Hey guys, so I'm trying to figure out a goo international shipping company to use when getting a package sent from America to Australia.
But also relatively cheap.
When I was on vacation in the states, I sent 2 boxes home. They were bout 50 cm squared & probably weighed about 2 to 3kg
Each package cost about $200 to send home!
Although they did arrive home before me within a week.
Assuming it was sent by air.
I don't mind if the packages are sent by sea, I'm just wondering if I'm going to be looking at 200 bucks each time I want to get a package sent home.
*I'm wondering, because alot of products I have been wanting to buy either don't ship to australia, or they charge 50 bucks+ just to send a shirt!* best example I can use is the mehron sfx make up kit. Costs $132 US to buy alone. But then they charge an additional $97 to ship it!!! That is just too much!!
Some insight would be awesome ^-^

Just going by how UK postage works, the weight of the package might have more of an impact than you realise on the final cost. Here, if something weighs over 2.5kg the postage takes a big jump skywards. The time scale is a big factor too. If your packages only took a week you'll have paid for that, if what you want to send isn't something that's going to be affected by time (food and what not) I'd go for an option that takes longer as it's sure to be cheaper. You should hopefully be able to find the info that you need on the postal service's website. With any luck they'll have a postage calculator where you put in the size/weight of your parcel and it tells you all the available options, with prices. Good luck finding the info you need!

Yeah, I've been doing my research, but haven't really been able to find anything solid, or not be able to choose between sea/air.
When I sent my packages home, we didn't get the option to send via sea or air either. I have no idea why, they just said this is how much it is....Thank you.
I asked if I could get it shipped cheaper & they said they only offered this way of postage. I have no idea why.
I just didn't know if anyone had a solid idea lol.
With australia, our postal service is terrible now. We have so many issues with them & they aren't very reliable. We generally have to use couriers if we want to know our package will actually arrive 100% but it comes at a price most of the time. :(

Wow, that sounds...really half-arsed. Also, really reminiscent of the parental "because I said so!" I think we need Drop Bear: on this! Can you shed any light on -v-i-x-e-n-'s plight, fellow Aussie person?

OK, from my understanding, small single packages the likes of mail etc, are no longer shipped. That can take weeks in travel alone and its way more expensive. The only thing they ship now is large, bulky, heavy stuff that they cant throw on a plane. Basically, if they can put it in a shipping container, you're going by sea, otherwise its TO THE SKY! *strikes hero pose with cape flapping in the wind*

Its also my understanding that $50+ is about the norm for shipping to Aus from the US. We're quite a way away. Weight is the main factor for shipping, followed closely by size. The companies are trying to maximise space when they transport stuff. Big bulky stuff that might not weigh much, takes up the space of 40 other boxes they could put in that space. Alternately, particularly heavy stuff means they cant load as much onto their transport vehicles, and less volume of goods are shipped. They try to find the best balance.

The other thing you'll have problems with too, is that who ever you're ordering stuff from will use their own shipping service. Companies, particularly larger ones, generally have deals with shipping services for better rates because of the large and constant quantity of stuff theyre shipping. Trying to get them to go with another company where they will have to pay more, change their billing methods and contact different companies to do the same thing they're doing, for a different rate, will often result in a flat out refusal to do so. Its not worth the cost of their time to hunt around for the alternative, when their current methods are (for them) fast and cheap and they can get the next package being processed sooner.

Having worked in the freight handling business for a little while too, you'll often find that no single company will handle your parcel from the pick up to the drop off. Heres how I understand it works:

You pay for your package with Company A. They give it to a local company, who pass it on to a state/national company, who pass it on to an international company, who pass it on (after customs checks it) to AusPost, who generally subcontract parcel deliveries to national/state companies, and then its taken from that depot nearest to you, and delivered to another local company who drop it at your door.

By the time it gets to you, over a dozen people and half a dozen companies have probably dealt with it. Each one operates in contact with their own preferred 'local' (country/state/city/what ever) delivery service.

Im not familliar with how that is all calculated for the shipping fee, but i believe the major companies databases are all interlinked somehow maybe?

Basically, $50-$100 depending on the weight and size of the package, is about correct. Things like fragile and dangerous goods are more expensive again because of the extra care needed to handle them. And I doubt you'll find a single company that can deliver to your door, because they're the only ones who will be able to give you an accurate calculation, the rest are just flat rates totalled together for the final shipping price.

Nice simple answer there! Jeez >< Posting stuff overseas is such a pain D:

You never said it had to be simple! And I wanted to explain why it is the price it is, and how thats probably as good as you'll get it. Hopefully it helps.