Online market – Aussie style

Writing down few notes about the experience of buying online while in Australia. I moved here only with a suitcase and a backpack, initially I stayed at the most random places, AirBnB, cheap hotels… once I finally got a place to stay the adventure was to get some home items, so this is part of that story.

First reality check I had to face was how spread is the city, coming from Auckland where everything is 10-15 minutes drive or 20-30 minutes bus, here going anywhere is twice that time, I did not factored that really well, initially I stayed at a cheap AirBnB because it was close to trams, the place was really small and old, the house rules were shower less than 5 minutes, once a day max! (I don’t like hot weather, in summer I tend to take 2-3 showers sometimes)

Next AirBnB was closer to the city, walking distance to the job. The checkin and checkout was super awkward: when I arrived, tired, cold with a large suitcase nobody was there, had to call someone that told me to call another guy to finally get keys 20 minutes later. When leaving someone said do not leave the key in, then another guy sent a message about just leave the key in a close the door. The place itself was OK, closer to the new job, but really expensive. It had everything to work from home, but, I did not factored in the noise of the city: firefighters, ambulance, police car chasing random dudes and the unmissable loud cars from time to time.

The idea was to live there only couple days or a week until finding a permanent place. But little I knew about the way things work here. An Uber driver asked me where I was from, then he suggested couple places that were “good neighbourhoods for latin people” – that hints of certain segregation in the rental market. During that time I registered at several places to book a viewing but had no response from anyone. In fact one place/agent was always cancelling last minute or not answering, but then listing it again. So it seems the untold story for rentals is that you have to find a place in areas of people like you.

Once I secured a place to live in, the first item I purchased online was a bed, did a bit of research, comparing reviews etc, decided to go for something a bit expensive but with good reviews. The bed arrived late November, but after few weeks of use the thing started sagging! Could not even sleep well! Their return policy was return no questions, but when trying to return it they redirected me to another company to remove the item and I’m still waiting for it to be removed, booked it for March 14!!

At the same time I ordered a fridge online, good deal, but the item was never delivered, had to call to check my order to get a refund. So no fridge for another month, as by then end of the year sales added a huge backlog of items to deliver.

One thing that I’ve maybe omitted so far is that for most items the best option is delivery, that’s better in most cases than traveling a long distance to get a small or large item.

While waiting for the bed I used Facebook marketplace to get some used/good furniture, assuming it was going to be the same experience than in Auckland. Big mistake! Got a sofa, it looked good in the photos, purchased. But one thing is to buy an used item, a totally different thing is to transport it, there are not many “man and a van” around, and what’s worse it costs 100-200 to transport large items, some guys only transport the item to the address, meaning not helping to move it to the elevator not even think about upstairs. Had to pay one guy to bring the sofa home, then pay another couple guys to help move it upstairs. After that I also had to spent many hours and extra money cleaning the sofa, because it was extremely dirty.

Once I had an usable sofa I started to look for other items, basic furniture, got a bookcase, looked great in the website, good reviews, but when it arrived it was so cheap and poor quality, had to complain and started a return process, but, to return it I had to pay fees and transport. So I finally gave it to someone else. The vendor not even changed the item description online.

A month and a half later I got a washing machine, I had to be using the only laundry around that accepted credit cards, as I had no local money/coins yet. When the guys delivered and installed the washing machine I noticed the guys were watching a youtube tutorial on how to install it!!

To get things and to move around I started renting cars and then using Uber car share, a more economical or convenient option (cars by the hour) and so far I can tell that cars here are rarely well maintained, probably just oil and filter every year? It’s very rare to see/drive cars maintained at dealers. There are laws that enable car users to maintain the car anywhere and still have warranty, so maybe that’s why most cars I’ve used here have weird noises, brake issues or feel really old even after couple years from new. I was going to buy a cheap car initially, but after having couple bad online shopping experiences and knowing that cars aren’t in good order I’m taking a time before getting anything.

In summary, the best approach or something I would recommend it to use good brands, delivery included. Avoid as possible online market or cheaper options. IKEA is a great option for furniture, I had to return an item because my kid could not get used to a chair, we had no issues returning it, full payment back! It really contrasts with other online dealers.

Photo by Cottonbro studio – Pexels