Let’s be blunt and say it like it is: us aussies pay too much for pretty much everything in this country!

The dreadful so called ‘Australia Tax’ hits us all hard and there are a multitude of reasons for that. We can complain and moan about it until the cows come home but that wouldn’t achieve much in the short term, right?

The solution: buying from overseas.

Now please don’t get us wrong. Like you, we are proud aussies and love this country and the opportunities it affords. However, we don’t think that we should be paying double or triple (and sometimes a lot more) just because we live on an island in the south pacific (sounds exotic, doesn’t it? 😉 ).

In this day and age of instant connectivity and globalised economy, there is no reason whatsoever for us to continue to suffer from the ‘tyranny of distance’.

We would love to support aussie businesses and make sure our dollars stay in aussie hands and support aussie jobs. However, those aussie businesses must lift their game and be competitive in their pricing on a global scale. Till that happens, we will be voting with our wallet and buying  from overseas and humbly suggest you consider doing the same.

Furthermore, most of these businesses operating in Australia are not actually aussie-owned and many of them (like Bonds for example) don’t produce their goods in Australia and don’t employ aussies.

Some of the large multinationals go even further and deny Australia from its fair share of tax on the profits they derive from our country by using complex structures and other tricks.

Therefore, we have no loyalty to these companies and suggest you do the same.

You’ve probably already had the experience of buying from overseas. We have all bought stuff online on sites like Ebay and Amazon. However, not many aussies have purchased items from other overseas retailers.

Recent research suggests Australians are amongst the world leaders in buying goods online. However, most of these purchases are done with online merchants based in Australia.

The reasons for that are not 100% clear but the two main assumptions are:

  1. Australians are wary about buying from overseas due to being worried about being scammed or not having access to consumer protection measures that apply when buying from a retailer based in Australia; and
  2. The prohibitive cost, complexity and general hassle involved in getting the item you bought from where it’s at down to our great southern land.

With regards to point 1 above, that is fair enough and we totally share your concern. The risk of being scammed is definitely higher when dealing with an overseas merchant. However, there are many online merchants overseas that are very large and 100% reputable and offer items at a price and/or quality that is simply not available in this country (or not available at all. full stop!).

With regards to point 2 above, that is an unfortunate fact and is the main reason why aussies so far restricted themselves to buying relatively small and lightweight items such as electronics and fashion.

Have you heard of many people buying bulky items such as a piano or piece of furniture or machinery from an overseas merchant? Doesn’t happen very often, right? It is simply not feasible to pay to ship something like that to Australia unless you are a wholesaler and buy a large quantity. Furthermore, there are often complex customs and quarantine requirements to attend to when your item arrives to Australia. It is all simply too hard!

Well, we would like to present you with a solution that we feel goes a long way towards resolving the problem and helps everyday aussies get their hands on cheap overseas goods, even if they are bulky and heavy.

if you’re shopping online at international websites in the USA, United Kingdom, Europe or even China then you no longer need to limit yourself to the usual suspects such as fashion, shoes or electronics.

It’s true that most of these products can be purchased cheaper online, especially from US websites (and even now that our aussie dollar is weaker against the greenback compared to a few years ago) and often the savings are substantial.

So why not expand your online purchases to include products like furniture, auto parts, tyres, wheels, BBQs and gym equipment?

After all, if you can save $50 by purchasing a pair of Nikes online at Eastbay then maybe you can save $500 purchasing that Natuzzi sofa you’ve always wanted from www.furniturelandsouth.com

We know what you’re thinking – but how do I ship heavy or bulky orders to Australia?

The Shipporter sea courier service is specifically designed to enable you to purchase products that were previously unaffordable due to the cost of international shipping and it doesn’t matter if the merchant doesn’t offer international shipping. Shipporter can help you buy the product with their ‘assisted buying service’.

Here are some examples of what Australian customers bought overseas using the Shipporter sea courier service:

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So how does this all work?

They say a picture is better than a thousand words but video is probably better than a thousand pictures, right? 😉

Well, luckily enough Shipporter have created a 1 minute video which explains how their service works so instead of us writing a long blurb about it, we will let the video do the talking 🙂

Looks good ey? Yep, we think so too.

Go ahead and check out Shipporter and let the savings begin!

As usual, if you have any other comments or questions, just type them into the comment box below.

Photo by Derell Licht

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The Spending Hacker Scout service is where we not only find you the absolute best deal for your individual needs & specific circumstances but we also make sure you continue to always be on the best deal. If a better deal becomes available at any point in time, we let you know straight away-  full details on this page.