US Mail-forwarding options/feedback

[JuzMel]

Has anyone tried this PayPal shopping service before?

http://www.hopshopgo.com/hsg/home.do?l=en&c=AU

They assign you with a U.S Address and you can shop from U.S Stores that do not ship internationally.

When you buy, the product goes to your U.S Address and sometimes they re-pack for you before they ship just so it can lessen the weight and minimize shipping cost.

I checked and
First 0.5kg:
Express: US$ 28.80 Standard: US$ 24.00
Every additional 0.5kg
Express: US$ 4.40 Standard: US$ 3.60
* Additional 15% charge for fuel charge.

http://www.hopshopgo.com/hsg/help-rates-shipping.do?l=en&c=AU

I went to Toys R Us U.S site and added a couple of Transformers KRE-O and LEGO items to the cart just to see how it was. You get free U.S shipping for orders over $75 from them. So you'll be paying only the international shipping from your U.S assigned address to OZ.

I'm tempted to try this out, but maybe in the next pay week. If the shipping rate works out fair, it means we can buy some cheaper TFs / LEGOs / Toys from U.S Stores that do not ship internationally. Just checking if anyone here has already tried it out.

[Tropisetron]

Hi mel

I've used once and would not recommend it.

Don't be deceived by its seemingly cheap shipping rate. It uses cubic weight instead of the packages actual weight. Hopshopgo will also repacked your package into another one of their box bigger to the original (they dont open ur original package to repack ur stuff if u have more than 1 box)

So instead of me paying for a 900g package, due to its sheer size i was asked to pay 7++kg worth of cubic weight. And they dont really tell u the actual shippong rate until they get ur package at their warehouse.

So my advice... Dont bother using this service for toys u can get locally or via ebay us. Maybe for some rare exclusive...

Hope that helps!

[JuzMel]

Ahhh thanks, I thought it wasn't as good as it seems.

I signed up with a service called vpost as well the other time which provided the same service. Bought a loose Cybertron Undermine from eBay at $5.99 and thought I tryout their service and they wanted to charge me US$20+ for shipping! It was ridiculous.

[TheFallen]

I was just about to give this a go.

I won't be now

[k.wong23]

I have used www.priceusa.com.au for other purchases (non toy-related) and have been pretty good, although they do charge a 5% fee.

[reillyd]

I use shipito.com, which are just excellent for small light packages, especially anything bought from transformersclub.com

However, after a certain size/weight, they only offer usps priority which makes it much more expensive. Usually its cheaper for me to buy from an Asian seller (which usually has much lower postal service prices) than to buy rom the US

[1orion2many]

U.K for the win, faster and cheaper postal service;):)

[twisted_belly]

Does anyone know of any good mail forwarding service for UK address?

[bluetail]

I use viaddress.com to purchase the items I want , they offer cheaper rates than hopshopgo and shipito. You can check out their rates.

[bluetail]

http://www.viaddress.com/ heres the website..

[Zippo]

Well, I have myself an address via ViAddress.
Haven't used it yet since I can't afford to go USA shopping, but when I do I shall let you all know my experience.

[griffin]

I signed up to Viaddress as well, but haven't used it yet either. (I signed up to order from the Hasbro site, but the Hasbro store requires a US credit card billing address).

[Skullcruncher]

I signed up but found them unresponsive. So now I just ask a friends in the US and Canada to bid/buy for me :D

[griffin]

I have used www.priceusa.com.au (http://www.priceusa.com.au) for other purchases (non toy-related) and have been pretty good, although they do charge a 5% fee.

I submitted an order (for items on the Hasbro store site), and they were very speedy, and send so many emails to communicate every little step, it's almost like spam. (better to be over-informed, than be un-informed - Robotkingdom could learn a few things from this mob)

I'm at the stage of the items being sent to their US location, but with the long weekend coming up, it might now be end of next week before they arrive there and forwarded to me.

One interesting thing to note is that they only ask for a deposit of about half the total estimated cost, instead of hitting you up for the entire amount straight up. Perhaps they feel that if the buyer doesn't pay the rest, they would be able to sell it off to make up the difference.

If this works out, I'd certainly be happy to use them for future exclusives that are posted up on the Hasbro online store... as it would be cheaper and more reliable than ebay.