If you are buying from overseas then shipping charges vary depending on the bulk and weight of the item, how it is packed and what service you choose if there is a choice. Best bet I have found is to wait until you want quite a few items, or organise a group buy (even just splitting the postage with one other will save you a lot). Next short list a few places via internet searches that cover what you want AND ship to Australia then do a dummy run on their system to work out how much the postage is.
Don't forget that if you are buying from a country that imposes VAT or a similar tax on bullion you may well be able to get that amount taken off the price. This should happen once you have registered on the companies website and put in your Australian shipping address. If it doesn't happen automatically you might want to contact the company BEFORE placing your order.
Now the next problem is paying them. Do they take Pay Pal or require a money transfer? Either way you will probably have to cover the fees and if it is a money transfer you might want to head off to oz forex and start up an account (actually better if you do this BEFORE locking in your order!) Oz forex transfer from an account in the country you are sending the money to in most cases. This cuts out the recipients fees from having money transferred from an out of country bank. They also have rates that get better the more you transfer. Next you will need to get the full banking details of the place you are buying from, lock in the payment and then transfer the money to oz forex and on to the seller, or just wear the extra cost of Pay Pal if they take it.
So did you order over $1000 (cannot remember if this is with or without shipping charges added in)? If so ....... now comes customs!!
Yep if you have over $1000 AUD declared on the package then good old "poor people don't have cars" Hockey will want his bit UNLESS you are ready for him that is. Now if you are over the GST limit ($1000 AUD) two things might happen. Firstly if your item is traveling via Fedex, DSL or a similar company then they may just phone you up and ask you to tell them what is in the package and possibly send them documentation to prove this. What you need is an invoice from the seller showing that your items are 99.99 pure gold or silver in investment form (bars or bullion coins but not jewellery or numismatic coins). Again best if you have this organised well before your items hit Australia.
If the items are not coming by one of the bigger shippers then you will probably get a note in the mail or an email saying you have so many days to either pay the 10% or fill in a form "import declaration (N10) - Post". This will cost you around $52 to lodge, or you could use a broker who will still need your invoice and will charge you a bit more. Oh and don't do this in the month or so around Christmas as the delays can be quite long.
So after working out the cost of the coins including crappy exchange rates, bank fees/Pay Pal fees, shipping and customs charges and GST (numismatics) you will probably decide it is both less hassle and cheaper to go to the forum and put up a "Want to Buy" thread or head over to Perth Bullion or Gold Stackers and buy the items there!
P.S. If things do go pear shaped it can also be quite "painful" and sometimes even "impossible" to sort things out from half a world away.
Cheers.
Danny
So I was pointing out that in some countries you can get the VAT, GST or similar taxes removed from your purchase price and that in most cases this will be done automatically on the website when you put in your Australian shipping address. If this does not happen it may just be the website is not set up to cover overseas buyers and you may be able to fix the problem with a quick email before ordering. But if you order and then try to fix the problem you may find out that company does not refund the tax. Whether it is a legal reason is of no real consequence as to get the goods you will have to send them the money they ask for.