USA Freight Forwarders - who do you use - what are they like?

[FenceFurniture]

As Dylan said so long ago - "For the times they are a-changing"

I have used Shipito for 4-5 years with reasonable success, although enormous effort on my part. They are as thick as two short planks and have never understood decent logic. For example, if you select the Australia Post option (I forget what it's called now) they say you can't send timber products of any kind. AP says "Tosh, of course we do". Shipito then says "nyaaagh our agent over here says they won't", and so it goes on.

Same thing with Knives/blades and TNT. Spoke to TNT people here years ago - "yep, sure, no wuckas". Shipito "nyaaagh our agent over here says they won't", and so it goes on.

TNT now bought out buy Fedex means prices seem to have gone through the roof. They used to be very fair, and very fast.

So apart from the other gazillion arguments I've had with Shipito, I've now had a gutfull of them.

Who do you use?
Are they at least half-smart?
Do they consolidate packages for a reasonable fee?
Are their shipping rates reasonable?

One of the big problems I see coming with Shipito is that they will want to charge 10% GST on packages that are >AUD1000. The legislation is quite clear on this - "For packages over AUD1000 in value - NOTHING CHANGES - exactly as before". That is, GST is NOT payable to the retailer - it will be collected at the border. I'm certain that Shipito will make a hash of this, and it will then be up to us to get a refund from them - GOOD LUCK with that suckers.

I also note that as of 22nd June - just one week away - I have still heard nothing from Shipito about GST collection by them.

NOTE PLEASE: this is not to be a mouthing off thread about the July 1 changes in GST - there are already two different threads going about that.

[woodPixel]

I've yet to read the entire thread, but I use: ShopNShip .... https://www.shopandship.com/en/home/account/addresses

They are EXCEPTIONAL. They ship by weight alone. I've shipped timber from the USA, including something bulky yet light (same price!) and stuff from China (twice). SNS even handled a bulky heavy thing for me - they are great. Recommended.

This is an AusPost version, given they are in the thick of it, they might have a more reasoned approach: https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/ (USA only??)

Edit: this is on the APSM site: "International shipping rates are $22.95 AUD per parcel, plus $4.95 AUD per 500g. The minimum chargeable weight is 500g, with 500g increments thereafter. The chargeable weight of your parcel will be based on the greater of its actual weight or cubic weight (charged in 500g increments)."

[Midnight Man]

Who do you use?
Are they at least half-smart?
Do they consolidate packages for a reasonable fee?
Are their shipping rates reasonable?

I also note that as of 22nd June - just one week away - I have still heard nothing from Shipito about GST collection by them.

I use US to OZ. I have done so for most anything I've bought from the USA since January 2015 (when I found them).

Their fees are very transparent, and are published on their web site: US to OZ - Shipping to Australia.

Sarah, who runs the operation (this is a small outfit, not a huge concern, so you're treated like a person, not a number), is very switched on, and way more than half smart. Package consolidation is part of their normal service, and again is detailed on their site.

The shipping rates are pretty much what they pay plus their fees.

I will be perfectly honest and say I have no clue what their fees are, as I know from looking in the past that they are fair and reasonable, and the level of service and care is such that I have no concerns about "checking" the prices.

When you have stuff going to them, you put in an order on their site. Send them via e-mail the invoice(s) so they know what's coming. Let them know when you're done (I have had orders sitting on their shelf for a month or more waiting on "other stuff" to be ordered or to arrive - this too is no hassle, but be reasonable about it).

When you pull the trigger, Sarah will drop you an e-mail with about 3-4 shipping and insurance options. Pick which one you want, do a direct deposit via Internet banking to their Australian bank account.

A few days later, unwrap parcel.

As an aside, I wrote to Sarah on Wednesday 13th June at 22.43 in the evening asking their position and preparedness for the GST changes. I had a reply fifty two (52) minutes later clearly stating they were absolutely ready, and would be in a position to handle matters correctly, and immediately, come 1 July.

[FenceFurniture]

Yes MM, I have had previous dialogue with Sarah, and she did seem switched on. As you would expect from an ex-pat Aussie of course.
I can't remember her response to using sea freight for less urgent/heavy-as buggery items, but I might have to have another look.

Woodpixel, does SNS consolidate packages, etc? Do they use Sea Freight as an option?

[FenceFurniture]

WP, another thing with SNS - Shipping from China, Japan, Canada costs in the realm of 50% more than US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe. That doesn't seem to make a great deal of sense - not up to you to justify it of course!

[woodPixel]

I'm a member, was since the month they started. Not sure if that confers any benefits, but I do remember a fee of some sort being involved.

When I book in a 2kg package, this is what I get:

Shopping From Zone 1: US, UK, Hong Kong, Turkey, UAE, India, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia 42.00 AUD

Shopping From Zone 2: China, South Africa, Canada, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan and Lebanon 50.85 AUD

It not too much more.... perhaps less than what you see?

As for repackaging/consolidation... I don't think they do.

One thing I will say for SNS is they literally mean by weight.... if you want to ship over a large box of feathers (no problem).

They are not cowboys, they know their stuff and my experience with the cust serv is they do get back to you, but it's pretty much all in the FAQ. They DO have a fairly long list of exceptions they wont carry and they don't seem to broker any shenanigans.

[ozhunter]

I might have to look into US to OZ. Their web site seems to be very informative and up-to-speed. There have been umpteen things over the time that I would have bought but was stymied by the "no we don't ship outside the US"

At the moment a couple of books are in that category.

[crowie]

A little off topic..
I bought an item from Parts Warehouse, Texas who use UPS; 1.5kg package for US$12.95 delivered which I thought was very good considering the cost using USPS...

[FenceFurniture]

Woodpixel, I'm just doing some analysis on the various carriers, and for ShopNShip there seem to be some inconsistencies:
On this page it says the Zone 1 countries of origin are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, UK, and USA so they are all AUD27 for the first 500g and $5 per 500g after that
BUT
when I go to this page (having clicked the Rates Calc button) it says Zone 1 countries of origin are US, UK, Hong Kong, Turkey, UAE, India, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia

In other words Canada, Japan and China are NOT in Zone 1. ¿Que?

And why is Canada >25% more than USA?

I must say the layout of their website needs a vast logic makeover - very vague.

[Bushmiller]

Some of the shippers just act as a forwarding agent and are fine for those retailers who won't ship overseas and you only have a single item. If you wish to collect a number of packages and ship as one to gain the benefit of a reduced shipping charge, the choice is less. The big attraction of Shipito initially was the ability to collect goods on your behalf for up to three months (six months at one of their locations) and then ship the whole lot at one go. The goods restrictions (sometimes quite ridiculous), the removal of the most competitive shippers and other rising costs eventually removed anything that was once considered attractive.

Regards
Paul

[FenceFurniture]

I bought an item from Parts Warehouse, Texas who use UPS; 1.5kg package for US$12.95 delivered which I thought was very good considering the cost using USPS...

Nothing to complain about with that price Peter (and no, not off topic at all).

[FenceFurniture]

If you wish to collect a number of packages and ship as one to gain the benefit of a reduced shipping charge, the choice is less.

Australia Post has excelled even their own standards of illogic at ShopMate. You CAN consolidate 5 parcels into one! Hallelujah brother!
Oh, wait, they have to arrive within 21 days of the first (almost bearable maybe)
but get this....they have to come from the same retailer!
Who in their right mind pays 5x the local postage from the same mob within 3 weeks!!! Why am I not surprised that AP is in trouble, with vast logic like that?
(they have another whole bunch of restrictions, but time for that later)

The big attraction of Shipito initially was the ability to collect goods on your behalf for up to three months

Yes, and if you put an 88 day old package into another one it started again.

Who are you using now Paul, or are you also on the lookout? (I just can't see you restricting your saw collection to the current paltry 5-700)

[ian]

Hi everyone

Can I add a caveat to this discussion.

within the last few days, The US Supreme Court ruled that internet shoppers in the US are liable to pay US State sales taxes.
I'm not sure if the sales tax is collected on behalf of the state / county within which the seller is located, or the state / county where the customer is located.
Either way, the effect COULD BE that Australian customers will be billed both US Sales tax and Australian GST.

Before people get too excited working out who are the preferred mail forwarding services within the US, I suggest it is advisable to clarify the sales tax implications of purchases from US suppliers.

[FenceFurniture]

The shipping rates are pretty much what they pay plus their fees.
I have no clue what their fees are, as I know from looking in the past that they are fair and reasonable

So I'm just going to work through an example, to see if you agree with the numbers.

Item One.
A package that is 20x20x20cm, cost USD100, weight is 2kg.
Assume a freight cost of USD30 (ignoring insurance)
Assume when I paid for it that the xrate was 0.7503
Today's spot rate is 0.744, so the rate they would apply is 0.719
UStoOZ fee = (100 + 30) / 0.719 * 4.5% which is $8, but the minimum fee is $12

Item Two.
A package that is 20x20x20cm, cost USD700, weight is 2kg.
Assume a freight cost of USD30 (ignoring insurance)
Assume when I paid for it that the xrate was 0.7503
Today's spot rate is 0.744, so the rate they would apply is 0.719
UStoOZ fee = (700 + 30) / 0.719 * 4.5% which is $45.69

So the only difference in the two packages is the value of the goods, therefore the freight costs will be the same (as stated before, ignoring insurance costs).

Can that possibly be right? If so, how do they justify charging nearly 4x the fee when the package is identical? That can't be right surely. I mean, they would be charging more than the freighter does!

The other thing is the relationship between the Spot Rate, the Mid-market rate, and the actual rate paid. The actual rate will always be less than the first two (so that is good in terms of the US to Oz fee), but I don't know the relationship between Spot and Mid-market (which is higher).

What I'm getting at is that their fee isn't just 4.5% - it's more like 6-6.5%.

[FenceFurniture]

I had a look at MyUS. They charge significantly more than Shipito - forget it.

Interesting article from Choice. April 2018. Their calculations show that UStoOZ were significantly more expensive than the others (like pushing 50% more just for the postage on a 2kg package, without their ~6% fee as well).