Buy Directly from Online Stores
The first and simplest method to buy stuff online is directly from the stores. All you need to do is to check out with your credit card and Malaysian mailing address. Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted worldwide, and many online retailers deliver internationally (it is the 20th century after all). Shipping is expensive due to the long distance, but in under 2 weeks you’ll be the proud owner of rare items that can’t be found / are too expensive in our local stores.
Online stores I’ve bought from with good experience:
Buy Through Middleman
Most stores including Amazon.com will ship items internationally. Sometimes though certain items can’t be shipped overseas because they are sold through Amazon but shipped from the merchant. For example, this super-cool geek tshirt is sold through Amazon but is shipped by ThinkGeek, and ThinkGeek won’t ship to Malaysia. (Yes I bought that online too).
Can't ship to Malaysia
Update 9 July in response to Winnie: Amazon will also state on some pages if it is not able to ship outside of the US. You will also need to provide your address when you create an Amazon account. With your address, Amazon will also tell you when you try to buy something that cannot be shipped to your country.
In situations like this, you’ll need a middleman in the US to receive the packages and then ship it to you. There are quite a few options here like HopShopGo / ComGateway, vsHUB and vPOST Asia. Many online merchants offer free shipping domestically within the US, so you only have to pay for the shipping to Malaysia through one of the options above.
HopShopGo a.k.a. ComGateway
I’ve only used HopShopGo before because they partner with PayPal and give PayPal customers a 10% discount. Unfortunately this means that HopShopGo only accepts PayPal as a method of payment. However, I’ve found their rates to be reasonable. As a rule of thumb, the shipping fees are about 40-50% the value of the product. Looking at their shipping rates, I think vsHUB is more expensive. Also, I usually buy a few products together to save on the shipping fees.
The biggest drawback for using these middleman is that you don’t know what the final cost for shipping to Malaysia will be. They all provide shipping rate calculators but you won’t know what kind of box the retailer will pack your items in, and the shipping cost depends on that box. Don’t buy if you’re on a tight budget
Import and Custom Duties
Some items will incur import and custom duties. If that’s the case, the DHL/UPS/FedEx guy will collect money from you when he delivers your packages.
At the end of the day, shopping online may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But for those who want to, where there’s a will there’s a way. Happy shopping!
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