Well after talks with T-Nation staff, its not possible for them to ship to Australia at this stage.
So im looking for someone to help me out a little. I was thinking of buying at this stage 6 tubs of Surge and get it posted to someones address, then that someone can post package it up and post it to Syd, Aust?
my order would be over $100 so postage to a US address will be free, then im willing to pay for the postage & packaging to aus and a fee or an incentive for helping out???
I know its sounds like a hassle but it will be tonnes cheaper than buying it from Biotest australia.
Maybe some other Australians living in sydney wanna put in a combined order?
Let me know your thoughts, or am i just being a stubborn little prick, and just move on?
But seriously, although some things are more expensive due to shipping/exhange/taxes in Oz, Surge and Grow! are well priced, especially when compared to other MRP which taste like chalk.
As amazing as reading someone’s entire post before sending a sarcastic reply?
[quote]rtistik wrote:
I know its sounds like a hassle but it will be tonnes cheaper than buying it from Biotest australia.[/quote]
I’m really not sure what the deal is with our prices in Australia - even accounting for the current exchange rate +$10 (US) delivery, grow would still be about 30 A$ cheaper.
I’m not 100% sure but if someone in the US wanted to buy Grow!, Surge etc to resell on ebay australia (and it was allowed by the powers that be) you might be able to make a decent little profit out of it.
Thats a great idea, someone reselling the stuff on ebay… could be well worth it. plus u could take advantage of the free bars there offering right now…
As amazing as reading someone’s entire post before sending a sarcastic reply?
rtistik wrote:
I know its sounds like a hassle but it will be tonnes cheaper than buying it from Biotest australia.
I’m really not sure what the deal is with our prices in Australia - even accounting for the current exchange rate +$10 (US) delivery, grow would still be about 30 A$ cheaper.
I’m not 100% sure but if someone in the US wanted to buy Grow!, Surge etc to resell on ebay australia (and it was allowed by the powers that be) you might be able to make a decent little profit out of it.[/quote]
far more amazing than not being able to articulate yourself.
As for Grow!, you are right, it works out to be more than what our counterparts in the US are paying, but what i’m saying is that comparable to WPI in OZ, its roughly the same price.
i.e at my local GNC, VP-2 by AST (which tastes like the devil) is the same cost as Grow!.
So, what I was saying, Biotest isn’t more expensive comparably.
Dave
p.s: type Biotest into ebay- the range of products isn’t huge (i.e HOT-ROX, TRIBEX and some Alpha Male) but the price is right!
Sorry Davechode, you jumped in too soon and made a goose of yourself. Accept you made a mistake and move on. No sooking, OK? Good.
As for the cost of supplements, there is no doubt Australians are getting screwed on arbitrage. (Maybe a trade expert can clear this up, but I thought the US-Australia FTA was meant to reduce the incidence of such price disparities. Yes? No?)
An analysis of VP2 is a perfect example:
VP2 mail order in Australia is A$75.
VP2 mail order from AST in the US is US$36.
This highlghts problems greater than the cost of ordering from Biotest Australia (whose service and I cannot fault and whose staff are incredibly helpful).
rtistik, you are also right … WPI from Australian and New Zealand manufacturers is much cheaper than Grow!; however, I think Davechode’s point was that for products comparable to Grow! the prices in Australia are comparable with Biotest prices in Australia (see how fair I am!).
The general point, though, is that we pay more in Australia for high quality imported supplements than taxes and exchange rates justify.
rtistik wrote:
<So im looking for someone to help me out a little. I was thinking of buying at this stage 6 tubs of Surge and get it posted to someones address, then that someone can post package it up and post it to Syd, Aust?>
You still may be asked to clear the goods by Customs (not everything is stopped but I believe most supplements are). Milk powdered products are subject to quarantine rules.
rtistik wrote:
<my order would be over $100 so postage to a US address will be free, then im willing to pay for the postage & packaging to aus and a fee or an incentive for helping out???>
Good luck on that idea. Even if you find someone, you still have to pass Customs.
rtistik wrote:
I get mine way cheaper than Biotest australia. I know what it costs to freight stuff over by air to Sydney so it’s understandable that Biotest australia charge a big price so they make a good profit. There is also some paperwork involved in clearing goods etc so from a business point of view you have to charge a reasonable price. Nevertheless I’m not prepared to buy Grow at $75 if I can get it cheaper.
Where are you getting it cheaper than Biotest australia?
Cheers
[quote]gselos wrote:
rtistik wrote:
<So im looking for someone to help me out a little. I was thinking of buying at this stage 6 tubs of Surge and get it posted to someones address, then that someone can post package it up and post it to Syd, Aust?>
You still may be asked to clear the goods by Customs (not everything is stopped but I believe most supplements are). Milk powdered products are subject to quarantine rules.
rtistik wrote:
<my order would be over $100 so postage to a US address will be free, then im willing to pay for the postage & packaging to aus and a fee or an incentive for helping out???>
Good luck on that idea. Even if you find someone, you still have to pass Customs.
rtistik wrote:
I get mine way cheaper than Biotest australia. I know what it costs to freight stuff over by air to Sydney so it’s understandable that Biotest australia charge a big price so they make a good profit. There is also some paperwork involved in clearing goods etc so from a business point of view you have to charge a reasonable price. Nevertheless I’m not prepared to buy Grow at $75 if I can get it cheaper.
Where are you getting it cheaper than Biotest australia?
[/quote]
The only way to get it cheaper is to buy direct from Biotest in the States and do what you want to do (i.e someone buys it for you and they ship it to you). Obviously you need to trust someone over there (and no don’t ask me about shipping you some cause my contacts are not very reliable plus I could never guarantee shipment:)
I understand the situation your in. Yes I agree that $75 is expensive. Anyway to cut a long story short, eventually I was able get my hands on Grow!, Surge, ZMA etc.
Chocolate is my best flavour (don’t dig Vanilla that much). Yet to open my Strawberry Grow!. Biotest sent me some free Grow! Bars with my order and they tasted alright, not something I would buy in the future.
i really shouldn’t reply to posts when i have sand in my vagina.
As for shipping to Oz, there are companies that set up a system where you can have thigns shipped to them, and they forward it on to you. The sites were designed for when a company won’t ship to an address outside the US.
Its not cheap for a single item (something like $30) but if you got a decent order together, possibly they can make it happen for a cheaper price.
also guys, check other nutrition sites. they often ship to oz for decent prices, although for bulkier items the price always goes up…
I am the Managing director of Biotest Australia. I thought I would give you all a quick run down on why things like Grow! and Surge are more expensive in Australia than simply the difference in the exchange rate.
T-Nation sells direct, that is why they are able to offer such high quality products at extremely low prices. This means their margins are low, and our costs are pretty much what you see on this site.
Freight costs to Australia are not cheap, but they are not the only charges that we incur. There’s a host of import charges, taxes etc that have to be paid before the product can land here.
Also, you cannot just import any product here without the correct paperwork and certifates as required by customs and government regulations otherwise the goods will be seized and destroyed.
Lastly, we are running a business! Biotest Australia have always and will continue to offer Biotest products to the Australian market at the cheapest possible price.
[quote]swerven wrote:
Sorry Steely - there are places in Australia where you can get Biotest products cheaper than what you guys sell them.[/quote]
Certain products cannot be discounted too heavily such as the Grow! proteins and TRIBEX because they are also sold through retail outlets. These shops buy from us as we are the Australian distributor and if we undercut them, there would be no incentive for any shop in Australia to stock Biotest products.
[quote]Steely wrote:
swerven wrote:
Sorry Steely - there are places in Australia where you can get Biotest products cheaper than what you guys sell them.
Certain products cannot be discounted too heavily such as the Grow! proteins and TRIBEX because they are also sold through retail outlets. These shops buy from us as we are the Australian distributor and if we undercut them, there would be no incentive for any shop in Australia to stock Biotest products.[/quote]
Understood - I was a little misled by the use of the words “cheapest possible price” in your previous post.
What about then heavily discounting some of the other products that are not widely available in Aust? From what I could work out - your mark-ups on all of your products are roughly equivalent (in comparison to T-Nation prices). Given there is no competition for these products in Australia you would not be undercutting anyone
Finally, do you think the FTA with the US will affect supplement prices in Australia? (ie hopefully decrease)
What really gets me dirty is that we can’t get the ‘higher quality’ T-Nation products. The Biotest stuff I use is damn good as it stands, I really want to see what the next levels like.
This might sound like a stupid ass question Brad, but is it possible for Biotest Australia to get T-Nation’s “enhanced” products to sell to Australian Members? Cuz that would rock hardcore, and give all us poor Aussies incentive to buy up from you fine gentlemen.
