Buying a wedding present in Australia from the U.S.

January 23, 2007 8:17 AM

Buying a wedding present for friends living in Melbourne, Australia. I'm here in the U.S. What online retailers should I be using to shop?

We're open to creative/local/artistic options, but we'd also be fine with anywhere that has a good selection of housewares. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to buy here and ship there ourselves in time for the wedding, and we'd really like to send them something by the date (in 2 weeks). Recommendations for reliable/high-quality online retailers you've used?

If it matters, we're looking to spend not more than $100 (U.S.)

posted by BT to shopping (17 comments total)

Crate & Barrel ships internationally.
posted by amro at 8:30 AM on January 23, 2007

Oh wait, I read the question wrong. Disregard.
posted by amro at 8:33 AM on January 23, 2007

I don't have an answer for you, unfortunately. I've bought things for family in Australia several times over the web. Broadly speaking, Australia hasn't bought into online shopping as much as other parts of the world. The selection is poorer and the service not all that'd you'd hope for. (I've had things take weeks and even months to get delivered.) It's a good idea to go with a recommendation. Otherwise, I'd suggest seeing if a local could pick something up for you.
posted by outlier at 8:53 AM on January 23, 2007

I'm from Melbourne, though I'm not living there at the moment. If your friends have a traditional wedding registry, chances are they've used David Jones, Melbourne's ritziest department store. Disappointingly, DJ don't seem to offer online shopping aside from the registry service, but they do offer gift cards. So that's a safe, if dull, option.

I think a great present would be a year's membership to the Richmond Hill Café and Larder Cheese Club, along with a first order. Or one of their hampers. Their stuff is awesome.
posted by hot soup girl at 9:06 AM on January 23, 2007

Browse everything but flowers. Can't vouch for reliability or quality but they're linked to our reputable David Jones. Cheers
posted by de at 9:14 AM on January 23, 2007

Oh, I've just noticed that Target now offers online shopping! Excellent. It should be noted that the Australian Target stores are nothing like the US ones - it's a completely different company, in fact - and a lot nicer. Target's a great store that sells good quality, well-priced items, including heaps of homewares: when I lived in Australia, it's where I bought all my crockery and bedlinen.
posted by hot soup girl at 9:19 AM on January 23, 2007

Thanks hot soup girl...it's a bit unclear to me how the online shopping at Target works, though. Looks a bit like they want you to select stuff and then they call you? It's a sort of a hybrid -- and it's not clear they're interested in doing international orders. Unless I'm looking at the wrong part of the site...

I like the Richmond Hill stuff but I think we'd rather give something more permanent -- hoping for an Australian equivalent of the Crate&Barrell/Williams Sonoma sort of thing -- we'd like to send a really nice bowl or platter or pitcher or set of glasses or cookware, that kind of thing; or a Melbourne shop that can do business online. (Short other suggestions, we might find something from Everything But Flowers, so thanks de for that.)
posted by BT at 10:16 AM on January 23, 2007

Not a lot of online in Australia generally, but I think Wishlist is exactly what you need!
posted by londonboots at 12:30 PM on January 23, 2007

Yes, Crate&Barrel looks good. Melbourne has some marvelous shopping but not online (it would seem). Three more you may like to browse before deciding are Home Coulture, Aboutstyle and Gifts Australia. Again, I can't comment on reliabilty. Hope you find something here.
posted by de at 12:45 PM on January 23, 2007

Peter's of Kensington is pretty good.
posted by goo at 1:00 PM on January 23, 2007

It may actually be hard for you to use your US credit card for an online purchase in Australia.

Every year for my birthday, my father has bought me a crystal ornament from Swarovski or Waterford. I recently moved to Oz, and he couldn't find a store in the US that would ship internationally, nor could he find one here that would accept a US credit card (despite there being a Swarovski store a block away from my apartment), including David Jones and Myer.

We have just decided that any gifts will be given in person.
posted by naturesgreatestmiracle at 1:50 PM on January 23, 2007

http://dstore.com.au/?
posted by krisjohn at 4:02 PM on January 23, 2007

wishlist.com.au

Seconding dstore and home couture too. Keep in mind that dstore often ships one gift in multiple shipments, so it can be a bit inconvenient. They do explain this at time of purchase though.

I also disagree with outlier. I didnt 99.9% of my christmas shopping online with Aust sites and didnt have a problem.
posted by kaydo at 1:04 AM on January 24, 2007

damn. I mean I DID 99.9% of the shopping online. I'm sure you get what I mean.
posted by kaydo at 1:05 AM on January 24, 2007

I also disagree with outlier - did your dad try the Australian Swarovski online shop? (Change the country on the right if the site gives you a different country to start with). There is nothing there to stop you from entering a shipping address different to the billing address. I buy (and have done so for the past three years) most presents for family in Australia from online Aust retailers and have only ever had one problem - with a games company who wanted me to fax my credit card statement to verify my address. I emailed back telling them that was ridiculous and unnecessary and ordered from someone else, with no issues.

I've also contacted stores and restaurants themselves and purchased items, paid for meals etc directly even when there isn't an online store. Personal contact (email, once by phone) means you can usually negotiate special touches, such as handwritten cards and gift wrap. One shop even hand-delivered a fragile gift for me as it was on the owner's way home!

I almost exclusively use online shopping as I am dreadful at getting my act together when buying gifts and leave it till the last minute, and I can spend the money I'd spend on postage on the gift itself. It's also usually only a few dollars more to have something sent express when necessary.
posted by goo at 3:05 AM on January 24, 2007

BT, I live in Melbourne, and if I can be of assistance, drop me a line (email is in my profile). If you've got a gift in mind, most stores would accept an international purchase via credit card, I think that a Visa card, for example, would be accepted, no problems.

Dstore and wishlist have been around for a while, and have plenty of good things. latestbuy.com.au has done me well in the past, but leans more towards the tech / gadget side of things.
posted by tomble at 3:09 AM on January 24, 2007

Thanks so much everyone...several of these suggestions look promising. I'll post again with any notes about difficulty or success using a U.S. credit card.

(And thanks, tomble, you're very generous. Fingers crossed I can do this all online!)
posted by BT at 8:05 AM on January 24, 2007