Buying online and shipping O/S. UK -> Aus

September 19, 2013 7:25 PM

How do I purchase this cooker in England and get it shipped to Australia?

That cooker costs £1100, which is AU$1900, when Harvey Norman are trying to charge me $6500. Sod that for a joke, Gerry.

Belling don’t retail directly so I would have to use a high street retailer I guess. It doesn’t seem too hard to find a company that will sell online, e.g. Appliances Direct, but I have no idea which is a relaible retailer (apart from price), never having used more than the Book Depository from the UK, and which can help me with this. I’ve not done this before so I don’t know what I don’t know…

Do I email to see if one of the retailers will deliver to a shipping company and then I arrange to get it shipped? If so can you tell me which are the large reputable shipping companies in the UK? Any idea what sort of costs for shipping for a box that’s approx. 1m3 and heavy?

How do I avoid having to pay VAT, or do I have to claim it back later? (I will have to pay our GST on it of 10%).

Perhaps an english mefite would be able to act as my agent on this?

posted by wilful to Shopping (7 answers total)

Wow, fabulous appliance. And wow, fabulous acquisition conundrum.

Have you contacted Harvey Norman and asked them to explain their pricing and -- I mean, I would just flat-out say "I'd like to buy that from you but given what it costs elsewhere, not so much. Can you explain to me why I should not import it myself? Perhaps you can bring your price down so I can shop Australian, etc."

That may be elucidatory -- there may be costs to import it that you're not seeing? How's duty in Australia?

After bothering the one Australian vendor I would then start e-mailing every retailer on the planet and spelling out your situation (including lulzy local pricing), hoping a retailer would be willing to take up the hassle of logistics there in exchange for a gentle mark-up on the shipping.

Alternatively: try to find somebody moving their household or business from the UK to Australia, and see if you can strike a deal and get it put in their shipping container?
posted by kmennie at 7:39 PM on September 19, 2013

Nice stove!
Have you seen this expat thread on the question?
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=728121
posted by Kerasia at 7:43 PM on September 19, 2013

Some things to be aware of:

• While the decision to charge GST on imports is based on the purchase price (i.e. they generally don't bother for goods with a purchase price below $1000), the GST is chargeable on the total of:
  • the customs value (this is usually the purchase price, but may be determined by Customs at their discretion based on the local price), plus
  • any customs duty owed, plus
  • cost of shipping, plus
  • cost of shipping insurance.
• Customs are very picky about major electrical goods imported privately - in theory they must meet the requisite Australian standards (not just an equivalent e.g. B.S.), and Customs are not shy about refusing to release non-compliant goods. If the goods can be modified to meet Aus standards, you may be up for the cost of (a) inspection and (b) modification. These costs may be included in the value for GST calculation - I've heard stories, and received conflicting advice, both ways. If they can't, Customs may charge you for disposal…

Yes, this all sucks. If it were me, I'd be talking to a broker who specialises in electrical gear &/or UK->Aus imports…
posted by Pinback at 8:25 PM on September 19, 2013

Response by poster: Cheers Pinback. In terms of actual compliance issues, these are identical to the ones that Harvey Norman sell, so the only difference is the plug end.

I have no idea about brokers for imports. Where would I start?

I'll wait for our UK brethren to wake up, but an amateur broker would be awesome...
posted by wilful at 9:31 PM on September 19, 2013

John Lewis sell the cooker you want for £999. They don't do international delivery for it though. However, they can arrange personalised exports. They are a totally reputable company with a lot of experience of sending high value household goods internationally. You should also be able to get a VAT refund, so before shipping the cost should be £800.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:36 AM on September 20, 2013

wilful: "In terms of actual compliance issues, these are identical to the ones that Harvey Norman sell, so the only difference is the plug end."

And the fact that the ones sold by HN have an Australian approval certification number or compliance mark. If the former, it's applicable only to goods imported by the certifying importer*; the latter is unlikely unless they're also manufactured for sale in Australia.

I'm not trying to argue the safety / regulatory aspects of it; just explaining how Customs see things…

Sorry, can't help with a broker - I've looked into it several times, but each time it's ended up in the 'too hard' basket. The stupid thing is it's much easier to import utter crap from China…

* possibly HN themselves; lately they've been building a bit of a niche aiming at the UK / SA expat market by bringing in 'familiar' brands while also hammering home Gerry "F'ckin'" Harvey's anti internet shopping agenda.
posted by Pinback at 4:15 AM on September 20, 2013

I would contact the various UK retailers explaining you wish to ship it to Australia.
They may have had customers do this before and could offer some pointers. Also, MuffinMan's John Lewis link looks promising.
Pinback is right that this is a pain, but I think I would be motivated for a $3k saving.
With that kind of saving on offer, you could just call a removalist (we used Wrightways when we moved back to Oz) to organise the shipment.
posted by bystander at 9:52 PM on September 22, 2013