Markets Crash, Dollar Strengthens!

We've been doing a lot of buying on amazon.com.br.  They're still not up to parent company standards,  but they're improving every day.  Free shipping for Prime customers is growing,  too.

abthree wrote:

We've been doing a lot of buying on amazon.com.br.  They're still not up to parent company standards,  but they're improving every day.  Free shipping for Prime customers is growing,  too.

Yup. Prime membership is like 16USD a year compared to about 50USD in the states.

US is up to around $129, if I remember correctly from my last renewal.

*ETA* It's $119.  Still worth it to me, but maybe not forever.

It probably went up. I quoted what my brother´s family was paying 2years ago. I´m not a Prime member anymore in the US but thinking of joining Prime here. It´s worthed as there´s video streaming, music and there are free e-books to read as well as the free and faster delivery.

Have to check it out to see is they have English books and music

One bizarre thing when I joined, maybe because they had just launched.  The site wouldn't accept a US credit card as payment for Prime, even though they do for merchandise.   I went back and forth with Customer Support on it for a couple of days, to no avail.  In desperation, I tried to enroll on my phone instead -  and succeded! 
Maybe they've fixed it by now, but if not, try your phone.

Hi abthree, I had the same problem signing up for prime (US card not accepted). However, I use my US credit card for regular purchases and it's been great. Shipping is surprisingly cheap and fast for Sao Paulo. Usually about 10 reais. I even had one package arrive the next day.

Are there any other Brazilian sites/services that accept US credit cards? Only had luck with Amazon, Uber, and Rappi. I think the common thread is that they are all foreign-owned companies.

I subscribe to the digital edition of Folha de S. Paulo using a US card without much trouble.   I subscribe to Journal do Brasil and Estadão through Google Pay, which ultimately hits a US card.  I haven't been successful with Uber, but if it works for you, I'll try it again.
Try signing up for Prime with your US card on your phone rather than on your computer;  it worked for me.
Shipping to Manaus is slow and expensive.   If it's not Prime free shipping, we always need to balance the freight cost against the purchase price, and so buy very few inexpensive things.  A lot of books (my husband is in law school)  and eBooks, though.  Packages arrive in 2-4 weeks, generally in good condition.   We had one lost or stolen, and the seller made good promptly.

I've had no issues with general shopping with North American / Canadian credit card. My visa debit works in about 70% of the places here.

Texanbrazil wrote:

Have to check it out to see is they have English books and music

They have some English books and improving. Music yes.

I have some Brazilian credit cards to pay for Prime membership so it should be ok...I´ll try this week.

Thanks, abthree. That's super useful. I forgot about Google pay. Online stores also sometimes accept Paypal, where you can use a US credit card.

I didn't realize that shipping to Manaus took so long. Stay safe out there.

bemcasado wrote:

Thanks, abthree. That's super useful. I forgot about Google pay. Online stores also sometimes accept Paypal, where you can use a US credit card.

I didn't realize that shipping to Manaus took so long. Stay safe out there.

Sure thing!

We're like 2 million+ people on an island:  since the Federal Government let BR-319 deteriorate into a trail through the forest, we have no land connection to the rest of the country.   Everything that comes, comes by water or air - and now air is very limited.

The "good" side, if you want to call it that, is that we were already trained to hoard supplies.  In Manaus, if you see something you want in the store,  you buy a LOT of it, because when it's gone, there's no telling when or if it will be back! 

Texanbrazil wrote:

Have to check it out to see is they have English books and music

Got to check it out if they carry Código or Patron!