To loathe online shopping in Oz?

[Drivingforpeace]

Present buying for family and friends over there. Always a PITA. Stores either do not offer online shopping, or don't offer gift vouchers (or they do but you can't purchase them online), or when you finally find something to buy, it's out of stock! Arrrgghhhh! Or has a crazy delivery charge. Anyone found any decent websites to buy gifts from? That are not ridiculously overpriced. I have to do this about 10 times a year (birthdays, Christmas) and it drives me nuts every time.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Ooooh watching with interest! DBIL is in Oz and has two kids so sending presents etc costs a fortune in postage!

Was mist disappointed to realise the don't have Amazon!

[Degustibusnonestdisputandem]

You can order most things from USA & UK for delivery to Oz (in fact I usually order stuff from USA before we visit, as anything up to AUD$1000 is tax free)

[LadyCassandra]

It's a nightmare! We moved here 6 years ago and there was barely any internet shopping then. Now we seem to have advanced to what it was like in the UK when we left.
What are you looking to buy? My family just head to the main chains: Target, Myer, David Jones, or else send from the UK: Debehams, M&S, Next all do free delivery to Australia.

[Drivingforpeace]

Yes, I often resort to an Amazon gift card but it seems a bit pointless as they have to get it sent out from the UK anyway!

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

I did not know that!

So if I ordered from say Amazon US,I can get it shipped?!

[AndNowItsSeven]

Of course they have amazon. M and S ships free to OZ before Christmas great for presants.

[AndNowItsSeven]

Sorry forgot it was just books.

[acasualobserver]

Send them corks & string. Both very light so postage v. reasonable. (FYI, all Australians have corks attached to their hats with string.)

[Drivingforpeace]

Getting even more annoyed... just trying to purchase a David Jones gift card and you can only choose from denominations of $50! $50 is too little but $100 is too much. FFS.

[tiddlyipom]

You can't buy much for $50 in David Jones Driving
I would send electronic gift vouchers for M&S, or another UK company.Book Depository, John Lewis etc.
A lot of the Australian sites also charge a fair bit for postage, as an example my ds got a $60 gift voucher for a toy shop, postage for a small lego set was $15.
I order from the UK and US a lot, pistage is usually free.

[tiddlyipom]

Pistage!!!
Postage.
Here's a list of stores that ship here.
<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=whirlpool.net.au/wiki/international_stores_that_ship_to_australia&ved=0ahUKEwi18eW0xrvNAhWFlJQKHTAICAsQFggiMAE&usg=AFQjCNFAMuNCxeLA7q0EH11yEbtVLpj2QA&sig2=4v5ZKRLG16-KS3_vphfs-Q" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=whirlpool.net.au/wiki/international_stores_that_ship_to_australia&ved=0ahUKEwi18eW0xrvNAhWFlJQKHTAICAsQFggiMAE&usg=AFQjCNFAMuNCxeLA7q0EH11yEbtVLpj2QA&sig2=4v5ZKRLG16-KS3_vphfs-Q

[rubybleu]

I send stuff from UK stores who do free postage to Australia.

The thing that really gets on my wick is that wedding gift lists at David Jones & Myers can only be done by calling the store, before 5pm of course. None of this online marlarkey for them, thankyouverymuch.

[TheFirie]

Shopping in Australia is non existent ! Online or in actual shops! I believe this is the reason DH accepted a post there! He knew I wouldn't be able to spend a dollar!
Amazon UK and US deliver in Oz but the postage is sometimes higher than the thing you wanted to buy.
And AndNowItsSeven not even books, only ebooks!

[Jenny70]

Book depository is the only one that I find works... books are expensive in Oz, so their good prices and free delivery are tick tick for me - but they are very slack on telling you stuff isn't in stock, you basically have to check it's been sent, and they don't do gift notes in the package (I mean, how hard can it be to write a message on the receipt??). So family/friends have to know you've sent them something so they know who it's from.

Sigh, I miss Amazon!

[Fedupagain1975]

Fishpond website in Australia is excellent. Have used it loads!

[eyebrowsonfleek]

M&S and the Arcadia group sometimes do free worldwide shipping if you're organised and shop early.

[DrDreReturns]

I'm in the UK but one of my friends emigrated to Australia. About ten years ago he got married and his gift list was with an Australian department store. They didn't have an online shop, so I had to get up in the middle of the night and phone them to get him a wedding present! Hopefully they've got an online presence now.

[TheFirie]

Book depository prices vary from country to country, so the fact that the delivery is free isn't really true as it is already included in the book price. I discovered it just before moving there as I had a big order to be delivered in Europe and then I had to phone to actually have them sent to Australia instead and that's when the customer service told me they couldn't as the prices were different. SO I had to cancel the European order and place a new Australian one for a far greater price.

[Flanderspigeonmurderer]

We used yogee for Christmas presents for my nephews. They only sell toys though.

[violetbunny]

I'm in New Zealand, it's the same story here. I miss online shopping in the UK!

Don't even get me started on online grocery shopping here, it's even worse and gives me the rage...

[DeltaSunrise]

You think oz is bad, NZ is worse. Right royal pain in the ass.

The family have given up and now just get Warehouse vouchers sent to us as gifts. They still have to provide passport and other id before the company will accept the order though.

Grocery shopping in general is rage inducing here, online almost non existent. And the one supermarket that offers it, must have been designed by a left handed person. Nightmare.

I miss Aldi and uk online shopping.

[VioletBam]

YANBU! I'm in Oz....but from UK. I SUFFER with the lack of decent online shopping.

No Amazon for toys etc...shit service from others and BAD products.

Target's service IS quite good though.

[DeltaSunrise]

Oh and recommendations,

M&S do free shipping for over £50, The book depository is great, Amazon.com seems pretty good. I usually get an order here within 10 days from America. I find Amazon.com a lot more willing to ship different things than Amazon.co.uk. Fishpond is great for getting things you can't get out here but they do increase the price of things to reflect that. Next do shipping for about $10 iirc.

Tesco used to which was great for the kids clothes but not sure they do anymore.

[MidniteScribbler]

Catchoftheday.com.au is a good site. It goes in cycles, lots of brand name things. You've got to keep your eye on it, but you can get some really good deals.

No Amazon for toys etc

I've bought heaps of toys through Amazon UK.

[imip]

Look fantastic deliver for free to Australia / some exclusions on what you can buy though.

Up to Christmas, m&s, white company and other high st retailers offer free delivery over around £30. John lewis have a £100 limit, which is good for toys when you consider the actual cost of delivery.

I use book depositary also.

After living in London for 14 years and trying many different approaches, this Christmas I'm considering one john lewis delivery to cover the whole family!

There is also a boden.com.au apparently!