Australians can now enjoy cheap and cheerful international shipping thanks to new local startup, Ship 2 Anywhere.
Available to both businesses and individuals, Ship 2 Anywhere and sister service, USA Parcel Forwarding, make both national and international shipping easier, cheaper, and quicker – what’s not to love?
Here’s how it works: for outgoing deliveries, log on to Ship 2 Anywhere online and they’ll find the cheapest price on offer to more than 210 countries and territories.
What do they ship? More like, what don’t they ship? According to their PR people, they specialise in worldwide shipping, airfreight, personal affects, and individual baggage shipments.
And here’s where things get really interesting. USA Parcel Forwarding allows Australians to place orders on US websites and have the items stored or shipped to international locations.
USA Parcel Forwarding provides customers with their own unique US-based mailing address. Parcels can be sent to that address and then forwarded on to Australia with reduced-priced shipping. Until now, Aussie shoppers we frequently scuppered by US stores that would not ship OS or, had exorbitant shipping costs.
So just who’s behind Ship 2 Anywhere? We’re glad you asked. A chance meeting between founders Jack Fitzgerald and Michael Teasdale flagged a shared interest in creating something that would rewrite the shipping industry.
According to Teasdale: “We saw the need for a service that would solve people’s shipping challenges, while at the same time offering a superior level of service. So, we set about starting up a personable business that would shake things up and challenge the rest of the shipping industry to do things differently.”
A little number crunching, if you will. To send a 1kg parcel from Melbourne to NYC through Ship 2 Anywhere costs $58.28 – that’s less than half the price of other couriers. Meanwhile, a 5kg parcel from Melbourne to New York costs just $108.85. The next cheapest supplier charges $248.27.
If you switch the continents, USA Parcel Forwarding customers can purchase a pair of men’s Asics Kayano runners, for example, for USD149.99 (versus $249.95 at an Australian store) and have then shipped for only $39.09. Or, you could purchase a pair of Rayban Polarized sunglasses for USD239.95 (versus $329.95 at an Australian store) and have them shipped for $39.09. Plus, anything that’s worth $120 or less comes with free insurance.
Ship 2 Anywhere also has its beady eye on US fulfilment services. This would enable Australian online businesses to stock their products in a stateside warehouse for rapid, inexpensive shipping to their US customers. This makes Australian online retailers more competitive in the US market.
Ship 2 Anywhere has a long history with Anthill. When the company was a mere beta-twinkle in its founders’ eyes, it was named one of Australia’s 100 most innovative products in the Anthill Magazine ‘SMART 100’ Index. It also placed fourth in the contest’s Readers’ Choice category, and Jack Fitzgerald was named one of the ‘30under30’ winners.
Can we pick ‘em, or what?
