OT: How to buy (almost) any item from the USA

[x5mad]

I thought this might be useful as some of you have either bought or are contemplating buying goods from the US. Either due to extortionate prices here, or we simply just cannot get that item here in oz.

A few sites ship to Australia but the majority do not ship here or accept overseas credit cards.

Now there is a solution.

The website is called www.globaleshop.com
You need to register for a free account which then directs you to comgateway (where you need to register again) which is where the fun starts.

I'm not sure but i think you need to have a commonwealth bank issued AMEX for this to work? As this is how i found out about it.

Anyway how this works is quite simple. You can give comgateway a shopping list or you can DIY. If they do everything for you then they charge 10%.

In essence:
- registering gives you a free USA postal address
- you browse on line as you would normally do but through comgateways webpage
- you purchase your goods and use your free USA address
- once there comgateway inform you of shipping and insurance costs (0.65%). they have deal with DHL so shipping seems quite reasonable - first 0.5kg is $24 then $4 for each 0.5kg. Once paid your goods will be shipped with tracking and arrive within 7 days. There appears to be no charge if done this way.

Also you can consolidate your purchases ie if you buy 3 items from 3 different vendors then you can wait for all 3 to arrive at your US Address upon which comgateway will send the whole lot in one go which should save on shipping costs as otherwise each item would be subject to first 0.5kg flat rate. First 3 items are done for free, each additional item is $1.

If the vendor does not ship internationally and does not accept overseas credit card then you can tell comgateway to buy the item on your behalf and they will handle everything door to door. You just pay comgateway the purchase price, shipping, insurance and the 10% fee.

Also, the free address they give you is in oregan which is not subject to taxes, so none are added to your order as opposed to saying sending it to a friend in California whereby sales tax of 8.25% is added.

So if you really wanted a particular item from the US which you can't get here or is too expensive and the US company does not deal with overseas customer, well now there is an option.

Full details go to www.globaleshop.com

[Taymaishu]

Wow. This is awesome!

Thanks so much for this!!!!!

[BMW86]

Great find mate. I wish I knew about this earlier.

I'm stoked to have finally received my KW V2 coilovers on Monday but after paying US$575 for shipping and another $155 for quarantine charges, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the overall purchase (no fault of the vendor). I still saved money by sourcing the parts from the USA though.

What is interesting is how cheap the shipping is with this method. $24 for the first 0.5kg and $4 for each 0.5kg after that? That would mean my coilovers would have cost me less than $100 to ship. Sounds like a bargain!

[Stealth135i]

I think i may try this out as some sites don't ship to South Africa either

Oh wait they dont ship to S.A dang!

[Taymaishu]

Sweet, my Qantas Amex card (not through Comm) works.

[mra]

Just as an alternative (and a bit simpler to sign up), I use these guys:

http://myus.com

Sign up, get your US postal address and they'll ship to you (or purchase on your behalf for about 6%) - have commercial deals with DHL and Fedex.

[x5mad]

Originally Posted by BMW86

Great find mate. I wish I knew about this earlier.

I'm stoked to have finally received my KW V2 coilovers on Monday but after paying US$575 for shipping and another $155 for quarantine charges, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the overall purchase (no fault of the vendor). I still saved money by sourcing the parts from the USA though.

What is interesting is how cheap the shipping is with this method. $24 for the first 0.5kg and $4 for each 0.5kg after that? That would mean my coilovers would have cost me less than $100 to ship. Sounds like a bargain!

The shipping costs do seem very reasonable and when I came across this I remembered your post about the shipping and I thought crap wish I found out sooner for you. Also the express delivery 2-3 days is very good, an extra 80 cents per 0.5kg after $28.80 flat rate for the first 0.5kg.

[x5mad]

Originally Posted by Stealth135i

I think i may try this out as some sites don't ship to South Africa either

Oh wait they dont ship to S.A dang!

They ship to over 200 countries and South Africa was available on the drop down menu for shipping quotes.

[Taymaishu]

mra - myus.com looks great too. The shipping is a little expensive, but solid!

[x5mad]

I had a look at the alternative too. Just a few things I noticed though,
- shipping fees are more expensive, at least double
- standard membership is once off $10. So under this membership if they purchase for you then fee is 5% for wire transfer, and 10% for credit card.
- no free telephone number
- the postal address is in Florida and so sales tax will be added

Good to see that there are more options available to us though.

[BMW86]

Originally Posted by x5mad

The shipping costs do seem very reasonable and when I came across this I remembered your post about the shipping and I thought crap wish I found out sooner for you. Also the express delivery 2-3 days is very good, an extra 80 cents per 0.5kg after $28.80 flat rate for the first 0.5kg.

This is a great find. I wonder if they mark down shipments if they are over $1000? That would be sweet

[fatjoez]

sounds interesting, how much would they charge for shipping a midpipe?

[CT135]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

Sweet, my Qantas Amex card (not through Comm) works.

my corporate amex doesn't work. probably just as well

[Alext]

What if you are not with the Commonwealth bank?

Does it accept normal Amex cards?

[Alext]

Just tested normal AMEX cards do not work and the NAB Amex does not work either.

[mra]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

mra - myus.com looks great too. The shipping is a little expensive, but solid!

More expensive but faster postage by the sounds of it - MyUS ship 2 day DHL express. Also no restrictions on credit cards and less percentage taken for shopper service.

There is also these guys for one off purchases (not sure about their rates):
http://www.priceusa.com.au/

[Lukkyphil]

Yeh Priceusa aint bad, used them a couple of times. Shoes from the US are disgustingly cheap compared with Australia.

[Richard135i]

Just thinking out load, but if the 1st 0.5kg is $24 and each additional 0.5kg is $4 wouldn't this be the best and cheapest option to order the BMW Performance Rotors F&R as I was quote for the full set of 4 $400 from Dan.

I have no idea what the 4 would combine in weight but I'd doubt that $400 via this process would mean the rotors weight 48kgs.

[x5mad]

It might be the way to go. There is no harm getting a shipping quote from these guys. Often if we buy directly from the US these merchants only have a small percentage of overseas clients so cannot give competitive rates. Whereas these guys whose sole business is to ship overseas can often get bulk discount with the international shipping companies.

Also, if goods are over 1000 aud then the entire amount incl shipping is taxed. So this could mean the difference between less tax or no tax at all.

[Richard135i]

An update to my previous post, Dan@United has informed me that the set of 4 Rotors weight 80lbs which is if I am correct 36kgs which in turn converts to about $300 for shipping which is getting better as Dan quoted me $400 for shipping.