Recommend Parcel Forwarder US--->AU

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  nickj on 06/09/2012 - 16:39

  +1

  I've used two such ship forwarding services, based on reading whirlpool comments to find out what other people were using, and there were two names that kept coming up.

  At first I used "Hop Shop Go", and I found them to be somewhat expensive (even using a promo code). For the service I was using, there was no "repack" option (i.e. open boxes and throw away useless packaging, and put smaller boxes into larger boxes, to condense into a more compact space). They also seemed to overcharge a bit with volumetric charges (basically you pay for the volume of the box, if the density is not very high), and they seemed to round up. I did feel a bit stung by the prices I was charged, especially when I finally got it and there were some of those silly Amazon air bladders adding volume. But once you've sent it to one of these forwarding companies, you really have no choice but to pay up, since they've got your stuff, and will throw it away if you don't pay.

  Then I used http://www.shipito.com/ and they seemed pretty reasonable, no nasty surprises. I found using the Oregon warehouse to be a few dollars cheaper overall, since it avoids US sales tax, but has slightly higher shipping costs.

  In general you want to buy from one retailer, who ideally will pack everything into one box (it's the multiple boxes or wasted space that will annoy you), without lots of padding. And working out who is the cheapest ship forwarder is absurdly complicated, since it relies on knowing the weights of boxes, and how many boxes, and all their dimensions, and the reality for Australians buying from US stores, is that you can never really know that stuff beforehand.

  But to answer your original question: I would definitely lean towards shipitto, of the two I've used.

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  neil on 06/09/2012 - 17:22

  +1

  FYI, http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_mail_forwarders