Get Your Very Own US Address For Online Shopping With Bongo International
We’ve bitched and moaned a lot about the “Australian Tax” that gadgets get placed on them when they’re released in Australia. Everything from the PS3 to anything from Apple - they all get marked up when they hit Australian shops. In many cases, it would be cheaper to buy online from an overseas store, but then you’re hit with astronomical shipping fees, or you need a US address to finalise the purchase…
Enter Bongo International. Their job, as they eloquently put it on their website, is to: “take in the goods, store them, repackage them when our customers advise us, and handle any custom related issues that may arise”. Which means you can not only get stuff you normally wouldn’t be able to get delivered to your door, but also have multiple deliveries consolidated into one package, saving on shipping costs.
There are two pricing options: Single use (which costs $5) or a subscription service for regular shoppers, which costs $15 a month. There are bigger savings on shipping with the subscription service (makes sense) and you need to subscribe to get that package consolidation service.
We haven’t used the service yet, but considering we’re not likely to see Rock Band 2 in Australia until they release Rock Band 3 overseas, I’m thinking that could be a pretty good test case. But what about you guys? Have any of you used Bongo, or would you?
AUSSIES CAN NOW HAVE THEIR OWN US ADDRESS FOR $5
If you’ve ever bought something online from the US you may be aware of the significantly lower prices they generally pay for consumer goods and the vast variety they often have to choose from.However, making an overseas purchase online can be frustrating because many US based retailers refuse to accept Australian credit cards or ship internationally. A new service has launched in Australia, Bongo International (http://BongoInternational.com.au), that lets bargain savvy consumers take advantage of the massive volume of the US consumer market and buy nearly anything online from top home brands to computers; baby goods to major fashion labels.
Australians can now shop any US retail website hassle-free and access a whole new world of fashion, beauty, technology, home and sports brands previously unavailable to Australians because of the complexities of international shipping documentations and overseas credit card purchases.
Bongo helps consumers navigate the red tape by giving them their very own American address where they can send their purchases and drastically reduce shipping costs on multiple purchases by consolidating them into one package. Traditionally, shipping a single item from the US can cost as much as the item itself, but through Bongo consumers can now save as much as 82% off standard carrier rates.
Bongo lets consumers access a whole new world of shopping. With a few clicks of the mouse you can shop the streets of New York, LA and Miami for the best bargains and unique or hard to find items you never even knew existed.
If the retailer doesn’t accept an Australian credit card you can use Bongo’s Personal Shopping Service to make the purchase on your behalf, ensuring an easy and safe transaction.
For further information on Bongo’s services visit http://www.BongoInternational.com.au
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Comments
“they’re job”?? come on, you’re a journalist. you should know better by now.
srsly, tho, bongo is awesome, have used, will continue to use.
very satisfied customer here
THEIR job. THEIR! THEIR!!!!
Are you journalists or primary school students??
i’ve used bongo. its a pretty good service. they need some id off you to set up the account but when they do its really quick and you get tracking details of all shipments so its awesome.
I’ve seen these services before, they are ridiculously expensive, this one is no exception. To ship say a PS3 from the US it would cost $125!!!! There go your savings! If you were to actually look at the online retailers shipping rates they are a lot cheaper, I don’t get charged $35 to get a t-shirt sent from the US.
This is a great idea for websites like amazon. Although most of my shopping is done over asia. If only I knew about it when the dollar was stronger I might have given it a go.. No use now though..
OMG this is EXACTLY what i need = )
hurry now we can enjoy the same kinda deals they have in the US minus the “you live too far” tax = )
About a year ago I was trying to get a pair of Grado headphones. 60 dollars US, but about 160 over here from the exclusive distributor. You couldn’t buy them from online stores as they wouldn’t ship them to Australia. Anyway, if I’d known about this i would have a pair right now. It’s a shame the the Aussie dollar is so poor at the moment.
http://www.priceusa.com.au have been offering this service for ages! Personally, I’ve used priceUSA multiple times, the service is great, the 5% isn’t really damning, and you get personalised updates on where your stuff is and when you can expect it. Bongo sounds allright, but when you are already on a good thing, why change?
Meh, Bongo is just another mail forwarder, and those have been around for ages. Anyone who’s half-savy about international purchasing would’ve figured out how to use one already.
Sounds great, and most of the comments quite helpful too. I’d try it if the price was right, that PS3 story didn’t sound nice at all, especially because I’m primarily into gadgets.
I’ve used Bongo to get stuff from the US, where distributors have stopped allowing shipments to international countries (Bauer Ice Hockey items). I could caculate the shipping for Australia on the items from these places and they are 1/2 what the prices that Bongo charges. There are also a number of other companies (even UPS will do it for you) which provide much cheaper services doing exactly the same thing. Also Bongo take a fair bit of time to process the orders, its not 24 hours like their website says, my parcels took 3 days to turn around a bongo (I know because I had US tracking numbers).
If you are importing Rockband I would definately look at the others because they dont charge as much and a lot of them dont have the “volume tax” that Bongo charge.
Personally they are just another mailforwarder and an expensive one at best.
Just another comment to point out that PriceUSA.com.au has been doing this for a while.
Second, the Australia tax on Apple products, due to the currency (and even with the latest MacBooks) is practically non existent, only 4% on the mid range MacBook. Also, iPods and iMacs etc. are all CHEAPER in Australia since they were updated before our currency collapsed.
It amazes me how many haters there are out there. Look at Bongo for what they are. They are a consolidator. They use DHL to ship their products and they give a pretty hefty discount off DHL prices. If you want slow boat (US postal Service), then PriceUSA is probably the way to go. If you want to buy multiple purchases in the US and consolidate them into one shipment with tracking…then I have found Bongo to be the best forwarder.
Also…what is this “volume tax” that you talk about? I have used Bongo for about 4 months now and never received any “volume tax.”
I currently have a US Address with Bongo.
Going well, love the service.
It’s better to use PriceUSA, its run by a lady in Melbourne who is really nice and extremely helpful. Their shipping fees are also heaps cheaper and they’ll also consolodate your order for you.
http://www.priceusa.com.au/index.html