Australia Post's "ShopMate"

[CKinnard]

I didn't know this service existed until today.
https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Australia Post allows you to buy US goods not available for Aussie shipment, by using their US shipping address as an intermediary.
Has anyone used it?

[queequeg]

I didn't know this service existed until today.
https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Australia Post allows you to buy US goods not available for Aussie shipment, by using their US shipping address as an intermediary.
Has anyone used it?

Yes, I have used it to buy some Car Parts on eBay where they would not ship to Australia. Worked pretty well. Just note that with the changes to Low Value Imports, Shopmate will add GST to your purchases before they send them to you.

Paul

[CKinnard]

I didn't know this service existed until today.
https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Australia Post allows you to buy US goods not available for Aussie shipment, by using their US shipping address as an intermediary.
Has anyone used it?

Yes, I have used it to buy some Car Parts on eBay where they would not ship to Australia. Worked pretty well. Just note that with the changes to Low Value Imports, Shopmate will add GST to your purchases before they send them to you.

Paul

Thanks....and bugger. I didn't realize the low value import thing had started already (July I note).
That potentially sucks. I presume that means if ShopMate has a California address (say San Francisco), then one has to pay their 8.5% sales tax, in addition to Australian GST!!!

[queequeg]

I didn't know this service existed until today.
https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/

Australia Post allows you to buy US goods not available for Aussie shipment, by using their US shipping address as an intermediary.
Has anyone used it?

Yes, I have used it to buy some Car Parts on eBay where they would not ship to Australia. Worked pretty well. Just note that with the changes to Low Value Imports, Shopmate will add GST to your purchases before they send them to you.

Paul

Thanks....and bugger. I didn't realize the low value import thing had started already (July I note).
That potentially sucks. I presume that means if ShopMate has a California address (say San Francisco), then one has to pay their 8.5% sales tax, in addition to Australian GST!!!

I think you get a choice of what state you use for the Shipping Address in the USA. Mine is based in Portland, Oregon.

[CKinnard]

I think you get a choice of what state you use for the Shipping Address in the USA. Mine is based in Portland, Oregon.

I just phoned Aust Post to clarify. US sales tax is paid based on which state the seller is in, and not the ShopMate warehouse, which makes sense come to think of it.

And GST is charged on everything that goes through ShopMate from what I understood....
and goods over $980 can be subject to customs and duty, as usual.

[queequeg]

I think you get a choice of what state you use for the Shipping Address in the USA. Mine is based in Portland, Oregon.

I just phoned Aust Post to clarify. US sales tax is paid based on which state the seller is in, and not the ShopMate warehouse, which makes sense come to think of it.

And GST is charged on everything that goes through ShopMate from what I understood....
and goods over $980 can be subject to customs and duty, as usual.

Not necessarily true. The sales tax is only applied if you buy from a store with a physical presence in a state, and you reside in the same state. IN other words, if you bought from a store that was based in California, and you used a CA Warehouse address with ShopMate, you'd be up for the CA sales tax.

However, Oregon is one of the states in the USA that do not levy Sales Tax at all. If you buy from a CA store and ship to Oregon, the CA Sales Tax does not apply.

https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/busin ... hases.html

[CKinnard]

Not necessarily true. The sales tax is only applied if you buy from a store with a physical presence in a state, and you reside in the same state. IN other words, if you bought from a store that was based in California, and you used a CA Warehouse address with ShopMate, you'd be up for the CA sales tax.

However, Oregon is one of the states in the USA that do not levy Sales Tax at all. If you buy from a CA store and ship to Oregon, the CA Sales Tax does not apply.

https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/busin ... hases.html

Thanks for that. That goes against logic, and what ShopMate customer service told me.
Nice to know.

I presumed logically sales tax is subject to the sales location i.e. if I am traveling interstate from Portland to San Francisco, and buy bicycle tires in SF, then Californian sales tax applies.

But internet commerce ain't necessarily logical! Australian companies paying for Google services in Australia. They are paying Google in Singapore (company tax rate 15%), so Australia doesn't get to tax (at 30%) Google's profits from doing business in Australia!

[queequeg]

Not necessarily true. The sales tax is only applied if you buy from a store with a physical presence in a state, and you reside in the same state. IN other words, if you bought from a store that was based in California, and you used a CA Warehouse address with ShopMate, you'd be up for the CA sales tax.

However, Oregon is one of the states in the USA that do not levy Sales Tax at all. If you buy from a CA store and ship to Oregon, the CA Sales Tax does not apply.

https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/busin ... hases.html

Thanks for that. That goes against logic, and what ShopMate customer service told me.
Nice to know.

I presumed logically sales tax is subject to the sales location i.e. if I am traveling interstate from Portland to San Francisco, and buy bicycle tires in SF, then Californian sales tax applies.

But internet commerce ain't necessarily logical! Australian companies paying for Google services in Australia. They are paying Google in Singapore (company tax rate 15%), so Australia doesn't get to tax (at 30%) Google's profits from doing business in Australia!

I don't profess to know how their whole system works, but it seems to be that if you reside or purchase from the store in the state where the tax is levied, then you have to pay the tax. So, physically buying tyres from a shop in CA means you'll cop the tax. If you buy the same tyres from the same shop online, but you ship to your home address in another state, you don't pay CA Sales Tax. However, you might be up for sales tax in your home state if the shop you purchased from has a physical store in your state as well.
In the case of Oregon, they don't have a Sales Tax at all, so you are safe.

To complicate matters for locals, they also have a "Use Tax" that applies for purchases made out of state but shipped back home. You are supposed to pay a "Usage Tax", but it's collection looks like a dogs breakfast.

My parents used to live in New Jersey and they said that most New Yorkers would cross over into New Jersey to do their shopping to save some money, due to the lower tax rate. There was also some sort of scam where you could buy something like a watch, and the retailer would mail the empty box to your out of state address, while you kept the actual goods with you...all to avoid sales tax.

[biker jk]

Not necessarily true. The sales tax is only applied if you buy from a store with a physical presence in a state, and you reside in the same state. IN other words, if you bought from a store that was based in California, and you used a CA Warehouse address with ShopMate, you'd be up for the CA sales tax.

However, Oregon is one of the states in the USA that do not levy Sales Tax at all. If you buy from a CA store and ship to Oregon, the CA Sales Tax does not apply.

https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/busin ... hases.html

Thanks for that. That goes against logic, and what ShopMate customer service told me.
Nice to know.

I presumed logically sales tax is subject to the sales location i.e. if I am traveling interstate from Portland to San Francisco, and buy bicycle tires in SF, then Californian sales tax applies.

But internet commerce ain't necessarily logical! Australian companies paying for Google services in Australia. They are paying Google in Singapore (company tax rate 15%), so Australia doesn't get to tax (at 30%) Google's profits from doing business in Australia!

I don't profess to know how their whole system works, but it seems to be that if you reside or purchase from the store in the state where the tax is levied, then you have to pay the tax. So, physically buying tyres from a shop in CA means you'll cop the tax. If you buy the same tyres from the same shop online, but you ship to your home address in another state, you don't pay CA Sales Tax. However, you might be up for sales tax in your home state if the shop you purchased from has a physical store in your state as well.
In the case of Oregon, they don't have a Sales Tax at all, so you are safe.

To complicate matters for locals, they also have a "Use Tax" that applies for purchases made out of state but shipped back home. You are supposed to pay a "Usage Tax", but it's collection looks like a dogs breakfast.

My parents used to live in New Jersey and they said that most New Yorkers would cross over into New Jersey to do their shopping to save some money, due to the lower tax rate. There was also some sort of scam where you could buy something like a watch, and the retailer would mail the empty box to your out of state address, while you kept the actual goods with you...all to avoid sales tax.

States can now levy sales tax on internet sales.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/21/state ... eme-court/

[queequeg]

States can now levy sales tax on internet sales.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/21/state ... eme-court/

Has that actually started? The link didn't say, only that a decision had been made. I checked on Amazon (for example), and State Sales Tax is determined by where it is shipped to. Since my ShopMate address is in Oregon, I don't pay Sales Tax in the USA

[RonK]

I have used Shopmate. Shipping charges are very high so I would only use it as a last resort when the goods cannot be sourced anywhere else.
I have also used Shipito, whom I pretty sure will not collect GST for the Australian Government. Have the goods delivered to their Oregon depot to avoid US state taxes.

[madmacca]

I have used Shopmate. Shipping charges are very high so I would only use it as a last resort when the goods cannot be sourced anywhere else.
I have also used Shipito, whom I pretty sure will not collect GST for the Australian Government. Have the goods delivered to their Oregon depot to avoid US state taxes.

Actually, Shipito do collect GST. https://www.shipito.com/en/help/faq/customs

Shipping services will almost certainly import over $80,000 threshold, making them liable to collect the GST.

[daryar]

The situation with the GST is unfortunately the same with all re-shipping services. Also you can't consolidate packages if you want to send it via Fedex.

Maybe give a try to Planet Express https://planetexpress.com/ . In comparison with another services, their shipping rates are the cheapest .

[Thoglette]

Just received an email saying this is going to close. No “why” just “when”

On 25 February 2022, the ShopMate parcel-forwarding service will close.

Effectively it’s a month and two weeks earlier as that’s the last order date.
I can’t imagine it’s running at a loss so I’m boggled
Errata: last parcel arrival date is 10 Jan

[MichaelB]

Just received an email saying this is going to close. No “why” just “when”

On 25 February 2022, the ShopMate parcel-forwarding service will close.

Effectively it’s two weeks earlier as that’s the last order date.
I can’t imagine it’s running at a loss so I’m boggled

Boggled in that they can make a stupid decision, or just boggled that they probably can't make it work properly ?

Given AP's capability since Covid started, I'm not boggled by anything they do except not be able to deliver post cheaply and quickly

[Retrobyte]

I've not used ShopMate, but I've used this service regularly over the years. Similar concept, gives you a US address ... https://www.shipito.com/en/ship-from-un ... TgEALw_wcB

[Thoglette]

Choice have a sort-of article on various freight forwarders here
https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/onli ... g-services

[queequeg]

I have used Shopmate a few times. I bagged a few good deals when they first opened and were giving big discounts on shipping rates to attract customers.
I also had to source an Air Conditioner Evaporator for my Mazda6 when the one in my car sprung a leak and the dealer quoted me $1500 for a replacement. I managed to source a NOS Evaporator kit from a Mazda Dealer in Chicago, but they would only ship to a US Address, but the landed price of the unit was $400 so I saved myself a fortune. The local Mazda dealer said they were happy for me to source the parts as they allegedly made nothing off the parts anyway.
Some other things I have ordered, again just to get around the "we don't ship outside the USA" was a large Brass bell that I bought for our Cycling Club to use for the Last Lap.

I have had no reason to use the shipping service the last couple of years. Not even sure if my ShopMate account is active, as I have not received nay "we're closing" e-mails from them.

[caneye]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship frames from North America?

[queequeg]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship frames from North America?

Buying a bike that is made in the USA where the manufacturer gets bulk freight rates. For example, shipping for my Lynskey was around $200 express delivery. When I had a warranty repair that needed doing (after 7 years and 60,000+km) it cost me $475 to post it back, then they sent it back to me for free.

[MichaelB]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship frames from North America?

Given the prices for shipping some small parts atm, the answer NOPE.

I was looking for the mounting shells for the H/Bar Di2 Junction Box, and the CHEAPEST site I can find was US$25 for shipping, and the typical range was US$70, and some sites in Europe were Euro77

So, anything big I would guess is just astronomical.

[RonK]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship frames from North America?

I have used Shipito before ShopMate. You'll have to work out for yourself if it cheaper, but I was disappointed with ShopMate's rates. I doubt they were any cheaper than Shipito.

Shipping rates from the US have always been high (and slow), and in my experience shipping services don't save you anything, but perhaps if you bundled a number of purchases into a single shipment there would be a saving

[robbo mcs]

I have used shop mate a fair few times over the years, especially for small light objects, where the sender was quoting outrageous postage.

However, a few times recently I have tried to use the address, but it has been blocked by vendor, who have said they don't ship outside the USA. So I think the addresses they use may have become "known" to be a reshipper. That happened with Oakley stuff

[caneye]

Buying a bike that is made in the USA where the manufacturer gets bulk freight rates. For example, shipping for my Lynskey was around $200 express delivery. When I had a warranty repair that needed doing (after 7 years and 60,000+km) it cost me $475 to post it back, then they sent it back to me for free.

That's really cheap, but would've been a while ago?
With the global supply chain delays this year, I can only guess that the rates have gone through the roof.

I've opened up a Shipito account. haven't used it though. Might try it out during the upcoming Black Friday sales .. but only for smaller items.

[queequeg]

Buying a bike that is made in the USA where the manufacturer gets bulk freight rates. For example, shipping for my Lynskey was around $200 express delivery. When I had a warranty repair that needed doing (after 7 years and 60,000+km) it cost me $475 to post it back, then they sent it back to me for free.

That's really cheap, but would've been a while ago?
With the global supply chain delays this year, I can only guess that the rates have gone through the roof.

I've opened up a Shipito account. haven't used it though. Might try it out during the upcoming Black Friday sales .. but only for smaller items.

I sent it back in 2018 for repairs, and they were still doing $200 shipping at that time. I was thinking I’d have to pay shipping both ways, but they didn’t charge me. It would have made my frame repair a bit less palatable. The shipping over there was extortion, but as it was a repair there were wads of special paperwork to avoid getting slugged with US Customs going in, and AU customs coming back