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What you miss is that because Amazon is not in Australia, you have to pay a significant price for shipping and currency transfer to USD, then wait weeks (in my

What you miss is that because Amazon is not in Australia, you have to pay a significant price for shipping and currency transfer to USD, then wait weeks (in my experience up to over a month!) for the thing to arrive.... This is what holds back Australians from not ordering more online, especially at Amazon...

jbarham 15y ago
I didn't miss anything: my most recent purchase from Amazon cost $11 in shipping and arrived in less than a week. I have a USD credit card, but even if you pay w/ a AUD card the currency conversion is instantaneous and costs maybe a couple of percentage points. Shipping is often cheaper from outside of Australia than it is within Australia (http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/blogs/malcolms-blog/barriers-to-e-commerce/ http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/blogs/malcolms-blog/barrie...) which creates more of an incentive to shop internationally. Where goods are purely digital (e.g., Amazon Kindle or O'Reilly e-books) the whole discussion around shipping costs is obviously moot.
- daemin 15y ago
  In addition (I've done many orders from Amazon) I find that even though Amazon estimates 4-6 weeks for delivery, the package(s) are here in 2 weeks.
  - twelvechairs 15y ago
    Okay - I cant argue with that. My last experience with amazon Aus was 5 years ago, but that was terrible (V. expensive shipping, and item arriving long after 'estimated' arrival time). Perhaps they have picked up their game now, but I know there are others like me with a negative experience that has discouraged future use of Amazon in Aus... Shipping costs may have been reduced too, but Im sure they are still much greater than other countries...
nl 15y ago
What you miss is that because Amazon is not in Australia, you have to pay a significant price for shipping and currency transfer to USD, then wait weeks (in my experience up to over a month!) for the thing to arrive http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ Free (and pretty fast) shipping to Australia, better prices than Amazon, and a good catalogue (No association other than a happy customer).
- yardie 15y ago
  They were bought by Amazon a few months ago. I'm not sure if their business model will have an effect on Amazon or Amazon's business model will have an effect on TBD.

jbarham 15y ago

I didn't miss anything: my most recent purchase from Amazon cost $11 in shipping and arrived in less than a week. I have a USD credit card, but even if you pay w/ a AUD card the currency conversion is instantaneous and costs maybe a couple of percentage points. Shipping is often cheaper from outside of Australia than it is within Australia (http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/blogs/malcolms-blog/barriers-to-e-commerce/ http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/blogs/malcolms-blog/barrie...) which creates more of an incentive to shop internationally. Where goods are purely digital (e.g., Amazon Kindle or O'Reilly e-books) the whole discussion around shipping costs is obviously moot.

daemin 15y ago
In addition (I've done many orders from Amazon) I find that even though Amazon estimates 4-6 weeks for delivery, the package(s) are here in 2 weeks.
- twelvechairs 15y ago
  Okay - I cant argue with that. My last experience with amazon Aus was 5 years ago, but that was terrible (V. expensive shipping, and item arriving long after 'estimated' arrival time). Perhaps they have picked up their game now, but I know there are others like me with a negative experience that has discouraged future use of Amazon in Aus... Shipping costs may have been reduced too, but Im sure they are still much greater than other countries...

nl 15y ago

What you miss is that because Amazon is not in Australia, you have to pay a significant price for shipping and currency transfer to USD, then wait weeks (in my experience up to over a month!) for the thing to arrive http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ Free (and pretty fast) shipping to Australia, better prices than Amazon, and a good catalogue (No association other than a happy customer).

yardie 15y ago
They were bought by Amazon a few months ago. I'm not sure if their business model will have an effect on Amazon or Amazon's business model will have an effect on TBD.