Gday guys Im as patriotic as the next guy but I also have the tight**** gene coursing thru my veins like most rod builders. Here in Brisbane, cast repro spindles go for $500 and 4 bar setup around 700 (Aus ). Speedway sells FORGED spindles inc kingpin for $198US or about AUS $250 and 4 bar kits offer a similar cost saving. Even factoring in freight and the $40 customs handling charge and higher GST (levied on car parts etc) its a tempting scenario.... I recently snapped up a pair of old offy valve covers on Ebay and even having them sent surface mail only took a few weeks. Anyone in Australia have experience buying new parts from the US? Keen to hear the good, bad and ugly Steve
Hi Steve My only experience is shipping items that I sell to australia so I don't know about new items but I thought I would offer my help if you ever need it in purchasing items from the US. I wouldnt imagine you would have any problems but if you need any help let me know. Shawn
Would the fact that something new, purchased for forwarding to Australia, was repackaged by the shipper, help on taxes? Is there any difference on taxes between new and used parts? Mutt
Thanks for your offer of help Shawn. About new or used - the sales tax aplies to both new and used parts. Steve
Steve,have you any mates heading out to the U.S.in the next few months that you could ask to bring back in hand luggage,a lot of the guys do it here.As for repro spindles, go for the best you can get(forged)I would`nt have the cast ones on my car, a lot of repro stuff is made in Taiwan etc, and the quality is suspect.Same goes for I beam axles if you intend drilling it...you can save money on paint and threads but never compromise on safety.
I ship to Australia 1-2 times a week and have not had any delivery problems using surface or air Parcel Post. One guy has a wife working at Fed-X and she gets a heck of a discount, he has been using her a few times recently to get parts for him and others.
Hummmm, i smell a business opportunity. Lets see, you order the parts and pay for em, have it shipped to me, i box up your birthday present and send it to you. I'll take 10%.
I've shipped 10 or 20 different parts orders over to you folks in Australia. If you ship thru the US Postoffice its VERY easy!
hey flattiesteve, i have been bringing in a bit of stuff over the last 12 months, both off of ebay and from business suppliers and i have only been hit by customs in the last shipment although this was the biggest. if you keep the parcels as small as possible (not lots of the same thing in a parcel) i think you have a better chance of getting through without paying duty and gst. for lighter stuff i have been using aimail and it gets here in about 6 days craig
I have used USPS to ship vintage parts to Austrailia. They were the cheapest, slowest, (8 weeks) and most cooperative folks to use. They told me to mark things as a "gift" so long as no recipt is in the package should customs get nosey.
Nev Woodhead from melbourne left my place a few days ago , he had been buying parts from me for the last 6mo's or so , I could not ship them due to ill health , so he came over ,bought more and a couple cars , and is in savanna geo. now , he got 2 shipping containers to do the move back to Aus. March 3rd,he should be back there a few days later (about 2-3 days ) give him a call,might be to late this trip but he is copming back in June to do it again and go to BTT50's.
I've only bought a few things from the US, the biggest hit to the wallet (for me anyway..) has been the postage costs. Air mail has been good and efficient, but again, the postage is a killer. Cheers, Drewfus
My golden rule: if the supplier doesn't reply to your requests quickly...move on! If they're slack in customer service they won't be good when it comes to shipping. Make SURE they have what you want IN STOCK. Buy while the dollar's good!! US elections will kill our dollar by year's end.
I just shipped out some parts for there, but the buyer's had me send to a second party in So. Calif.. guess they make bigger shipments all at once. what ever works i guess.
Its not a problem to ship to Oz, I send cars now and again. There are some guys coming here for this next Pomona that do containers full of Mustang ****. These guys make $$ hand over fist doing this.. Maybe they can put your stuff in one... To hijack your post a bit, I would like to be the supplier of cars and parts to your end, thats not connected to anyone already here. I know most of them, nice guys but quite tight with the $. I know the dollar is getting more in your favor. Perhaps theres an opportunity. I have the ways and means to pick up deliver and store cars, parts and fill containers.. PLease inquire if interested
I's see about 5-10 Restored Mustangs on the average weekend here in Melbourne..****loads of 'stangs here! Never saw many in the US!
steve, the thing you have to do is have the parcel shipped by POST, not courier, and have a total value of less than $1000. anything under 1000 shipped by POST does not attract duties or anything... something shipped by COURIER, however, can be worth five bucks and still attract import ****e. my brother just bought a digital camera from the US and (being unemployed, just sits on the internet all day and researches how he will spend every one of his not particularly mul***udinous pennies) looked carefully into the shipping, and that was his recommendation. of course, post is slower, but that's the trade-off. now, i can't remember if it's USPS or UPS that's considered POST, not courier...
Autocol, your not quite right there, there is an * in the customs about the $1000, that is only for medical and wheelchair equipment. I got stung on customs for parts last week. heres how it works. using $100 just to keep the calculations easy. Old car parts attract 3% duty ( customs can cl***ify your NOS or new parts as not being over the 25 year mark if they desire) so duty is $3 on your $100, not bad! BUT then there is GST oh , dont we love this one!!! now GST is charged on the whole mother load. so add in your postage so say its an intake manifold airmailed cost will be about $75 US for postage, so about $100 AUD, so now you have item $100 customs $3 postage $100 total $203 so GST IS $20.3 plus customs. so total price is $223.30 customs and GST now being $23.30 not the initial thought of $3!! and THAT is where they get you. Also they can , if they want re cl***ify the cost of an item, you may have a receipt but they can claim that it isnt an accurate value of the item. Not to put anyone off doing this, I have bought quite a few things in sucessfully, just that you need to be aware that these CAN be the costs if customs grab you. Think if your item is worth $500 aud, all of a sudden you've got a nasty extra price you didnt bargin for.
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