A K-beauty parcel to Australia worth A$1,000 or less (shipping not counted) pays no duty or GST at the border. A store registered for GST charges 10% GST at checkout instead.
Over A$1,000, you pay duty (5%, or 0% on Korean-made goods if you claim the Korea–Australia trade agreement rate), 10% GST and fees at the border. GST paid at checkout may then be charged again. At checkout: Olive Young Global adds GST to the items and shipping; YesStyle's prices already include GST (it adds GST to shipping); Stylevana doesn't say whether it charges GST.
Two tests: each item at checkout, the whole parcel at the border
Australia checks two things, separately:
At checkout: is the item worth A$1,000 or less? Then a store registered for GST must charge 10% GST on it. This rule has applied since 1 July 2018.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
At the border: is the whole parcel worth more than A$1,000? Only then are duty, GST and other charges due at the border. Parcels of A$1,000 or less pay no duty or GST at the border (alcohol and tobacco aside).Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Both tests use the customs value: the price the goods are sold for, minus freight and insurance from the place of export. So shipping and insurance to Australia don't count toward either limit. The checkout test looks at each item on its own, not the whole order, at the time the price is first agreed.
For items worth A$1,000 or less, the business selling them to you collects 10% GST at checkout and pays it to the Australian Taxation Office. It is charged at checkout, not at your door. The business can be the store itself, an online marketplace (an "electronic distribution platform") or a business that redelivers the goods into Australia (a "redeliverer").
Who collects it: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
GST is charged on the price including shipping to Australia, even though shipping doesn't count toward the limit. In the Australian Taxation Office's example below, the delivered price includes shipping and insurance to Australia:
"Jeans Co must charge GST on the total price it charges Noel for the delivered jeans, which is A$350."
Only a store that is registered for GST (or has to be) charges it. A store has to register once its GST turnover from sales connected with Australia reaches A$75,000. This page doesn't assume any store is registered: the store table shows what each store's checkout does.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
If a store doesn't charge GST, a parcel worth A$1,000 or less still isn't taxed at the border. That holds for parcels by post, and for courier or other air or sea cargo when all the goods travel to Australia on the same plane or ship. You then pay no GST at all. The ATO ruling allows for exceptions that the part we read doesn't list; alcohol and tobacco are taxed at the border whatever their value.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Parcels over A$1,000
For a parcel worth more than A$1,000, GST, duty and clearance charges are charged to you, the importer, at the border.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source A full import declaration is needed for a parcel over A$1,000, lodged by you or a customs broker.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Duty
The general duty rate is 5% on every chapter 33 line recorded here: lip make-up (3304.10.00), eye make-up (3304.20.00), manicure or pedicure preparations (3304.30.00), powders (3304.91.00), other beauty and skin-care preparations (3304.99.00) and shampoos (3305.10.00). The calculator treats a whole cart as other beauty and skin-care preparations (3304.99.00), so it uses 5%. Duty is charged on the customs value.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Liquid or cream skin cleansers (3401.30.00) have a general rate of 5%.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Goods that originate in Korea under the Korea–Australia Free Trade Agreement's rules can enter at 0%. The border agency's schedule for Korean goods says:
"Note: Except for the subheadings outlined in the table below, all rates are Free."
No beauty or skin-care line was found among those exceptions. To get the 0% rate, the goods must be made in Korea (a product made elsewhere doesn't qualify, even from a Korean store), the rate must be claimed on the import declaration, and you need a certificate of origin. Without the claim, the general rate applies. The examples on this site use the general rate of 5%.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
GST at the border
GST at the border is 10% of the customs value, the duty and the cost of transport and insurance to Australia added together. Shipping is not counted for the A$1,000 limit, but it is counted here.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
When a store leaves GST to the border
When several low value items (each worth A$1,000 or less) go to Australia in one parcel worth more than A$1,000 in total, a store can skip GST at checkout. The parcel is then taxed at the border instead.
"This exception applies when a number of low value goods are shipped to Australia as one consignment, with a total customs value over A$1,000. This means they will be taxed at the border."
If the items are sent as separate parcels, this exception can't apply, and GST is charged at checkout.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
The store may use the exception only if it has taken reasonable steps to find out whether the parcel will be taxed at the border, and then reasonably believes it will be. It still counts if that belief turns out to be wrong. We don't know whether any of the stores below uses it.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
When GST can be charged twice
A store may charge GST at checkout on a parcel worth more than A$1,000, and the parcel is still taxed at the border. If the store gives customs the required notice in time, no GST is charged at the border (duty and the other charges still are). If it doesn't, GST is charged again at the border. You would then claim the checkout GST back from the store, not from customs:
"Where GST has been charged by a supplier, but remains payable on the importation of low value goods because the notification requirement has not been satisfied, the recipient may seek a reimbursement of GST from the supplier."
Olive Young Global and YesStyle charge GST at checkout. We couldn't confirm whether customs gets their notice in time for parcels over A$1,000. So the examples below leave the border GST out of the total for these stores.
Border charges on parcels over A$1,000
The border agency charges an import processing charge on each import declaration. The amounts are the same for parcels by sea, air or post. The calculator uses the electronic charge. The agency's page gives no date from which these amounts apply.
Declaration
Parcel value
Charge
Electronic
A$1,000 or less
None
Electronic
Over A$1,000 to under A$10,000
A$50
Electronic
A$10,000 or more
A$152
Paper (documentary)
Over A$1,000 to under A$10,000
A$90
Paper (documentary)
A$10,000 or more
A$192
Import processing charge: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
A biosecurity charge is added on a full import declaration: A$48 for goods arriving by air (couriers) and A$71 by sea, from 1 July 2026. The notice doesn't mention parcels by post, so that charge is left open here (not zero).Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
We haven't found a published Australia Post fee for clearing a parcel over the limit. Couriers' own customs clearance fees aren't recorded yet. The totals below leave these fees out.
Exchange rates and the A$1,000 limit
At the border, the customs value is turned into Australian dollars at the exchange rate on the day the goods are exported. For the checkout test, the value is worked out when the price is first agreed.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
So if a store prices in another currency, a cart close to A$1,000 can fall on either side of the limit, depending on the rate. Olive Young Global's shipping fees and free-shipping threshold are in USD. We couldn't confirm which currency Olive Young Global charges your card in. Our examples use European Central Bank rates, which can differ from the rate customs uses.
We couldn't confirm whether Stylevana adds tax at checkout for orders to Australia.
Stylevana ships from Australia or Hong Kong. Which one depends on stock: the whole order ships from Australia only if every item is available from the warehouse there, otherwise from Hong Kong. From its warehouse in Australia, there are no import charges.
Olive Young Global's shipping fee to Australia is worked out from its general shipping rule; its pages don't state a fee for Australia by name.
At Olive Young Global, it isn't clear whether an order of exactly US$60 ships free.
YesStyle doesn't publish its shipping fees to Australia in a form we could record, so its totals leave shipping out.
YesStyle's cart amount already includes GST, so GST isn't added to it again.
YesStyle refunds customs charges paid at the door as store credit, for orders under US$1,000, if you claim them. You still pay them first. Its policy excludes GST on orders to Australia; it doesn't say whether that means only the GST charged at checkout or also the GST paid at the door.Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Olive Young Global shipping: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Olive Young Global free-shipping threshold: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Olive Young Global tax at checkout: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Olive Young Global ships from: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
YesStyle tax at checkout: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Stylevana shipping: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Stylevana free-shipping threshold: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Stylevana tax at checkout: not recorded yet · page read
Stylevana ships from: Last checked: 2026-10-12 · Source
Worked examples
Worked out on 12 October 2026, with ECB exchange rates of 9 October 2026. The cart amount is what your cart shows at the store after coupons, in AUD. Totals marked "at least" leave out amounts the data can't settle.
At least A$40.00Not included: shipping and GST on the shipping fee.
At least A$48.29Not included: tax at checkout.
A$150
A$165.00
At least A$150.00Not included: shipping and GST on the shipping fee.
At least A$150.00Not included: tax at checkout.
A$1,200
At least A$1,478.00Not included: GST that may be charged twice and the courier's clearance fee.
At least A$1,352.55Not included: shipping, GST on the shipping fee, GST that may be charged twice and the courier's clearance fee.
At least A$1,358.00Not included: tax at checkout, GST that may be due at the door and the courier's clearance fee.
The Stylevana column assumes its overseas warehouse. If every item is available from its warehouse in Australia, the A$1,200 cart comes to at least A$1,200.00 instead of at least A$1,358.00. Ships from inside Australia: no import charges.
One example in full
Olive Young Global, cart of A$1,200. The parcel is worth more than A$1,000, so duty and border charges are due when it arrives. Olive Young Global also charges GST at checkout, so the border GST is shown as a "maybe": it is charged again only if customs doesn't get the store's notice in time. Olive Young Global's fees are in USD, so its checkout lines are shown in USD, converted from your AUD cart at the ECB rate; the total is in AUD. We couldn't confirm which currency it charges your card in.
Olive Young Global: cart of A$1,200
At leastA$1,478.00delivered
Free shipping
Charges at the door
Not included: GST that may be charged twice and the courier's clearance fee.
See the breakdown
At checkout
Items in your cart
US$837.73
Shipping (UPS)
Free
GST (10%)
US$83.77
Checkout in AUD
≈ A$1,320.00
At your door
Import duty (5%)
A$60.00
GST (10%)May be charged again even though you paid GST at checkout; you would claim the checkout GST back from the store.
Maybe A$126.00
Import processing charge
A$50.00
Biosecurity charge
A$48.00
Courier's clearance fee
Not known
Amounts in other currencies are converted at the European Central Bank's reference rates of 9 October 2026. Your card's rate will differ a little.
Olive Young Global's pages disagree on whether you pay in US dollars or in the currency you choose, so the amount on your card can differ a little.
Olive Young Global says it charges GST at checkout but not whether its prices already include it. We assume it's added on top; if prices already include it, the total is lower by about the GST on the items.
Assumes no single item costs more than A$1,000.
For a parcel over A$1,000, a store can leave GST to the border instead of charging it at checkout. We don't know whether Olive Young Global does.
Duty uses the general rate of 5%. Goods made in Korea can enter duty-free under the Korea–Australia trade agreement if the import declaration claims it with a certificate of origin.
GST paid at checkout is charged again at the border unless Olive Young Global's notice reaches customs; you would then claim the checkout GST back from the store.
The biosecurity charge shown is the one for parcels by air (courier). The charge for parcels by post isn't stated.
Couriers usually add their own fee for clearing customs. We don't have a sourced amount for it, so it's left out.