Ok, so the Mahalo Store only ships products within the U.S. Do I have any options?
http://www.mahalo.com/store/faq
Q: Do you ship outside of the United States?
A: Currently we only ship within the United States.
Some facts:
I live in Toronto, Canada. The U.S. border is just under 2 hours away from where I live.
I like contributing on Mahalo Answers. I don't want to stop.
Beyond helping people, there will soon be no reward for me. Points don't matter to me (I have a bunch) and Mahalo has been nice enough to have given me every non-monetary reward they have to offer.
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I like to work towards things. It's very motivating for me to think, if I get best answer on this question, I'll be one step closer to.... whatever.
Please help me figure out a way to continue to use Mahalo Answers. Is there an inexpensive U.S. shipping broker that I can use to relay merchandise? What about a P.O. box in the U.S? I'm only a couple of hours from the border and could justify taking a drive once in a while. Are there local pickup options? I'm in L.A. usually about once a year and could swing that.
Or....
Are there one or two products that Mahalo will ship outside of the U.S? I'd be happy if Mahalo kept me in Starbucks gift cards... that would work. What about virtual gift cards that don't need to be shipped?
Or...
Is Mahalo Answers now primarily a U.S. only website / general interest forum?
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$3 Answers
My iPad was shipped from China to NH, USA. I am sure that the difference between NH and Toronto is only the click of a mouse on the FedEx website and likely there is no difference in costs to Mahalo. I ordered it, got the confirmation form Mahalo, then from the Apple store, then China, then FedEx when it was shipped and I was able to track it like any regular package.
~>Is Mahalo Answers now primarily a U.S. only website / general interest forum?
I believe Mahalo definitely caters to North America. I know @camilla does not work there anymore but I remember her saying that it was okay for me to vanish any question that was not written in English.. not that I do that but I was told it was okay to do with questions and with pages so at the very least I feel Mahalo is an English speaking website that caters to North America specifically and other English speaking countries as well.
personal experience
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M$
I'm completely with you that it is really nice to have something tangible to work for (points don't matter) and it definitely provides motivation to contribute (it's the reason I participate at Mahalo, but not in Yahoo Answers).
My hope is that with the recent changes around Paypal that we'll see a significant expansion around the store. The variety that exists now is okay, but if they could add gas cards, increase the restaurant portfolio, etc. it would make it much more attractive. I'd also like to see them up the ante a little on the cards and get the exchange rate a bit closer to the $1M=$0.75 mark.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I live in the UK, making it more difficult to buy something from the Mahalo Store than being a neighbour to the US. However, I did contact the Mahalo Store - and you can purchase Amazon Gift Cards.
I purchased 6 of them and got them very quickly and efficiently. However, the only limitation is it does restrict you to purchasing Amazon.COM goods and not Amazon.Ca or Amazon.co.uk goods. However, there are plenty of items that can internationally ship.
Hope this helps!
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I want a free hat