[CPAP] To buy CPAP online, living in Sydney Australia

[kamran.zafar]

Hi everyone,

I am living in Sydney Australia. I have recently completed one month of rental CPAP (ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP with Humidifier and ClimateLine) and Fisher and Pykel full face mask. Now I want to buy the same one but found out that the price is very higher if buying from local CPAP clinics or pharmacy. 

I did some research and found that one can get it on reasonably low price from inline suppliers from US. I want to buy it from Supplier #10 i.e. 1800cpap. I want to know if anyone from Australia has recently ordered any CPAP machine from the same supplier or any other online site and how was the experience? The price for CPAP and mask usually goes more than $1000 USD. Will I have to pay any duty for the shipment?

I will appreciate any help and suggestions in this regard.

Regards,
Kamran

[srlevine1]

Hi everyone,

I am living in Sydney Australia. I have recently completed one month of rental CPAP (ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP with Humidifier and ClimateLine) and Fisher and Pykel full face mask. Now I want to buy the same one but found out that the price is very higher if buying from local CPAP clinics or pharmacy. 

I did some research and found that one can get it on reasonably low price from inline suppliers from US. I want to buy it from Supplier #10 i.e. 1800cpap. I want to know if anyone from Australia has recently ordered any CPAP machine from the same supplier or any other online site and how was the experience? The price for CPAP and mask usually goes more than $1000 USD. Will I have to pay any duty for the shipment?

I will appreciate any help and suggestions in this regard.

Regards,
Kamran

Other than power considerations (voltage, frequency, plug style), does your physician care about connectivity for compliance as the wireless access cards may be different in your country? Also discuss warranty and repair issues with your vendor as RedMed does not appear to honor warranties for machines purchased in other countries.

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Kamran. Welcome to Apnea Board.

Quite a few Aussies on this forum have purchased their machines from the United States and I haven't heard any complaints.

The machines come with a power brick which supports 110 - 230 VAC, so that's not a problem. You will need a new figure-8 power cable which you can get for a couple of bucks at Jaycar, Office Works etc.

Compliance is not an issue here in Australia. Generally speaking our health funds won't give you any rebate for machines bought overseas, so that might come into your calculations. Check with your health fund as to how much they will refund for a CPAP machine - it seems to vary between $300 and $800, depending on the fund and which ancillaries table you're on.

There is no duty or GST payable, but Border Force will most likely charge a $50 handling fee.

If you have a problem with your machine Resmed won't help you. You'll need to send it back to the States for repair. Luckily they are pretty simple devices and quite reliable.

When you're deciding whether to buy locally or on-line take into account the exchange rate (currently around AUD$1.00 = US$0.74), the cost of shipping, $50 for customs, value of health fund rebate and a risk factor in case anything goes wrong.

Good luck with your decision.

[holden4th]

I bought both of my machines from the US. The price was less than half of what was asked for here in good old OZ. The first thing you need to do is make sure that Supplier #10 will actually ship out of the US. I'm not sure of the duty on medical equipment coming into Australia but I paid nothing.

My latest machine came from Supplier #2. At the moment they have open box unused Airsense 10 autos with all the gear you want for a cheaper price than Supplier #10. On top of that, being open box, no duty will be liable and they don't ask for a prescription. The cheaper price will pay for your mask.

My experience with masks is that once you factor in the currency exchange rate and shipping, masks are not really that much cheaper from the US. At least if you get it from here and have issues then you can return it.

Best wishes for your xPAP therapy journey Kamran. Keep us posted.

[trish6hundred]

Hi kamran.zafar,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I think I have read somewhere here on this board that others from Australia have ordered from the supplier you mentioned, so hopefully, you won't have any problems.
Good luck to you as you continue CPAP therapy.

[kamran.zafar]

Thank you DeepBreathing for sharing the information and valuable advices. This will help me to make my decision.

---

Hi kamran.zafar,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I think I have read somewhere here on this board that others from Australia have ordered from the supplier you mentioned, so hopefully, you won't have any problems.
Good luck to you as you continue CPAP therapy.

Thank you

[kamran.zafar]

I bought both of my machines from the US. The price was less than half of what was asked for here in good old OZ. The first thing you need to do is make sure that Supplier10 will actually ship out of the US. I'm not sure of the duty on medical equipment coming into Australia but I paid nothing.

My latest machine came from Supplier2. At the moment they have open box unused Airsense 10 autos with all the gear you want for a cheaper price than Supplier10. On top of that, being open box, no duty will be liable and they don't ask for a prescription. The cheaper price will pay for your mask.

My experience with masks is that once you factor in the currency exchange rate and shipping, masks are not really that much cheaper from the US. At least if you get it from here and have issues then you can return it.

Best wishes for your xPAP therapy journey Kamran. Keep us posted.

Thank you holden4th for sharing the information and valuable advices. This will help me to make my decision.