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How to get around shipping restrictions – and more online shopping hacks

When it comes to shopping, social media has made our lust for instant gratification greater than ever before. Mere minutes after spotting it, we can have our Thing Of Desire sitting in a shopping cart, ready to checkout. As international postal services get faster, the oceans that surround Australia don’t seem so vast, but some brands still don’t ship to here, or if they do, they charge an exorbitant amount. In a bid to better navigate our online spend we spoke to founder of shopping/shipping service ShopandBox Rebecca Chia. The service was the world’s first global peer-to-peer personal shopping service and is now in 27 different countries. She shares some pertinent purchase-worthy facts:

1. YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON THE HARD-TO-FIND BEAUTY BRANDS

Side-step shipping restrictions and access brands not usually available to Aussies by using a Boxer, suggests Rebecca. “They will shop for you and repack things, then post them to you so you save on shipping.”  Some of the most popular beauty brands Australians have been accessing recently include LORAC, Jeffree Stars, Pony makeup from Korea, Pat McGrath, Louboutin lipstick, Laduree makeup from Japan, Espoir from Korea, Kiko Milano from Italy and more. Subscription boxes like IPSY, Memebox, Zoella from the UK are also really popular.

2. AND FASHION BRANDS, TOO…

“Warby Parker specs from the States, limited edition sneaker launches for Adidas NMD and Nike shoes have been very much requested,” says Rebecca.
“& Other Stories from Europe, luxury bags and wallets from France/Italy are also commonly requested.”

3. GREEN BEAUTY BRANDS, TEA AND HEALTH FOOD SUPPLEMENTS ARE CHEAPER OVERSEAS.

“Green beauty brands have become fairly popular like Herbivore Botanicals, Glossier, Kopari, Drunk Elephant,” Rebecca says, “Even vitamins have been very popular with many Shoppers being able to access vitamins and health supplements for a fraction of the cost overseas. Also paleo food from brands like Wild Mountain Paleo in the US have been requested for by our Aussie Shoppers or tea from brands like Charmvilla in Taiwan where the tea is placed inside goldfish teabags.”

4. THINK OUTSIDE THE SQUARE WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE.

“We recently had a Pilates studio owner in Sydney purchase 6 reformer machines through our service. Likewise we’ve seen small businesses in Australia use us to buy items like commercial juicers from Japan,” says Rebecca.

5. YOU CAN SAVE MONEY BY COMBINING SHIPPING.

“Using a service like ShopandBox allows you to shop from several different stores and combine postage, rather than having to pay for shipping three times. We also have negotiated competitive shipping rates with DHL so we can confidently say that our shipping rates are not only faster but also cheaper.”

6. LOOK FOR APPS AND TOOLS TO STREAMLINE YOUR SHOPPING.

Rebecca’s favourites include Findation.com – to see what foundation colour match you might be for a brand you haven’t tried before and Froogle.com which helps source the best prices for an item.

7. ALWAYS ASK FOR SAMPLES FROM THE STORES YOU SHOP IN.

One benefit to having a boxer shop for you is they can request samples of other products to include in your package. “Many of the Boxers are beauty addicts and happy to share samples with you so that you get to try something new before investing in something new/full-sized.”

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Comment (0)

  1. October 6, 2016
    Alice

    You have just saved me from overpaying for so many items on my daughter’s ever-growing Christmas list!! Cheers! X

    Reply
  2. October 6, 2016
    Gemma

    ShopandBox sounds like a true dream – how long does it normally take to receive your products??

    Reply
  3. October 9, 2016
    Stella

    Very cool service, thanks for introducing it to us!

    Reply
  4. October 9, 2016
    Daria

    This opens so many doors for online shopping, I’ve got to get to it!

    Reply
  5. October 13, 2016
    jlatuck

    I’m trying to get my hands on anything from the fashion retailer Massimo Dutti, will try some of these tricks xxx thanks for the tips Sigourney

    Reply
  6. October 13, 2016
    Bredee

    Being someone from Australia I have always hated that we don’t get certain things that other country’s do. Especially when I am a makeup junkie. There is so much that people bring out in the states but either don’t ship over here or costs a fortune between the money exchange and international shipping. 2 lipsticks that I brought from Kylie cosmetics this morning would usually cost me $29USD each but being in Australia the exchange rate puts them up to about $40AUD each then $15USD for international shipping goes up to $20AUD. Shopping with Shopand Box is a great alternative as your boxer can buy miltipul items from across several stores that all have free shipping within the states and put them all in a box to ship which may cost you $20. The first time I shopped with ShopandBox I was surprised at how quick and easy it is once you get your head around it. Even shipping is quick with DHL usually something will take 2 weeks to get here from America to australia (including customs) with DHL from my boxers home town to my door in Australia it took 4 days. I was shocked. If you are looking into going with Shop and box I highly recommend it.

    Reply
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