It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Studio McGee. From the minute I watched Dream Home Makeover (in one sitting obviously), I’ve been obsessed with the Studio McGee aesthetic. Since launching an interiors Instagram account I’ve gone on to discover many more interior designers and homeware brands that nail the modern traditional look I love, but recreating that style in the UK has been difficult. Until now.
Finding myself frustrated with how hard (and expensive!) it was to find certain homewares in the UK, I looked into the option of having items shipped from the US instead. Studio McGee’s online store, McGee & Co, don’t offer UK shipping but thanks to a friend on Instagram (@laurensnihome) I discovered MyUS. I signed up with them and had my very first McGee & Co order at my door in under 2 weeks.
(This post has been written in collaboration with MyUs and contains affiliate links)
How does MyUS work?
MyUS allows you to shop online as if you were a US customer. You simply sign up, (free Premium membership for a year or Business membership for 3 months exclusively via this link!), get given an instant US delivery address & use it at checkout when shopping with your favourite US stores.
(That’s McGee & Co and Shoppe Amber Interiors for me, obviously!)
When your items arrive at the MyUS facility, they check them over, complete the customs paperwork and send you a quote with several options for international shipping. You pick one. They post the items. The goodies come to you. It’s that simple!
This clever service therefore opens up a whole host of shopping options that those of us outside the US couldn’t access before. If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to buy something that only offers State-side delivery – this is the solution. You can even consolidate packages from several stores into one shipment and enjoy huge savings on international shipping.
The great news, however, is that MyUS have offered Our Travel Home readers the exclusive saving of 20% off all shipments for the first 3 months (90 days) after you sign-up with my link.
Simply,
- Sign-up for a Premium or Business membership—FREE— via this link
- Shop all the US stores
- Enter the promo code Jayne20 when submitting a ship request
- Ship and save 20%!
Essential things to know about shopping with MyUS
I’ve shopped and shipped with my MyUS several times now and here are a few of my top tips.
- If you know the approximate weight of items you want to buy you can get an estimated cost of shipping via the MyUS shipping calculator. Some websites include the weight in the item description but sometimes you have to ask nicely. (I literally DM’d Shoppe Amber Interiors to ask the weight of a side table & they replied the same day.)
- The shipping calculator works for packages up to up to 80 linear inches (that’s length + width + height). This is about the size of an ottoman or side table! You can ship larger furniture with MyUS but this counts as an oversized shipment and can be pricey.
- Make sure you screenshot a detailed receipt of your purchases. You’ll need to upload this to your MyUS account so they know what to expect at their facility and what information to give customs for you.
- You will need to pay VAT on your purchases. For the UK this is 20% of the cost of items and shipping. (You might want to sign up for sale alerts to off-set this which is what I did!)
MyUS give you the option to pay VAT upfront rather than upon arrival in the UK. I did this on my first order and it meant the parcel got here much quicker as there were no hold ups in customs. This option is not available, however, for the budget shipping service, so you will pay a bit more for shipping.
BUT
On one of my recent orders, I went for the budget shipping service and opted to pay VAT on arrival in the UK. When the bill came through I discovered FedEx charge a £12.75 handling fee! So, it’s worth checking how much more it will cost to ship with taxes paid upfront as the difference may be less than FedEx’s charges anyway.
There is a way to avoid this charge altogether though and that’s if the value of your items are less than £135. In this instance, MyUS have to charge you VAT upfront (new EU rules) and you can use the most budget shipping option too.
What I’ve bought from the US & how much it cost to ship
I know a lot of you came here just to see my latest haul. Well, here it is..
McGee & Co:
Oversized cotton throw
Mira pillow cover
Faux fern drop-in
Distressed terracotta bowl
Shoppe Amber Interiors:
Braided tray
Anthia dish
Driftwood candle
I also ordered a metal table lamp from the Studio McGee for Target Threshold range that got damaged between leaving the US and arriving here. I’ve raised a claim with MyUS who are looking into it.
My favourite things are definitely the Mira pillow cover from McGee & Co that I’ve lusted after for ages and the driftwood candle from Shoppe Amber Interiors, which might just be my favourite home accessory ever.
I had these items shipped in 2 separate packages as some took longer to arrive at the MyUS facility than others.
One parcel was 9.6lbs & cost $59.95 to ship. (I paid VAT when it arrived in UK.)
The other was 9.7lbs & cost $87.57 to ship. (This one included the cost of VAT because it had a value of less than £135.)
It would have been a lot cheaper if I’d stuck to soft furnishings but I couldn’t resist that 10-tonne candle!
Remember, your shipping will be less because of the exclusive discount code mentioned earlier.
Some top tips for US homewares hauls
To off-set some of the shipping and taxes, I recommend you scout around for deals.
- Sign up for email updates so you know when your favourite stores have discount weekends. Shoppe Amber Interiors just had 20% off sitewide for the 4th July holiday and McGee & Co recently offered 25% off all pillows.
- Check out the MyUS list of exclusive deals and coupons for members. I scrolled through the Home Goods section and found 35% off at Crate & Barrel and free shipping at Restoration Hardware.
- Plus as a MyUS member you pay 0% US sales tax when shopping with certain retailers. You can find the full list here but it includes the likes of Zara, Target, Walgreens and Wayfair. There’s nothing extra you need to do – the discount is applied automatically due to the MyUS sales-tax-free zip code! Every member’s US suite address is located in this zip code so when ordering online, it should automatically show $0 for sales tax in your total.
What I love about MyUS
I wouldn’t have offered to review (and rave!) about MyUS I didn’t think it was excellent. I find their site straightforward to use and the communication is great. All my items have arrived well packaged and well labelled. Everything came quicker than I expected too.
Obviously I’m not going to do ALL my homewares shopping in the US going forward but if there is something you just can’t find over here, you can feel safe in the knowledge that MyUS will deliver it.
Don’t forget that if you sign up via my referral link you will find an exclusive offer of 1 year of Premium Membership or 3 months Business membership FREE. And use code Jayne 20 for 20% off all shipments for the first 3 months.
Happy shopping and do tag me if you buy anything. I’d love to see it!
You may also like:
Where to shop for Studio McGee style homewares in the UK
How to add character to a new build house
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