[Rocket]

Hi Guys,

Over the past several years I have imported a number of items from the US.  These include an amplifier, turntable, dac and speakers.

I usually use shipping by 'air' because it is simpler.  If the item is under $1000au including shipping and insurance there is no import costs attached to the item.

Last year I imported a pair of speakers into australia and used sea to bring them into the country.  The shipping fee was about $400US and was pretty reasonable.  Unfortunately because the item was valued over $1000 I had to use a customs broker and by the time I paid customs fees, taxes, quarantine I had to pay about $1100au extra on arrival.  It sure added to final price of the speakers.  With the fall of the aussie dollar compared with the US dollar its almost not worth importing items like speakers into the country.

Is there a cheaper method for importing equipment into australia?  I would love to buy a salk sound centre channel but it just isn't worth it at the moment.

Btw I thought if we had some good information this thread could be a sticky.

Regards

Rod

[bluesky]

Hi Rocket

What I have done is to find a friend in the States that will ship by sea mail for you.  Have the product shipped to your friend and then have them take it to their local post office for shipping.

This method enables the cheaper rate of sea mail and also ensures packing can be improved if necessary.  The sender does not have to declare the normal retail cost and can say it is a gift or whatever to help reduce other costs.  In our situation we are not running a business but just sourcing individual products for personal us.  I always send a small gift of a box of parts to show appreciation as the usual Aussie method of saying thankyou with a slab of beer won't work in this situation!

As we would all know most audiophiles are gentlemen through and through and are always happy to help a fellow traveller.

Bluesky

[jules]

Rod,

It is possible to DIY the brokerage process. I haven't done it for several years and there may have been changes to Customs procedures. At the time I was sent a stack of form-work with a huge number of ridiculous questions but I was given excellent help by the department and the cost was minimal. When I have a little time I'll check back on the details.

Bluesky's idea sounds better though  .

Jules

[Mr Content]

Hey Rod Thanks, this is the sort of thing that we need. I thought yo could bring an item worth A$1200 before you paid Duty. Maybe we could check this.
Also do you have to pay GST on it as well?

I have bought a few items from the US. Bob of St. Louis has helped me out with posting them directly to me, but they were items from companies that dont post outside the US. There would be plenty of guys on the forum that would be will to help.

I will  Sticky this, so lets add to it

Nig aa

[stvnharr]

Hi Rocket

What I have done is to find a friend in the States that will ship by sea mail for you.  Have the product shipped to your friend and then have them take it to their local post office for shipping.

This method enables the cheaper rate of sea mail and also ensures packing can be improved if necessary.  The sender does not have to declare the normal retail cost and can say it is a gift or whatever to help reduce other costs.  In our situation we are not running a business but just sourcing individual products for personal us.  I always send a small gift of a box of parts to show appreciation as the usual Aussie method of saying thankyou with a slab of beer won't work in this situation!

As we would all know most audiophiles are gentlemen through and through and are always happy to help a fellow traveller.

Bluesky

Sea Mail from the US is no longer available. It went away in 2007.  It's all airmail now, and rates are on the USPS website.

[Mr Content]

You can us a Freight forwarding company to get things sea mail. Bongo.com, or one like that will give you many options of sending things in a container. 

Nig aa

[Mr Content]

Also a good idea is to try and source the same item from the UK or Europe. Postage is much cheaper, with a lot more options available

Mr C aa

[Rocket]

Hi,

I think we need to do some research.  In My experience shipping by 'Air' has a duty free element of $1000au (including shipping) but once you go over this amount 10% gst applies.  The cheaky thing is that including shipping charges into the equation.

Shipping by sea:

1.  If the item is made wholly and soley in the US the manufacturer needs to complete a customs duty free form.
2.  Customs gst 10% still applies (in my case $455.78).
3.  Declaration processing charge ($63.75)
4.  Local Costs - Vanguard local charges (gst applicable $314.00 GST)
5.  Vanguard local charges - gst not applicable - isps $6.18 FRE
6.  Clearance & Delivery Charges SUB ORDER DELIVERY FEE $35.00 GST
7.  AQIS LODGEMENT $20.00 GST
8.  AGENCY & CMR fee $150.00 GST
9.  CARTAGE TO Thornlie $65.00 GST

Total:  1,168.11 (including shipping to my home address).

I think the sea price was $400us which was pretty reasonable for shipping my speakers from the US but I didn't expect to pay $1168 in extra charges/fees.

Whilst I don't intend on purchasing anymore speakers in the short term I wonder if there are any other methods that we can consider?  Hifi in Australia is ridiculously expensive.

Regards

Rod

[bluesky]

Hi guys

It was a year or so back that I last used the "friend method" and had the stuff sent by sea mail.  I had bought some specials off Parts Express which included some acoustic tiles and spikes on closeout prices for next to nothing but which would have cost an arm and a leg via airmail because it was a fairly bulky and heavy package.  Local postage to my friend in the States was minimal and the sea mail postage was only about $40 at the time and duly arrived in about four weeks.

Another time I bought some things like a phono cartridge and record sleeves from Canada, on special of course!  This time it was sent by airmail but I had to pick it up from the Brisbane airport and came across the most sour faced customs official you could imagine.  This guy appeared to despise his job, people, sunshine etc etc.  There seemed to be a huge problem with the product descriptions whilst I tried to explain what record covers and a phono cartridge was and what it was used for.  Basically this guy could not get his head around someone who was importing stuff to use with vinyl records, basically he did bot believe such things were still in use and seemed to think I was some sort of terrorist, drug dealer or something! 

Things were not going well but then there was a rush of people to the counter and he clearly wanted to get the job done.  Suddenly he looked up some official tome and seemed to pick a category at random which did not have any duty, gave me a wink, did the old rubber stamp thing on the sheaf of papers and sent me on my way.  One of the strangest experiences I have ever had with officialdom!

Bluesky

[JohnR]

FWIW 1st class post from the US takes only about a week and it by far the cheapest (not sure if I would use it for anything valuable tho)

[Rocket]

Hi John,

Thanks for the input I'll check this shipping method out for future reference.

Regards

Rod

[Brett]

Another alternative for getting items into Oz, especially where the store won't ship outside the US for whatever reason is Price USA.

I used them once to get some replacement parts when the local supplier was treating me like a pig: not interested in getting the parts in and asking far, far in excess of the listed US price. From order to door in about 10 days with good communication and fees as described. The shipping cost via USPS was almost spot on what the online calculator stated it would be so no hidden gouging there. Good service and I'd use them again.

[lustformusic]

Hello Rod, If you wish to purchase in the US or the UK and the seller won't or by policy can't ship to Australia you can use Borderlinx. This gives you a a suite address in those countries. When the item arrives at your suite address you are notified, you pay for the shipping and GST and the item will get to you in a few working days. Another way is to use A mob called American Baggage. The seller won't ship and they say pick up only , you pay for the item then you contact American baggage , they will send a pickup to the sellers address and forward the item with the option of Air or sea . These guys are great for those large amps ect and very cost effective. I personally have used both of these methods more than once. Never pay by Western Union use Paypal as if the item is a box of junk or goes missing or you have recourse. I hope this helps.

[tnargs]

....If the item is under $1000au including shipping and insurance there is no import costs attached to the item.....

$1,000 is correct, but this allowance is by convention only. By law the 10% GST applies to any value, even $0.10.

The convention exists because it cost money to process an item (inlcuding handling money etc), and for less than $100 revenue it isn't worth the processing cost which might be well over $50.

However, one day someone might look at that and revise the figure. I know the retailer industry is constantly putting pressure on to reduce it.

[nemir]

Can someone tell me where I can go to clear up a very confusing situation...?

I am presently living in Hong Kong.   I've been living here for years now.  I've ordered some custom speakers from the US.  I pay for them via wire transfer from here in Hong Kong. 

Personal circumstances have arisen that require me to move to Australia before the speakers are finished.   

My plan was to have them shipped surface.

How do customs charges work in this case?   This is my stuff that I own, bought and paid for while living overseas.   Though I never took possession while here.

[JohnR]

If you are saying that they will be shipped to you in Australia from the manufacturer, then you will have to pay GST. (I assume they are over $1000 in value.) You can either get them and do the customs paperwork yourself, otherwise you will need to pay someone to do it (no idea how much that costs). If you choose the former, go get them immediately from the container warehouse when you get notice as they charge heftily for overstays.

Even if you had them in your possession now you would still have to pay GST and customs fees etc when you import them, if they are less than a year old.

That, at least, is how it used to work.

[Phydeaux III]

Any updates on this situation in 2021?

Thanks

David

[jules]

I'm using a proxy US address provided by MyUS.com which can cut postage costs in half while still being legit in terms of paying the GST.

The general idea is that they give you a US PO box address, pick it up from there and send it on to you.

You can also accumulate different items from different sources in the PO box, and combine them to post together when you choose.

I don't know that it would work for big stuff like speakers but you could ask. As an example, I recently imported some car parts but you could also use it to buy and import some Amazon products that aren't available here.

PS the $1,000 limit has been abolished.