I'll share them with you. Each post will include at least one shop or one deal that's actually reasonable. I mean, Land's End ships internationally, but their fees start at $28 (for countries other than the US, Canada & Japan) - so that doesn't cut it for me.

If you've got any recommendations, send them over & I'll make sure to give you credit.

Here's the first: Book Depository - Free International Shipping on every item. They have a wide variety of books, for example:

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram (and just happens to be one of my favorite books) for just $2.93.

and they've got Origami paper starting at $3.55 - and remember, these prices include free worldwide delivery - the price you see is the price you get*. I've ordered from them a few times so far and I'm impressed.

*Prices quoted based on today's exchange rate from British Pound to US Dollar. Prices fluctuate with the exchange rate.