When buying online it’s a good idea to check-up on the ‘credentials’ of the business we are going to deal with to try to avoid problems after our purchase.
Australian Owned seems to be a good choice, in fact that label is only about ‘the owner/s’ of the business:
‘Australian Owned’ concentrates on the owner/s of a business:
finance. gov. au
From 17 November 2025, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) includes the following definitions for Australian and New Zealand businesses.
An Australian business is a business, including any parent business, that has 50% or more Australian ownership, or is principally traded on an Australian equities market; and is an Australian resident for tax purposes; and is a business that has its principal place of business in Australia.
(Note that only 50%, used to be 80%, need to comply with the above rules.)
Can be just a simple drop-ship operation where merchandise comes from overseas, and the Australian workforce is not involved in the ‘making’ of the products. It does not mean ‘Australian Made’ (although Aus. Made may use imported materials).
Dropshipping:
Before the Internet, Mail-Order companies would usually forward the customer’s order form (included in the Catalogue) and the mailing address to the manufacturer who would then handle the shipping.
Nowadays the system most used is the online purchase:
- The customer buys from an online store (the Seller).
- The Seller doesn’t manage stock, doesn’t invest in inventory, can run the business from anywhere with an Internet connection, as long as the supplier can handle shipments worldwide.
- The Seller forwards the order to a manufacturer or wholesaler (the Supplier) who ships the product directly to the customer.
Becoming more common is the hybrid model of the manufacturer also running a direct to consumer dropshipping.
Dropshipping is used also by brick&mortar stores to bypass holding a lot of stock in a warehouse, offering many more products in colour, size, model, that can be physically stocked, reducing overheads, only pay for a products after it is sold.
From the customer point of view a lot depends on the ‘quality’ of the Supplier, it impacts from product quality to delivery times.
We can tell from the T&C and the FAQ of the Seller about some of the most important factors to look for:
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Return/Refund policies
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Delivery details
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Multiple methods of Contact (Email, chat, phone)
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Liability limitations
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Pricing accuracy
To check the Seller:
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Details of a warehouse
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Manufacturing’s facilities
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Long Company history in Australia
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Delivery times 1-3 days (local stock)
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Australian Return address
From ACCC:
