Tuesday, 30 October 2012

How I save money when buying makeup

As everyone knows, the markup on makeup in Australia is HUGE but we all like to save money where we can. Mishelle from Mishelle's Sleepy Time recently did a post on some examples of the markups that we fork out for if we pay full retail price here in Australia.

(Read here: http://mishellesleepytime.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/makeup-mark-up-usa-vs-australia.html)

Whenever I want to buy something, I work out how much I'd save by buying it online from a US store and having it parcel forwarded to me. Parcel forwarding is also good for getting products that you can't get here in Australia like Urban Decay.

I use the company PriceUSA which is run by Carolina in Melbourne and her US partners in Oregon. I've used them a number of times and as a disclaimer: they haven't asked me to write this review about them. I was requested to do this post by Sophie from http://dontstopbuying.blogspot.com.au.

How it works is that I'll fill out the order form on their website, letting them know what I want and where to order it from. Shortly afterwards, Carolina will email me a quote of how much she estimates my order will cost and if I want to go ahead, I pay a deposit into one of the PriceUSA trust bank accounts.

One of Carolina's US partners will then purchase the products and ship it to themselves. When they receive the order, I get emailed a final quote and I pay the rest of the balance before they ship it out to me. My estimates have generally been spot on or $1-3 short.

I save a lot of money by using PriceUSA as my parcel forwarding company (they don't charge fees unless you use Paypal or a credit card to pay them). As an example, I recently ordered 5 MAC items from the US and saved almost 50%.

Price comparisons

I hope that helps! If I've been a bit ambiguous, let me know and I'll try my best to explain it a bit better.
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19 comments:

  1. Mishelles Sleepy Time30 October 2012 at 16:52

    It's awesome that there are shipping forwarding companies out there :D They make our addictions easier to indulge in hahaha ;)
    It's crazy how much you saved!
    x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Madi30 October 2012 at 16:56

    Wow! That makes thing so much more accessible.I may go check them out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bella30 October 2012 at 17:45

    I'm pretty wary about shipping forwarding companies but this one sounds really good! It sucks that not all american brands/shops ship internationally :(
    x
    bellambeauty.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sophie Keay30 October 2012 at 17:49

    Thanks so much for this, Jen! It sounds like a great service. I can't wait to use her!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown30 October 2012 at 18:04

    Oh wow! Awesome savings! Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sophie Keay30 October 2012 at 18:22

    I have one question, how do you decide how much the postage will be from the US to Aus?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen30 October 2012 at 20:16

      If your order is less than US$250, you can ship using "first class international" which is the slowest but cheapest shipping method (takes about 2 weeks). It depends on the weight and there is a list of the postage prices on the PriceUSA order page. Makeup weighs mostly weighs nothing so it's fairly cheap to ship.

      Delete
  7. Unknown30 October 2012 at 21:21

    oh wow great post! This sounds fantastic! Can you place an order from 2 different sites in the one order?

    Thanks so much for the information Jen. I think I may do an order in the next few weeks :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen30 October 2012 at 21:50

      You can only place an order from one site per order but you can make more than one order and ask them to consolidate it. They'll repackage it all into one box and ship it out to you so you can save on shipping fees. However, this is where it gets a little complicated as they charge a $10 minimum shipping fee for each order. You'll still save some money though!

      Delete
    2. Unknown2 November 2012 at 08:11

      If I place an order will it be here by Christmas? Just a bit wary..

      Delete
    3. Jen2 November 2012 at 10:05

      I've made about 6 orders over the last 2 months and they've all taken 3 weeks to get here. If you want stuff for Christmas, I'd advise you order soon as the post offices get really busy in December.

      Delete
  8. Unknown30 October 2012 at 22:52

    Ooh, that's so clever! It's great that there are shipping forwarding companies

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Made Up Maiden30 October 2012 at 23:06

    I'm wary of parcel forwarding companies too, but this sounds quite reasonable. :)

    Thanks for sharing, and you were very succinct with your explanation!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hui31 October 2012 at 08:15

    I normally use Shipito, but this one sounds good too. Thanks for the suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sweetaholic Beauty31 October 2012 at 15:28

    This is amazing! I usually don't like parcel forwarding companies as they can end up being very expensive, but this one sounds very good! I may have to give them a go! :)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1 November 2012 at 18:39

    Thank you so much for this. I have been looking to see where the hell I can buy Philosophy products online (not just things like Grace, I want seasonal products) and I cannot find anywhere that ships to Australia and with products not being like $30. THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen1 November 2012 at 18:47

      Be careful though! Philosophy products weigh a lot (as they're liquid). The shipping is only cheap if the package is less than 4lbs (approx. 2kg or so?)

      Delete
  13. Unknown6 November 2012 at 17:20

    She is a great service, I have used her now and to consolidate an order and very happy with everything

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cherie12 November 2012 at 11:06

    This is such a good idea! I've considered parcel forwarding services but I've never taken the plunge and tried them out before! You make it sound so easy! MAC is definitely one to use for parcel forwarding because of their prices are so much lower than MAC AU - even properly high-end brands like Estee Lauder and CHANEL don't hike their prices up like MAC. I can't believe I didn't start reading your blog earlier! Followed! :) x

    ReplyDelete

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