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:
- 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
- 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:
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
I did an online quote to ship a stockpot. Its cost on Amazon is $120 USD, it weighs 11 lbs, and is 18″ x 10″ x 10″ in size. It would ships for free from Amazon to Shipporter. Shipporter quotes $90 USD to ship it to Australia. If the above-mentioned 10% discount sill applies, that comes down to $81 USD.
HOWEVER – the item is the same price on ebay as on Amazon. And on ebay I can get shipping for $45 USD, or $80 USD with a more expensive seller.
The Shipporter website also says only the first 3 items are included in the first quote. Then there is a $10 fee for each additional item. Um… Does that mean 3 *boxes* are included in the quote, or 3 *items* INSIDE one box!? Who knows – their website doesn’t explain that clearly. So you could get a stockpot, and 4x $0.50 hairclips – and wind up paying $30 extra. Do they open the box and count the items? I guess they must, or else how would they know there’s more than one – but who knows!?
They also don’t mention if they will protect larger items if they arrive not correctly protected.
e.g. Imagine buying a piano – and the seller has taken great care to insulate every edge from damage, believing it’s being delivered within the USA. They may not cover every face, thinking it’s being shipped in the USA only. And they certainly won’t think it may be used as a table for other people’s boxes. Even if it were completely covered, imagine having a boxed pushbike being placed on top of it – and the bike chain wearing through the two boxes to ruin the piano surface.
Now obviously we have to ask the seller to pack it a certain way. However some people may not think of this – and trust Shipporter knows what’s doing – so THEY should have thought of it and mentioned it in their FAQ.
The first problem is only partially answered on their site, in a confusing way (3 items, or 3 boxes!?) – and the second concern has no answer at all – just insurance perhaps – but if it was packed correctly, will they cover it? If they would throw a blanket over such things… well, they just need to mention such things, that’s all.
I’ve also quoted a few other items. There is nearly always a cheaper option on ebay. (And if not, next week/month there could be.) Many companys selling on ebay USA won’t ship overseas simply because they’ve never thought of doing it. I’ve found if you email them, they often will.
I did a couple of piano quotes too, to get the two extremes of the scale. After paying Shipporter, and customs, it’s only another couple of hundred to buy one here – and I could probably negioate the price here down anyway. To have it come from the other side of the globe, have who knows what, sitting on top of it; treated who knows in what manner by the ocean weather/workers/crane unloader before reaching you…
So apart from those sellers who flat-out refuse to ship overseas, I can’t see the benefit in using Shipporter. Because (from admittedly me limited research) the price certainly isn’t one.
Thanks heaps for sharing your personal experience. This is super valuable! 🙂
We would never advocate using this service if you can get the product you are after from an Australian retailer or an overseas retailer who will ship to Australia, for a comparable (or even slightly higher) price.
Adding another ‘middleman’ can often make things more complicated and increase the chances of something going wrong.
A service like Shipporter is only useful if you are looking to buy a bulky item which you can’t get at all as someone based in Australia or it’ll cost you an arm and a leg to have it delivered down under.
This is when a service like Shipporter really comes to its own.
With regards to your other queries, best thing is you direct them directly to the company. Their contact details are:
Email: cs@shipporter.com
Phone: 1-300-SHIPPO
With all due respect the comment by RFM appears to be a little misinformed.
Whilst we take on board the comments about the additional fee’s for Customs processing it should be noted that any order under AUD$1000 in value is not subject to this – regardless of the number of items (our FAQ’s have been amended to clarify this).
It should also be noted that when a shipment is tendered to us for international shipping it must be accompanied by supporting documentation which would include a suppliers invoice which itemizes the products, quantities and values. That’s how we know what’s in the box(es).
We take extreme care to protect any shipment tendered to us for international shipping. That’s why all shipments are automatically covered by insurance. We will (and often do) reject shipments that are not adequately packed to endure the ocean freight component of the shipping.
In fact we often photograph shipments with obvious external damage prior to loading in order to discuss remedial action with the customer prior to uplift. In most instances where the actual product is not damaged we will re-pack or repair the packaging prior to loading.
In addition we also consolidate individual customer orders onto pallets with other customer orders, shrink wrap & strap prior to loading into the container. We do not stack anything on top of the palletized cargo. As a result of this detailed handling & processing our damage rates in transit are minimal and our insurance claims very infrequent.
Shipporter is not the solution for everything you order online. We ship by sea so our minimum charge (as in the instance of the stockpot mentioned) will usually exceed the cost to ship by air freight/courier or post. We become very competitive when the chargeable weight of a shipment exceeds around 15 kilograms.
You should also note that our service can handle items which do not fit the profile for the postal service due to weight or dimensions. We can ship almost anything provided it fits into a shipping container and have shipped orders from the USA, China, Europe & United Kingdom for thousands of happy Australian customers.
The Shipporter service empowers Australian shoppers to purchase almost any product from any website or supplier in the USA, China, Europe or the UK – often the products are unique and often the product is cheaper than purchasing the equivalent in Australia – even including the international shipping rate & associated costs.
For example this week some of the products we are shipping this week include:
Lights from Restoration Hardware (USA)
Mustang parts from CJ Pony Parts (USA)
Fridge & cooker for Appliance City (UK)
Furniture & homewares from Pottery Barn (USA)
Kawasaki motorcycle spares from eBay seller (USA)
Pilates reformer from Balanced Body (USA)
Work bench from Home Depot (USA)
Car parts from eBay seller (UK)
Children’s toys from Walmart (USA)
Collectible bicycle from eBay seller (USA)
Vintage chairs from Joss & Main (USA)
Computer server (Finland)
And the list goes on…………………..
Thanks for Clarifying your position Warwick. I’ll leave my readership to draw their own conclusions. 🙂