The ‘pros’ for buying offshore are saving a few bucks or maybe even a few hundred bucks. It might also pay to consider some of the ‘cons’:
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The ‘pros’ for buying offshore are saving a few bucks or maybe even a few hundred bucks. It might also pay to consider some of the ‘cons’: 1. Well, first is being conned! It happens occasionally when you ship money off to some random offshore entity without a phone number or address. 2. When the shipping costs and shipping insurance are added to the purchase costs, the savings often aren’t as impressive as they looked on first appearance. 3. Prices are usually non-negotiable. 4. There is no guarantee that the product is fit for local conditions – cables, plugs, voltage, accessories, etc, and certainly no local certification such as the C-Tick compliance which Australian consumer products are required to have. 5. If there is a warranty, you will incur a $50-$100 cost shipping the product back to some other part of the world. Non-refundable. 6. You will usually wait at least a week for the product to be delivered and if a repair is required, many more weeks for it to be returned – hopefully fixed and without long-distance disputes. 7. Tax fraud. If you’re in Australia and purchase a product over $1000 without paying GST (which seems to be a common wheeze on EBay), you could be in trouble with Customs and the ATO. Avoid at all costs! 8. If you’re based in Australia, you deny yourself the protection of a whole swag of Australian consumer protection legislation, such as statutory warranties, fit-for-purpose requirements – and simply protection from being swindled. If you’d like to comment on this article or if you have any feedback on buying online, please visit our Facebook page http://bit.ly/phrfacebook or email edmail@photoreview.com.au.
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