Thread: USA Freight Forwarders - who do you use - what are they like?

It seems that Shop & Ship are doing $75k+ as their website now talks about Australian GST (as of today).

It also seems that there might be some consolidation thing happening with Flex Smart Saver. Info is extremely limited though to:
"Get more savings on multiple packages that are shipped together to you. Ship more, save more! "

so I have sent them an email asking for more detail.

I have had some dialogue with the wonderful people at Lee Valley (and their extraordinary service) and I asked for some freight costs, where they dispatch the package using the carriers of their choice. That means that there would be no State taxes from USA or Canada applied. Those USA taxes will very soon be applied, and in New York, where Shop&Ship addresses are, it is ~9% (LV has a presence in NY, so that would be the case now anyway). comGateway addresses are in Oregon, aka Douglas Fir , and there is no state tax there.

So here are some figures, specific to getting AUD900.00 of goods from Lee Valley. Three options for their choice of freight, plus S&S, and comGateway.

PACKAGE VALUE AUD900.00	FREIGHT	STATE TAX	GST (pkg+frt)	FREIGHT+TAX
Lee Valley 15kg Sea Freight	$150.71	$0.00	$105.07	$255.78
Lee Valley 15kg XpressPost Int	$233.96	$0.00	$113.40	$347.36
Lee Valley 15kg UPS Express	$204.44	$0.00	$110.44	$314.88
NY Shop&Ship Flex 15kg	$161.67	$81.00	$114.27	$356.94
comGateway 15kg	$302.12	$0.00	$120.21	$422.34
Lee Valley 25kg Sea Freight	$212.63	$0.00	$111.26	$323.89
Lee Valley 25kg XpressPost Int	$357.03	$0.00	$125.70	$482.74
Lee Valley 25kg UPS Express	$306.20	$0.00	$120.62	$426.82
NY Shop&Ship Flex 25kg	$248.59	$81.00	$122.96	$452.55
comGateway 25kg	$474.77	$0.00	$137.48	$612.24

So what comes out of that is that it is not worth getting LV to send a package to a freight forwarder - just ask them to either Surface freight non-urgent stuff, or use UPS if you need it before 8-12 weeks.

1. Note that it is the NY tax of 9% that knocks S&S out of this particular running, as a result of LV having a presence in NY,
otherwise S&S would be $268 for 15kg (you wouldn't even use LV Sea Freight at that price)
and $362 for 25kg (which only just makes Sea Freight attractive)

2. Also note that even though S&S offers a Canadian address there are two things that kill it as an option: Canadian GST is 10-15%, and the S&S freight costs from Canada are MUCH higher (Zone 2). The Canadian GST would be applied because the package would be shipped within Canada.

3. When the recent Supreme Court decision kicks in, and US State taxes are applied across the board (but at a plethora of different rates ) those figures above will still stand as they are. However, be aware that ANY purchase from within the USA that goes to NY for S&S freighting will then have 9% of the value added to the tax bill (at point of sale).
O'course, that 9% becomes 10% because it is GST-able!


The biggest lesson to come out of this thread is that these days you have to absolutely be on your game to avoid being skinned on freight!

Thanks Brett
but all those options are over $1000 AUD when the package hits our shores, so GST and duty are collected at the border.
when you were talking to LV did they mention how they would handle that situation (>$1000 AUD once freight added)?

and the other thing, all your examples are over $1000 AUD (goods plus freight) at our border, so incur GST at the border.

No, the assessment for <>$1000 is done on the goods cost only, without International freight costs. If GST is chargeable then it applies to the freight.

That's why I chose $900 - the $81 tax still keeps it under $1000.

Read the full thread and decided to give S&S a try without having ever used a freight forwarder before.
I get the basic idea but I am lost with the finer details! Say,

• I buy a few w/working books from Amazon.
• Amazon quotes each book's weight - so I already have a fair idea of the total weight and should be able to estimate a ballpark amount of what S&S will charge
• I give Amazon S&S's address in NY to forward the goods - this address includes my "personal code"
• The goods are shipped to S&S's Sydney depot

So

• S&S will advise me of the actual weight and actual fee once the have the goods in NY?
• Do I have a choice about speed - say surface freight?
• Can the parcel be tracked?
• Is the freight from Sydney to my personal delivery address an additional cost I have to wear?

Tried to find answers on S&S's website but found that I was going in circles...
Tried their Sydney depot telephone # but it rang out...
All this made me a tad nervous !!!

Yvan

Originally Posted by yvan

• S&S will advise me of the actual weight and actual fee once the have the goods in NY?
  
• Do I have a choice about speed - say surface freight?
  
• Can the parcel be tracked?
  
• Is the freight from Sydney to my personal delivery address an additional cost I have to wear?

Correct on all points, except the last (no additional costs involved)

Tracking is always included. The parcel is sent from NY directly to you, via whatever courier they happen to find is cheapest at the time. No surprises, except customs, IF its picked up.

If you order from Amazon, ensure they ship the entire order as a single shipment, otherwise you'll pay multiple redirect fees. S&S doesnt do an amalgamation service yet.

woodPixel,

Thanks very much for the clarification and for the tip regarding single shipments.
I'm taking the plunge

Yvan

And there is no surface freight. Only one player that I have found offered that, but knowing them it would be almost as much as other agent's air freight.

Brett, do those rates include GST or is that added on top?
Also, how do they compare to the Shipito rates?

Which post # Gav? (a few with rates - but prolly none with GST).

See post #42 for Shipito rates

Aah, missed the line in #42.
There is a convenience factor of consolidating even if the freight savings have disappeared.
Having stuff trickle in and then time the delivery home has it's advantages.
The Fedex and TNT acquisition has certainly not been beneficial to customers.

Just bought a laptop from NZ, i thought I'd fall foul of customs and clearance and have to pay additional monies and possible duplicate GST as the supplier charged me GST.

After investigation the supplier used incoterms DDP. Meaning they are liable for all clearances and customs cost and have collect GST on my behalf.

The best way to buy abroad is to get a sales agreement with incoterms DDP. That way the seller pays for all clearances and you don't have to worry about them just receive the parcel. No risk of double GST.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Just looking at the Auspost Shopmate (in case it's ok for a one-off purchase).


How about this, I'm quoting from their website: "GST will be payable on:
- The value of the item(s) you are shipping into Australia via ShopMate including any shipping fees or local taxes paid to the USA retailer, and
- The value of the ShopMate shipping and service fee (including Extra Cover if applicable)" (my bolding)

So Auspost, presumably on instructions from ATO, have no qualms charging you GST on the US state GST! You pay tax on the tax!
Are all these services doing tax the tax, or just the Australian operated one (ShopMate)?