Australia Post Has Launched A US Freight Forwarding Service

Aushiker · Postby **Aushiker** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 4:16 pm

AusPost’s ShopMate service is in a similar vein to Shipito, MyUS and ShipToMe, but rather than relying on international courier services like UPS and FedEx, ShopMate uses the United States Postal Service to get parcels to Aussie shores and then its own network of delivery centres and postal deliverers — including the excellent postal locker setup that lets you pick up your deliveries from a petrol station, convenience store or after-hours post office without waiting around at home all day.

Once you’ve created an account at ShopMate, you’re assigned a unique US postal address, to which you send the purchases that you make when shopping online at a US retailer — plenty of which offer free shipping on purchases over a certain value to their continental US customers. Once parcels arrive at your US address — actually an Australia Post-associated logistics warehouse — it’s catalogued, and then forwarded onto you in Australia within 5-8 days once you make a Customs declaration and pay the associated fees....

On the face of it, though, ShopMate doesn’t look like it offers especially good value. A flat rate of $24.95 is charged per parcel delivery, and a weight rate of $5.95 is added per 500g of parcel — that means a 3kg box for a pair of sneakers will cost you a full $60.65 to transport to Australia, likely destroying the cost advantage of buying overseas in the first place. While competitors like Shipito are likely better value overall, the AusPost name might be a draw for some buyers. [Australia Post ShopMate]

Source: Gizmodo

Andrew

queequeg · Postby **queequeg** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:26 pm

curious though. it cost me $530 to ship my bike from the USA to Australia via UPS. Total weight was about 13kg, so on those prices it would have been $24.95+(13x11.90)=$180, which is pretty cheap considering what I did pay.

Aushiker · Postby **Aushiker** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:16 pm

queequeg wrote:curious though. it cost me $530 to ship my bike from the USA to Australia via UPS. Total weight was about 13kg, so on those prices it would have been $24.95+(13x11.90)=$180, which is pretty cheap considering what I did pay.

You would need to be sure but that the box dimensions tick the box with Aussie Post/USPS.

Andrew

slowK · Postby **slowK** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:02 pm

Thanks for the heads up. Looks promising for stuff that just isn't brought into Australia by local dealers.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 7:25 am

Might be cheap for large items but definitely not for small ones, and there is no parcel consolidation service offered either.
Probably cheaper than Shipito for single items though.

queequeg · Postby **queequeg** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:34 am

Aushiker wrote:
queequeg wrote:curious though. it cost me $530 to ship my bike from the USA to Australia via UPS. Total weight was about 13kg, so on those prices it would have been $24.95+(13x11.90)=$180, which is pretty cheap considering what I did pay.
You would need to be sure but that the box dimensions tick the box with Aussie Post/USPS.

Andrew

How would you know the box dimensions when ordering something being sent to this address? I'd also be curious how they handle one shipment that has multiple boxes. My bike came in four boxes as part of one consignment. I had no control over that.

sogood · Postby **sogood** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:09 am

Interesting service. Thanks for the heads up.

mitchy_ · Postby **mitchy_** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:16 am

i imagine that $5.95 per 500g would also apply as cubic weight if deemed higher... so the 13kg bike might be closer to 90kg of cubic weight, or $1100....

Aushiker · Postby **Aushiker** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:05 am

queequeg wrote:How would you know the box dimensions when ordering something being sent to this address? I'd also be curious how they handle one shipment that has multiple boxes. My bike came in four boxes as part of one consignment. I had no control over that.

Ask the shipper ... See the FAQ and the calculator [no one side can measure more than 1.05 metres in length].

Andrew

queequeg · Postby **queequeg** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:23 am

Aushiker wrote:
queequeg wrote:How would you know the box dimensions when ordering something being sent to this address? I'd also be curious how they handle one shipment that has multiple boxes. My bike came in four boxes as part of one consignment. I had no control over that.
Ask the shipper ... See the FAQ and the calculator [no one side can measure more than 1.05 metres in length].

Andrew

looking at the site FAQ, there is no way you could practically use this for shipping large items that might be split, all out of your control. I have no idea how you would assign the value of a total shipment across multiple boxes (for customs). The FAQ indicates they are processed separately and can't be bundled. Seems like a lot of mucking about.

I am looking at getting another bike early next year, and I just checked the shipping costs and was surprised to see it is now "free", except for a $200 oversize handling fee. Still better than the $530 from last time though!

scotto · Postby **scotto** » Wed Nov 05, 2014 2:56 pm

http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusin ... ouse-in-us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

redsonic · Postby **redsonic** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:01 pm

Reviving this post, I thought others might be interested in my Shopmate experience.
I had long been eyeing off some clothing from Competitive Cyclist but couldn't swallow the shipping cost ($50 USD for first item, $75 for 2 and $100 for 3!). So much for rewarding larger $ purchases like the UK shops do.
Joining Shopmate was very easy, I already had an Auspost account, so just clicked a button and they sent me a US address.
So, I bought 3 items (rain jacket, jersey and nicks) and CC delivered them free to my Shopmate address. They were posted the next working day, but were sent in 2 separate packages! Agrhh! Shopmate doesn't consolidate parcels.
The packages arrived at Shopmate in the US 1 & 2 working days after they left the merchant. I paid for both together which gave me a $10 discount (although Auspost still charged me for 2 separate deliveries). Auspost acknowledged my payment the day the second parcel arrived, then the packages left the US 3 working days later.
9 & 10 working days after that, they were delivered to me. So, 16 working days from the US (13 working days from Shopmate). Not great. Was actually just over 3 weeks real time. Felt like forever. Shopmate claim 5-8 business days to you once the package arrives with them. Cost me $51 with the $10 "discount" and 20%off offer they were running in November (now, it's 25%off).
Customer service wasn't great; I emailed them with an enquiry about parcel consolidation and they only replied a week later. By then I had found my answer on their website and already paid for the 2 packages to be shipped.

Now, I have found the nicks to be faulty and am dreading the returns process!
Probably won't do this again. Back to Wiggle et al.

singlespeedscott · Postby **singlespeedscott** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:39 pm

Sounds better then dealing with the massive shipping mark up from EBAYS Pitney Bowes. Bloody thieves they are.

redsonic · Postby **redsonic** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:40 pm

singlespeedscott wrote:Sounds better then dealing with the massive shipping mark up from EBAYS Pitney Bowes. Bloody thieves they are.

You're right there. Can't believe some of the shipping prices for tiny/light items on US eBay.

Drizt · Postby **Drizt** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:02 pm

Shopmate has been slow to send stuff after they receive them. Not sure why it takes them 8 days before they even send the goods. Forget customer service..... They do not reply to enquiries about your deliveries.

Never used another freight forwarding company so I don't know how they compare

qranked · Postby **qranked** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 1:06 am

Anyone who's used Shipito or any other mainstream US provider as well as Shopmate have any experiences to compare?

Warin · Postby **Warin** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:03 pm

The reports I have are that

Shopmate has poor response time for questions, even worse when things go wrong .. with deceptive answers. The providers are Singapore Post...

Your better off with shipito.

Or just use the 'normal' USPS/Ozie post.

----------- I've no reports on the crowd sourced thing .. but that is very interesting.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:25 pm

I've used both, the cost is about the same and I have no complaints about either.

The difference is that Shopmate will deliver into my Australia Post parcel locker, which is important to me because I'm not at home to receive courier deliveries.

If you are going to use these services then patience is required. There is no point hassling either about the whereabouts of your parcel. Until they receive it they can tell you nothing. Once dispatched they can tell nothing.

Chill out and wait. If you need something in a hurry then find another way.

Warin · Postby **Warin** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:05 pm

RonK wrote:Chill out and wait.

From one Shopmate report =
How long would you wait before asking questions? 4 weeks? 8 weeks? ...

And then you wait another week for a reply that says nothing. No .. it is very poor service if something goes wrong. Oh .. and then you get a message saying they are looking for the parcel .. 1 week after it arrives in your hands. Yep .. they know what they are doing.

My various experiences =
With things gone wrong is .. You need to contact them if it is more than say 150% of the quoted delivery time. Do not wait, they will lose track of it in some dusty corner .. the sooner the contact the easier it is for them to find it. I've waited to 300% of the quoted delivery time .. and been told off for doing that.. by the courier company. So .. don't wait. I'm usually happy to wait.. but not if it is not helpfull and certainly not if I'm going to be abused for it. If I have the choice I don't use that firm.

RonK · Postby **RonK** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:40 pm

Warin wrote:
RonK wrote:Chill out and wait.
From one Shopmate report =
How long would you wait before asking questions? 4 weeks? 8 weeks? ... And then you wait another week for a reply that says nothing. No .. it is very poor service if something goes wrong. Oh .. and then you get a message saying they are looking for the parcel .. 1 week after it arrives in your hands. Yep .. they know what they are doing.

My various experiences =
With things gone wrong is .. You need to contact them if it is more than say 150% of the quoted delivery time. Do not wait, they will lose track of it in some dusty corner .. the sooner the contact the easier it is for them to find it. I've waited to 300% of the quoted delivery time .. and been told off for doing that.. by the courier company. So .. don't wait. I'm usually happy to wait.. but not if it is not helpfull and certainly not if I'm going to be abused for it. If I have the choice I don't use that firm.

So are you saying that these are your personal experiences with Shopmate?

Here is my recent experience...

Jan 07 - placed an order on Amazon
Jan 08 - notified by Amazon that the seller has shipped order to Shopmate. ETA Jan 13-15
Jan 13 - notification from Shopmate goods received. Completed payment to Shopmate
Jan 14 - shipping confirmed
Jan 21 - notified by Aus Post that the item is in my parcel locker

So, 14 days inclusive from order to receipt. Pretty reasonable I think, and I'll be happy to use Shopmate again.

cycleape · Postby **cycleape** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:22 pm

I read some quite unfavorable feedback on whirlpool so before committing with ShopMate, do your research.
After all ShopMate is another Australian Post franchise so I don't think that they can compete with other well established services.

Warin · Postby **Warin** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 8:07 pm

RonK wrote:
Warin wrote: From one Shopmate report =
So are you saying that these are your personal experiences with Shopmate?

No. As I tried to make clear .. not too worry. The shopmate report comes off another site .. and I trust it asboth I and the other poster have been there a while. And I've pmed them to check. It is not when things go well that you find out about service. I'll be going shopito ... been there longer and no bad reports .. and some good ones from others. The cloud buying looks interesting too.

sgreenblo · Postby **sgreenblo** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:52 pm

Frustrating hey! I've been using a pretty new Aussie website called Cuzin (as in cousin - family member) which connects you to real people in the US to help you get you the stuff you want from overseas. It's pretty good. Worked well for me with amazing response rate, nice people on there willing to help, use Fedex for shipping.

cycleape · Postby **cycleape** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:13 am

sgreenblo wrote:Frustrating hey! I've been using a pretty new Aussie website called Cuzin (as in cousin - family member) which connects you to real people in the US to help you get you the stuff you want from overseas. It's pretty good. Worked well for me with amazing response rate, nice people on there willing to help, use Fedex for shipping.

More info regarding what did you buy and total delivery cost? Otherwise this looks like an advertising.

PS: Cuzin is not responsible for the performance of its Members nor does it have control over its Members' actions, omissions, timing, integrity nor the timing, legality, quality failure to provide, or any other aspect of the Products delivered or requested by its Members. https://www.cuzin.com/TermsAndConditions
I don't know Cuzin and all its members.

sgreenblo · Postby **sgreenblo** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:07 pm

More info regarding what did you buy and total delivery cost? Otherwise this looks like an advertising.

I requested a whole lot of basketball gear for myself and running shoes for my girlfriend. You can see it here in my profile page:
https://www.cuzin.com/Profile/ConsumerItems/3428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Saved 20% on prices from Amazon and consolidated shipment was A$33.59. I thought that was pretty reasonable.

While obviously like using eBay "the platform isn't responsible for it's members" however I was comforted by the fact they use only PayPal for payment and as a result I was covered by Buyer Protection. Also, it helps that everyone has a profile so I could check out the sender and his reviews before I committed. This was him - https://www.cuzin.com/Profile/Reviews/14" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.