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Ask Slashdot: Package Redirection Service For Shipping to Australia?
An anonymous reader writes "I've recently moved continents, and one of the things I've noticed is the lack of the latest technology, as well as high prices for books and other goods here in Australia. I'm looking at package redirection services from the US, and there's a bewildering array of offerings, at a wide range of prices. What should I look out for? I'm hoping to reduce overall shipping costs to, but obviously worried about costs to deliver mostly empty boxes (yes, I'm talking about you, Amazon), damage to electrical goods from rough handling, packages going missing (does everything have to be registered post or tracked?), import duties (I'm not buying anything that should attract import duty, but still...) and overall costs (I'm not going to be buying frequently, just occasionally). What have other slashdot readers used, and what would they recommend?"
amazon double prime.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_mail_forwarders
There is also a number of discussions like this one:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/74601
I use shipito personally. Back when I used to live in Australia, and now that i'm in New Zealand. Great service.
I picked shipito after doing my research online, you probably should do some research and read up on some reviews and make an informed decision yourself.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
My company has lots of dealer agreements that make it a violation of our contract to send stuff internationally. Occasionally I have certain ones that will NOT let us ship to a freight forwarder. Just be aware that that CAN occur and you're far better off having a family member or a friend ready to ship something for you.
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
Around $100/year has them receiving your US online purchases at your personal US address (their Florida warehouse). They scan shipment invoices -- you view the invoices in a web interface and tell them which shipments to 'consolidate' and ship, They stuff everything together and ship Fedex or UPS. An 12"x8"x6" box costs about $50-$60 -- you save money when you've consolidated multiple shipments.
In Australia, any import under $1000 is duty free.
As long as you keep the total value of what you are importing under $1000, you don't get hit with GST. If you were to, say, buy a PC overseas that costs over $1000, prepare to get slugged when it comes in through the post. If you have someone send something over, make sure that they price it as $999 on the customs form. I sent myself a computer from overseas and in my honesty/stupidity, priced it over the magic $1000 value and ended up paying about $200 in duties. Actually while you are in Australia, prepare to get slugged everywhere for tech. A high Australian dollar, and the fact that we don't locally produce any tech (we just dig rocks out of the ground and sell them), means that overseas tech companies here charge whatever the small Australian market will bear, and usually they typically price it on the side of unreasonable. Do I really need to talk about how terrible the internet speeds are here? No need to mention that in some places, the best you can get is 2Mbps ADSL? No? OK.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
Posting as anonymous because the password reset email ain't coming through.
I've pumped thousands of dollars worth of goods through Shipito's hands. Out of about 75 boxes, they've completely lost one, and another was in limbo for a while when they sent it to the wrong person. Full compensation was offered for the one that was lost.
Their fees can rack up, especially for consolidation, but if you just get Amazon to send individual boxes to their warehouse in Oregon (US tax free), then send to Australia via USPS Airmail without photos or whatever guff, you're really not spending very much per item at all ($2.50 plus postage, and a $50 annual fee). I doubt I'll ever change providers, if they keep it up.
Most people I know here with the same inclination use MyUS (http://www.myus.com/)
For group buying and ex-pat interaction, this (mostly Melbourne-centric) group is good to join: http://www.meetup.com/americans-in-melbourne/
Don't forget to check out the local hackerspaces for (among many other things) group buying and local knowledge. I highly recommend the Melbourne Hackerspace (CCHS - hackmelbourne.org)
Seems awfully silly making something in China, shipping it to the US, and then shipping it back to Australia.
Sent from my PDP-11
Or don't you have a single friend or relative that will do this for you?
Double? Try 20% more nominal, and 19% less (PPP).
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
If you haven't seen it already, may I introduce you to Whirlpool Forums? It's an excellent resource and I'm sure they'll have some good info on this topic.
It's entirely disingenuous to just look at the exchange rate and figure we're paid twice what the US is. I bet I can afford less with my $37,000 a year than an American could buy with his $18,000.
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
I have lived in Aussie for the last 8 years and am grateful every time I leave the doctor's office without having to fill out one stinking form. This is a wonderful country. Support the Australia economy where you can. There are some good online bookstores like Booktopia. If you can't find any joy there, try the Bookdepository and Abesbooks in the UK (owned by Amazon?) They have low shipping costs. There is a large online electronics industry here. Maybe it won't be quite as cheap as buying from the US, but if you have a problem with the order, it won't take months of overseas troubleshooting to figure out. Australian ebay will give you access to the China markets.
Yeah and your goods are marked up accordingly.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Well, to be fair, unless that American with $18,000 a year lives in the backwoods of Tennessee or thereabouts, he is homeless and doesn't really need to worry about buying books and electronics as he won't have enough food, clothing, and shelter. $18,000 per year isn't even funny. You live under a bridge on that most places in the US.
I'm not in Australia (I live in the UK) but I have bought a couple of things from ebay sellers who would only ship to the US in the past few years (sadly this seems to be an increasingly common occurence). I've used Shipito for package forwarding for this and would definitelty recommend them - for my sort of low-volume use they worked out cheapest by quite some margin (as they have a plan where they don't charge you a monthly or annual fee, just a higher fee per shipment) and everything has worked out so far exactly as advertised. Although I've not really had any major issues, I've been in contact with their customer support team a couple of times too and that has been a good experience - they respond to emails/online form submissions pretty quickly.
One other tip - more relevant if you're not using a forwarding service though - I've found it's well worth paying for USPS Express rather than USPS Priority Mail for boxes as it's usually not much more money (often in the region of 5%) and is SIGNIFICANTLY quicker - we're talking a difference of 2-3 WEEKS, at least from the US to the UK and in my experience.
Jesus H Christ, do you people have any fucking clue what socialism is? Are you calling Tony Abbott a socialist? OMFG you people need to go back to kindergarten and start again. Idiot.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
Better off just Australian forums, this isn't a new problem for us.
Of course /. is still a bad idea because most people here still assume no other countries exist.
Well actually they do. They just assume that any country with brown people doesn't have any running water, and that Europe is all run by communists.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
The average income in Australia is more than double in the US thats why prices are higher.
No, I'm afraid it isn't. Median Household income in the US is about 50k USD. That's across the whole US, podunk cow towns to NYC. The Australian "capital territories" are averaging 60k USD per household. Across all of Australia it's 43k USD.
Not even at parity, much less "more than double." I can't imagine how you became so misguided; carefully reconsider from where it is you've chosen to get your information.
The GP was correct; the cost of the Australian welfare state is built into the cost of consumer goods, among other things.
You voted for it. Pay it. People trying to squirm out from under the weight of the statist utopias they've built should provide guidance to others.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
You don't seem to understand free trade agreements.
The US tells the other countries what they will pay, what they will buy and what they are willing to sell.
The other country accepts, and adopts the laws that are part of the agreement.
China is a stone throw away, Why are you paying to buy china made items in the US to be shipped to you? Buy from frigging china directly, hell take a weekend boat ride and buy up as much as you can fit in your suitcase!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
First: having a friend forward items to you would likely be the best bet for low volume things or high value things. I find that international flat rate priority mail boxes are wonderful things. They are size limited, but service is good even to New Guinea where I'm ship stuff.
Second... Watch what electronics you buy. In the US we have 60 Cycles 120V and over there it's 50 Cycles 220V. It's not usually a problem, but it can be sometimes. The connectors are generally NOT the same, but adapters abound down there. Also, radio stuff (wifi routers and such) are subject to different rules down under and you might be better off performance wise to use locally distributed stuff. Just be careful out there.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
I love my motorbikes, and it is a common complaint in Australia that a dealer cannot go to Honda (or whoever) and buy a motorcycle wholesale from them for cheaper than a US citizen could walk into a US dealership and buy off the showroom floor.
Why is a digital download of Adobe software hundreds of dollars more expensive if the IP address originates in Australia as opposed to the U.S. when there is no extra cost incurred to Adobe for import duties, shopfronts etc?
But the big question for me: How can it be cheaper for a private citizen to pay to import ONE item purchased retail in another country, than retail in their own country that presumably imports in bulk direct from the manufacturer?
Another case in point is badminton racquets. There are pro shops that go to Thailand or Indonesia and buy top notch Yonex racquets retail and then import them, and then sell them from shops that you find typically in Melbourne. These racquets undercut the same model Australian coded racquets by $90-150.
There is something going on and it is not that Australians are payed more, not entirely. It is not the exchange rate, for our dollar is now effectively parity to the US dollar and the pricing is typically the same as it was when it was 65c to the USD (and back then it was said to be the exchange rate). It is partially taxes. I believe that the rest is margins for the importer / manufacturer.
USglobalmail.com mail/freight forwarding. They scan all your mail and you can see the packages online, then click to send it to wherever you want in the the world. Fantastic service- have used it for years.
Food: $1500/year, eating very well but preparing your own food.
Clothing: $200/year, tops. WalMart
Housing plus utilities: $3000/year/person, 4 people renting a house in a rural area and sharing expenses.
Transportation: varies too much with location, but call it $2000/year.
___
That leaves $11,300/year to be split among jollies, preparation for emergencies, and building a future.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Actually, the typical American does NOT know what "socialism" is -- only that it something bad, to be feared
New Zealand Post has a redirection service that's geared specifically for purchasing in the states and having it shipped to N.Z. cheaper (http://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop). It goes through a redirection service in Beaverton, Oregon (since Oregon doesn't have a sales tax). I would venture that Australian Post has something like it. If not, you can set it up yourself. I have friends here in Wellington that use the same service in Beaverton to maintain a US address for their business. Shouldn't be hard to do.
I moved from the US to NZ 7 years ago, and also had the need for a mail forwarder. I chose an outfit named "USA2ME", and that worked out pretty well. They charged a monthly fee and forwarded all kinds of mail, envelopes and packages. When the volume of mail dropped to only about 1 envelope a month, I dropped the service as not economical. Now I use my step-daughter's address and she sends things on to me by regular post.
I also use the NZPost's YouShop service when doing online retail shopping in the US. Most places will not ship internationally, you know. YouShop provides a shipping address in Oregon from which they onship to NZ -- for a price.
After moving to NZ, I found the retail scene to be lacking in choice. Eventually, I got over it.
Do check the situation with warranties etc when using consolidators. MyUS buys good on your behalf, i.e. the purchase contract is between the vendor and MyUS. You will not get the original invoice from the vendor, but a MyUS invoice instead. It can make returns and disputes a bit tricky.
I know nothing for about them specifically for Aussielandia, but from my experience with forwarders when I was living in Honduras: First, you might actually want two different forwarders, one who does air service and one who does ship service. Generally, air service for small light things you want fast, and sea service for everything else, usually you're paying a nominal monthly fee, then a per item fee for packages, the per package fee can be quite high for air, and is usually almost a (low) flat rate for sea.
Second, you are almost certainly going to be paying import duties, but the forwarder should take care of all that and roll the price into the price for the package itself.
Third, there's going to be breakage, it should be relatively rare, but it will happen, I had no choices for insurance on the forwarder, you might. It's probably pretty exorbitant, though. When it comes to moving something delicate and expensive your options basically boil down to hand carry it in your carryon when flying back, or go ahead and pay the extra money to buy it there and let the retailer deal with the possible breakage.
Finally, just spitballing here, and I have no idea how practical it might be, but you might want to look to japan for your cutting edge electronics, I've always had the impression that they're more available and cheaper there than almost anywhere else.
I needed a sig so people would know who I am, but I was too drunk to make something witty, so you get this instead.
While I can understand your argument in all honesty it isn't always a case of circumventing the local taxes and tariffs. There are some items that do not get released in Australia or have a delayed release. It really does suck when you read reviews of a product you desperately want only to find it will not be released in your country and the only way to get it is through one of these package redirection services.
From your tone, it sounds as if you have some sort of problem with the idea of higher taxes being used to pay for services such as healthcare etc. Your poetic allusion to weighty statist utopias is lovely writing, but noticeably lacking any real criticism.
I live in Australia - the atmosphere here is not particularly oppressive, nor are the taxes too onerous to poorer people like me as the tax free threshold is $18,200. As a sufferer from a usually mild but ongoing medical condition, the free, world class, healthcare I receive eases any angsty feelings of constriction that might otherwise bother me.
Have you read the works of Gramsci? I'm not saying he's right, but I really think North Americans would benefit from a deeper understanding of the concept of Cultural Hegemony. It is one possible explanation as to why so many of you spend so much time and money transferring wealth from the poorest majority to a few wealthy people.
With a higher median household income than many other countries, I'd imagine that, apart from the murders, the US would be an amazing place to live. [Provided you were white, male, rich and healthy]
If I want to shop around or get Australian specific advice I start with whirlpool.
I don't therefore I'm not.
Our government has nothing at all to do with it apart from taking 10%. We didn't vote for price gouging, it's just because there are a small number of distributors so frequently there is a monopoly a product type. As an example, I'm wearing a pair of hiking boots that are made in Italy, cost $125US in Italy and the USA and they were advertised "on special" in Australia for $450 (at close to parity to the $450US then). I was prepared to wait a couple of weeks to save close to $300 once postage was included.
Another example is Apple, where not many years ago even a trip to Hawaii and back plus paying full customs duty was a cheaper way to get a powerbook than buying it in Australia.
The blame lies squarely with the distribution chain and the government has nothing to do with it apart from asking for their 10% for the final sale. What is it you you "guvvamint dis" guvvamint dat" "damn commie weasels" people? You've got a full sized brain - try using it.
I don't think you are comparing equivalent figures. The Australian figures are adjusted for household size .etc. Here is a good explanation: http://mattcowgill.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/what-is-the-typical-australians-income-in-2013/
If you look at tax burden in Australia cs America the figures are quite similar. So I don't think it is fair to blame the welfare state either.
In fact it seems to have more to do with companies realizing they can charge more in the Australian market. Except for books. That's just protectionist bs legislation.
I'm an American living in China. I use USGlobalMail. These guys are legitimate and do a good job. They're my personal recommendation, and I won't go into thousands of details you can get from their website directly. Check them out.
--Jim (me)
You are smokin something. $3K per year? A lousy studio in one of the cheaper cities to live in runs $600 per month, utilities included. If you're sharing rent with a bed-sharing partner, the first thing you'd be doing is moving elsewhere, if you can afford it. Food easily runs way more than $1500 / year, unless you like bread and peanut butter or bologna everyday. And for clothes, things that you wear to work will run you a lot more than $200 / year, especially if you have a $2K / year car + gas. Insurance is going to cost you $800 / year most likely, or more. Yes, you're going to have a car, because that $6K / year pad is going to most likely be 10+ miles from anywhere you need to be with no public transport. I knew one group of 5 that drove 70 miles each way, for crappy $20-45K / year jobs, because the cheapest non-leaded pads were going for $1K / month, nothing included within a 30 mile radius. This was many years ago and prices haven't gotten better.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
how Adobe charging more money for their software to Australian customers helps prop up Australia's "socialist wonderland" "welfare state". The price difference is not in government tax or import duties, it just goes into the pocket of Adobe.
While the US may have higher average income than Australia, Australia doesn't have the crippling poverty issues that the US does, there's a lot less income inequality and the cost differences are largely the result of corporate gouging, where additional taxes etc come into it, it's mostly luxury goods. All in all Australians have some of the highest quality of life in the world.
Ten percent.
In that case it's ten percent tariff only if it's worth more than $1000, if it's less the government just ignores it.
Let me fix that - you should have written "I'm an idiot that does not understand that this has nothing to do with local taxes, tariffs, etc but I want pretend the submitter is a criminal".
The taxes don't increase the retail price to well over double in some cases, it's price gouging due to monopolists marking their "territory" and making it difficult to get things any other way.
The submitter is trying to find a way to get around anti-capitalistic behaviour and get items at a fair market price.
If you were making that amount of money in the US, your healthcare would be free too. You may not find it oppressive now, but wait until you modify your car and get fined because it didn't meet some police mandated standard or performed by a licensed "engineer" who will charge heaps in order to do it. Or do any number of things outside the "approved way" of the nanny state. A Canadian acquaintance who recently moved to Oz has commented a lot on how the populace is blissfully unaware of how much they are getting ripped off (either with price gouging or just piss poor service) and are so happy to take it up the ass from their government. They don't know any different and think it's normal.
The money is actually being transfered from the wealthy to the poor in terms of tax credits, entitlements, etc. The wealthy are getting richer because they have the capital to leverage technology and make even more money. Others in other economic strata can do the same as long as they're not playing the "keep up with the Joneses" game that keeps them mired in debt.
Double? Try 20% more nominal, and 19% less (PPP).
For many of us, the cost of living in Australia is vastly more expensive. An example: we in Australia pay approximately double per litre of petrol (gasoline) - which, for those of us who don't live in major metropolitan areas and have to make a 110km round trip to get to work and back every day, makes for a very big hit in the back pocket.
You guys talk about Australia as if it was a real place.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Median Household income in the US is about 50k USD. That's across the whole US, podunk cow towns to NYC. The Australian "capital territories" are averaging 60k USD per household. Across all of Australia it's 43k USD.
Not 43k USD, 67k AUD which is around 64k USD. The 43k USD figure you've quoted is adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) - it already takes into account the higher prices in Australia. So just looking at income, you're right that Australian incomes aren't double the US, but they are actually quite a lot higher.
In any case you've used different metrics for each country. This table shows equivalent metrics for each country. Australians clearly earn more, but are just a little behind on PPP. Of course, that table shows 2010 data, and Australia's economy is doing quite a lot better than the US - I would be surprised if Australia hadn't already overtaken the US on PPP.
The 2008 number you quoted (which looks a little fishy), at current exchange rates is $63k USD.
The latest official figures are from 2011 with a median of $64kAUD, the equivilent of $61k USD.
http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0
The US census figures list $51k USD for 2011.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/index.html
So you are right, it's nowhere near more than double. But using decent figures the Australian Median Household Income is 20% higher (2011).
And speaking personally, 20% extra income is a price I happily pay to live in a statist utopia.
Your objective analysis of median household incomes is very helpful, but your final point about consumer goods being more expensive because of our welfare state appears to be largely unsupported.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the reason many Australians buy products from overseas is because of arbitrary price differences driven by artificial market segmentation. Hence, only a few years ago, if you wanted to buy a top-end MacBook, it was cheaper to fly to the USA to buy it. Apple's prices have (mostly) harmonised nowadays, but other examples remain (eg. specialist software). Look at any vendor that sells products direct to the consumer via a website, and you will likely discover that the cost of the Australian product is significantly more than the essentially identical USA product.
Indeed, the Australian government recently finished an investigation into discriminatory pricing. The foreword says "In many cases, the price differences for IT products cannot be explained by the cost of doing business in Australia. Particularly when it comes to digitally delivered content, the Committee concluded that many IT products are more expensive in Australia because of regional pricing strategies implemented by major vendors and copyright holders."
FWIW I can confirm, having experienced hospitalization in the U.S. - with top-tier Blue Cross coverage - and later in Australia as well - the ordinary everyday Medicare system - there is no real difference in the quality of care.
The equipment, the people, and the access are all very good in both countries - assuming you have insurance in the U.S., and I'm comparing major cities to major cities here of course.
What's dramatically different is the cost, and the level of paperwork. In America we were snowed under for years with insurance company statements and bills from a dozen providers - we ended up just sorting them by color and then weighing them... and we had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket after Blue Cross was finished.
In Australia, you pay maybe $80 for a doctor visit, and get some of it back from the government Prescriptions average $10-$20. If you go to the ER and get admitted to a room, you have to pay $6 a day if you want the TV to work. And I think you sign like one form on your way out. You never hear from them again.
Perfectly Normal Industries
I'm sure plenty of Australian readers will be chuckling to learn that Tony Abbott and his crew are running a 'socialist utopia'. One thing you aren't factoring in is the realatively high wages paid to Australian workers, compared to the starvation minimum rates paid in the US. That pushes up prices for nearly everything, but it does mean the waiter in the restaurant won't threaten you with violence if you don't give him a 20% tip. If Australia is a 'utopia', that's the main reason.
If you import something for $999 USD today, it would be assessed as a $1,056.25 AUD import.
This would probably attract and additional:
$55 Customs Processing Fee
$50 Import Duty (assuming the standard 2.5% import duties)
$105.63 GST
It needs to be less than $1,000 AUD per shipment.
I live comfortably on about $500-700 per month in the Phoenix area.
If you watch craigslist it's actually pretty common to find roommates for $300, utilities included. I find I spend less than $200 a month on food, and car insurance costs me $40, T-Mobile is $23 (family plan with discount.)
Honest truth, and the cost of living here is right at the national average. Imagine how much cheaper it can be in other places.
Most slashdotters live in high cost areas (i.e. New York,) so they can't really fathom the idea that you actually can live at a low cost here.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
I have used www.priceusa.com.au to purchase quite a range of items. Clothing, Amazon items, electronics. Never had any issues. They are always fast to respond to inquires. They order the goods, which are delivered to an address in the USA, then shipped to you. A lot of friends use ComGateway to purchase items from Amazon and a few other places.
I've used a Shipito consolidation account for 5 months to send stuff to Brisbane. This is what I learned:
0. I pay $50/year for an account, which gives me an address in California (Suite 123456, 123 Something St., Sometown CA, 90250). When a package arrives for me, they list it on my web based UI with a photo of the package and shipping label.
1. The cheapest freight out to Australia available through Shipito is TNT, but the cost varies from $15/lb for 8lbs, down to $4/lb for 30 lbs.
2. The optimal weight package to consolidate and send off to Australia is 29.5 lbs. Shipito adds a $10 surcharge for heaviness if the package exceeds 30 lbs.
3. It is cheapest to minimise the number of small packages you send in to your Shipito account because they charge $4.50 per piece to consolidate each incoming package into the big box that they send to Australia. Their literature makes it seem like only $2.50, but really it is $4.50 because there is a handling fee and a consolidation fee for each item. So, if you want to order 10 books from Amazon, get them sent to your Shipito box in Caliornia as on shipment of 10 books and you will only have to pay $4.50 handling and consolidation fees. If, however, you let Amazon send you 10 individual packages of 1 book each, Shipito will charge you a total of $45.00 handling and consolidation to put the same 10 books in your big box that goes to Australia.
4. Watch your Shipito account like a hawk. If a package goes missing and you don't tell them within 10 days, too bad. You have no recourse.
5. A package can be delivered to Shipito by Amazon's courier, but Shipito might not ever credit it to your account, in which case you better read #4 again. Until the package is assigned to your account, it hasn't arrived.
6. Their customer service is not aleays good. However, once you have received a reply from a service agent, if you continue to send further enquiries directly to that agent's email address you may get better customer service than if you just use the forum or the general address.
7. Fill out the online customs declerations each time a package arrives. It makes it easier for you to calculate when to close off a consolidation because you can see when the value of all packages is getting close to $1000 or the weight close to 29.5 lbs. You need to send the consolidation before it is worth over $1000 to avoid being charged GST in Australia.
8. They do some annoying things like if you let the package overstay the maximum of 90 days in storage, they just remove it from your a/c without warning and say too bad. So be vigilant about their rules, and don't expect them to be as understanding as some other more mature businesses.
9. If you follow all the above guidelines, Shipito is a good service that will save you considerable amounts on freight, and enable you to buy stuff from US vendors who will only ship to a US address.
Don't forget that Aussies are all criminals!
Wonder the AC who submitted this request did to warrant being exiled down under?
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
I live comfortably on about $500-700 per month in the Phoenix area.
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
Where did I leave my keys?
Does Billy like me like me, or really like me like me?
-Lod
>The money is actually being transfered from the wealthy to the poor in terms of tax credits, entitlements, etc. The wealthy are getting richer because they have the capital to leverage technology and make even more money.
Remember when you talk about the poor in the states, you're talking about an ever growing % of your population. People aren't getting dumber, so something must be happening...
Here is what a person representing a rich and powerful company says about it: Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management noted that, "for the last two decades and especially in the current period, ... productivity soared ... [but] U.S. real average hourly earnings are essentially flat to down, with today’s inflation-adjusted wage equating to about the same level as that attained by workers in 1970. ... So where have the benefits of technology-driven productivity cycle gone? Almost exclusively to corporations and their very top executives." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States#Post-1980_rise_in_inequality)
Think about that for a moment. Your real GDP has about tripled in that time. In terms of real wages, you'd expect to be earning about 3x as much now compared to 1970. But the income for most North Americans hasn't changed in real terms for FORTY years...
When looking for books I use this service: http://booko.com.au/
What it does is searches through all the Australian online book shops as well as international shops that send to Australia.
So it finds every store that has the book, converts the currency into Australian dollars and then gives you a list sorted by the cheapest including delivery.
Using that service you don't need to use a specific provider or even a forwarder - it'll just give you the cheapest item per book.
Your links are unfortunately misleading. Your US numbers are from 2011, while the Australian numbers are from 2007-2008. Additionally, the Australian numbers are PPP or "Purchasing Power Parity". PPP allows comparing of currencies insofar as what can be bought, rather than the pure exchange rate. While PPP may be a useful way to compare different countries, it is inappropriate in this discussion, as the point being made is that Australians pay more than they should for products. I don't have recent numbers for Australian median incomes, but Wikipedia's page on GDP per capita:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
Places Australia at a GDP per capita at between $67-70,000 while the US is at $47-$50,000 per capita. Not the double in income that the original poster said, but still about $20,000 ahead.
How so? 90% of the world lives on less than that. Are they all uncomfortable?
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Ok aside from the fact that you are a) lying, b) the biggest idiot to visit the country or c) both and with a massive any public healthcare agenda, why do Americans think that the options are all or nothing?
Yes we have free health care. It's fantastic.
Yes waiting lists are long for elective surgery.
If you have an emergency then you get seen and treated straight away.
If you think you have an emergency then you get seen straight away and treated later if it's elective.
If you don't have an emergency then you have other options. The existence of a public healthcare system didn't abolish the private healthcare system. Many of us have private hospital insurance. Many of us take our elective surgeries to private practices so we get seen faster (nothing to do with the level of care we receive by the way).
If we don't have private medical insurance? Guess what, we can pay for a visit to the clinic just like you freedom to empty your wallet loving Americans can. This is the situation I'm facing at the moment. Get surgery to fix a non-life threatening hernia in 3 months time with the public system, or pay $2500 to get it fixed next week because my cheap-arse medical insurance didn't cover hernias. I'm going for waiting 3 months. Oh and if it strangulates or becomes more serious I get seen straight away anyway in the public system.
I read an article once where someone had won an award for founding a website - can't remember which.
It basically amounted to backpackers taking your stuff on their next flight with the possibility of a reward on the other end. e.g. sending a parcel of warm clothes for winter and having the recipient pick up the traveller from the airport as a thank you. Of course it relies on the trust of said backpacker! :)
e.g. A package by canadian airmail (mostly of sentimental junk) cost me about $CA60 to Australia and took 7 weeks. A traveller flying to Melbourne from Vancouver would have had it delivered in a day and a half.
Anyone know if the site still exists?
Agreed.
Finding a roommate on Craigslist sounds wonderful until you start looking into it. Location? Basics of compatibility in communal chores; personal habits? Owning a car on 500-700/month means you already have one and you haven't budgeted for big-ticket failures - or you have all the tools needed, garage space, access to spare parts at cost or less... so basically that's bullshit. Public transpo means generally at least a fair-sized city of 50k up. Cabs? Good luck. Even with a senior/disabled discount card, that only is affordable for first zone, and it doesn't take too many $3.50 fares to soak up any "disposable" portion of income. There's a van service @$3.60 one way which really helps when you can make an appointment two days in advance. I'm still on crutches after a year which only complicates things, and can't stand long enough w/o passing out from pain to wait for a bus. On a good day, tho, I can walk to the groceria or Walgreens.
Hell, I'm living in a rooming house a few blocks from the "downtown" in a city of around 55k. Got 160sq.ft. with my own bathroom (5x10, part of that 160); rent goes up on the 1st, five bucks/wk for heat, so that's now $115/wk. There goes the $500 Social Security check.
Food. Well, on that income, one qualifies for food stamps or whatever they're called now. In my state it's food share, I forget what the Feds call it. Otherwise if you pay for food out of that income you're screwed; a steady diet of rice and beans takes you just so far. Without the ~$190 of that I'd be on the street, 'cuz the Sally Ann shelter is already full, with a long line of applicants, and I'm told even with the list there's already a line every morning on the off chance someday moves or is kicked out. There are no alternatives in this city except for one church that sleeps twenty-two or thereabouts.
Phone for $23/month? Wow. I keep looking; I've got a "lifeline" phone, and just the calls to insurance, clinic, pharmacy require adding minutes. Else Net10 is still predictably about the most affordable starting from scratch.
So, I get two smaller checks, totalling ~$250, so I'm theoretically in hog heaven compared to this person in Phoenix. Time Warner now graciously has upped my Internet bill to $53 at no greater capability despite advertised speeds and feeds. Yeah, and I splurge, too. Last month I bought a scarf for a tenner, and a pint of Guinness down to the local for five (well, four plus tip, during Happy Hour.)
So I'm doin' good; 2 yards a month for stuff, personal and household supplies, transpo - which has been running a good hundred what with all the extra stuff from the lung cancer in June, co-pays, laundromat. My desktop monitor died Tuesday on the five-year old home-built tower; using my five-year old laptop from better days. If I'm careful and lucky I should be able to get a new monitor in three months. Yup, living large and loving it. Nice to know, and I am grateful, that I'm doing better than a whole bunch of my fellow sapients. Nobody's shooting at me, either.
But, comfortable? No fucking way. AlphaWolf_HK is doing good, and more power to him or her, but I'd say that's an exceptional situation.
I use usabox.com and after living in the US, I have lived in two different countries in different continents and this guy not only deliver fast using DHL, they take pictures of the incoming stuff, so you get an e-mail like interface for your packages. Plus the truly neat thing is that they have a re-packing option where if you allow them, they will open your stuff and repackage it to make it more efficient (especially useful with stuff like MicroSDs).
Setting up the service though was a bit of a hassle so make sure you do that before you go to Australia, since it involves going to a public notary to have a third-party open your mail and stuff like that.
People trying to squirm out from under the weight of the statist utopias they've built should provide guidance to others.
Cool story bro...
To be fair the majority (68%) of Australians DO live in major metropolitan areas (http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Chapter3002008). And many of those that don't work locally. And the latter group more than make up in cheap housing what the former save in petrol costs.
Yes, many of them are FAR from comfortable.
Median != average
Average weekly wages:
ABS states Australian average weekly wage is AUD1105
BLS states US non-farm average weekly wage is US830
That makes Australian wages around 25% higher given the current exchange rates. Of course net income after tax is a different story.
The money is actually being transfered from the wealthy to the poor in terms of tax credits, entitlements, etc. The wealthy are getting richer... /p>
So the poor are getting richer. And the wealthy are getting richer. And this is a problem how?
If you are comparing Australia to the US and think the latter comes out on top, well, quite frankly keep smoking whatever you are smoking and stay right where you are. We don't need you gun toting heavy tipping poverty wage inflicting god squading country invading bigots here. We have enough of our own in a place called Queensland.
You might also have mentioned the rich getting richer due to massive capital handouts to them via money printing, which simultaneously taxes poorer people through inflation (poor people all over the world since the US dollar is used as an international currency). Loose credit helps the big, already rich players for the most part, since they have the most access to it. I can't get a mortgage for near zero percent but the huge bank can borrow at that right right off the printing press.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
This is why I would support a national health care system over the ugliness we have in the USA now. Our healthcare is pasted with layer after layer of regulation and bureaucracy and each doctor needs a dozen assistants to keep track of it all. Now, I don't want to start a discussion here about it, but I support completely free market health care. I mention this just to illustrate how awful the US 'system' is,since I would prefer socialized medicine over what we have now.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
I live comfortably on about $500-700 per month in the Phoenix area.
Newstart (Unemployment) benefits are $501 fortnight in Australia for a single, no children. On top of that is rent assitance and medicare which provides (almost) free healthcare.
Remember when you talk about the poor in the states, you're talking about an ever growing % of your population. People aren't getting dumber, so something must be happening...
Fetal alcohol syndrome could actually mean people are getting dumber. Secondly, looking at the current primary school kids in government schools from less socially well off areas, there is cause for concern that the education system is failing kids. Although having said that I'm not convinced that it is the education system, but more likely parents.
Well, I have every material good I want, I'm over weight so I have to much food (I even cycle 12 miles per day just because I can, with no actual need to.) As far as luxury items: Air conditioning, warm running water, a nice car, a gaming PC, 55" TV, a nexus 4, an iPad.
What would make me more comfortable? Nothing, really. Yet you tell me I'm supposedly uncomfortable. What, am I supposed to join OWS and demand more than what I already have? Not even sure what I'd demand.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
I understand very well as that Americans are living in the past, when your standard of living was very high. But thanks to Walmart type businesses and offshoreing of jobs, your standard of living has not kept pace and much of the rest of the g7 countries have risen since surpassed that of the USA.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
You'll find that as you get older, with wife / kids, that those roommates are not going to cut it for you, nor will they like you and your family. This assumes that you join the large segment of society that follows this path. And once you break out of that acceptance mode of dealing with roommates, you find that you'd really rather not deal with them, your comfort level depends upon it.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
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