So my friends and I were chatting the other day about using a 3rd party postal service in order to buy MAC cosmetic products from the US as the MAC US store does not ship to Australia.

Why not just buy from the MAC Australia store you ask? Well because on average you are paying.2-3 x the retail price of the US site - ain't nobody go time for that!


Now I know this topic isn't a new one but out of curiosity and general cynicism I asked if the 3rd party (in this case myus.com) was safe and/or actually worth it as they charge postage by the package's dimensions and NOT the total weight. After some further discussions and researching the AU and US MAC sites here's the retail price comparison for the Custom 15 well eyeshadow palette one of my friends was chasing.

Courtesy of MAC's website: this palette takes 15 of the "small eyeshadow pans" which come in at 1.5g of product

MAC US Site - 1 x 15 Custom Palette costs $160 USD ($175.96 AUD at time of writing)

includes: 1 palette with a 15 well insert, 15 "small eyeshadow" pans of your choice (palettes do not come assembled).

MAC Australia site - custom palettes are not even available as a product, you need to buy everything separately. So below is a list of the same items to create a Custom Palette.

Note while the eyeshadows may not be called "small eyeshadows" like they are on the MAC US site, they are the same weight of product at 1.5g and a similar shade range. Also what appears to be the exact same palette is called a Pro Palette - I cannot find any descriptors stating it is a different size or shape to the Custom Palette.

1 x Pro Palette eyeshadow single sided palette - $30AUD
1 x Pro Palette x15 eyeshadow insert - $15AUD (note the picture looks identical to the one above
15 x Eyeshadow/Pro Palette Refill Pan - $26AUD EACH for a total of $390AUD for 15 of your choice

that folks is a grand total fuck you of $435AUD for a 15 well Custom Eyeshadow Palette from MAC Australia - not including shipping.

So how does it compare? Don't forget we still need to add the 3rd party postage pricing in plus convert the USD prices to AUD.

As I don't have an exact pricing on the myus.com shipping for this one item I cannot provide an exact amount, however one of my friends recently used the service for a $200+ purchase from the MAC US site and it cost her $40 USD in postage. So for this estimate we'll use that sum.

- MAC USA total cost - $200 USD ($219.95 AUD) for the 15 eyeshadow Custom Palette delivered to Australia.

- MAC Australia total cost - $435 AUD ($395.50 USD) for a same product (single sided pro palette with 15 well insert and 15 eyeshadow pans) although purchased separately but hey you get free shipping for any purchase over $100 AUD.

To purchase online for us Aussie MAC fans we would save a whopping $215.05 AUD if we chose the MAC US site + 3rd party postage!!!! It's almost enough to buy an ENTIRE SECOND CUSTOM PALETTE!!! What the hell?!

Why would anyone buy from the MAC Australia site with such dramatic price differences? I can understand in store purchasing in smaller amounts maybe, due to needing it immediately or you impulse shopped but otherwise why bother?

I think my next MAC purchase is definitely going to be from the US Site and for a huge amount of goodies - bugger buying it here!

/end-rant