Net-A-Porter's new APAC region and eBay's Global Shipping Program

If you go to www.net-a-porter.com you will see a new Splash page:

I noticed this yesterday arvo and my interest was immediately piqued.  A few things I noticed:

• Prices are in AUD
• APAC region doesn't have all designers yet but did have a decent range
• Prices of products seem comparable between the APAC site and UK site
• Items get shipped from Hong Kong and returns are still free via DHL to Hong Kong
• Delivery time is 2-4 working days
• Free Shipping (FreeEnjoy free shipping on all orders until March 29) although how much shipping will cost after March 29 is unknown
• Prices EXclusive of Duties and Taxes if your order is more than AUD$1000 (see screenshot below):

• No Duties/taxes if the order is less than AUD$1000:

So far I don't really see the benefit of the APAC site if we still get charged taxes for orders > $1000 and if we still have to pay shipping after March 29.

In other news, eBay has a new Global Shipping Program which I learnt about when I bought my Burberry trench.  Thought I would share the info with my internet friends so you don't get a heart attack when/if this happens to you.

eBay's Global Shipping Program basically allows consumers like us to purchase from international eBay sellers who won't ship internationally (for me it was a US seller).  What happens is the seller ships domestic (in my experience, to Kentucky, USA) which is in eBay address.  Some dude at the eBay address receives your package and then sends it onto you in Australia.

I was skeptical at first, I mean doesn't this add unnecessary delivery time to me?  (Yes)  And why am I being charged an Import Tax (my purchase was <AUD$1000)?  The answer was "Australian buyers are not charged fees for duties, but they are responsible for the taxes and brokerage fees included in the import charges."  I'm not sure what this means or whether it answered my question but I couldn't be bothered arguing.  Lastly I raised the point that the seller himself had no idea how this whole thing worked and was also very confused about the Kentucky address and Sydney address he saw at Checkout.  Maybe if they promote a service like this to sellers, they should explain how it works??

I personally fail to see the benefits of this system and don't think it was worth the headache and confusion.  To me it just seems like eBay is trying to take a bigger slice of the pie (they collect 60%ish of the postage you pay and give whatever's left to the seller).  I'm not sold (yet); my parcel forwarder does a good enough job for about the same cost.