Taste of home for the 40 million Americans living abroad.
You moved abroad three years ago. The job's great. The food scene's amazing. But every once in a while you'd kill for a real Hot Pocket, a box of Wheat Thins, an Old Bay seasoning shaker, a bottle of Kraft ranch, a six-pack of Bigelow tea, the exact brand of cold medicine your mom used to give you when you were sick.
Selectido was designed for the moment when you suddenly need specifically American. Not "American-style imported by a local grocery for triple the price." Real American, off a real US shelf, in your hands within 5–10 days.
The expat shopping list — categories that hit hardest
Why your local grocery's "American aisle" doesn't cut it
Most countries have a small import-foods section that carries an inexplicably random sample of US products — Heinz mustard, Skippy peanut butter, one weird flavor of Pringles. The selection is tiny and the markup is 3–5x what the same item costs at a US Walmart. Plus they're missing the specific things you actually want: your hot sauce, your coffee creamer brand, your moisturizer.
Selectido shops the same Targets, Walmarts, Trader Joe's, and CVS stores that you would shop if you were in the US. Same products, same prices, plus our flat $14.99 forwarding fee and actual carrier shipping. No 5x markup. No mysterious selection criteria.
Recurring expat shipments — the cheapest way to do this
Most expats don't need a one-off care package. They need a sustainable routine. Selectido offers:
- Monthly box ($75–150 product budget): Restock your American essentials each month. We adapt seasonally — Halloween candy in October, Super Bowl snacks in February, Fourth of July box in July.
- Bi-monthly OTC medications: Tylenol PM, NyQuil, Pepto, Tums, Zyrtec — a 60-day supply of the meds your home pharmacy stocks.
- Quarterly skincare/beauty: CeraVe, Aveeno, Cetaphil, Drunk Elephant, Olaplex — refill the routine.
- 15% off forwarding on recurring shipments.
The customs question (the actual answer)
Most countries allow personal-import quantities of dry goods, packaged food, OTC medications, and personal care items without duty. Typical personal-allowance thresholds:
- UK / EU: Personal use up to ~£135/€150 typically duty-free; over that, 20% VAT + variable duty.
- Australia / NZ: AUD $1000 / NZD $1000 personal-use threshold.
- Japan: Items under ¥10,000 typically duty-free.
- UAE / Saudi Arabia: AED 1000 / SAR 1000 personal threshold for shipped goods.
- Mexico: $50 USD threshold for express deliveries, more for postal.
- Brazil: $50 USD duty-free; over that, 60% import duty + state ICMS. We split larger orders into multiple under-threshold shipments where it makes sense.
We declare honest values (under-declaring is a customs offense), and split orders strategically to minimize duty when destination rules favor it.
The frequency that works
Most of our expat customers settle into either:
- "Big quarterly box" mode — once every 3 months, $200–400 of stuff, batched together. Lower per-item shipping cost, more variety.
- "Monthly small box" mode — every 4-6 weeks, $75–150 of stuff. Steady drip of comfort items.
Either works. We have customers who've been on monthly boxes for 4+ years and customers who only order twice a year. Pay-per-box, no commitment.