Shipping Suggestions for Small Business in Australia + Why Is It Free to Ship from China to Aus?

yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 14:02

I have small online business and was exploring shipping option. In particular I was looking at shipping books in Australia. I did some research and found:

My hardcover book will be over 500gm. So, need to post as Parcel. Aus Post is $10 within sydney and can go upto $18 in western australia.

It made me wonder:

a. Anyone has online business. How do you ship? I mean are alternative to aus post?
$18 is quiet a lot and is significantly more than cost price of book/product. Doesn't make it feasible.
As a buy its rare to pay that high for shipping for small or individual items.

b. I buy stuff from china/hk regularly via Ebay or Ali Express. Like $1 for book stand, etc. How does that work? I enquired in China and most people in Alibaba send via DHL which is standard prices like $30. No one is even aware of this free shipping. Is that some secret or special deal to certain companies in China?

c. Anyone has business where they ship directly from China to Australia?

Internet

Comments

  • Clear on 21/06/2016 - 14:44
    +3

    There are several reasons why shipping is free from China to Aus and it can be quite complex.

    Sellers often include the "free shipping" in the price and packing materials etc. are very cheap in bulk. There are agreements between postal companies where shipping from less developed to developed countries is cheaper and some countries (like Australia) pay postal companies for incoming international mail.

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:33

      Sure. But i checked with Alibaba in China. They are not aware of such agreements. That's why I am confused how that works. I had to pay $30 to get posted from China since sent from DHL.

      So, my question is logistically how is "free shipping" exactly work. Say I want to setup business in China and send from there. Do you know anyone who has actually done it and know exactly how it works?

      • Clear on 21/06/2016 - 22:47
        +1

        Difference being that Alibaba is usually factories selling in bulk compared to the little items with other companies.

        I can answer the first part about knowing someone that has actually done it - my store associations is evidence of it ;)

        As for how it works exactly… I'm not sure.

      • rocklinsuv on 23/06/2016 - 17:21

        They use HongKong airmail, Singapore airmail and any other services like that. If you ship something which weights less than, say, 50g, it usually costs u, less than $1 (equivalent to less than a few CNY).

  • RockyRaccoon on 21/06/2016 - 15:09
    +1

    Alibaba send via DHL

    Alibaba is a business to business site, and most deal in volume where as Aliexpress is the consumer version and ship with cheap Chinapost shipping

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:35

      Yep. I meant Aliexpress. So, its Chinapost? So, when I buy like small toy car for $1 with free shipping on ebay or aliexpress. All chinese seller is doing is sending via China post? That is available from anywhere in China and not just hong kong? Do you know anyone who actually does it?

      • eqv on 22/06/2016 - 12:22
        +5

        As a lot of other ppl already mentioned, the shipping cost for these small items are most likely absorbed by the seller. The seller will still have to pay postage fee to China Post. They can afford to absorb these postage cost because for small items, China Post's surface mail is relatively cheap.

        If you look at China Post's website, you can see how much they charge for postage. Looking at small package up to 100g, the cheapest option, surface mail, gives you 7 RMB, which equates to less than AUD 1.50. And that's the retail cost from what I can tell. If you have a business account with them, the charges may be a bit lower as well.

        • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 19:31

          Thanks a lot.

  • sane on 21/06/2016 - 15:28
    +6

    The cost of international parcel delivery is set by treaty, which says that the cost is determined by defined factors (like internal postage costs).

    Now auspost see parcel delivery as a route to make a killing, but those treaties mean they can't charge/don't receive the same exorbitant rates as they get internal mail. On top of this china makes postage rates low to promote trade etc. from china (thus are smarter than the australian government, cough cough).

    Upshot is yes, it can be more sensible for an australian retailer of heavy goods (like books) to get them sent from china, even if they are in australia. Yet another way auspost are bad for australia.

    https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/online-shopping/buying-on…

    • eatwell365 on 21/06/2016 - 15:49
      +2

      Buy online from UK store, Express shipment $30+ for big parcel - arrive within 5 days. Buy in Australia - cough..cough..Australia Post makes it slow so people will pay more for express.

      • sane on 21/06/2016 - 16:01
        +2

        Besides the usual books, DVDs, etc. that most people buy online from overseas; M&S do free delivery to Australia on orders over $50, and ordering in A$ with delivery in 1-2 weeks.

        They even have a special site for it : http://www.marksandspencerlondon.com/au/

        Frankly you can see the benefits of placing your fulfilment in somewhere like Hong Kong. Not only is the postal cost more reasonable (you can do free delivery), you can also bypass GST, and your direct customer base is so much larger (you setup and start with delivery to SE Asia and more, not just Aus).

        From a winning business model perspective, its a better bet than starting up only in Aus with a 24m customer base, and high postal costs.

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:37

      That's what I am trying to find out. If I want to be sent directly from China. I am prepared to take risk of some books being lost since unreliable. But I cannot find any information on China side. Seems to be a secret. The publishing company are not aware of such free shipping and only want to use DHL. I checked with few people in China and they are surprise about free shipping.

    • MrMcHairyHead on 23/06/2016 - 08:55

      But I thought privatising public services always made them cheaper?!?

  • Adz81 on 21/06/2016 - 15:50

    Have you looked into a business account with Australia post? This will bring the price down a little. I mean, it'll still be daylight robbery compared to free shipping, but at least you may get to keep your pants on.

    • eatwell365 on 21/06/2016 - 16:23
      +1

      Lol. Every business customer deserves a free belt.from Australia Post.

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:38

      Didn't bother. I didn't expect to be significant discount. That's why I was wondering if someone had experience in their business already. Also, if anyone used alternative service.

      • Adz81 on 22/06/2016 - 07:50

        From what I've seen, savings can be significant.

        • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 19:32

          Thankfully. Will check it

  • Savas on 21/06/2016 - 16:04
    +3

    It is probably faster and cheaper deliver the stuff yourself. If you need to go to WA catch a Tiger Air flight

    • tooblue on 21/06/2016 - 16:31
      +19

      I thought you were being sarcastic but then I went to the calculator on Aus Post website. Turns out a 20KG parcel from Melbourne to Sydney will cost:

      Express Post, Delivery time estimate Next business day, $105.05
      Parcel Post, Delivery time estimate 4 business days, $34.85

      Given Tiger or Jetstar always have $55 and $59 flights between SYD and MEL, your argument is valid and even faster than the "Express Post". How the bloody hell does a parcel take 4 business days to transfer between SYD and MEL??? Are they still using carriage?

      • RockyRaccoon on 21/06/2016 - 18:37
        +4

        Not to take away from the ridiculous cost, but you do need to return from WA and get from Airport etc, which is often more expensive than the airfare.

        That said relatively speaking AustPost is bloody expensive, the Brits privatised their mail and it gets parcels to Australia cheaper. Plus the taxpayer isnt subsidising the service by $A500M

        http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-26/australia-post-to-slas…

        • eatwell365 on 21/06/2016 - 20:57

          If politicians are to listen, this is the time (before election). any idea on how to get the message across about our ridiculous pricing on postage?

        • RockyRaccoon on 21/06/2016 - 22:14
          +2

          @eatwell365: Sorry to busy delivering a parcel to WA to bother with that can of worms 😷

        • retiredfeline on 22/06/2016 - 10:23
          +1

          The loss comes from letter services as the article you linked to points out. The parcel service market is contestable but all the carriers are expensive, so it's due to the high cost of wages in Australia and the small population compared to China or the EU.

        • MATTDAMON on 22/06/2016 - 16:23
          +1

          Our government isnt subbing auspost at all, infact Auspost actually makes a profit, yes it makes massive losses on the mail section (and will continue to do so because its classed as a legally protected service, but the parcels/express/OTC services recover those losses.

          http://auspost.com.au/annualreport2015/docs/australia-post-a…

          The other thing is that the logistics portion of post is continually changing, especially when it comes to those cheap 99c chinese parcels, part of the reason why our domestic parcel costs are high is because we are subsidizing it, post does not recieve anything for delivering those parcels because of the Universal postal union agreements inplace.

  • Brick50 on 21/06/2016 - 21:00
    +2

    For those items to remote locations use prepaid flat rate 3kg satchels which cost around $12 IIRC. Flat rate fee is $7.45 australia wide for anything up to 500 grams.
    Alibaba sellers only use DHL or EMS most of the time as China/HK Airmail don't really offer tracking and take a very long time and are unreliable.

    Each country basically delivers overseas items within that country for free, that is why it is much cheaper to buy items from overseas, Australia Post has to deliver it for free rather than charging exorbitant fees

  • shapers on 21/06/2016 - 22:35

    Check out sendle, I use them for everything except 500g satchels (as sendles satchel size is smaller vs auspost). Way cheaper with any sizes though.
    They use couriers please or fastway and they pick it up from your door.

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:40

      Thanks I'll check out. Catch is my book is around 700 grams as I ordered a hardcover. So, it wont be possible to make it less than 500g.

    • yjun355 on 21/06/2016 - 22:41

      What about going to fastway directly? Would they be cheaper or is it that they want bigger quantities? I was curious what type of goods do you ship for your business?

      • shapers on 21/06/2016 - 23:51

        Honestly im not too sure about going direct, i saw a price list for couriers please but got a bit confused with the process so gave up. Also sendles pretty good, they have free signature on delivery and insurance included with every parcel.
        At the moment im just sending security cameras so i send with the shoebox/briefcase size

        • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 10:15

          Cool. Thanks a lot. I will try them out.

    • Tyrx on 22/06/2016 - 16:25

      They use couriers please or fastway and they pick it up from your door.

      I hope you offer an alternative at increased cost, otherwise I can safely say that your customers hate you.

      • shapers on 22/06/2016 - 16:44

        Hahaha classic!
        I do offer auspost as well, but the only time people choose auspost is because they want the option to pick it up from a PO.
        Havnt had any issues with Sendle(couriers please/ fastway) yet, the only issues ive had is with Auspost

    • Bnjam3 on 22/06/2016 - 19:54

      Couriers please is one of the worst in Australia. I do believe that there driver have a hobby of not leaving a card or knocking the door!

      • shapers on 22/06/2016 - 20:02

        Probably true!
        Sendle only use highly rated drivers though (if they receive a few bad feedback reviews on a driver they wont use them anymore).
        Seems to be working for me so far, hopefully doesnt change!!

  • AJW on 22/06/2016 - 09:45

    I have seen "Free Pickup from local BigW available on this item" in eBay on lots of random items sold from small sellers in Australia…I haven't used it but would consider it if the alternative postage rates were high. Maybe it's eBay exclusive though..

    • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 10:16

      Yeah I thought about that. However, I am just starting out. So, if it gets going and there is enough interest that would make sense to have pickup points.

    • shapers on 22/06/2016 - 10:35

      I have this on my eBay, pretty sure it is an eBay exclusive and you need to be a good rated seller before you get the feature.

      In the way of postage costs it doesn't really make a difference to the seller, as you have to post it to the location anyway.

      • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 19:35

        Thanks a lot got tip. I will check it out. I am good rates seller. How do i see options and more details for this? Do i need to register somewhere?

        • shapers on 22/06/2016 - 19:41

          I didnt have to, they invited me by email, but see if you meet the requirements and register here

  • TheDailyStuff on 22/06/2016 - 11:00
    +19

    Hello DealonAustralia
    First of all congratulations on your new way of living and making life out of it. I run three commerce websites and I know your pain . Been through this . I would really pointout basics, and some decisions made which are better for long term.

    The cheapest rate that I get from Aus post is $5.8 for 500 Gm parcel. Across Australia with signature in delivery. And $4.5( up to 20 kg) from fast way. But local area only .
    Stay away from any couriers like Fastway, couriers please or any other one speaking very high of them, for Australia wide deliveries. Because at the end they rely on Aus post any way for the deliveries, and post mark those services low priorities. And at the end you will loose your customers for higher delivery time frames. ( don't take me wrong here, those couriers are fantastic for local deliveries, because they are cheaper than post and faster as well).

    — there is nothing called free shipping. It's a marketing word that attracts customers. Indirectly you are charging that on the product price. If you are not work on your basics.

    — China and Hk offers free shipping because the parcel that they send doesn't include tracking or signature on delivery. We have same services here but they are expensive . ( local stamped post). They use that service there and send it across overseas.

    — as each countries have agreements Aus post have to carry that same package for free ( actually it's not free , Hk or China post pays annually in gross to Aus post and that agreement changes every three years , not publicly announced , my internal contact told me).

    — I will not go in details too much here as its too much to discuss. I have all facts and figures. My suggestion it to do research on post charge first before you
    Import and decide to sell anything in Australia.

    — do not use that option sending directly from China. You will find it tempting at first, but it's bad for your name, your brand, as at the end your customers will blame you for slow delivery. ( they won't see that you got them cheapest possible way, ). If you rellly want to use that option provide your customers an option for paid shipping locally with eta and free shipping from overseas with eta. Let customers decide which option they want. I did this three years ago, and result was only around 20% my customers choose the product delivered from overseas as they were getting it for around $7 cheaper.

    I have to go now but I am happy to help you out with any further help you need.

    Please dont hesitate to contact us.

    Peter

    • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 21:54

      Hi Peter. Thanks a lot for the insight. Question:
      a. You mentioned that you pay extra from China for local signature. Is that still under China post?

      b. How did you set up being shipping from China. You have your own warehouse and people working for your company or is there service providers who do that which offer stoing inventory and shipping service?

      c. Basically, that's what I am looking at as having option when people book the book to choose that cheap shipping instead of paying $10-$15 to australia post. So, that way they can save on Monday and just have to wait for it longer. Also, I am even able to take the risk of not being delivered if without signing is cheap.
      From experience out of all shopping i've done on Ebay one 1% got lost when shipped here. So, that's not a biggy. I can send another copy of book if shipping is free or negligible.
      But if only extra $1-$2 then it makes sense to pay for sighing service.

      To give you bit of background, I did kickstarer campaign to create a family recipe book:
      https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/329673064/homemade-indi…

      Amazon was great platform to publish but surprisingly very expensive. For what I want to price is, Amazon pretty much takes 80% as cost and only left with 20%. With this initial lot we wanted to use the money to pay bonus to overseas designer (without it, it wouldn't have been possible) and remaining to charity. So, catch is I don't want to say to people that its fund raiser for charity when 80-90% goes into cost to Amazon.
      So, I found Chinese publisher who managed to publish and I am in final stages to placing order. Their cost are significantly lower compare to amazon. Now catch shipping charges become signficant and very high percentage of book. So, I was exploring if I can offer free or cheap shipping option if sent directly from China. That will essentially be crowd who don't mind waiting to save some money.

      Thanks a lot for your advice.

  • tryagain on 22/06/2016 - 11:21

    My understanding but I could be wrong is this, "Free shipping" is free for you, the receiver, not the sender but postage prices in China are far cheaper. By convention when mail is sent overseas the country it is sent from pay to get it to the country of destination then the local mail service then deliver it but don't get paid for this, they make their money on outgoing mail to cover this. So China charges very little to ship, (it may even be subsidised not sure) and by convention, Aus Post don't get to charge to deliver it. Hence, them being able to ship an item here far cheaper than we could send it domestically.

  • PAOK11 on 22/06/2016 - 13:12

    I watch Udemy business videos that people on Ozbargain give us for free. Anyway I was watching a video and this guys was selling something for cheap and sending it to another country. I contacted the OP of the video and asked him how the heck he was making money from that deal. The short answer is Ebay offers some ridiculously low post cost for some countries Eg. The UK (he said it was about $2.20 to post overseas) I was dumbfounded

    • tinx on 22/06/2016 - 21:09

      ebay au send to uk?? for real?

      which udemy was it?

      • PAOK11 on 23/06/2016 - 12:51

        Its a free one… I'll get the name later. It was one of the easiest and best to watch guy doesn't promises the world like others but at the same time may not apply to more established online sellers. In regards to your first question its the other way around UK to AU

        • tinx on 23/06/2016 - 14:43

          oic. that still very cheap for UK…

          how come AU so expensive! I send letter overseas cost more than $10…

        • PAOK11 on 23/06/2016 - 17:18

          Its all done through ebay.

  • Gaz1 on 22/06/2016 - 14:58

    I use Temando a lot - you put in the package details & they give you quotes from a lot of different courier businesses. They seem to be a lot cheaper than going direct so I presume they get some sort of bulk rate.
    You can get a quote without signing in here:
    https://dashboard.temando.com/booking
    (selecting "satchel" rather than box often works out cheaper)

    • tinx on 22/06/2016 - 21:11

      even though you actually sending a box ? can i still select satchel?

      • Gaz1 on 23/06/2016 - 13:59

        No, you must use a satchel in this case.

        • tinx on 23/06/2016 - 14:42

          i asked courier please and they said as long as it's find in satchel, i can use satchel.

          btw, did you know that temando credit expire 1 yr after deposit?

          I only find out today, been so long since I send something…. lost my $35 credit. Sneaky company!

        • Gaz1 on 23/06/2016 - 14:45

          @tinx:
          I don't buy credit - I just pay by credit card for each shipment.

  • Pikaloo on 22/06/2016 - 14:59

    Most companies/people on aliexpress make money from shipping, DHL $60, DHL $30. But in reality it's about $5 per kg to ship from China to AU via DHL if you ship frequently and not a one off thing. If you type into alibaba 'DHL' you'll see that for yourself, people are offering shipping via DHL at about $5.

  • Hiroko on 22/06/2016 - 15:39
    +1

    know of several vendors who use fastway.
    they are relatively cheap - but cheap price comes with cheap service.

    • Mechanist on 23/06/2016 - 08:19
      +1

      Nothing but trouble anytime I have used them

  • captobvious on 22/06/2016 - 19:30

    I was in hk on holiday and i sent myself back in oz, clothing, gadgets, toys in a removalist box and it cost me about $20aud via sea.

    Going the otherway id be looking at $200aud.

    Have friends over there that wanted oz baby formula. Lol

    • piggyfund on 23/06/2016 - 10:19

      Was it $200 by sea as well?

      • sleepy buyer on 23/06/2016 - 12:37
        +1

        Auspost doesn't do sea anymore, it's all via air, that's why it's expensive as well now

  • j5ive on 22/06/2016 - 20:42

    Crazy idea. But. Why not shop your book around retail environments rather than trying to sell online. No idea what the content is but this could work. Cafes, small cute book shops, that kind of thing. Pack a car load and don't come home till they are sold :)

    • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 21:38
      +1

      I will do that. But that will cover just sydney :).

  • deepdag on 22/06/2016 - 21:23

    There are fair few companies where you buy coupons for certain number of shipments upfront & use them as required. They start at $6 for Sydney.
    Also look at courier service of officeworks, I haven't used it but they are competitive. There is a good broker service which I've used & love it 'Temando'.
    All the best with your business.

    • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 21:55

      Do you know any of names of such companies? I will look them up and get more details.

      • deepdag on 22/06/2016 - 23:01

        TheDailyStuff has answered your question in detail. What he said is right, cheaper couriers are not reliable. Check go-logistics but customer service is not great. Most will ask you your volume of shipping first before they give decent rate.
        Temando is good start.

  • yjun355 on 22/06/2016 - 22:01

    THanks guys. This is not for business as such now much I was looking for cheaper option to save cost for a fundraising for charity.

    To give you bit of background, I did kickstarer campaign to create a family recipe book to document my Mum's recipe:
    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/329673064/homemade-indi…

    Now, as part of launch (next 2 months) we want to donate the royalties to a charity. So, that's why I am looking for option to offer cheap shipping as Aust Post shipping cost will be very significant. If people buy people thinking money is going to charity, I don't want to say, well, only 20-30% goes to charity and rest is pure cost.

    I'll obvious announce on Ozbargain when I work out how to do Free book day on Kindle :). Some support from the community would be great.

    • pyramid on 22/06/2016 - 23:04
      +1

      Good luck with your project and appreciate that you are doing fund raising. But how different is your recipe compared to other thousands you can find by just googling? Why do you need kick-starter for this? There is nothing innovative or novel with your idea? Its just plain collection of recipe and you are trying to launch it as book.

      • yjun355 on 23/06/2016 - 08:16
        +1

        Apreciate your thought. Im not sure how different it is and frankly doesnt matter to me. Im not a marketting guy so not good with sales pitch but its made out of love as present to my mum by documenting her recipes. I havent come across her recipes on internet but its awesome if similar are already there. Home cooked indian is different to what you get in restaurants. Thumbs up if you already aware and know how to make it.
        PM me if you in sydney cbd area. Ill give you free copy or post amazon version for free or send you hardcover version if you want to cover expensive austpost cost:).

        Its made with intention to save and share. Support on kickstarter is more than what i expected. So i have already accomplished by goal.

        • pyramid on 23/06/2016 - 08:35

          No worries. Thanks for clarifying. And congrats on achieving your target. It feels always special to do something for parents. Good luck.

        • yjun355 on 23/06/2016 - 09:30

          @pyramid:

          Cheers. But I do insist. Im sending out copies this week for people who supported on Kickstarter. I would like to send one to you. PM me your details.

  • garetz on 23/06/2016 - 03:16

    I remember in the mid to late 90s, using a service called media mail, as long as what you were sending was books or printed material, you would get a media rate. I bought about 120kgs of books from queensland to nsw, and it cost about $40 in postage. Dunno if they do that these days. I also bought about 40kgs of books from canada and that only cost $20 in postage to nsw in the 90s.

    • yjun355 on 23/06/2016 - 16:03

      I had a brief look. Its around but seems only within USA. I would expect the prices to come up significantly :). I'll look into it.

  • harkoliar on 23/06/2016 - 10:08

    I used this service once to send some 6 big jars of peanut butter from Syd to WA. Very cheap for door to door. Long story!!!!

    https://www.e-go.com.au/home.do;jsessionid=368FF22F5B51BC003…

    • yjun355 on 23/06/2016 - 16:06

      How much did it cost you? For book estimate its not too different from AustPost. Asking $13 from Sydney to Melbourne

      • harkoliar on 23/06/2016 - 17:09

        Around 10kg, $15.40. Sydney to Perth, one of the outer suburbs.

        Edit: I was charged by volume and not weight btw.

  • jofung28 on 23/06/2016 - 11:08

    If you are interested , I know someone uses SEKO Logistics for their E-commerce solution - pack and drop ship from Hong Kong to anywhere in the world. They also do packaging for you at a small fee. I check on their website and they do have a office in China, maybe you can give them a try? www.sekologistics.com

    If you are looking at importing bulk from China to Australia. I know a company called international Freight People Pty Ltd in Australia that maybe can give you a good price.

    • yjun355 on 24/06/2016 - 10:23

      Thanks. Looks good. It is something that I was after. But I'll check out in more detail soon

  • Summer071212 on 23/06/2016 - 12:33

    Hi,
    I'm the rep from DD4.com. I can tell you shipping products from China to the world is expensive. Even if you use the China post without tracking number, it's expensive. The shipping fee can't even cover the prodcut value if the product only cost a little. If the product is under 2kg, you can use china post/nl post.If it is over 2kg, you need to use DHL, TNT, UPS. If you import bulk, that would be another thing.

    • yjun355 on 24/06/2016 - 10:24

      Yeah I was after under 2kg option.

  • Thenarrator on 23/06/2016 - 20:33

    hey mate.. you should know by now that there was a BOOM of daigous in australia who were sending MASSIVELY vitamins, blackmores, milk powders, baby formulas, A2 powders to China. My friend is a daigou and there are a range of couriers to choose from (just check out your local chinese souvenir shop in australia that sells milk powders). What daigous do is they get bunch of chinese clients and bunch all their order into one box.. each box is like $8 or something.. then they have a friend in china to help distribute.. This way, clients who buy a $1 item can pretty much get the item 'free of delivery charge'.

    • yjun355 on 24/06/2016 - 10:25

      Thanks but I was after something the other way around. From China to Australia.

  • yjun355 on 24/06/2016 - 10:37

    Thanks to everyones suggestions. From what I gather below is summary:

    a. From China people use ChinaPost for really cheap postage to Australia for under 1-2kg items. These are those products we all buy on ebay or china for $1-$2 which covers cost of product and also shipping.

    b. There are some couriers but I it seems it is not common to find someone who offers following service:
    a. Keep you inventory in their warehouse/shop.
    b. Ship the orders for you.
    Its something you would have to setup yourself. I am genuinely surprised its not that common.
    (Seems like a good business idea for people with local Chinese connection to setup service like that :))

    c. Alternative to AustPost: sendle.com.au

    d. Don't use direct couriers like fastway, star track. Rather look into Business account for AustPost.

    e. Ebay offers free pickup location service from Woolworth, etc. But you pay 10% seller fees to ebay

    f. Probably this is ideal model which is simple for small business until there is service as mentioned in b.:
    a. Offer choice to customer. So, they can pay $10-$12 shipping for book.
    b. Setup pickup colaboration in other main cities where person can pick up for free.

    Lastly, there are heaps of people here in Oz community who have wealth of experience from importing from China. So, can ask them for advice. Maybe we need Q/A thread for small business. People sharing their experiences really helps a lot.

    Did I miss anything?

    Thanks a lot everyone again.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 24/06/2016 - 11:18

    Just don't use Startrack, they are the poor cousin of auspost, sometimes taking 2 weeks for local delivery. I always think the cost of storing a days worth of parcels for 2 weeks must be more than just delivering them quickly.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2016 - 22:02

    http://english.chinapost.com.cn/html1/category/1408/4048-1.h…

    I'd assume it's a private deal with the above, it's basically (well, it IS) the auspost of China. Public prices are ~$3.50AUD for 100gram package from China to Australia.

  • yjun355 on 06/07/2016 - 19:42

    Ok. About to place order last hurdle:

    I am about to place an order for 1000 books. It's essentially over 600-700kg in 64 boxes. Publishing company charging $240 to ship to port in Sydney. Then i have to arrange to pick up here. They mentioned it costs around $300 and around 10% import duty . Do you have any advice on if i can use any clearing agent and is there way to save on duty?

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