Shopping In Down Under

December 15th, 2010 | View Comments

Thought I’d just recommend some (online) shops for people living in or migrating to Australia so they can profit from my experiences.

So far, I find Dymocks to be the best store for books. You can order online or buy in one of their many retail stores. There is one close to where I live, so I decided to choose that one as my new book store. Just like Amazon, you can create wishlists, which was very important to me, since I like to keep a list of interesting books. You can also become a Booklovers member, which means that you get a rewards card to collect points whenever you buy there. So far, it has also been the cheapest store I could find.

You can also buy books at Borders, either online or in one of their many retail stores. Unfortunately, this store seems a bit more expensive than Dymocks, and you can’t keep a wishlist online. Borders also has a rewards program. I like Borders at Doncaster Shopping Town, since I got to know the nice Magazine Coordinator who is trying to order in a nice watch magazine for me.

For all thins electrical, I’d recommend Dick Smith. For CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays, JB Hifi is probably the best choice.

Of course, you can always have your books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays and electrical thins shipped from Amazon.com, which seems quite a fair deal if you earn your own Aussie Dollars, since the AUD is very strong at the moment. Unfortunately, you’d then have to wait 18 – 32 days for the delivery from the US.

In terms of contact lenses, I recommend clearlycontacts.com.au. They have the option to send an invoice to you which you have to pay within 30 days. That way, you can pay after you know what you got. Also, the customer support is very friendly and helpful. Concerning the price, they were able to provide me with a full year’s supply of PureVision® contact lenses by Bausch + Lomb for $169.39 including shipping. The optometrist I went to wanted to charge me $280 for a half-year’s supply (based on 3 contact lenses per box, which I still believe to be 6, which would have made it $140 for half a year). So, buying online was way cheaper, which I can understand, since the optometrist can’t order in such a huge amount (and keep them in stock) to provide cheaper prices.

If you are looking for perfume, I found nothing cheaper than the MyChemist pharmacy chain so far. They often have discounts on the big brands. You can also shop online and join a rewards program.

Last, not least, here is a list of websites that might help you compare prices:

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you know of any good (online) stores in Australia.