Not a rant. A vent maybe.

[A Duke]

Hi,
Just to buck the trend, I must tell of some fantastic Australian service.
This happened in 2005, I hope they are still as good.
I was sanding the lid of a jewelry box when I sanded through the inlay decal, after muttering some naughty words, I went on the internet at 1535 on a Thursday afternoon to Vernier inlay and ordered a replacement. I thought if they pull finger I could have it by Wednesday, imagine my shock when at 0830 the next morning as I walked up my drive with my dogs after our walk, the Postie pulled up next to me and handed me a handful of mail including my order.
I knew they used over night bags but Canberra in spite of being the countries capital is considered "Rural NSW" by our postal service but they (Vernier Inlay) just happened to be in the same rural area. I had not even expected the order to be read by that time.
Regards

[Handyjack]

Best service I have had was in about 2009. Needed some hinges. Ordered over the phone at about 11am, and they were delivered that afternoon!

On another occasion I ordered a sander from a Forum sponsor on a Wednesday that I had to have by Friday so it could be used on the Weekend. Originally it was sent by a division of Australia Post, but they could not find the hospital I work at despite numerous vehicles with there signage appearing on site. The agent then resent the order with a different courier on the Friday and it arrived after 4 Friday afternoon.

So yes sometimes it can be done. One of the real weak points in the supply chain though is Australia Post. They might deliver, the question though is when? Is it timely, or could it be done better?

[Tccp123]

Its more than confusing.

It seems that they want some small business in Latvia or Uzbekistan to collect and remit GST to the Australian government (somehow) because they happen to sell more than $75k of stuff in a YEAR based on the address.

what if they sell a million fidget-spinners to 212 countries of the world. Little Auntie Flo in Germany orders one from Poland and its posted to her nephew in Australia. What address do they use? Germany? If so, no GST.

if it isn't for Aunie Flo's, what if I use my Trust.Zone VPN and appear to come from Germany, pay in Euro on my credit card and post it to myself? Is this counted?

If not, VPNs and made up people/addresses are going to explode.

Worse, do they HONESTLY think that some other countries Bodgy FLyByNight Co will remit the collected GST to Australia? What???? I'd recon Poland cant get Bodgy Co to pay their taxes at all!!!!

now, last but not least, as a small business owner, I can say dealing with the entire taxation system here is a cataclysmic mess. If you start a small biz, it's hard enough to work out how to do the right thing WILLINGLY let alone for a small business in another country.

What a complete disaster.

woodPixel, I feel your pain. I wish I had some answers but sadly I don't...

[bryn23]

It will be interesting once Amazon enters the Australian market.

I noticed that they use UPS here in Brisbane for package delivery from the US/UK and German Amazon sites. (i use them a lot, as I'm currently building a VW Campervan)

I would imagine they would push UPS to expand in metro areas and leave Aus Post to regional areas.

just looking forwards to ordering glue, and other items and receiving it the next day..

[Tccp123]

I'm currently building a VW Campervan

I'm in awe!!!

[Chris Parks]

UPS and AP in this country are handcuffed together so it will be interesting to see what happens when Amazon ramps up here. Many years ago I was emptying a mail box and had a lady come over and thank me for the excellent service she had just had when a parcel was delivered to her daughter over night from Wollongong to Sydney. That used to be the normal thing but no more apparently.

Domestic deliveries are always going to be slower than international deliveries and every country without exception has the same problem as all domestic mail is moved by surface transport. Large countries such as Australia will always have a time problem where small countries such as the UK will be able to get most stuff to anywhere in the country overnight, here it takes at least four days to get to Perth from the east coast, I used to control the dispatch of interstate parcels out of Sydney. A plane flies from the west coast of the US to Oz in less than a day so the comparison is apples v's oranges so to speak. If all domestic mail and parcels was air freighted interstate delivery would be next day and secondary (country) would be two day delivery. I doubt there are enough air freighters in Oz to do that job and curfews at airports prevent it anyway.

[bryn23]

UPS and AP handcuffed together??

Is that still the same, as the brown UPS van delivers to me all my Amazon deliverys and Startrack delivery all my AP/Startrack delivery's

Ive had to pick up from the UPS depot in Brisbane and from Startracks Darra depot.

[Lappa]

My son in the UK used Amazon frequently. Order before, I think 10 am and you have it the same day.
When I was there I ordered some Triton bits from toolsparesonline. Had them the next day before lunch.

[bryn23]

My son in the UK used Amazon frequently. Order before, I think 10 am and you have it the same day.
When I was there I ordered some Triton bits from toolsparesonline. Had them the next day before lunch.

If i ordered something before 10am and it was there on the same day, i think i'd have a stroke.

next day delivery before midday would be a dream, sometimes it does happen, but not often.

[Chris Parks]

UPS and AP handcuffed together??

Is that still the same, as the brown UPS van delivers to me all my Amazon deliverys and Startrack delivery all my AP/Startrack delivery's

Ive had to pick up from the UPS depot in Brisbane and from Startracks Darra depot.

Some courier companies feed (or used to) into the AP delivery system depending on where the delivery point is. I used to pick up cages every day from Fastway Wollongong for delivery by AP depending on where the delivery point was. They always used their own delivery network for metro areas I guess but I never asked the question. My information is not recent but that is how it used to work. The courier companies get very good bulk pricing on parcel delivery so they use it to their advantage.

[woodPixel]

It begins: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Inte...-to-Australia/ and https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-l...mported-goods/

This was put up today.

My earlier rant was bang on. They fully expect overseas businesses to not only register for an ABN, but GST and lodge monthly reports!

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!

[Big Shed]

It now won't come in until 01/07/2018

Online shoppers to be stung by GST from next year, tax on tampons to stay - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[bueller]

Just noticed that. And not a week after I bought $600 worth of tooling to try and beat the clock 😑

Oh well, new tools!

[richmond68]

That isn't a surprise, and will probably work to Amazon's advantage as they can act as the fulfilment centre and save overseas vendors the hassle of all that.

[bueller]

I was thinking the exact same thing actually. Once this is implemented it will be very much in Amazon's favour, they already have the supply chain and just need to set up distribution within Australia. And they've proven in the past that they're not worried about making money immediately, they're about the long game and have oodles of money to throw at this venture.

They're also MILES ahead of most Australian retailers when it comes to e-commerce, here's hoping they manage to drill some better habits into the competition.