Campsaver Shipping brands to Aus ??

[antsrealm]

Hi guys, I had just picked out a long list of gear to purchase from campsaver (osprey, msr, thermarest etc) only to see on there shipping policy that these brands are not shipped internationally. Is that really the case ?? If it is there where is a good place to buy these brands at similar prices??

Thanks,
Tony.

[GPSGuided]

eBay, Amazon, other online retailers. Try a search on this forum and most if not all the good alternatives have already been mentioned.

[doogs]

You could always use a freight forwarding company in the US, it usually works out a little more expensive with postage and handling but you get your gear. Usually you have free postage within the US to a forwarding company, and they, for a fee and postage send it on to you.

[antsrealm]

You could always use a freight forwarding company in the US, it usually works out a little more expensive with postage and handling but you get your gear. Usually you have free postage within the US to a forwarding company, and they, for a fee and postage send it on to you.

Yeah I just saw that, we have a few items to buy and so far even with the $100 express DHL shipping from the forwarding company it's still cheaper then here due to the 20% off there running at the moment.

[Onestepmore]

Just check - the 20% off discount doesn't apply to some brands either....

[findbuddha]

My brief experience with Campsaver is that they are happy to ignore the exclusions on discounts but definitely not the shipping restrictions. I've shopped with them via Shipito twice now and found it a good experience, though Shipito's fee+shipping always 'feels' a bit too expensive.

[antsrealm]

Cool, I just ordered the gear using myus.com as the middleman on the freight. Still cheaper then over here by a fair whack.

[Onestepmore]

^^ what he said

[cooee]

My brief experience with Campsaver is that they are happy to ignore the exclusions on discounts but definitely not the shipping restrictions. I've shopped with them via Shipito twice now and found it a good experience, though Shipito's fee+shipping always 'feels' a bit too expensive.

Agree.

But the savings still out way the shipping, if you shop the right way.

And we wonder why retail in Australia is in trouble.
Just about everything l buy is from another continent.

[Mark F]

Have a look at some of the UK retailers. Often very similar prices and no restrictions on shipping brands and quite cheap postage.

[findbuddha]

And we wonder why retail in Australia is in trouble.
Just about everything l buy is from another continent.

My friend and I recently both purchased backpacks. We tried to order through a local retailer. About a week after paying, the two I was considering both ended up being not available in Australia. The one my friend ordered wasn't going to get here till March next year!!!

Ordered through Campsaver and Amazon instead and about two weeks later the packs we wanted had been delivered from the US.

[GPSGuided]

My friend and I recently both purchased backpacks. We tried to order through a local retailer. About a week after paying, the two I was considering both ended up being not available in Australia. The one my friend ordered wasn't going to get here till March next year!!!

Ordered through Campsaver and Amazon instead and about two weeks later the packs we wanted had been delivered from the US.

We are in Australia with a population and market that's 1/13th of the US. Don't be surprised when our merchants can't maintain as wide a range of stock as their counter-part in the US or need to have a much higher mark-up to support a greater range of stock. Goes back to the argument of a BIG Australia, but that's another story.

[perfectlydark]

Part of the problem is retailers actually make buying from them difficult here. I agree gps that maintaining stock would be harder with a smaller market but there is still a market, and no real reason that stock shouldnt be at least somewhere in the country (for a chain store). Online inventory check is all thats needed followed up by a phone call. If its needed to be imported why is it more difficult for them that it is for us to just buy direct from overseas? The game needs to be picked up, there is a complete reliance on a passive market here that is slowly waking up to the nonsense thats been pulled for years but hey, what options did we have? Then, none. Now, many.

[GPSGuided]

Our market condition is obviously not dictated by one or two factors but a range of conditional factors. A smaller market is just that, restrictive. As for said backpack. I don't know which model it is. But if it's a model that few buys, then it's not reasonable to expect retailers to maintain a well buffered supply of it. Even the popular REI in the US run short on sizes and models on a regular basis. Our current shopping method will undoubtedly further influence and shape the future of our local retailers. Given how many of the more exacting and sophisticated shoppers go overseas for goods (our forum members is a good example), I can just see how retailers will further reduce their high end stock, leaning more toward that Kathmandu kind in future.

[phsculpture]

Yes, agree with UK suggestion. I was recently in the New York REI looking at some smallish Deuter daypacks. I looked at the Wiggle site that evening (from whom I normally buy cycling equipment) and they were substantially cheaper on 2 of the 3 packs that I was after. So placed the order for 2, and got the other from REI. I've had Wiggle deliveries turn up to my door in Sydney within 5 days, with free shipping. They're not a hiking store as such, but worth checking anyway.

[Joomy]

Part of the problem is retailers actually make buying from them difficult here. I agree gps that maintaining stock would be harder with a smaller market but there is still a market, and no real reason that stock shouldnt be at least somewhere in the country (for a chain store). Online inventory check is all thats needed followed up by a phone call. If its needed to be imported why is it more difficult for them that it is for us to just buy direct from overseas? The game needs to be picked up, there is a complete reliance on a passive market here that is slowly waking up to the nonsense thats been pulled for years but hey, what options did we have? Then, none. Now, many.

Unfortunately the retailers are in a very tricky position because they are reliant on the suppliers/middle men that actually import the products. You might say well OK get rid of the suppliers but from the manufacturer's point of view they love having a single entity to sell massive amounts of stock to in other countries. They impose shipping restrictions simply as part of that bargain, with the essential aim of creating a monopoly on those products. But even if the shipping restrictions get ignored the manufacturer doesn't care because they've already been paid for the product. So there is really no incentive on the manufacturer's part to do anything to make their gear cheaper. People who want it will buy it, and it's the local industry that suffers. It's a truly awful broken system and something ought to be done but there's no obvious solution.