I was wondering how people here organize shipping within Australia for big telescopes they buy in the classifieds. Any recommendations for companies to use or stay away from. There are a plethora of confusing options on line.
Thinking of shipping a telescope with mount, total weight 65kg across Australia.
Strongly recommend FedEx, fast and efficient, they handle it all including customs and ensuring you pay GST (if necessary) then deliver to your door. Without using Aust Post.
I ordered a mount from Losmandy on a Thursday, they collected it that night in LA, it landed in Sydney Saturday, cleared customs and GST Monday and it was on my doorstep Tuesday morning 0800. You’d be hard pressed to match that within Australia for a large item.
Also had my mak shipped Fedex, it’s a very rare one and effectively irreplaceable. Arrived swiftly and in excellent collimation.
If the carrier uses Aust Post at this end smallish things will go by their courier to your door or to your local PO, but large heavy things you may have to collect from a major postal depot somewhere. This means > 15 kg or longer than 1.5m box.
Do not use DHL - very very slow - 3 months on a slow boat - and have lost two parcels out of four from Germany. Their tracking system doesn’t work either.
I used Shaw's Darwin Transport to ship a 10" LX200 GPS with wedge and tripod from Sydney to Karatha a number of years back. I crated it first, but it arrived in Karatha without any problems.
E-Go ... very economical with various options for reducing the cost, - like depot to depot instead of door to door. I’ve used them a few times door to door without incident.
Remember that E-Go is owned by Hunter Express Hunter Express is definitely not a telescope worthy courier. We used to use them and had very high breakage levels for our food packaging lines. Once we moved over to Direct Freight Express our breakages went to almost zero!
Remember that E-Go is owned by Hunter Express Hunter Express is definitely not a telescope worthy courier. We used to use them and had very high breakage levels for our food packaging lines. Once we moved over to Direct Freight Express our breakages went to almost zero!
Ah ha! I didn't know that. I must have just been lucky for the handful of things I've sent, - thankfully
Thanks everyone, I will give the recommended ones a go for a quote.
....Hey Paul, just noticed the LFC connection......Im originally from England, and I'm a red through and through as well! YNWA!!!
I’ve just had two items shipped from down south into Darwin by Direct Freight Express. One was an EQ5 pier extension from Melbourne, the other a 125kg stump grinder from Wollongong. Both arrived in good condition, and in quick smart time. 4 days for the stump grinder by road.
I routinely send 1-3 mixed pallets out a day with Direct Freight and they're spot on. If you're looking for a carton courier - these guys are the bees knees. Their facilities are state of the art and their delivery model is quick.
Hunter Express is definitely not a telescope worthy courier. We used to use them and had very high breakage levels for our food packaging lines. Once we moved over to Direct Freight Express our breakages went to almost zero!
