This is not going to go down well with OzBargainers?
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/amazon-to-block…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-31/amazon-to-block-us-sit…
Sign the Petition to SCRAP the GST on online goods sold online costing less than $1000
Does anyone know if we'll still be able to BUY with an Australian Visa card, as long as we SHIP to a USA address? (So we could order on Amazon with our CC, send it to someone in the USA, and they could ship it to us?)
It would seem that regardless of purchase date, it will be the 'Import Date' that will result in the GST ruling being enforced.
It would be great if any purchases prior to end of June would be exempt, but it does not look that way.
excerpt:
The existing processes to collect GST on imports above $1,000 at the border are unchanged.
•make supplies of goods valued at A$1,000 or less at the time of supply connected with Australia
if the goods are purchased by consumers and are brought into Australia with the assistance of the supplier
The Federal Parliament has passed law that will extend goods and services tax (GST)
to low value imports of physical goods imported by consumers from 1 July 2018.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-legislation/In-detail/Ind…
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/international-tax-for-busine…
Book Depository (an Amazon company), has announced that it will charge GST on all orders from July 1st, which interesting. Really seems to support the idea that Amazon could have gotten the GST issue sorted out if they had wanted to, but instead they have chosen to force Australians to use the local site. Maybe as a protest to the government or they are just feeling lazy because we are a small market for them, but a frustrating move on their part either way.
https://www.afr.com/business/retail/amazons-book-depository-…
This should have been in place 10 years ago, to do it now is just gouging the poor with more tax, really the tax isn't the problem, its the fees and import charges together with online shops no longer available to Australians which will affect as all as the locals will strangely up the prices even higher, its happening as we speak.
This is not a tax on Amazon or any other retailer it's an attack on the Australian Consumer.
It is not really the GST that is the issue, I will pay that.
It is the low price specials on the US site I will be missing.
Agreed. GST isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, the GST policy turns out to also be an anti competition policy. If it’s costly for international sellers to do business here, they won’t. Instead we get to be gouged by inflated local prices because we no longer have a competitive alternative to pressure the local market to be fair
Exactly right, anti-competition!
But because it's come from the ATO, it's definitely not cartel behaviour… it's "fairness" :(.
I just placed an Amazon US order and one item is now backordered. They sent an email stating it would be delivered in September. But they're not shipping to Australia from July, right!?
Does anyone know if I'll get my item?
Very annoying because it's one part of three matching cookware items, and the first two have already been shipped! (I would just ask Amazon, but I contacted them the other day about the subject of this thread, they didn't know what I was talking about, said it wasn't true, and asked for links to news articles. So I sent them two URLs and they stopped replying.)
Oh, and how long does it normally take for Amazon orders (cheapest shipping method) to arrive? (Yeah I know they quote a time, but I also know it's conservative and rarely accurate. I'm wondering about real experiences.)
So now if you bought a 3$ led from ebay.com, there is an extra 10% GST and another 7$ package check and Biosecurity charge?Is it how it is finally?
If Australian retailers must pay GST, why should international companies shipping to Australia not?
For everyone bleating about the theoretical economics of the situation and about how the goods they are purchasing are much cheaper overseas, take a moment to compare local economic factors - specifically wages and cost of living - in the nations they are buying from vs locally, when comparing prices of said goods.
Whining on here and threatening to boycott companies sounds very childish - and when local retailers are put out of business because of poor margins or lack of demand, and those wages leave the economy, tax revenues drop even further and local spending will fall - where will the non-retail industries collect their revenues from to pay the wages of those employees?
Gerry is that you?
Firstly Australian retailers don't pay GST. They are charged GST from their suppliers, and then they collect much more than that as they sell to consumers. Their GST bill is less than zero. Every single retailer in Australia who sells items for profit, sells them at a price which is more than the cost. They are mini tax collectors for the ATO, and when they write out their BAS cheques every quarter, its because they've collected stacks from their customers.
It's the CONSUMERS that pay that GST difference, not the retailers.
And it's not "whining and threatening" when discussing boycotting particular businesses, so get a clue.
Its called consumer choice and making a conscious decision to not support companies (ie Hardly Normal) that willingly demand extra taxes on the Australian public to protect their ludicrous profit margins.
Gerry is a billionaire. (https://www.forbes.com/profile/gerry-harvey/)
And he's used his political clout to get his mates in the Liberal Party to get this across the line and have Australian's paying more tax.
And all your bleating about lost jobs is laughable.
Like every sector, like every business, it adjusts according to market demand.
For the lost jobs in Gerry's stores, many more open up in freight forwarding companies, warehousing, couriers, and many other supporting industries. The demand for those goods doesn't drop, it just shifts away from Gerry Harvey's pockets into industries he doesn't have businesses in. AND THAT'S WHY WE ARE ALL NOW PAYING MORE TAXES! It's got nothing to do with being fair, its about staying rich.
Going by your argument, we should never have opened up the car markets and "lost" Ford and Holden to cheaper and better imports. Oh those poor employees… boohoo. At the end of the day, if you can't compete, you lose. That's business.
I buy from overseas because quite frankly the local mark ups for the exact same product is disgusting.
I for one will NEVER buy anything from Hardly Normal again. Even though some of their online 'scoop buys' are sometimes very competitive… I can't in good conscience put one single cent into the pocket of that billionaire ever again.
He's penalised us all so he can remain rich. Nothing to do with fairness.
Holy wow. I had a huge order lined up and bought gift card credit from OzBargain users to make up my total.
Everything in the cart ready to go and I open up another tab to see how much another item would change shipping and boom.
We are unable to ship non-digital items from amazon.com to Australian shipping addresses.
Please choose a shipping address that is not in Australia to proceed. Some restrictions may still apply depending on the item.You can also visit Amazon.com.au to access millions of products for delivery to Australia.
WHAT? IT'S LIKE 10:30 PM.
Luckily the other tab I had open was up to the last screen before checkout and it worked! Oh my gosh, I almost cried.
Also, f*** you Gerry Harvey. I hate you, you stink.
Tried to get a last hour good deal
amazon says it delivers to au
When added to cart I am blocked early
Maybe time zone but I am in Brisbane and 10:30 pm blocked
This deal was $40 usd
I checked Melbourne time and it’s the same as bris
So I don’t know what went wrong
It was the same for me when I tried to place a late order at 9pm Perth time. I even started a chat with an Amazon US customer service agent, and there was nothing she could do to help me.
God damn this is a sad day for me. Customer since 1999.
Just got an email from Shipito saying they will now collect GST.
yeah. I came here to find alternative forwarder suggestions.
Me too.
All the reviews online for freight forwarders are circa 2014. I'm going to hit up Choice to update their review on freight forwarders.
It's easy to circumvent geoblocking for Amazon, but I still need a US address for shipping.
Freight forwarding is going to take off big time.
Yeah I can't get around GST… that's a lock (thank's Gerry). But I can still get much cheaper pricing even with GST by utilising freight forwarding and still buying OS.
Good luck finding a company that openly wants to break Australian law.
Thanks Liberal Party for doing this!
(I'll remember you at the next election)
FU Gerry Harvey.
I nominate you for Un-Australian of the Year.
We are unable to ship non-digital items from amazon.com to Australian shipping addresses.
Please choose a shipping address that is not in Australia to proceed. Some restrictions may still apply depending on the item.
You can also visit Amazon.com.au to access millions of products for delivery to Australia.
:(
So I purchase educational books in Japanese from Amazon jp. These just simply aren't available in Australia. Is my only option now to pay ridiculously expensive forwarding companies?
Or find another seller. Kiniokinuya might carry or source all Japanese isbns, maybe find on rakuten, if they still ship.
Or befriend someone that lives in Japan and ask them to post it to you.
Just found this post when I tried to re-order some Hatchbox 3D printer filament. They used to be $40-$50 shipped on amazon US, now of course they won't ship to us here and the prices and availability on amazon au is appalling, no where near the range and 3-5 times the cost!! Ebay isn't much better either with the import taxes…
Is everyone using a US fright forwarder? Or know where I can get decent priced Hatchbox filament?
"Slowly-slowly, catchy-monkey"
What Amazon does or doesn't offer is immaterial, it's the principle. Not long ago, the "Netflix Tax" was introduced, next is "Amazon Tax" but the broader application of GST across the board is the issue.
And yes, it WILL make used goods more appealing for some.
So the Coalition, under Coward, who weaned us ONTO the commercialised internet is now admitting defeat. Just as the US and other protectionist nutbags are doing, as we can't sustain what was once an encouraged activity.
Awesome!