Read the Gizmodo US Deals article
Now that the Australian dollar is at a record high (96~97 US cents) this is probably one of the best times to make overseas purchases.
Also keep an eye out on Slickdeals and the Importing whirlpool thread for some possible deals.
View List of Online Stores (sorted by category. Special thanks to WP user Economic (#50075) )
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1282997&p…
View the original list of international stores that ship overseas.
Thanks for the those links to Whirlpool. Now the question is just — buy now or wait? Just realise that AUD is now on parity with CAD!
I reckon these are some great deals from DX:
-Play my ipod touch music on amp without wire connection:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36386
-got one these and its awesome plus price has dropped
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.35354
also would customs stop this from coming in ?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15934
I wanted the rii mini too~ but its still so expensive …
I got a Rii - they are great. I paid over US$40 for mine, and use it as a Wii keyboard. When you see how it's manufactured, you see why it's not $10 - it's a beautiful piece of work!
I brought in some of the rubber band guns too - no problems with customs. Note that they are pretty crude, hand-made devices, and not what I would call "quality manufactured". But they work :-)
great time to buy some bargains.. I'm waiting a little longer for some electronics components to come down.
I tried getting protein powder from usa.. company said it won't clear customs.
keep in mind that if you find something you like but they don't ship international.. there are companies that can give you a USA postal address.. and they then forward the parcel(s)to you.
here is one example http://bongous.com/
(i think these have been talked about here/whirlpool)
http://www.priceusa.com.au/ is also another alternative.
Carolina Tillet (the manager of the business in Melb) is also a very active member on Whirlpool, so if you have any whinges/ queries / praises you can also post on the PriceUSA main thread.
I've been thinking about getting a Nokia N8… but damn is the price high.
this sites looks like it post to AUS from USA but post is high flat fee so I think best to order a lot in one go.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&A=rem…
New Wireless Kobo E-Reader:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_ereaders
Works out to be $151 AUD including delivery. Pre-ordering it here is 200 AUD.
Buying sports gear (shoes etc) from wiggle and eastbay are both good options…
Very interesting thread. Such a good time to buy!
better get buying quick dollar is slowly falling, was at 96c when the Chinease announced increase in interest rates, now its around 97c.
lol that's not called "slowly falling," that's a sudden drop after which the dollar stablised…
LOL no need to panic, the AUD isn't going to crash any time soon. Most likely will still reach parity with USD in the next month or 2 if not sooner.
The Chinese thing is just a temporary drop, similar thing will happen when interest rates most likely go up here next month, except AUD will raise instead of drop.
Does anybody know which US mail forwarder is the best/cheapest from this list? Any other comments regarding good/bad experience with these companies? Thanks!
shipito.com
myus.com
bongous.com
The prices on the USPS website seem very high. Can anyone who uses mail forwarding companies tell me on average how much it would cost to get a medium sized box with say two pairs of shoes in the one box sent for example? Its looking like it would be around $50 plus the fees from the mail forwarding company…that can't be right? Can it?
I used parceliton and www.orderfromtheusa.com and both were exceptionally good. The last one was a lot cheaper as she doesn't charge extra for paypal payments like all the others seem to. I'm currently waiting for a bunch of games that I ordered from walmart.
Bring on the good oz dollar!!
just want to say that the happy days of USD parity is ending.. come November it looks like banks will up rates to stablise the AUD..
so this coming week will be the last week we will ever get to enjoy online importing.. i mean shopping.
You're a brave man to make such a prediction. I wish I could see into the future like you (but you are right that the RBA will lift rates next month).
By the way, the dollar doesn't have to be near parity to get value from shopping overseas. Even at 85c-90c there is value to be had - and the Aussie dollar has been at this level for most of the year.
Also, when the RBA lifts rates you will actually see a rise (if not temporary) in the AUD.
Err. 1AUD=0.9997USD just a few minutes ago. Challenging parity take 2?
1.00 AUD = 1.00495 USD right now
Happy days for consumers.
And it's gonna stay around parity or even go higher now :D
USD just went down the plokers with a US$600billion quantitative easing (too bad it wasn't US$1trillion as expected:( )
quantitative easing
lol
BTW, no one knows for sure where the dollar is going. If it was that easy FX trading wouldn't be so risky.
I'm being optimistic, cause I'm buying some things in USD atm :D
and yeah I'm still in eco mode from school, aka they're printing money for those who don't know what quantitative easing means.
um, it is the opposite. Upping the rates, increases the value of the dollar, because when the Reserve Bank rate is higher more overseas money flows into Australia because they ar getting a better return.
Uping the rates do not stabilise the AUD, it stabilises inflation, and infact makes the AUD even more volitile in the sense that it will go up against other currencies.
lol. i didn't realise i was contradicting myself. :P thanks for the econs lessons everyone. hehe.
are there any people here that get a black friday deal on something from america that gets posted here?
keep an eye at slickdeals for announcements of black friday sales.
thanks! I will probably import some games from UK even though I haven't finished all my games :)