Thinking about buying a new laptop, but you do not know where to get it? We have a list of the best places to buy a laptop for you. And there is more! We also add tips on how to save even more money on your next laptop purchase.
All of the following stores are US-based. Anyway, even if you live outside of the US, we can take care of the shipping from the USA to any country. More about this later in this post.
Table of Contents
- Are The Biggest Online Stores Really The ‘Best’?
- The Best Places To Buy A Laptop In The USA
- Extra Tips – How to Get Laptops Even Cheaper?
- Buying A Laptop FAQ
- How to Ship Laptop From The USA?
- Conclusion
Are The Biggest Online Stores Really The ‘Best’?
You probably expect that we are going to recommend stores like Amazon, Best Buy, New Egg, Overstock, or Walmart, right? Well, you are wrong! Although you may be lucky to order from these stores hassle-free (and in our store guides you find out how), we did the hard work for you and found smaller online stores that take care of their customers. We took a look at their Trustpilot rating and customer reviews across different platforms.
In the following table, we did a quick comparison of one of the biggest online stores with electronics in the US with the lesser-known ones.
| Store | Website | Trustpilot rating* |
|---|---|---|
| B&H Photo-Video | bandh.com | 4,9 |
| iBUYPOWER | ibuypower.com | 4,3 |
| TigerDirect | tigerdirect.com | 4,1 |
| XOTIC PC | xoticpc.com | 4 |
| Amazon | amazon.com | 2,3 |
| New Egg | newegg.com | 2 |
| Walmart | walmart.com | 1,7 |
| eBay | ebay.com | 1,5 |
| Best Buy | bestbuy.com | 1,4 |
| Overstock | overstock.com | 1,4 |
The Best Places To Buy A Laptop In The USA
So, what are the best places to buy a laptop? We selected the five stores with the best Trustpilot rating. We don’t say the other ones are bad but we believe these are better.
1. B&H Photo-Video – Top-Notch Online Store
Website: bhphotovideo.com
We were actually very surprised when we read B&H Photo-Video Trustpilot reviews. B&H does excellent work. They are a team of experts that operates since 1973 already. If you are passionate about “photography, film, music, and audio to art and technology, creating and imagining,” this is the place to go. You can choose from cheap laptops and computers, as well as from high-end ones.
2. iBUYPOWER
Website: ibuypower.com
iBUYPOWER is more about gaming laptops & PCs then about your next workstation. However, if you need a machine that handles CPU & GPU demanding tasks, you may take advantage of their offer. They also sell computer and laptop accessories like gaming chairs, external storages, monitors, etc.
3. TigerDirect
Website: tigerdirect.com
More than 10 000 laptops, yes, that is a huge offer of laptops you can choose from. And we don’t even talk about their 8000+ PCs offer! TigerDirect accepts PayPal and Amazon Pay, as well as credit cards.
Note: It is possible that you won’t be allowed to shop at TigerDirect from outside of the US. You will need to use a VPN service in order to get access to their online store.
4. XOTIC PC
Website: xoticpc.com
XOTIC PC specializes in custom laptops and computers. What it means is that before you buy a laptop, you can select internal components. This is a huge dealbreaker for some more demanding laptop users. Especially for gamers or people that need high computing power.
XOTIC PC customizes not only the internals but also the externals, ie. you can let them modify the chassis, keyboard, and more. Thanks to them, you can own a truly unique laptop computer.
Extra Tips – How To Get Laptops Even Cheaper?
Try Refurbished Laptops
Refurbished laptops are basically returned laptops that have been repaired and are sold again. Usually, they are much cheaper than brand new ones. If you have never heard of this option, we recommend you check out our fully dedicated blog post about refurbished electronics where you find the most popular refurbished electronics online stores.
Apple Refurbished
Website: apple.com
Planet Express guide for Apple international shipping
If you’re an Apple fan or you think about buying an Apple MacBook, you can buy it for much cheaper. On the Apple website, you can find refurbished pieces that (almost) match the brand new ones but their price is often even a few hundred dollars lower! Sounds too good to be true? Visit the Apple Refurbished online store and see for yourself.
eBay – One Of The Biggest Online Marketplace
Website: ebay.com
Planet Express guide for eBay international shipping
There are more than 200 of thousands of used laptops on eBay. So, if you don’t want to buy a brand new laptop, you can take advantage of eBay. Nevertheless, be very careful before you send money to somebody. Always check the sellers rating. Also, if you are not sure about the condition of the laptop, contact the seller in order to get more pictures and more detailed info about the product.
Buying A Laptop FAQ
There is no simple answer to this question because the prices in different online stores vary from day to day. We recommend you pick one specific model (or a few models) you want to buy. Then compare the prices between different online stores. The lowest price also doesn’t mean you get the best deal. Often, you can get gifts for free or less hassle when returning the laptop if you choose a more expensive online store.
It depends on your preference. If you prefer the lowest price possible – you need to do a comparison between different online stores selling laptops.
However, you should also consider the store reputation and refund policy. Sometimes, you may find a very cheap laptop and later you find out that the online store has problems with accepting claims.
The best months to buy a laptop are definitely June to September and November.
June to September are good especially because of the Back-to-School deals. And no, you don’t have to be a student to get discounts on your next laptop!
November is great for shopping for electronics because you can take advantage of Black Friday deals.
Also, you can take advantage of big product launches. For example, when Apple releases a new MacBook (usually in September after their keynote), you can take advantage of it and buy older models that depreciate in time and even more due to the new MacBook release.
If you are not sure how to choose a new laptop, we recommend PCMag. You will find there a lot of blog posts and reviews of consumer electronics and especially laptops.
We had Best Buy in our selection especially because of their wide offer. However, their Trustpilot reviews are bad especially due to lack of proper customer support. So, we removed them from our selection. Instead of them, we added plenty of less known online stores that sell a laptop.
There are people that have good experiences with buying a laptop at Walmart. But, there is also a lot of people whose experience was exactly the opposite.
Walmart is often criticized for bad customer support. Nevertheless, even at Walmart, you can be satisfied with the purchase of your new laptop.
Yes, it is safe to buy a laptop online. Nevertheless, you have to buy it from reliable online stores and sellers. Check our list of the best stores selling laptops & computers so you can spare time finding the right one.
Once you choose the online store for buying your next laptop, make sure you visit our blog post dedicated to discounts. Take advantage of the best laptop deals in the USA!
How to Ship Laptop From The USA?
Laptop prices in the USA are often lower than anywhere in the world. There is no wonder that buying a laptop from the USA is attractive to people from countries like India, for example. Shipping a laptop from the USA to any country in the world is easy. There are 2 main ways how you can do it.
1. Ship It Directly To Your Delivery Address
Yes, this is the most convenient way how to get the laptop from the USA to your country. But, there is a catch! Not every online store offers international shipping. If the online store you want to order from ships to your country – congratulations. Otherwise, you may take advantage of the package forwarding service.
2. Use a Package Forwarder
You can get shipping from the USA to almost any country and from almost any online store by using a package forwarding company like Planet Express. It works in 3 simple steps:
- You get a US address so you can order the laptop to this address. And, if you activate our Premium Mail Box, you won’t pay any sales tax!
- Once we receive your package in our warehouse, you will get a notification email from us.
- You complete the customs declaration online and select the shipping method from the USA to your country.
This process may sound complicated but believe us, it is easy. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that you may be required to pay for import fees. However, this also applies to the first option – direct shipping from the online store.
Conclusion
We provided you with the comparison of the biggest and lesser-known laptop online stores. In the end, it depends on you which one you choose, however, always keep in mind to consider not only the price of the product but also the refund policy, quality of customer service, etc. We believe, our selection of the best places to buy a laptop is going to help you when deciding where to buy your next laptop.
If your budget is short, feel free to take advantage of our Extra tips. We have also answered the frequently asked question and we are prepared to help you if you want to export a laptop from the USA to your country. Feel free to contact us.