Aust Post sets up warehouse in US

[DU99]

Australia Post launches US parcel forwarding for online shopping
Australia Post is hoping to get a slice of the online shopping pie with a new parcel forwarding service for shoppers buying products only ship to the United States.
ShopMate offers Australian customers the opportunity to buy from online sites that don't offer international shipping, allowing shoppers to use a US delivery address that then forwards parcels onto Australia --
You'll pay a flat fee of AU$24.95 per package, with an additional AU$5.95 charged per 500 grams of weight. This is either measured by the physical weight of the package or the cubic weight -- whichever figure is higher will be the final 'weight'.

Not cheap either

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Initially looked like a good idea but as you say it is expensive, also they will be able to keep a close watch at that end if the value of the purchased item does go over a $1,000, what will they do put a big yellow cross on it to alert customs ?
Think I would go without, or find a company that sells the same item and will ship.

 

[Florian]

Just another freight forwarder. The question is, who do they use to ship the items over to Australia and how long does it take?

I use freight forwarders a lot, be it from the US or from Germany. My current favourite ones are shipito.com (US) and mailboxde.com (Germany).
Shipito charges $1 per incoming package and $2 per consolidated parcel. Recently I had 5 parcels arriving to my mailbox in california and had them all packed into one box (with bulky packaging removed) for $15 total, including photos of every incoming parcel and detailed photos of the repacking process. Plus shipping costs obviously, choose from cheap to expensive. If choosing DHL, TNT and the likes the package is here about 3 days later.

Mailboxde.com is great for ordering stuff from Germany as they are right on the Czech' border. You can choose DHL, UPS etc or get them to carry your package over the border to Czech Republic and use their cheap postal service (8 days to Aus, registered and basic tracking).

Don't think I'll ever use the Auspost service.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

That Mailboxde sounds like it would be a plus for anyone wanting a Braumeister, purchase it from a German retailer, take off the sales tax, send it over the Czech border and get it posted. Brilliant

 

[Spiesy]

So the Australian Government is now actively involved in people bypassing Australian retailers and directly importing goods themselves?

******* hell.

 

[HBHB]

So the Australian Government is now actively involved in people bypassing Australian retailers and directly importing goods themselves?

******* hell.

Ain't it great :blink:

 

[philmud]

Actually, I reckon the Australian government should be actively involved in making sure the Australian public aren't being bent-over by retailers. I understand we're geographically isolated & have higher wages etc, but even digital content attracts a dumb-Aussie levy. (Not a comment directed at you, Spiesy)

 

[HBHB]

Actually, I reckon the Australian government should be actively involved in making sure the Australian public aren't being bent-over by retailers. I understand we're geographically isolated & have higher wages etc, but even digital content attracts a dumb-Aussie levy. (Not a comment directed at you, Spiesy)

I can assure you in this (brewing supplies) limited market, nobody's got a hard on for you while you're bent over. Check out how much the government makes for every dollar before it even makes it through customs. There's a metric shitload of add-ons for the Government that far exceed what the retailers are making. I mean FFS DHL make 4 times what the Aussie retailers make out of a Wyeast packet by carrying it for a 24 hr flight time. Meanwhile the retailer forks out 36c an hr for refrigeration costs to carry it.

Agreed, the digital world on the other hand is ludicrous for it's mark-ups.

 

[philmud]

Plenty of other retailers doing it (though I certainly didn't intend to imply HB retailers), not just digital.

 

[Bribie G]

It's a brick and tile version of a VPN.

 

[manticle]

I doubt the government has your chastity in mind very often PI. They'll likely **** you harder, longer and rougher and charge you premium rates for the privilege.

Provided we aren't forced to select au post when we buy online, it's no biggie.

 

[DU99]

:icon_offtopic: with current low $$ why would people buy from overseas and the cost of post.yeast is nearly the same price here as the states,i remember when GST got thru.it was stated there would be no further taxes.but theres excises(tax) added..

 

[Blind Dog]

In relation to the high prices we suffer here, to Government is on the job, per Joe Hockey's statement a few days ago:

I have asked the Commissioner of Taxation to double his efforts in this area by undertaking more extensive enquiries and audits of multinational companies considered a risk to Australian tax collections.

Australian consumers often pay much higher prices compared to United States consumers for identical IT hardware, software, music, games, sporting equipment and fashion, to mention a few. Members would also be aware of media reports detailing some companies selling these products pay little tax in Australia despite their products selling for much higher prices in Australia than elsewhere around the world.
Part of the Commissioner’s efforts will be examining whether these are location specific profits being generated and then shifted out of Australia. In such cases, Australia’s transfer pricing rules could apply to determine whether the appropriate amount of profit from Australian sales was booked to Australian operations. These rules, of course, are based on the OECD’s internationally-recognised transfer pricing rules.

I have also asked the Commissioner to double his efforts in applying our rules so that his officers are able to look at these price differences to ensure that profits earned in Australia are taxed in Australia.

So all sorted then...

 

[Florian]

:icon_offtopic: with current low $$ why would people buy from overseas and the cost of post.yeast is nearly the same price here as the states,i remember when GST got thru.it was stated there would be no further taxes.but theres excises(tax) added..

I mostly buy stuff that I can't buy here, even if I wanted to pay a premium, simply because it's not sold over here. From time to time I throw in some other bits that are half price or thereabouts overseas to 'fill the box' (not much additional postage if you add a few kg to an already large parcel).

EDIT: Generally not HB stuff, although I did get a fly sparge arm from Amazon as a box filler a few days ago.

 

[peas_and_corn]

So the Australian Government is now actively involved in people bypassing Australian retailers and directly importing goods themselves?

******* hell.

Australia post isn't run by the government. It's an independent entity that is owned by the government- the only involvement the government makes is the occasional replacement of the guy at the top

 

[Spiesy]

Australia post isn't run by the government. It's an independent entity that is owned by the government- the only involvement the government makes is the occasional replacement of the guy at the top

So they own it, but they're not in charge?

That's a strange arrangement.

 

[Spiesy]

Plenty of other retailers doing it (though I certainly didn't intend to imply HB retailers), not just digital.

Whilst there may be some head in the sand and prehistoric retailers that do this, they would be the minority or confined to certain segments of the retail market where they can get away with this.

I work two jobs, my other job is a brand manager for a major musical instrument/equipment distributor. Trust me, everyone I deal with in retail is doing it for super-skinny margins just to be competitive on the global sale. 90% of retailers are doing it tough, and many are going bust.

It's ironic, that part of the reason our retail prices are often disparate is because of the quality of life we're accustomed to as Australians - i.e. reasonable minimum wages, healthcare, social care (i.e. taxes), etc.

Apologies for the OT.

 

[Airgead]

Its some of that but when you look at an identical product (Visual Studio is the classic) from an identical website (microsoft.com), when you access it from a US address the cost is around 5K/licence. From an Australian address - $15K/license. And you download it FROM THE SAME FRICKIN SERVER. They don't even ship anything to you.

Same with itunes. Same with a bunch of stuff where there is no reason at all for a difference in price except plain out and out price gouging. The government (house standing committee on infrastructure and communications) has had hearings on this and concluded that the "australia tax" is real and even went so far as to encourage the use of VPS and the like to bypass IP blocks and access overseas sites for better prices. http://www.choice.com.au/consumer-action/consumer-protection/digital-rights-copyright/death-to-the-australia-tax.aspx

Yes, a lot of small retailers are being squeezed on margins but in a lot of cases, price gouging by multinationals is very, very real.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

So they own it, but they're not in charge?

That's a strange arrangement.

No, not really, it is a corporate entity owned by the government. The gov cant control what is does as it essentially a public service utility. The Gov just takes all the dividends. Auspost has a charter to supply postal services that are fair and equatable for all Australians.

Bit like what Telecom was...and state owned power companies ( although those in Vic would only be used to private power companies, and boy didnt that work out just ******* fantastic )

 

[peas_and_corn]

It's a way of having the government own something but keeping the "government shouldn't interfere with markets" people happy.