I’m a seller here and thought I’d go shopping here too….to support the Mint’d community and also to check out how it all works from a buyer’s perspective. While browsing, I’ve noticed that a lot of the non Australian shops don’t list shipping fees to Australia and just have the “contact seller” option. I have to admit that generally I don’t take the time to email the seller – instead I move on to see what else is available…....so…..please consider adding a few extra shipping options (especially to Australia) as well as your domestic costs as I’m sure many sellers are missing out on impulse buys because of this. I’m still browsing tho’ Cheers Pam

i have friends in Australia who i ship gifts to so i’ve always included the country as a shipping option. i just have to remember to check the list of what not to send – i have a small reindeer ornament given to me by the friend before she returned to Perth, saying that raw wood wasnot allowed to be brought into the country. Australia is not unusual tho in having a list of restricted items for shipping, it pays to check in advance though i’m wondering if it this is ultimately the responsibility of the buyer in the same way that customs fees are?

good info! I’m going to my shop to check it out now! Thanks for the reminder.

Ebandflo,I recently had a parcel coming in from Canada inspected and they gave me a brochure with the import restrictions for internet sales. Luckily my parcel got through with no problems. I’ll have a look for the brochure and post details later. In the meantime this link may help: http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/cant-take. It’s mainly for people travelling here but the same restrictions would apply for stuff coming in by mail too.

I’m only guessing, but with internet sales I would have thought the responsibility lay with the purchaser not to buy restricted goods. I’ve got my eye on some body creams etc but I’m really not sure if they’d pass our quarantine restrictions so I’ve not taken the risk in ordering them. I don’t want to pay for goods just to have them confiscated by customs. :(

thanks for the link GetSilvered, and I look forward to the brochure too

Changed my items. Thanks for the tip!

.... however, with international rates for certain items the cost is prohibitive. i’ve just checked my shipping profiles for certain expensive items and believe it or not, that is what CanadaPost will charge to ship something with insurance and delivery confirmation out of N America. Unfortunately I cannot afford to ship any other way for these items! unless the buyer accepts responsibility for items going astray. Sorry

Hey ebbandflo no need to apologise for CanadaPost shipping costs. I know Australia post shipping can get very expensive as well, as soon as a parcel or package is not flat. I think most customers would rather pay a few extra dollars in shipping to make sure their purchase arrives safely and in a reasonable time.

And to other sellers, it’s a great idea to list your international shipping prices on your products, if you can. If you’re not sure of what particular items might cost to ship to particular destinations, why not go into your local Post Office and ask for an International Shipping price list, or some countries postal systems have all their postal information (including prices) on the internet, which is even easier.

As GetSilvered said in an earlier post, lots of people will just not take the time to ask the seller for specific information regarding shipping prices.

If anyone else has any good ideas or tips on shipping, packaging, customs etc, please feel free to share it with us all here!

When I was setting up or editing a listing I tried setting up two different shipping options ie. the expensive delivery confirmed option vs. the cheaper regular shipping option and could only set one profile up per country.

Would it be useful to be able to offer two different rates of shipping I wonder??? Any views anyone??

HI there ebbandflo.

At this stage the shipping options are going to remain as they are.

If you do want to offer different shipping options to your customers, let them know in your item description (or profile). When the customer contacts you, you’ll be able to discuss the options and if the customer does want a different shipping option, you can easily just go into “edit product”, amend the shipping price/option, as per the customers request, prior to the customer making the purchase. Then the customer gets the shipping option they want.

ebbandflo – I haven’t forgotten about that customs brochure – just have to find it – seems that I put it in a very safe place!

thanks shara, and thanks getsilvered!

I’m going to check into the shipping fees for Australia from the US. I am trying to branch out a bit. When I started, I only shipped withing the US, because of outrageous and bad experiences shipping out of country- I have added Canada and will seriously consider adding Australia after I look into it a bit. Can any other sellers who have shipped to Aussie before, let me know how this experience has been for them? Thanks

Hi acraftersreality, I’m not a US seller but all I can say is: as a buyer in Australia, I’m happy to pay shipping from the US when I buy products. I’ve purchased many items from the US over several years and have never had a parcel go astray …...although one item from Amazon did show up 3 months late ….....but we won’t talk about that. Seriously though …....I can buy an item from the US and it’s here in a week via airmail…....some items from across the other side of Australia from me take longer!!

Generally, I think that Aussie buyers are very open to purchasing from overseas, so I think adding shipping fees to Australia, to your listings is just good marketing :)

Cheers Pam

Hi acraftersreality I am in Australia and have ordered plenty of things from overseas (mainly the U.S.) and haven’t experienced any troubles. I think it would be a great advantage to you if you offered International shipping in your store. And I’m pretty sure that the USPS website has a lot of really great info on it regarding international shipping, prices, what’s allowed etc. Maybe have a look at that to help you out with your decision. Good luck!

It’s definitely worth it. Even if you think the shipping fees may be high, list them anyway and leave it up to the buyer to decide. As an Aussie, I need to mail overseas to make sales, and if you try you’d be surprised what you can send in a regular envelope!

Just as an indication, my price for shipping to Australia is the same as my international shipping outside N America. I ran a few dummy packages thru the CanadaPost website and sending to the UK is the same as shipping to Australia. Obviously, as discussed above, there are different customs and entry requirements, but it’s really not a scarey prospect. If I couldn’t ship to Australia how would I, as the mother of a rough and ready little boy, get my fix of buying and sending cute little girl dresses to my friend? Go on – give it a try if you’re still a little undecided

Ok sorry this took me so long, here’s the online list of things that can’t be mailed to Australia from Quarantine: http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/mail/cant-mail

and here’s the prohibited imports from customs: http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=4369

Hope this helps the non aussie sellers who want to sell to us here in Oz.

Cheers Pam

OK here’s the links as clickable: (I hope it works!)

Quarantine

Customs

Thanks for posting that great info about Quarantine and Customs Pam! It will be a great help!

Thanks Pam, very helpful. I’ll remember to leave out the novelty fruit erasers in future!

Ha Ha, some of the things listed are weird. At least we won’t get mass poisoning by eating fruity erasers here in Oz. Thank goodness we have customs protecting us (wink)

Haha! That’s hilarious! I had no idea that novelty fruit erasers were a customers no-no.

My friend recently mailed me some novelty sushi shaped erasers from Japan… and they got through just fine. :-)

I’ve shipped from the US to Australia numerous times. I’ve never had a problem with shipping overseas. I’m going to the PO tonight to ship some things out, 1 going to US (where I live), 1 to UK, and 1 to Canada. I think it’s really restricting not to offer international shipping, so definitely do it if you can (which anyone can!) :D

Great topic, but I am confused from I read on this topic. Which post does Australia buyers prefer to use? How can I calculate shipping rates from USA to Australia? Just wondering.