Bongo allows you to purchase your very own US postal address without actually living in America. A godsend if you like ploughing through the ‘too hot to be true deals’ on Ebay.com or other US based websites, but is it too good to be true?
With the economy failing and prices getting more expensive for just about everything these days, it’s nice to find a website like Bongo that gives you a helping hand by leveraging the cost of purchasing products on the cheap from the US.
Often the biggest cost of buying from America is the shipping costs and there’s been a few times where we’ve cried tears of exhaustion when shown the shipping cost from Amazon and other overseas retailers in the past.
Of course, a Yankee postal address won’t help you much if you can’t get the goods back over here without spending an arm and a leg. That’s where Bongo’s bulk shipping price practices come in handy and it’s probably the area you’ll find makes most sense on multiple US purchases.
How it works
Bongo has big warehouses in the US that holds your purchased products in a kind of temporary holding facility. This method of holding and sending is called ‘Package forwarding’ in the biz and is starting to appear as a viable alternative to US-based websites that refuse to deliver internationally.
No US credit card, no worries
Bongo even provides a personal shopping assistant (for 10% of the total transaction for users who are unable to use their local credit card), as some international websites only accept American credit card transactions.
After you’ve paid the local US shipping charges, Bongo can organise a bulk shipping discount, based on a monthly subscription fee (you’re looking at around $US15 a month for a minimum 3 month subscription). A slightly more convenient pay per use service is also available at $5, but you’ll have to fork out substantially more for shipping charges which cost around US$137 for 10 pounds of shipping weight.
The Bongo subscription model offers 50% off Bongo’s own international shipping costs (if you don't get a subscription, you'll be paying Bongo's own fixed rates), which means that you’ll pay as little as $68 for 10 pounds (4.5kilos) – which is a nifty saving on the pay per use rate.
Verdict
Purchasing your own US postal address is nothing new. Two other websites, USAmail1 & MyUSA currently offer Aussie residents a US postal address already, which makes us think Bongo's success will depend on a more competitive subscription model.
Having a US postal box seems cheap, but in order to take advantage of the savings, you’ll need to work out how much you’re really saving in shipping by utilising bulk orders.
For those interested in ploughing through the ‘too hot to be true deals’ on Ebay.com or other US based websites, you may find this service a godsend and for that, we recommend giving Bongo a try.