
Big changes coming to your online shopping
AMAZON'S American store won't be the only overseas outlet to stop selling products to Australians this weekend, as an exclusive study of Australia's most popular overseas shopping sites has revealed.
From ASOS to Net-A-Porter, eBay to Etsy, each overseas company must charge Australian shoppers the 10 per cent GST on all products from July 1, rather than just taxing items costing more than $1000.
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While the Federal Government estimated the tax increase would collect an additional $300 million each year, retail experts warned it would also leave Australian shoppers with inflated prices and a restricted range of products, and could see some purchases stranded in transit due to tax mix-ups.
News Corp surveyed more than 40 of Australia's most popular online stores, as identified by Hitwise and Nielsen, and discovered some retailers planned to pull out of Australia after the tax changes, while others were still unsure how to keep selling to local shoppers.
A spokeswoman for American department store Nordstrom, for example, confirmed its main store would continue to "sell and ship to Australia," but its cheaper offerings at Nordstrom Rack and HauteLook will close their virtual doors to Australian buyers as a result of the GST changes.

Those online stores will join Amazon outlets in the US and UK, which the retail giant last month said would stop shipping products to Australia "as a result of the changes to Australian GST law".
Amazon will instead offer Aussie shoppers a more limited selection in its local store - a move slammed by Australian Computer Society president Yohan Ramasundara as treating "Australian consumers like second-class citizens".
Other large online retailers are still unsure what the changes will mean to them despite the imminent deadline.
A spokesman for popular online camera store Adorama said it had "not been provided any information about this," and while the store intended to continue shipping to Australia, it "only collects sales tax for orders going to New York or New Jersey".
A representative for high-profile fashion store Net-A-Porter also said the company had yet to finalise its approach to the Australia's tax changes.
Gartner principal analyst Thomas O'Connor said these examples showed both businesses and consumers were likely to be caught off-guard in the coming months, and he predicted some overseas purchases would be "held up in Customs for longer" as officials confirmed whether appropriate tax had been paid.
"There are still many companies which don't understand the changes," Mr O'Connor said.
"There will be large retailers who think they can still ship here (without collecting GST) and when the Australian consumer tries to have that product clear Customs, it won't be the typical frictionless process they're used to. Potentially, some Australian consumers will run into trouble."
Mr O'Connor said retailers closing their doors to Australia, or reducing the items they sold Down Under would also have negative consequences, such as higher local prices and buyers spending less.
Many of Australian consumers' favourite stores confirmed they would keep their doors open after the tax increase, however, including clothing stores ASOS, Topshop, Urban Outfitters, and Threadless, as well as Book Depository, electronics retailer Expansys, and bicycle store Wiggle.
Homemade products portal Etsy also unveiled a new system that would automatically collect GST on behalf of sellers, while the chief executive of popular cosmetics retailer Strawberrynet, Rodney Miles, told News Corp the company was happy to comply with the new rules to deliver a seamless experience to "over a million loyal customers in Australia".

Overseas online shops that will sell to Australians after July 1
ASOS
Topshop
Topman
Marks & Spencer
Nordstrom
Urban Outfitters
Threadless
Etsy
Book Depository
Strawberrynet
Alibaba
Expansys
Bodybuilding.com
Wiggle
RevZilla
eBay UK
eBay.com
H&M
Zara
Overseas online shops that will stop selling to Australians after July 1
Nordstrom Rack
HauteLook
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Overseas online shops in doubt after July 1
Adorama
Net-A-Porter
The Outnet
Mr Porter