How to set up an iTunes account with US billing address
Apple has among the strictest rules that are geared to preventing fraud but mostly to protect their US market. Although any nationality can have an iTunes accounts, the US iTunes version is where really everyone wants to download from since it has much more to offer, especially movies and the iBooks for the iPad. If you have tried to set up a US iTunes account you probably gave up pretty fast. It accepts US billing addresses only and only US billing addresses. Here is the solution: the US Unlocked Card. This is a virtual pre-paid Discover debit card with US billing address. The card costs $10 to create. As soon as you have loaded the card with the desired amount you can start making online payments with it. For iTunes, however, we have found out that the balance on the card has to be at least $51 for the card to be accepted during the account set up. The use of an IP shield is crucial!
Step by step instruction:
1) Sign up with US Unlocked, if you haven't already
2) Apply for the US Unlocked Card by paying $10 through Paypal
3) When card is assigned (usually within 1 business day) load card with desired amount. Load at least $57 (=$62.46 including loading fees), to have the minimum of $51 on the card once transaction and maintenance fees have been deducted. Load payments are done throughPaypal as well.
4) Once the funds have cleared (you will receive a notification from NXpay), you can register the card to the iTunes account:
- Use Hotspot Shield to enter the iTunes site
- You might need to start fresh and create a new iTunes account
Trouble shooting:
When iTunes says 'please, enter valid security code', it means that they are not accepting the card. Check the following:
- Card has a balance of min. $51?
- You have used a vpn connection/ip shield?
- You have filled in all the data exactly the way they appear on the US Unlocked Card page?
If the answer to all these question is Yes and you still cannot register the card:
- Have you tried to make any other payments with the card in the last 48 hours? If so, that store might have put a temporary hold on the funds, causing the available funds to be insufficient/less than the minimum of $51.
If not: please, contact support@nxpay.com and they can help you out.
iPad for sale April 3, pre-order March 12 (How to order from outside the US)
After many speculations on the exact date the Apple iPad will sell, the official news todays is that the Wifi-only version will start selling April 3rd through Apple online and authorized resellers. Pre-orders are taken from March 12th onward on the Apple website, orders will have to be collected from the Apple store on April 3rd. Can you imagine the lines snaking around the block and beyond?! The 3G version will start selling late April.
No details are known in regard to the maximum number of iPads that can be pre-ordered per person and to be collected from the store on April 3rd.
The international online shopper who wants to be a proud owner of an iPad before the device becomes available overseas (late-April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, coinciding with the release of 3G model) if even, will do best to buy the iPad through authorized dealers like B&H and MacConnection. All you need is:
- US Unlocked Card with enough balance on it
- US Unlocked shipping address
- VPN connection through Hotspot Shield
The US Unlocked Card can be applied for here by paying $10. It is a pre-paid virtual Discover debit card with your own registered US billing address. Cards are usually assigned within one business day. Once loaded with the desired amount it can be used to make online payments on websites that only accept US credit cards. The payments for card loads are done through Paypal and take 5-7 business days to clear.
To be ready to purchase the iPad on April 3rd, now is a good time to apply for the card and load it. Make sure you register your shipment on https://www.usunlocked.com/ship_it.php to receive your US Unlocked shipping address that you will use when placing the order. US Unlocked will receive your iPad on your behalf and send it to you in your home country after payment of the shipping cost
The use of a VPN connection when accessing the site where you will be purchasing the iPad, provides you with a US IP address: the finishing touch to a seamless transaction. Download the software for free: Windows Mac.
For more information and news on the iPad stay posted or contact info at usunlocked dot com.
How to shop on popular US websites from outside the US-The work arounds
When we started our company back in 2008 we did not name it US Unlocked for nothing. Unlocking online shopping in the USA for the international shopper is what we are dedicated to. Through trial and error as well as listening carefully to our users' experiences we already unlocked quite a few US websites. Thanks to "unlocking" the Barnes & Noble website people around the world are reading books on their Nook and downloading eBooks daily and seamlessly from the B&N website.
There are so many other US websites out there, that seemingly make it impossible for anyone outside America to order from. We managed to find out the 'work around' them and want to share that information with you.
In general there are two golden rules when it comes to smooth ordering on US websites:
1) Billing and shipping addresses should be the same.
Different addresses for billing and shipping raise a flag and especially for websites with strict fraud prevention control this is an immediate reason to not accept or cancel the order. Billing address is the address registered to your credit card, so the address where you receive your statements. Many websites use AVS, address verification software. When the billing address you submitted does not match with the credit card according to the AVS, the order is canceled by the webstore. Not every webstore uses AVS, however. Especially since AVS is only for US, UK and Canadian addresses. So these websites will accept your order as long as the billing and shipping address are the same.
2) Use a vpn connection/IP shield
Many websites monitor the IP location of their visitors and only allow the ones with US IP address to purchase. This can be easily solved by using for example the free software from Hotspot Shield. It works as a tunnel and converts your IP address into a US IP address. Using a vpn connection also provides https encryption of your time and actions on the web, protection against identity theft and "snoopers" at wifi location. For customers in countries with censorship, an IP shield provides access to otherwise blocked sites.
If you use these two golden rules, you already get a long way. Still there are some more things to know in order to successfully purchase from some very popular websites.We have already discussed the step by step order process of the Nook, the Que proReader and the Google Nexus One in previous blog posts, but here is a list of the top 5 websites most purchased from and how to successfully place your order:
1) iTunes
Apple has among the strictest rules that are geared to preventing fraud but mostly to protect their US market. Although any nationality can have an iTunes accounts, the US iTunes version is where really everyone wants to download from since it has much more to offer, especially movies. If you have tried to set up a US iTunes account you probably gave up pretty fast. It accepts US billing addresses only and only US billing addresses. Here is the solution: the US Unlocked Card. This is a virtual pre-paid Discover debit card with US billing address. The card costs $10 to create. As soon as you have loaded the card with the desired amount you can start making online payments with it. For iTunes, however, we have found out that the balance on the card has to be at least $51 for the card to be accepted during the account set up. The use of an IP shield is crucial!
2) Gap
Gap along with its other stores: Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta and Piperlime live by the first golden rule and will accept your order as long as the billing and shipping address are the same. You can pay with your own (foreign) credit card but will fill in the US Unlocked address, provided to you at the time of the shipment registration, as both the shipping and billing address.
3) Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren does accept credit cards from quite a few countries. If your country is on the list of accepted countries, you can pay for your order using your own credit card and billing address. Use the shipping address provided to your during your shipment registration. If your country is not on the list, you can opt for either the US Unlocked Card or our Personal Shopping service.
4) Macy's & Bloomingdale's
Being that these two stores are in the same corporation they handle fraud prevention the exact same way. Their rules are slightly different than others and we are just getting to the bottom of them. It looks like only US billing addresses are accepted, so here you will need the US Unlocked Card (or opt for Personal Shopping) but there is a tricky part. The billing address first used when placing an order at either Macy's or Bloomingdale's gets recorded and stays with you. So, if you place a new order using a different credit card it is still ok as long as the card has the same billing address. If the billing address is not the same as the one you used during your first order, the purchase is canceled. The best thing to do in this case is opening a brand new account with either Macy's or Bloomingdale's. Don't forget the IP shield either.
5) Zappos
Zappos is one of the best places to order shoes from, because of the enormous variety, free shipping and great customer service. 90% of all shoes shipped through US Unlocked come from Zappos. They will accept your (international) credit card as long as you fill in the billing address like this (taken from Zappos website):
- Enter your street address on Address Line 1.
- Enter your City, County or Provience, and Postal Code on Address Line 2.
- Enter your Country for the city.
- Enter AA for the state.
- Enter 11111 for the zip code.
You will use the US Unlocked address provided to you at the time of shipment registration as your shipping address.
As always we strive to keeping you up to date and to unlocking more US websites. If you have any experiences with certain US websites that can help unlocking them for other customers as well, do let us know!
Rumor: iPad orders may start this week!
According to today's rumor, spread by Appadvice, Apple might start taking orders for the iPad as early as this Thursday February 25. Appadvice (previously AppleiPhoneApps.com) is not exactly known to be a reliable source. But they claim to be quoting "reliable sources" "familiar with the matter". Or is it just the fact that Steve Jobs had said in January that the Wi-Fi-enabled iPads would arrive 60 days after the announcement (sometime before March 29) with the 3
G-enabled iPad arriving 30 days later? Who knows. The fact is that everyone picked up on the rumor, including PCWorld.com.
Whether Thursday will be the day or not, it is unclear whether there will be any order limitations like with the launch of the iPhone which make it impossible to order from outside the US (which is what Apple wants).
The iPad will initially not be sold through authorized dealers like B&H and MacConnection. This is as much as we have found out.
I guess we just have to try not to hold our breath and just wait calmly for the green light. As always count on US Unlocked to stay informed on any breaking news.
Update 3/5: iPad for sale April 3, pre-order March 12 (How to order from outside the US)
The iPad: coveted before it even existed
For the past few years many rumored about the mythical 'Apple tablet'. It was even given a name: iSlate. It was unclear if the device was ever going to exist, but it had everyone going crazy anyhow.
Apple is just a master in creating hypes, carefully leaking bits and pieces. Just enough for the fans to start talking about it. They must be listening in to all that is said to figure out what it is that people want and they create just that. No not just that, they go way further. Consumers are practically lining up for the product before the new product is even confirmed to exist or released.
So the Apple tablet does exist now. It is not called iSlate, but iPad and it is everything from a computer to an eReader. It is not for sale yet, but it is a rock star already. Steven Colbert used the iPad to read out the nominees. How cool is that!!
US Unlocked has been overwhelmed with emails and tweets from international online shoppers around the globe with questions whether the iPad will be available through US Unlocked, since the iPad will first only be sold in the US. Apple would not be Apple if they did not everything to avoid the device to be sold across the border. Luckily the iPad will also be sold (starting at $499) through authorized dealers MacConnection and B&H, be it probably a week or so later. Once the green light is given and the iPad is for sale, our team at US Unlocked will be working day and night to help our users to shop for the iPad and ship it to them internationally.
Great news for the international user is that the format of the iBooks (Apple will start iBook library) is EPUB, according to this blog post.
There is no official release date yet. Apparently, Apple is waiting for the iPad to be authorized before it can be sold. There is no doubt about it that the iPad has already become to most coveted gadget of 2010!
QUE proReader for business use (and how to order from outside the US)
Imagine a paperless briefcase while you have all your documents within reach with a touch of just one button. Utopia? No, this is the QUE (pronounced 'Q').
The QUE was presented this past week at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas by Plastic Logic as the world's first proReader.
The device, which is impossibly thin, was designed for the mobile business professional who needs to be able to have access to his docs at any time and in any place. The QUE works with any smartphone, pc and Mac through WIFI or bluetooth and can hold up to 35,000 documents (4 GB version) or 75,000 documents (8 GB version).
Besides access to files, the user also has access to his/her email, read news papers and magazines and can download (B&N) ebooks onto it. All of this is done by swiping and pressing that one button. "Don't print it, Que it!", is one of the slogans.
The QUE device is made entirely of plastic and uses unique trueVue technology for that richer and lighter reading experience.
The selling price is $ 649 for the 4 GB and $ 799 for the 8 GB and will be released April 15th (can be pre-ordered now).
The QUE proreader is only sold in the USA but US Unlocked makes it possible to own a QUE if you do not live in the US.
Here are the steps:
Firstly, if you haven't already: sign up with US Unlocked.
Purchasing a QUE:
1) Register your shipment on the Ship It page of the US Unlocked website to be provided with the US shipping address for this order.(you can also add purchases from other websites to the same shipment)
2) Choose the QUE that is right for you.
3) Use the address that was provided to you by US Unlocked for both the shipping AND the billing address on the B&N website, while using your own credit card data.
5) Submit the order and wait for your order confirmation (please forward to info@usunlocked.com)
6) You are notified of the receipt at the US Unlocked warehouse. After payment of the international shipping cost your QUE is sent to you. (the estimated shipping weight for the QUE is 4lbs).
Many users prefer to use the personal shopping service as well where US Unlocked simply pre-orders the QUE for you.
Check out this demo video
How to order a Google Nexus One phone from outside the US
Since last week, when Google launched its phone Nexus One it became the hottest new gadget instantly. Luckily for the international gadget lover, Google also released an unlocked version. There are however a few tricks to become the owner of this phone when you are ordering it from outside the US. Follow the easy steps below and you are guaranteed to play with the Nexus One features in no time.
1) If you haven't already, open a free account with US Unlocked as well as a Google Checkout account.
2) Register your Nexus One order on the Ship It page of US Unlocked to get your free US shipping address that you will use to order the phone.
3) Access the Nexus One webstore through a VPN connection that shields your IP location. (example: Hotspotshield).
4) Check the first option: "insert your own SIM card" for $529.
5) Pay for the phone through Google Checkout.
6) US Unlocked will contact you when the Nexus one has been delivered at the warehouse. Once the international shipping cost are settled you will receive your phone within 3 to 5 business days. (The weight of the package is 3 lbs)
Easy does it!
Of course you can also opt to have US Unlocked order the phone for you through the Personal Shopping service or find one on Ebay.
How to order a Nook and download books from Barnes and Noble from outside the US
The Nook has been the most shipped item by far this past December through US Unlocked. Many first adopters craving to try out the Nook have found their way to us and are now reading their books on it.
Now that the first reviews have been on the web and they have been very positive, people that were reluctant at first are now also getting keen on owning a Nook eReader.
B&N only sells the devices inside the US, but if you follow the few easy steps below, you will be able to place your order seamlessly:
Firstly, if you haven't already: sign up with US Unlocked.
Purchasing a Nook:
1) Start shopping at B&N and fill up your basket, when ready for check out..
2) Register the content of your basket on the Ship It page of our website (you can also add purchases from other websites to the same shipment)
3) After submitting the registration you are provided with a unique US shipping address for this shipment
4) Use this address for both the shipping AND the billing address on the B&N website, while using your own credit card data.
5) Submit the order and wait for your order confirmation (please forward to info@usunlocked.com)
6) We notify you of the receipt and charge you the shipping cost to your country. After payment your shipment is sent to you. The dimensional weight the shipping cost will be charged on is 3lbs for just a Nook and 4lbs for a Nook and a cover.
7) Allow US Unlocked to register your Nook on the B&N website. This can only be done from US soil. Be sure your account details are handled with the utmost care. (READ UPDATE BELOW on registration outside the USA).
Downloading eBooks:
1) sign up with a vpn provider(eg. hotspotshield). This is because the system checks for your ip location and only US is accepted.
2) go to the B&N website through your vpn connection that works like a tunnel and converts your IP address into a US one.
3) choose the eBooks of your choice and pay for them with your own creditcard while using the same shipping and billing info you used for the purchase of the Nook. If you did not buy the Nook through US Unlocked, apply for the US Unlocked Card ($10). The card provides you with your own US billing address.
This has been tested and it works!
If you need more information, please contact info@usunlocked.com.
Update:
1) Apparently the Nook can now be registered from outside the US by using the new 1.2 Firmware. Read more here.
2) Import duties and VAT to the EU countries appear to be around $60
3) In case a purchase of eBooks is initially cancelled, some users have refreshed the library on the Nook before successfully downloading B&N eBooks through wifi.
Good Times in London: Networking, Blogs and Arm Candy
So, I am currently in London promoting US Unlocked and having a fabulous time meeting great people. So far I finally met Patricia Davidson, the author of the Shopaholic's Guides, online shopping columnist, e-retail consultant and founder of thesiteguide.com. I also met Lisa and Beth, the two girls behind the most comprehensive and very successful blogs of http://www.aiguamedia.com/ in the UK, like OSOYOU.com and the CatwalkQueen. They have started a new site called The BeautyQuest which will officially launch in February but is already receiving raving reviews. They had a few great ideas on how US Unlocked could be involved. Will keep you posted!
Anyway, I could not come here without bringing some goodies from the US. Patricia was instantly in love with Kate Spade arm candy and the bloggers loved their ‘Little Brown Bag’ with Smashbox make-up gifts, Hershey kisses and Bloomingdale’s keychain.
Lunch was at Franco’s on Jermyn and St James, spritzers were enjoyed at the Polo Bar (Westbury Hotel).
Additionally, US Unlocked was featured today on The-Beauty-Pages and in the Belfast telegraph!
Barnes & Noble E-reader To Be Revealed
The Nook is the name of the e-reader that has yet to be unveiled by Barnes & Noble, but the news has leaked to the press in a major way. It is said to be revealed today at 4PM EST on www.nook.com and will cost $259. So far the Barnes & Noble website does not mention a word, so we will just have to wait and see.
Barnes & Noble does not ship internationally, but luckily through US Unlocked anyone can still own this sleek Nook.
Update: Nook has launched! Love the logo:
nook
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Recent Posts
- How to set up an iTunes account with US billing address
- iPad for sale April 3, pre-order March 12 (How to order from outside the US)
- How to shop on popular US websites from outside the US-The work arounds
- Rumor: iPad orders may start this week!
- The iPad: coveted before it even existed
