Is It Cheaper to Import Miniatures to Australia?

Overseas sticker prices often look lower, and that's what makes importing tempting. The sticker doesn't show freight, tax, exchange rates or the wait. I priced one Konflikt '47 starter army both ways on 21 September 2026, and the local price came in $32 to $57 under the import.

That's one product on one day, and I run The Hobby Armoury, so I have a stake in the answer. The inputs and the working are below. Swap in your own numbers before you decide.

What an overseas order costs

UK VAT doesn't apply to exports, and some retailers take their 20 percent off at checkout once you enter an Australian address. Watch whether the total drops. If it doesn't, ask before you pay.

Sellers charge freight per parcel, not per item, so it hits small orders hardest. If it's $30, that adds 25 percent to a $120 box and 6 percent to a $500 army order.

Under A$1,000, Border Force doesn't collect GST at the door. The overseas seller adds it at checkout, but only if the seller is registered for Australian GST. Sellers with less than A$75,000 a year in sales to Australians don't have to register, so one order carries 10 percent and the next carries nothing. Where GST applies, it covers the goods plus shipping and insurance. Above A$1,000 in one parcel, GST is payable at the border and customs duty and clearance charges can apply as well. The ATO's guide to GST on imported goods for consumers has the detail.

The exchange rate moves while you shop. If the Australian dollar shifts one US cent, a $250 order moves by $3 or $4.

A worked example: a Konflikt '47 starter army

On 21 September 2026, Warlord's US and Rest of World store listed the Konflikt '47 United States Starter Army at US$176. At 71.25 US cents to the Australian dollar, the mid-market rate on 19 September, that's about $247. Standard shipping is free over US$165, so freight costs nothing. Whether GST gets added depends on the seller, so the table shows both cases.

The Starter Set follows the same pattern. Warlord lists it at US$152, and because that's under US$165 the standard shipping charge is US$12.50. It comes to about $231 before any GST, against $178 here.

The wait column comes from Warlord's shipping page. It quotes an average of 15 working days outside the UK and Europe, and up to 35 working days when Royal Mail hits local delays or longer customs processing. FedEx or UPS costs at least US$22.50 until an order passes US$300, when it becomes free.

That's Warlord's own store, and a UK discounter can undercut it. A £100 box at 22 percent off, with VAT then removed, costs £65. That's about a third under the sticker before freight and GST. Run the same lines on whatever you're looking at.

What you give up while you wait

Fifteen working days is three weeks on the calendar, and 35 is seven. A campaign that starts in three weeks has no slack on the average parcel and misses the start on a slow one.

We post within 1 to 2 business days, Monday to Friday, from Mooloolah Valley on the Sunshine Coast, and you get a tracking email the moment the parcel leaves. Australia Post handles the rest. Support runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Brisbane time. Overseas, a missing sprue means an email to a company in another time zone.

How I price Conquest and everything else

Conquest is 25 percent off RRP on every line and every faction. That 25 percent covers Conquest only. I price everything else, Konflikt '47 included, item by item, so the gap changes from product to product. A headline percentage means little until you know which range it covers. That goes for mine too.

What to check in any Australian store

Check that it stocks the games you play and the paint and tools to go with them. One order means one shipping charge and one run at the free shipping line, which is $200 here. A Warpaints Fanatic Starter Set, a wet palette and a hobby tool kit from The Army Painter come to about $190 together, so two bottles of Two Thin Coats at about $7 each puts the basket over the line. We stock Conquest, Konflikt '47 and Trench Crusade alongside paints from AK Interactive, The Army Painter and Two Thin Coats.

Then read the checkout total before you enter a card. Overseas, freight and any GST show up at the last step. Here, the price on the page is the price you pay, plus postage below $200.

When importing wins

Importing is common. The Great Wargaming Survey 2024 collected 5,995 responses and found about half of respondents regularly buy online from outside their home country. The split varies by region. Foreign purchases made up only 16.4 percent for UK and Ireland respondents, which the author takes as a sign that UK vendors supply much of the world. For respondents outside the UK and North America, the write-up says about 70 percent of online purchases go to foreign vendors. Australia isn't broken out on its own, so read that as a guide to the group, not a figure for us.

Importing wins when the order is large and planned, so freight spreads across many items. It wins when the retailer takes VAT off, the seller charges little or no GST, the parcel stays under A$1,000, and you're not waiting on a game night. It also wins outright when nobody here stocks the range you want. A parcel forwarder can cut freight on a big consolidated order, but it adds an account, a consolidation delay and another handover, and GST can still apply.

A mixed approach makes sense. Price the main order both ways, and import the odd item nobody here stocks. Or even better, contact us and we'll see if we can get it for you.

Run the sums before you check out

Work the overseas order through in this order:

1. Take the item price after any discount, with VAT off if the retailer removes it.
2. Add freight from the checkout page, not the retailer's headline rate.
3. Add 10 percent GST if the seller is registered, on the goods plus shipping and insurance. Over A$1,000 in one parcel, expect GST at the border and possibly duty.
4. Convert to Australian dollars at today's rate and add whatever your card charges on foreign transactions.
5. Compare the total with the local price, then weigh the wait against your deadline.

If the import wins, buy the import. If the local price wins, or it's close and you want the box this week, start here. Conquest is 25 percent off RRP, and the Konflikt '47 United States Starter Army from the example is $215. Orders over $200 ship free within Australia.

Post your order on The Hobby Armoury Facebook page if you want a second set of eyes on the sums.