Looking for Help with Mail Forwarding from USA

[maltapso]

I'm considering signing up for a mail forwarding service for those gotta have ebay items from the US that sellers wont ship internationally. I've found a couple of services MyUS and shipito, but was hoping for some advice or information from members who have used a service like this.

Any problems? Recommendations? Warnings?

Is the process of adding the new address to ebay and paypal straightforward? Any problems with sellers shipping to one of these addresses? Any suggestions or experiences appreciated.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

4channel may be able to help you

[brerrabbit585]

countess uses a forwarding service. I've got one written down somewhere in case I ever needed it but I have no idea where I put it.

I just sent her a message telling her about this thread so she should be along some time.

[maltapso]

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@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:

4channel may be able to help you

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Thanks, for this 

[lyndal1838]

Australia Post runs a forwarding service.....no idea how reliable it is but it is expensive compared to other established services.

When you use a forwarding service the GST is charged by the service instead of by ebay.

[michellebartley]

I have tried My US, it's really costly, if you really want something greatly then you probably won't mind paying a lot for it to be shipped to you.

[countessalmirena]

@maltapso,

I use comGateway. 

It isn't cheap to use any of these mail forwarders, but you're covered with insurance for any damaged items, and it can usually work out reasonably cost-effective if you buy other things to be forwarded on at the same time.

I chose comGateway after the forwarder I previously used became dreadful. Lost parcels, parcels going back to the company's US depot via its Singapore depot, difficulty getting hold of anyone by phone, unanswered emails, increased delivery time - it became a mess. So I looked around for the most reliable forwarder. ComGateway was the result.

Contacting comGateway is easy (via chat, or via email). There is sufficient time (60 days) to wait for all ordered items to arrive at their warehouse without storage costs. It's easy to identify which parcel is which. It's easy to consolidate your parcels (once all have arrived) into one lot of shipping. Once comGateway have processed the consolidated shipping (1-2 days from the time that you instruct them to combine and send, and make payment), you receive an email confirming the final status and including tracking number. It's very fast from that point - I find it's usually 2-3 days. They use FedEx Express or DHL Express for fast and efficient shipping.

if a breakage does occur, you contact them with the details, take photos, complete the form they send you by email, and within 1 or 2 days approval is confirmed by insurer. 

To reduce risk of any breakage, if you know that an item is somewhat fragile, you simply contact them via email or chat and request extra and very careful packaging.

DRAWBACKS

Just be aware that unless the invoice accompanying any of your items shows that you've already paid GST on the item (low-value imported good), comGateway (and any other forwarder) will need to collect that GST from you.

GST is also payable on the shipping cost charged by the forwarder.

You will pay GST also on the insurance and fuel surcharge component.

Factor in such costs beforehand so that it doesn't come as a shock,

Try to avoid using a forwarder unless you have enough items over which to spread the cost - otherwise it's probably too expensive. 

[maltapso]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

@maltapso,

I use comGateway. 

It isn't cheap to use any of these mail forwarders, but you're covered with insurance for any damaged items, and it can usually work out reasonably cost-effective if you buy other things to be forwarded on at the same time.

I chose comGateway after the forwarder I previously used became dreadful. Lost parcels, parcels going back to the company's US depot via its Singapore depot, difficulty getting hold of anyone by phone, unanswered emails, increased delivery time - it became a mess. So I looked around for the most reliable forwarder. ComGateway was the result.

Contacting comGateway is easy (via chat, or via email). There is sufficient time (60 days) to wait for all ordered items to arrive at their warehouse without storage costs. It's easy to identify which parcel is which. It's easy to consolidate your parcels (once all have arrived) into one lot of shipping. Once comGateway have processed the consolidated shipping (1-2 days from the time that you instruct them to combine and send, and make payment), you receive an email confirming the final status and including tracking number. It's very fast from that point - I find it's usually 2-3 days. They use FedEx Express or DHL Express for fast and efficient shipping.

if a breakage does occur, you contact them with the details, take photos, complete the form they send you by email, and within 1 or 2 days approval is confirmed by insurer. 

To reduce risk of any breakage, if you know that an item is somewhat fragile, you simply contact them via email or chat and request extra and very careful packaging.

DRAWBACKS

Just be aware that unless the invoice accompanying any of your items shows that you've already paid GST on the item (low-value imported good), comGateway (and any other forwarder) will need to collect that GST from you.

GST is also payable on the shipping cost charged by the forwarder.

You will pay GST also on the insurance and fuel surcharge component.

Factor in such costs beforehand so that it doesn't come as a shock,

Try to avoid using a forwarder unless you have enough items over which to spread the cost - otherwise it's probably too expensive. 

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Thanks so much for this, your advice has been very helpful. I actually signed up for a shipito account and added my new US address to my new ebay account, but then encountered problems when trying to add the US address to paypal. They don't allow non Australian address. Now I'm wondering if I'm going to have problems with US sellers not wanting to send to an address that's not verified in Paypal.  Have you found this to be an issue? Have you used your forwarding service for ebay purchases?

[lyndal1838]

You only need your US shipping address in ebay.....you use it in Checkout when paying through paypal and it is the address that shows as the paypal authorised address.

[south.coffee]

No problems using shipito.com with my AU PayPal account and US address/s.  Wish I could afford USD prices though.

90% of everything in the USA is made in China anyway ?  Cut out the middlemen and save a bundle.