[billjam]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

First question, what is so great about the US product that you can't find a supplier in AU?

Maybe there is a manufacturing business you should be starting?

Who cares if the supplier does not want to use UPS.

Arrange the shipment from your end.

I do it all the time when I buy stuff and don't feel like dealing with a seller/supplier who could care less about the shipping cost because it's not a cost they have to pay.

Get the weights and dims, get your own freight forwarder, tell supplier to have it ready and you will have it picked up. If supplier does not like that they don't get the order.

Another thing to look at is how the supplier is packing your order. At some point the size of the box/boxes comes into play and you start paying dimensional weight instead of actual weight. Meaning if the box were above a certain size it could be empty but you will still pay through the nose.

Some interesting observations there.
The products are available in Oz, although the much smaller production runs here make the parts many times more expensive than equivalent imports from China or US.
Setting up to make spring steel hooks and injection moulding of silicon plugs isn't an option due to high capital cost and low local market volumes.
The supplier is quoting UPS rates, not USPS which I've found to be much more economical.
Managing the international shipping from here is more hassle than its worth. I do it for cars, but I have never had to worry about it for small stuff like this. Apart from that, getting any information from the supplier is like drawing teeth and I am losing patience (and confidence) in them.