Overseas Buying Experience

[ausleigh]

Just wondering if any of you have purchased from U.S. eBay sellers before? What was that experience like? Was it cheaper even with the shipping cost? 

 

I recently sold a LEGO set to a buyer in Austrlia and I was surprised how much the combined shipping cost was. The transit time was a total of 10 days from when I shipped it to delivery. 

I've done quite a bit of it lately, but luckily have a friend in the US who is generally shipping books to me once a month. He either adds the Lego into an existing package, or when I buy a lot (like the recent Target sale in the US), packages up entire boxes for me. The only way to et any half decent shipping to Australia is in bulk shipments.

[particularbrick]

When I put 2 of them through Amazon and it did their currency conversion at $188.16 so $94.08 each.

That is paying full US retail though, yet it is still $35 than what we get here. That being said, any dip in the US price is a bonus and missing out on the $49.60 US price a couple of weeks ago hurts.

 

The set has been under $60 often. All depends what you are prepared to pay for it!

Are there LEGO specials on Black Friday or whatever online sale day they have?

[particularbrick]

I've done quite a bit of it lately, but luckily have a friend in the US who is generally shipping books to me once a month. He either adds the Lego into an existing package, or when I buy a lot (like the recent Target sale in the US), packages up entire boxes for me. The only way to et any half decent shipping to Australia is in bulk shipments.

I need to search on Facebook, hahah

[Jdub]

Hi people - (This is a partial repost. I replied to another thread before finding this more appropriate one)

 

I'm from Melbourne and just came out of my dark age:) Noticed the post earlier about Amazon US experience. My family has used amazon US since early 2000 and have got all sorts of goods with no dramas at all. Just got a SSD the other month which arrived in very good knick considering its come from the states - I have had much worse batterings to lego purchases from ebay, even from the acclaimed FedEx, they were actually the worst in my experience.

 

Ebay has been hit and miss for me when it comes to US or EU shipments as compared with domestic and Asian shipping which has been the most consistent for me in terms of shipping reliabilty. As far as I know, when it comes to pricing we seem to get the short end of the stick because most of our retail prices are a rip and when we do get a cheaper set from the states we will always lose to US consumers/ investors due to the excess we spend on shipping unless you have some unique or large scale operation going.

 

The returns policies of both Ebay and Amazon are pretty good and seem very consumer biased. Recently on Ebay I got a complete refund on a UCS set and got to keep it to boot. I didn't even ask for this or push hard - just said I couldn't leave positive feedback given the damage that occurred to the item during transit and voila problem solved in less than a week from arrival.

 

Myer online and shopforme have sent me the most mint sets I have recieved and at great sales prices, but still worse than US rrp:( Shopforme boxes look like they can survive the apocalypse!

 

Plenty of options to shop for bricks!

[particularbrick]

Hi people - (This is a partial repost. I replied to another thread before finding this more appropriate one)

 

I'm from Melbourne and just came out of my dark age:) Noticed the post earlier about Amazon US experience. My family has used amazon US since early 2000 and have got all sorts of goods with no dramas at all. Just got a SSD the other month which arrived in very good knick considering its come from the states - I have had much worse batterings to lego purchases from ebay, even from the acclaimed FedEx, they were actually the worst in my experience.

 

Ebay has been hit and miss for me when it comes to US or EU shipments as compared with domestic and Asian shipping which has been the most consistent for me in terms of shipping reliabilty. As far as I know, when it comes to pricing we seem to get the short end of the stick because most of our retail prices are a rip and when we do get a cheaper set from the states we will always lose to US consumers/ investors due to the excess we spend on shipping unless you have some unique or large scale operation going.

 

The returns policies of both Ebay and Amazon are pretty good and seem very consumer biased. Recently on Ebay I got a complete refund on a UCS set and got to keep it to boot. I didn't even ask for this or push hard - just said I couldn't leave positive feedback given the damage that occurred to the item during transit and voila problem solved in less than a week from arrival.

 

Myer online and shopforme have sent me the most mint sets I have recieved and at great sales prices, but still worse than US rrp:( Shopforme boxes look like they can survive the apocalypse!

 

Plenty of options to shop for bricks!

Cool dude, i might bite the bullet when i see some good deals on Amazon!  Cheers for that!

[spreepop]

Hi people, 

I can get items from Singapore and bring over to here.
I saw price of Death Stars although it's pre-order, it's selling at $700 SGD which is around $630 AUD 
https://www.facebook.com/SgBrickHouse

[Jules_K]

Hi people, 

I can get items from Singapore and bring over to here.

I saw price of Death Stars although it's pre-order, it's selling at $700 SGD which is around $630 AUD 

https://www.facebook.com/SgBrickHouse

 

Amazon used to post this item to Australia and might again in future. At $630, I would rather just buy it from Lego Shop at Home for $700, you then get 10% back in points in October ($70) as well as one of the free holiday sets, which you could probably sell for $30ish. That seems a lot easier than bringing a set that size back from Singapore.

[gazza]

What's your experience like with B&N, gang? 

Did you notice a big difference between check out price and price conversion into AUD?

Shipping prices are outstanding albeit I'm worried some boxes may arrived damaged. 

Thoughts?

Thanks

[redjersey]

I recently bought 4 x Architecture Villa Savoye sets from B&N, as they're now retired in Europe. The sets cost a total of $279.80 and shipping to the UK was $53.95 for the 4 by UPS Express Intl. I'd assumed they'd all ship in one box but each arrived within 3 days in its own box with LOADS of airbag packaging. They were all absolutely pristine so I can't recommend B&N highly enough. As an added bonus, Customs didn't pick up on them so there was no duty to pay.

Edit: Just noticed this was in the Australia deals section! Hopefully the shipping experience to Oz is as good as it was to Europe. Edited February 16, 2016 by redjersey
Wrong thread

[gazza]

1 hour ago, redjersey said:

I recently bought 4 x Architecture Villa Savoye sets from B&N, as they're now retired in Europe. The sets cost a total of $279.80 and shipping to the UK was $53.95 for the 4 by UPS Express Intl. I'd assumed they'd all ship in one box but each arrived within 3 days in its own box with LOADS of airbag packaging. They were all absolutely pristine so I can't recommend B&N highly enough. As an added bonus, Customs didn't pick up on them so there was no duty to pay.

Edit: Just noticed this was in the Australia deals section! Hopefully the shipping experience to Oz is as good as it was to Europe.

thanks!

even though you're from the UK, reading about your experiences is pushing me just that little bit closer to purchasing from B&N. 

thanks again

[fahadshahid]

What's your experience like with B&N, gang? 

Did you notice a big difference between check out price and price conversion into AUD?

Shipping prices are outstanding albeit I'm worried some boxes may arrived damaged. 

Thoughts?

Thanks

Just keep in mind that if you pay via credit card, you may be charged a currency conversion fee depending on the card issuer. Check your PDS.

[gazza]

Just keep in mind that if you pay via credit card, you may be charged a currency conversion fee depending on the card issuer. Check your PDS.

thanks, man