Hey there! I'm new and just want to greet all my fellow NZers! I am a MAC addict, however due to the incredibly inflated prices of MAC here in New Zealand my collection is rather limited...I am saving up for a trip to America so that I can splurge bigtime there!

My question is..other than the MAC stores/counters themselves, where else do you get your MAC? I don't use Ebay and I find StrawberryNet to have a rather limited range of MAC products..but don't know any other places! Are there any must-know online sites with reasonably-priced MAC for sale? Thanks so much!

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Hellllooo fellow kiwi!

Prices are inflated, here, that is a fact. When I can't bear to part with $38 or whatever it is for an eyeshadow I turn to TradeMe. Fair amount on there, well, in pigment samples anyway, every now and then a nice e/s, l/s or l/g pops up, and I've seen a few powders and blushes there, but it's a real rat race to win an auction, and half the time the prices go above the actual retail price because there are only... what, five stores/counters here. Still, good place to look. Good for people like me that don't have a credit card, too

I would love to save up for a trip like that. Imagine all the cheap makeup!

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Why hello there! Thanks for replying! Hope u had a great New Years

Oh yes, I am DEDICATED to purchasing pigment samples on Trademe, but as you've noted the auctions usually get up to ridiculous prices! I SWEAR I saw an MSF on there sell for almost $90...crazy! Haha, I don't have a credit card, too...much too dangerous :P

Haha I know, right? I'm going to save at least $250 to spend on MAC, I'll never have to buy from an NZ counter again..haha.

Thanks for your help

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I would watch trade me as there have actually been a LOT of counterfeit products up on there...

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If I were buying, I would order online as I still have credit cards drawn on US banks. But then I would have to have my purchases shipped to a friend or family member in the US. I would get it eventually, but they wouldn't ship to me until enough stuff accumulated to warrant a trip to the post office and a customs form. So I could buy easily, but would have to wait a month or more to actually receive the product.

But it would be better than paying NZ prices. I would probably drop dead in Arthur Barnett if I actually had to hand over $38 for a lipstick. I can just imagine the 111 call: There's a dead woman at the MAC counter. She handed over her EFTPOS card and collapsed.......

And forget about buying on Ebay. It's not all fakes, but a lot of sellers forget/never knew in the first place that NZ exists. It's annoying to look at all the sellers who will ship to Australia but not here. A lot of them probably would if asked/reminded, but it's not worth the trouble to ask for every item you are considering bidding on.

So try to make friends with someone in the US/Canada who will purchase for you

Have there? Wow, I don't think I have seen any, am I just blind? They've all looked like originals to me!

And thanks for the advice, captodometer! Yes, NZ MAC prices are sky high, it's atrocious :O And Ebay..I agree, impossible to probably complete a successful purchase through it, hardly any of them ship to NZ!
I'll definitely try the 'make aquaintances with USA peeps' option I don't have a credit card, though, too dangerous for my shopaholic hands XD

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I can attest to this! I bought 2 pigments, which I have since learned to be fake, and having trouble getting in touch with the seller. How typical.
Her name is posyflorist.. selling full size pigments, just in case you happen to look at any! Other than that, I have had no trouble with counterfeits from trade me before.. just bought a blush and it's fine.
Other than that, layby is a good option, especially for le collections.

Oooh, I've bought off Krickett and... bboy something for pigments. They looked original, but, you know, there's only so much you (me especially, heh) can notice.

Yeah, there's no way I'd pay the prices you can see on TradeMe. I won't buy an eyeshadow for more than $25 (not including shipping), and there is no way I would pay $9 for a pigment sample. Ridiculous.

I can't believe I've never even thought about layby! D'oh.

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Hehe. I've only just discovered it myself! And Ballantyne's do a 3 month layby which is pretty good. Can't believe the pigment sample prices eh.. and 1/4 teaspoon? A lot of ebay ones are 1/4 tbsp! I wish we had a CCO here.. *sigh*

Eek! How did you find out, did the packaging look fake? I was seriously considering purchasing like FIVE full-sizes from that seller..*sigh* I really can't tell if pigments/samples are fake or not, and I've bought like a ton of them

I'm getting paranoid Haha!

Argh I know, the samples are being sold for through-the-roof prices, them people trying to make as much money out of it as possible haha.

Layby! Wow, I'm so dumb. Didn't even know they did layby. You genius!

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Here is a link.. http://specktra.net/f257/identifying...-photos-69309/

It can be pretty easy to spot, and if you do recognize that some of yours are fakes, I would advise not to use them! The most obvious thing to me with her ones are the batch numbers and names of the colours.. I bought a Silver Ring and Pink Source one but at the time thought it was weird because those are eyeshadow colours, not pigments.. We don't know what is actually in them.. it could be potentially harmful. I am really pissed that he/she won't get back in contact with me.. I'm thinking of reporting him/her to Trade Me.

Ah, thank you so much for the link, that was extremely helpful! Will take some time for me to get the hang of it, but at least I'm aware now! Gawd, if I had still been so blind who knows what I'd be putting on my face..eek! And you should definitely report them to TradeMe, it's pretty serious stuff.

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Hey, just stumbled across this thread, nice to know there are some other kiwis out there :-)

To answer the original poster's question - have you tried CyberEmporium (www.cyberemporium.com.au)? It's Australian-based, there's heaps of MAC stuff, and usually the latest colour collections go up on there not long after we get them in NZ. Not as cheap as buying from Ebay but definitely more secure, plus there is free (and reasonably fast) shipping to NZ. I've bought a few things from there now and the seller is really friendly and nice.

Hope that helps!

Evidently, reporting things to Trade Me sounds easier than it is. They really don't give a crap/don't want to know about buyers getting ripped off or people selling counterfeits.. so there's really nothing I can do.
After a bit of back and forth with the seller she got really angry and sent me this mail

Hi there,

I'm sorry that I can't give you the full refund if there are boxes
missing. Please prove that the items are not authentic and also please
prove it the items you selling are authentic???????

THANK YOU!!!!

She said she'd refund me for one pigment, but wanted both of them back just because I had thrown away the boxes so I was a little annoyed because she'd probably just sell them for the same price anyway just minus boxes.. and telling me to prove the authenticity of the items I am selling? Rude. I am just selling stuff I don't want anymore, not making a business out of importing counterfeit products from Taiwan or where ever.
Grrr

Thank you so much Anita!!!! I pretty much want to have your babies, although my credit card doesn't thank you for introducing me to this site lol. Finally a way to get Pro products without leaving New Zealand!! And glitters aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh