Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 06, 2014 2:27 pm Hi I am wondering if anyone has inported goods from anywhere in SE Asia before? A freind of mine was telling me a work colleague of his recently flew to china and purchased all his tiles, taps, shower heads, toilets, baths, basins, lights and some other stuff which I can't remember off the top of my head and he saved himself about $30k all up including the cost of the ticket, freight and duties etc. How hard is it to do, what is involved and do you actually save big money on the purchases? Any information on this would be very much appreciated. cheers Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 2Feb 06, 2014 2:56 pm I live in Singapore and certain items are cheaper. You would need a place to store everything. Be aware that if certain items such as taps don't have the applicable Aussie standards marking then if there is ever an insurance claim it may not get paid. That assumes a plumber will fit. For ovens etc you will have trouble if warranty claim is needed. I purchased all electronic kitchen stuff from Aust because of warranty. But will be getting the exspensive accessories from uk. For sinks etc I will go through the builder as the upgrade price was not much more. You can potentially save a lot if you are owner building. Check whirlpool as there are very detailed threads in how to do it. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 3Feb 11, 2014 11:06 pm I am going to China in March 2014 to buy taps,furnishings to update my old house. I will be happy to share a container load with anyone interested. I am still in planning stage, contacting suppliers and planning the dates to meet them in their showrooms. I am not familiar with the import steps into Australia yet and have not identified a forwarder. If you want to do it together, pm or email me. Mel Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 4Feb 11, 2014 11:19 pm AussieMark, Good post. I was going to mention the lead soldered taps that were coming in a few years ago and the taps with US threads and..... 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 5Feb 13, 2014 5:01 am I would say as a friendly reminder.. There are reasons for items in China being much cheaper. But at the end of the day, you still get what you pay for. Items with higher quality from China do come with a price and adding the cost for transport and custom duties etc.. You better off get those in Aus. Advice is that things you can get from China are things like tiles, basins, baths, etc.. Anything electrical you really need to take a close eyes on them. For things like taps and shower heads.. I would be expecting to replace them in a year or two. One more thing is that need to check carefully or else might end up buying fakes. There are good companies in China as well.. so unless you really have lots of time to search then go ahead.. if only a few days to look.. good luck. PS: Tiles from China is really a good deal.. quality is quite good if you really dig them out. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 6Feb 13, 2014 6:13 am An old friend used to import stuff from China to sell on (mainly homewares and towels etc - also leather from pakistan) and said that you could find quality items but as most manufacturers tend to be price focussed they can be hard to weed out. I'm not sure that I would do it for tapware and electrical stuff, but it might work for other items including furniture and especially things like plantation shutters (which is where a lot of local suppliers get their shutters from, hence the 6 week lead time). Some of the other countries you mentioned sound interesting and I've recently spoken with a tiler who said that malaysian tiles can be good quality, might be another country to add to the list. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 7Feb 13, 2014 9:36 am We had a client that purchased a whole container full of items for a commercial fitout (around $50k of items) around 80% of which could not be used by us because it does not comply with Australian Standards. On other projects we worked on, we were able to import, whole kitchens, glass facades, windows, louvers, etc etc, which worked to have a 30% cost saving including labour installation costs. We did have a full time staff that assisted in the process. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 8Feb 13, 2014 10:03 am Ok I can say with confidence that Grohe items in Singapore, when on sale, are significantly cheaper than Australian prices. However I still purchased all items that are not screw on, i.e. everything concealed, from Australia as these are the items that need to have the Australian standards mark. Plumbing items must be stamped and made with DR Brass and that is why many models are not brought into Australia. Items like shower heads, while they may not be DR Brass, except for the most high end are usually some sort of plastic. I feel the risk there is much lower and you manage to save quite a lot across all your fittings. Items like cooktops and ovens etc can be ordered direct from UK with substantial savings however should a warranty claim be needed it would not be cost efficient in most cases to send back and repairs would more than likely be on own account. With many parts being electronic I am not sure its worth the risk. Ceramics etc may be cheaper than Australia however it also depends what you are getting. It is likely that known brands once shipping etc is added will not be that much different to Australia. I know I can buy a Caroma sink for 50% less than retail. But you can also buy the same at trade prices which may be 20% or more lower than retail. Ceramics break easily (I know having had two lots of vanities destroyed on separate occasions by the chap at Bunninngs as he loaded them...grrrr). Tiles etc could be a saving to be had but in many cases the expensive component is the labour. I can get a container of marble at very cheap prices from Singapore but the logistics are a nightmare so I will try and get all from one place and with a lengthy advance notice I am sure I can get a decent deal. Remember the old saying, the bitterness of regret last long after the sweetness of the saving is gone. Choose wisely....... Just my 0.02 Good luck.... Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 9Feb 13, 2014 10:44 am wood bang We had a client that purchased a whole container full of items for a commercial fitout (around $50k of items) around 80% of which could not be used by us because it does not comply with Australian Standards. On other projects we worked on, we were able to import, whole kitchens, glass facades, windows, louvers, etc etc, which worked to have a 30% cost saving including labour installation costs. We did have a full time staff that assisted in the process. Glass facades and windows must also comply with Australian standards, which are different to the rest of the world... Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 10Mar 04, 2014 12:01 pm Hi. I sent an email to the forwarder that my freind told me about and we have been in regular contact. She assures me that all the businesses she deals with are AS/NZ compliant producers (It notes this on the websites). So far all the goods seem to be between 75 - 50% cheaper than what we can get in Perth WA. I am definately going to study this option in great detail as it could end up being a significant saving. Plus, if it does turn out to be a dud when we get there, we would still like to go to china for a holiday, although Guanzhou city would not be the prefered destination. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 11Mar 04, 2014 12:19 pm While China made product can be of very high quality it is usually through partnering and supplying to specifications of the requesting company in Australia. I am not a window expert but I have seen the China made window products at the company that I am purchasing from. The china made windows were not for sale as they were not of the standard that this company wanted, although they looked perfectly fine to my untrained eye. Another point regarding windows is the quality of the fittment job done. I am not sure on this so I could be totally off base but don't the window companies fit the windows to the builds. If you do not purchase the windows from them why would they fit the product. If they do I am not sure there would be any warranties with the job. Maybe, with the potential savings involved you may want to do a test purchase first..... just my 0.02, I am fairly risk adverse so I may be over cautious..... Please post what the outcome is. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 12Mar 04, 2014 3:23 pm I wouldnt be buying windows or doors, maybe a couple of bi-folds, but I am mainly looking for items like LED lights, window treatments, baths, toilets, basins, inside and outside tiles, bathroom and laundry tiles, taps, shower heads, wardrobe, wooden shutters.... We are researching the possibility of a kitchen, laundry cupboards and bathroom vanities. Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 13Sep 08, 2014 9:57 pm Resurrecting this one. Did you end up importing anything Abbey? How did it go? Any issues? Re: Anyone imported goods from china, jakarta, singapore, ba 14Sep 12, 2014 12:05 am Unless you can see and sample the quality of the products yourself, don't bother. You can get varying quality from 0 to 10 and you got to find the right supplier otherwise it's just a gamble. I agree with the comment on Electricals, buy from reputable brands and suppliers in Australia. 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