Amazon AU - Is It Australian Stock, in AUD, with No GST Payable - or Overseas Sellers/Currency + GST ! ?

GregMonarch on 20/04/2019 - 04:33
Last edited 22/04/2019 - 09:43 by 1 other user

I've only used Amazon US before. I've been researching book prices - adding books to shopping carts, checking the shipping, GST, exchange rate, discounts, etc. to find the best price. During that I saw an ad for 'Free Shipping' at Amazon AU…

Their checkout showed $3 shipping, not $0 as advertised. So I checked why. One book is from a USA seller who has added $3 shipping. (So much for it being amazon AU, and forget the free shipping too.) But then I also noticed most of my books are from 'Book Depository UK'.

I only went to Amazon AU thinking it's the Australian version, so I won't pay GST, won't be converting currencies, worrying about customs values, etc. But now there's USA and UK sellers on there!?

So am I seeing Australian stock on Amazon AU, in Australian dollars, or are the goods on Amazon AU coming from all over the planet and still attract GST?

Financial GST

Related Stores

Amazon AU
Amazon AU
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Comments

  • Melb69 on 20/04/2019 - 04:42

    It should say on side panel where item coming from unless from another supplier. If its Aus and purchases in Aus it'll have GST. Not understanding OPs Q. Must be because it's 4am. Are you from USA?Then that would make sense. AU should be Aus dollars check currency setting.

  • GregMonarch on 20/04/2019 - 05:33

    LOL, I'm in Australia. ;-)

    Hm… I can't see any currency listed. It just shows prices like: $20.00, $15.30, etc. (no USD or AUD is displayed). I just assumed it was AUD because it's Amazon.com.AU - but??

    Here's two of the books. Cut & paste these two ISBN numbers in: 9781616771904, 9781616771881. Note the seller is 'Book Depository UK'. UK! What the heck!?

    The prices are probably in AUD because it's Amazon AU…. But if he's actually IN the UK then I'll be charged GST when the books arrive in Australia. Shouldn't there be some 'click if you agree' notification on the site when a seller is overseas, like: "This seller is not located in Australia. You will pay GST when your goods arrive in Australia. Do you agree?"

    Or is GST already included the displayed price?

    I never realized overseas sellers were on Amazon AU.

    • Baysew on 20/04/2019 - 10:29
      +1

      But if he's actually IN the UK then I'll be charged GST when the books arrive in Australia

      Only purchases over $1,000 would have GST charged on arrival.

  • apsilon on 20/04/2019 - 05:58
    +2

    Price are in AUD, GST is included, sellers can be anywhere (the side panel states who the seller and shipper is eg ships from and sold by amazon US or sold by xyz and fulfilld by amazon etc)

    • GregMonarch on 20/04/2019 - 06:08

      Thanks, I just came back to post that I found: "All prices in Amazon.com.au are shown in Australian Dollars." So at least that's settled.

      But, I don't see any 'side panel' you guys are seeing. Not on the product page, nor in the cart. Unless you mean the 'summary' price box to the right hand side? It just states:

      $16.96 + FREE Delivery
      In stock.
      Ships from and sold by Book Depository UK.
      Quantity: 1
      Add to Cart
      Buy Now
      Deliver to (Greg - Sydney)

      And the shopping cart just shows:

      Adult Piano Adventures Popular Book 1 - Various
      $16.96 - Quantity: 1
      Paperback - New
      In stock.
      Sold by: Book Depository UK

      Adult Piano Adventures Popular Book 2: Timeless Hits and Popular Favorites - Nancy Faber
      $14.63 - Quantity: 1
      Paperback - New
      In stock.
      Sold by: Book Depository UK

      etc. down the page.

      No item locations are mentioned. And the 'UK' part of the seller's name - he's chosen (not necessarily his location as far as Amazon is concerned). i.e. His full business name is: "Book Depository UK". He could have one branch in the UK, and another in Australia for all I know.

      So yeah… I don't know where you guys are seeing the other info. Are you seeing it on a PC, or a phone?

      • Pecan on 20/04/2019 - 09:01
        +2

        Book Depository is overseas. The ETA is the giveaway. All prices on Amazon AU are gst inclusive.

        • GregMonarch on 20/04/2019 - 09:22

          Book Depository is overseas

          Yep. But I think I've received items from them in the past from both UK and Australia - in the same order. So I thought maybe he was now listing on Amazon.AU, only those items in Australia. (But I could be thinking of another seller too.) I'm sure I've returned items to them before to an Australian address too.

          All prices on Amazon AU are gst inclusive.

          Oh - so you're saying there will be no additional GST to be paid? LOL…

          I was just on with Amazon live chat and she mentioned nothing about that. ;-p She basically said SOME sellers can list where they are IF they feel like it. So I should ask each seller where they are located.

          I replied that is unworkable - because some sellers send part of your order from Australia and the other part from overseas - and suggested Amazon should require sellers to state where they are, so customers don't get a surprise extra GST bill. She said, 'I'll pass it on to…' etc.

          If you're correct that GST is already included in the displayed price (and I don't doubt you are)… THAT should be what she was trained to say - instead of directing me to contact every seller, or in the case of sellers who have items both here and overseas - contact them for the location of every item, LOL!

          • Pecan on 20/04/2019 - 09:57
            +2

            @GregMonarch:

            Oh - so you're saying there will be no additional GST to be paid?

            It literally says so on their website.

            All prices are listed in Australian Dollars. Our Price, as displayed, is inclusive of GST at the appropriate rate.

            • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 04:34

              @Pecan: Thanks. It would have been helpful for the Amazon rep to point that out, LOL.

              I was thinking it was like ebay - how they list the item price, but below it in the search results (and later during checkout) you can see an extra GST charge will be added.

  • Melb69 on 20/04/2019 - 11:06

    @GregMonarch I've just contacted seller via contact us. Let see if we get a reply. Curious myself. It does only indicate sellers name. Suspect seller is from UK and selling on Aus Amazon site.

  • Gaz1 on 20/04/2019 - 11:46

    Hi Greg,
    Check booko to see other options & pricing:
    https://booko.com.au/9781616771904/Adult-Piano-Adventures-Po…
    https://booko.com.au/9781616771881/Adult-Piano-Adventures-Po…

    Also, if Amazon says the seller is Book Depository, why not just buy direct from Book Depository?

    • theyetti on 20/04/2019 - 11:52
      +1

      Either way you're buying from Amazon, from Wikipedia

      "Book Depository is a UK-based online book seller with a large catalogue offered with free shipping to over 160 countries. The store was founded by a former Amazon employee. In 2011 it was acquired by Amazon."

      • Gaz1 on 20/04/2019 - 12:04

        Interesting - I didn't know that!

        • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 04:47

          Last night I contacted Book Depository to warn them about a book they have listed on Amazon.

          It's been reprinted several times, but first came as a book only, then an audio CD was added, then a second CD, then they put both on one CD plus added a DVD. BUT… they all have the same ISBN code!

          So sellers enter the ISBN into sites like Amazon and ebay, and the details/description gets auto-filled. It means you can be looking at cover art from any edition, and reading the description from any other edition.

          So I asked which one they were selling… New stock with the DVD, or new old stock with no DVD - and they copied and pasted a pre-prepared reply basically saying, "Order it. If there's an error it's free to send it back." (Yeah, cause it's must better for dozens of people to return the wrong item, rather than just fix your listing once.)

          So it doesn't surprise me they're owned by the same company. (The 'help' of both is of the same level of usefulness, LOL.)

    • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 04:37

      Yeah, I thought of that too… But looking at both options shows the price is usually only slightly different or the same - but as someone said above, if you buy through Amazon the GST is already paid.

  • Nutrino on 20/04/2019 - 12:39
    +1

    Your over thinking thing.

    • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 04:54

      It's only overthinking to someone who already understands it. ;-) A few hundred $ of books can add $40 of GST, making it cheaper to pay more, but buy from an Australian seller.

  • Broke-Ken on 20/04/2019 - 13:17

    I think you're getting a bit confused and assuming all things on Amazon AU are sold by Amazon AU. Amazon AU is actually a marketplace for many sellers including Amazon AU themselves.

    When you view an item you like, you will usually see "XX new from $YY.YY" Clicking on this will reveal more information.

    Here's the break down of the various types of sellers.

    • When the Seller Information is amazon.com.au, it's actually sold by Amazon AU, Item is Australian stock, in their warehouse in Australia.
    • When the Seller Information is not amazon.com.au, but Delivery is Fulfilment by Amazon it's actually sold by a 3rd party, but Amazon AU handles both the sales transaction and the delivery logistics of the item. The items are stored in the Amazon AU warehouse, so already in Australia.
    • When the Seller Information is not amazon.com.au, Delivery is an estimated date, it's sold by a 3rd party(3rd party can be from anywhere). Amazon AU handles the sales transaction(which also includes conversion rates and GST), 3rd party handles the delivery logistics, in this instance, 3rd party can set their own additional shipping charges. (this also includes Amazon US).

    Here's an example of all 3(4 if you seperate Amazon US from 3rd party) as an option:
    https://www.amazon.com.au/SanDisk-Extreme-UHS-I-Memory-SDSDX…
    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/offer-listing/B01LORO7BA/ref=dp…

  • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 05:01

    I think you're getting a bit confused and assuming all things on Amazon AU are sold by Amazon AU.

    Yep, that's what I initially thought. (Amazon US pulled out of Australia. So it made no sense that a UK store was selling on Amazon AU - it seemed to raising the GST problem again, which is why they pulled out in the first place.)

    When the Seller Information is not amazon.com.au, Delivery is an estimated date, it's sold by
    a 3rd party(3rd party can be from anywhere). Amazon AU handles the sales transaction(which also
    includes conversion rates and GST), 3rd party handles the delivery logistics, in this instance,
    3rd party can set their own additional shipping charges. (this also includes Amazon US).

    I get that now, thanks everyone. :-)

  • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 21:03
    Merged from Is GST charged on overseas (new) goods AND shipping, or just the goods?

    As above. I'm trying to work out if I'll be paying GST on an order of new books. The shipping from USA to here is nearly $90! So it's mucking up my spreadsheet calculations and purchase decisions, not knowing if GST is charged on the total of goods + shipping, or only on the goods.

    • Clear on 21/04/2019 - 21:08
      +1

      You will not be charged GST at customs unless the total value is over $1000 AU. For anything below $1000 AU under the new GST legislation it's the responsibility of the overseas store to collect GST from you.

      If the store has not charged you GST then you've got yourself some tax free books :)

      • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 21:20

        Oh, didn't it change a year or so ago - GST charged on everything, not just > $1000?

        The stores are USA music book stores. They probably aren't even aware of 'our' GST, because most of them are not adding it when it comes time to checkout. That's irrelevant though if your first statement is correct?

        • Clear on 21/04/2019 - 21:25

          The legislation changed but somehow people don't know what actually changed. Basically everything <$1000 AU must be collected by the overseas stores and paid to the ATO. If it hasn't been charged to you then the ATO/customs won't be coming after you and it's not even checked during transit.

          If they're not aware of it and you're not being charged GST at checkout then you're in the clear.

          • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 21:28

            @Clear: LOL, sounds good to me. So I can put zero in all the GST fields where the total is below $1000 in Excel! :-D

            Oh, wait… So what if the goods are $950 AUD and the shipping is $100 AUD - is it now $50 over, and the store doesn't collect GST now?

            • Clear on 21/04/2019 - 21:36

              @GregMonarch: In that scenario they're not supposed to charge GST but there are mix reports that they would on Whirlpool.

              • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 21:56

                @Clear: So as usual for government, it's clear as mud. LOL.

                Thanks.

                • Clear on 21/04/2019 - 22:01

                  @GregMonarch: That's right. If the total value was $1000 + $50 shipping then they generally include that $50 as the total value.

        • Quantumcat on 21/04/2019 - 21:25

          Yes it is on everything, but it is the responsibility of the store when < $1000

          Edit: ninja'd

  • GregMonarch on 21/04/2019 - 23:56

    How strange to merge two threads with two different subjects. One thread was about Amazon. The other was about GST relating to bookstores outside of Amazon. The second thread made for the very reason that those small USA stores know nothing about our GST, whereas Amazon does and includes it in their prices. It will only servce to confuse others who read this in the future after doing a search on GST.

    • whooah1979 on 22/04/2019 - 06:58

      Both posts are about GST and books.

  • Melb69 on 22/04/2019 - 10:40

    @GregMonarch Reply from UK seller. Hope that helps. I think some posts already clarified your post.

    Thank you for the inquiry.

    "Adult Piano Adventures Popular Book 1 9781616771904" will be dispatched from the UK.
    Our orders can take up to 3 working days to dispatch and a further 5-8 working days to deliver to Australia.

    Kind Regards,
    Hideko Gibbard,
    Customer Advisor

    • GregMonarch on 22/04/2019 - 13:10

      Yeah, they're hopeless. I pointed out their Amazon listing mentions one book has 2x CDs, has a stock image displayed of that edition too, but the description mentions the latest edition that comes with a CD + DVD. (And explained the manufacturer used the same ISBN (number for several editions over the years - so they may want to correct their listing, or they'll be getting returns - or not selling any due to the confusion.)

      Then I asked, "So which edition are you selling: new old stock of the older edition with 2x CDs - or - fresh stock of the latest edition with CD + DVD?"

      They replied that the product "… does not include any CDs or DVDs. Please contact Amazon directly to fix the listing, as the product is correctly listed on our site"… and they provided a link to it on their site - which has the VERY SAME ERROR - it too has an old image of the 2x CD edition, but the text states it has a CD & DVD!?

      They're obviously on drugs - wanting me to fix their listing on Amazon, then showing me the very same error is on their own site while saying it's correct and Amazon is wrong. So I was forced to buy that one somewhere else.

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