US parcel forwarding service to Australia

designerdreamin

designerdreamin

Member
Dec 21, 2011
523
3
#1
I'm starting to think about using a forwarding service to buy some products from the US that are expensive here in Australia or difficult to find, etc. I did a search on the forums and found that some TPFers are using myus.com which looks great but I thought I'd get some further advice. Someone (sorry I can't remember who) mentioned that there might be issues with customs here in Australia. Also, I'd want to check the cost of shipping from the US vs buying in Australia - I saw that myus.com have a shipping calculator but how am I to know how heavy my parcel is going to be? Do you guys just weigh something similar at home to guess?

Any other tips or things to know about forwarding from the US to here? I do have relatives that can forward shopping to me but I'd rather not bother them and of course for them to see what I buy ;)
 
#2
Why not have the item/s shipped straight to you in Australia? Australia has one of the most generous tax allowance in the world. You can have up to $900-$1000 before being tax, and over that it is the current GST rate (which I hope is still 10%). With the current exchange and shipping fees, you'll still save some money.
I have not used any forwarding mail but have shipped a lot of items to South Australia where my family is living.
 
#3
ashleekieu said:
Why not have the item/s shipped straight to you in Australia? Australia has one of the most generous tax allowance in the world. You can have up to $900-$1000 before being tax, and over that it is the current GST rate (which I hope is still 10%). With the current exchange and shipping fees, you'll still save some money.
I have not used any forwarding mail but have shipped a lot of items to South Australia where my family is living.
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Thanks Ashleekieu, I have had some things shipped straight to me (Amazon, Think Geek for my children) but not everyone ships to Australia, like Sephora. The other thing is that sometimes I want to buy items from a couple of different places and so if it's shipped to a US address then they can be shipped together to me rather than paying for two separate international shipping fees. I'm assuming it would be cheaper this way and would work well especially for places that do free shipping within the US.
 
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#5
designerdreamin said:
Thanks Ashleekieu, I have had some things shipped straight to me (Amazon, Think Geek for my children) but not everyone ships to Australia, like Sephora. The other thing is that sometimes I want to buy items from a couple of different places and so if it's shipped to a US address then they can be shipped together to me rather than paying for two separate international shipping fees. I'm assuming it would be cheaper this way and would work well especially for places that do free shipping within the US.
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If you are wishing to buy from Sephora. This website ships direct for you and it is a flat rate charge :smile: they also arrange shipping for other online stores too www.tarazz.com.au/sephora
 
#6
I'm in Canada and I use a mail forwarding service. My advice is to choose a mail forwarding service in a non-tax state which is closest to you. Since you are in Australia I would choose some place on the west coast (I think Oregon doesn’t have sales tax). This way you don’t have to pay sales tax and it will get to you sooner. Also I have found that shipping with USPS is the cheapest.

Hope this helps.
 
#7
Lululola said:
I'm in Canada and I use a mail forwarding service. My advice is to choose a mail forwarding service in a non-tax state which is closest to you. Since you are in Australia I would choose some place on the west coast (I think Oregon doesn’t have sales tax). This way you don’t have to pay sales tax and it will get to you sooner. Also I have found that shipping with USPS is the cheapest.

Hope this helps.
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Thanks Lululola! I was thinking I should go for a non-tax state, I guess that's why myus.com is in Floria. But I didn't think about the location, i.e. closer to Australia - I'll check that out and see what the shipping difference is. Thanks also for the recommendation to go with USPS.

Thanks Tarhls, I didn't know about Tarazz. I want to buy from more stores but I'll recommend Tarazz to someone I know who's just interested in Sephora.

Thanks Pollywaffle, I've read a bit about shipto.com so I'll go check out what state they're in.
 
#8
I use comgateway.com which is in Oregon. No sales tax and shipping has always been reasonable for me.
Also don't charge any extra fees apart from shipping if you use your own credit card (there is a fee if you have them buy on your behalf)
They ship with DHL so it takes a few days once they forward it to get to me.
 
#9
I think DHL is most reliable but an expensive one. But the best way is that you should buy from the company that bear all shipping expenses, including insurance and taxes etc...
you will not need to do any thing but just give you address, and after some days just collect your order with minimum cost...
 
#10
HopShopGo (a partnership with PayPal) by a country mile. I've tried a few including myus.com but HopShopGo really is the easiest, as well as having reasonably priced shipping. HopShopGo is free to join and there are no storage fees (up to a certain amount of days).
 
#12
Hmmm, I was worried about using Hop Shop Go because they use Comgateway which apparently has a bad reputation. Then again I'm really wondering about all the mixed reviews on line (they're doing my head in) - I start to wonder whether some of the bad reviews I've seen are done by opposition companies. :thinking:

Thanks for the comments everyone - all this info is super helpful.
 
#13
Never ever had an issue with comgateway and I've had quite a few things go through them including computers etc and other expensive things.
Never read reviews though so I'm not sure what the complaints are but I've found them very good and they were the cheapest at the time.
 
#15
Another Hop Shop Go/Comgateway user here. Never, EVER had a problem, they're fast and prices seem reasonable.

One of the main reasons I use them instead of direct shipping is that companies like Gap only allow discount codes to be used with their domestic shipping (which is free over $50). If I'm saving that $ + the free shipping it generally balances out with the forwarding shipping from HSG. Oh and Zara online is amazing.
 
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