Experience selling to an Australian buyer?

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I had an inquiry from an Australian Cafe member regarding a Mandolin I have posted for sale in the classifieds. He asked if I would consider selling to a buyer in Australia. My response was that I would have to research what was involved.
Any advice from those with prior experience?

[Stephen Perry]

I have had no trouble at all. Many products shipped to Australia. It's a one way thing. Shipping costs are high.

I don't even need a translator or subtitles, although some language aspects seem different.

Dollaridoos are good in my world.

[Gop]

Hi Bill,
my experience has been from the other side, - receiving mandolins in Australia from sellers in the US.
I have received 5 mandolins from US sellers over the years, in all instances the shipping has been fine, instrument received no worries. Shipping via USPS generally takes about 7-10 days to arrive from seller to buyer (which is faster than the domestic shipping in Oz!). You will need to fill out a customs declaration form advising mandolin cost and shipping costs separately. Shipping a mandolin with hard case via USPS is ~ $80-90 US, and that cost will need to be paid upfront by you - but it should be passed onto the receiver as part of the total purchase cost. USPS tracked items allows the purchaser & seller to determine postage progress, typically the longest delay is processing through Australian customs... Pack the instrument (hopefully in hard case) into postage box with lots of bubble wrap as if sending domestically - slack the strings, I recommend you remove the bridge to minimise damage to instrument top regardless of whether the instrument has a hard case or not -use paper tape on top of the instrument as agenerl guide for the bridge placement. Ten days later, you should expect to receive a thank you email from an ecstatically happy Aussie!

[peter.coombe]

I have sent mandolins to the USA and bought two from the USA. All of the complications and problems have been at the USA end and those sorts of problems applies to any other country in the world, there is nothing unique about Australia apart from the expensive shipping cost. Get the customs declaration right and there should not be any issues. The first mandolin I got from the USA the customs paperwork was not correct and it got sent back to the sender at the US border. The second mandolin arrived no problems at all. If the declared value of the mandolin is less than $2500 USD then it is easier because you don't need to fill in the Lacey act paperwork. When the mandolin arrives in Australia if it is worth more than $1000 AUD then your customer will need to pay GST and Australian Customs charges, so make sure they know about that. It usually takes a few weeks to get the customs notification about the GST charges, pay it, and then wait for them to foreward it to you. Sometimes you get lucky and Australian Customs don't notice it is worth more than $1000, but don't count on it.

$80-90 postage charges is somewhat optimistic. Maybe if you use the cheapest postage, but I would not recommend doing that. I thing I paid around $250 USD, but can't remember the exact amount. Make sure you use a USPS international service that has tracking and the receiver needs to sign for the package.

[OldGus]

I shipped to Australia once. I wasn't a big deal, there's a little paperwork to go with it you get at the post office. The guy had to pay extra import fees on his end and it sat in customs a little while in Australia but he got it and was pleased. Shipping cost extra but not crazy high. Hopefully they are aware of the extra taxes and prepared to pay. I would calculate shipping first and of course be sure to pack it well, loosen the strings and everything.