Ordering From Us

On this page, find out how to order from Tropical Coolers, our sample policy, how to pay for your goods, and who we send your order with — our trusted freight partners.

Ordering

Ordering neoprene products from Tropical Coolers is easy, and I’d certainly appreciate the opportunity to supply you!

To ensure that you’re completely happy knowing who it is you’re dealing with, please have a read of the about us page — if you haven’t already. There are some sub headings on that page that I’d like to draw your attention to, particularly our business ethics and pricing ethics protocol.

Step One — Choose your product

Choose the product/s you would like costed to be custom printed, made and sent to you.

Step Two — Request a Quote

Fill out the quote page.

I assure you that this is not an ‘auto reply’ service. I carefully review all of variables of your request before replying.

If you require either of the two multiple colour printing techniques — plastisol transfer or dye sublimation (see printing techniques), please attach any preliminary art you have, or describe your basic art requirements in the ‘comments’ box.

Please also ensure you include your delivery address details, otherwise I can’t accurately price the freight component of your order and determine if GST (an Australian Government tax) is applicable.

Step Three — Receive Your Quote

I will send back a comprehensive quoted price to supply you in Australian Dollars — there is no obligation to proceed with the order at this point. The quote will include:

Step Four — Finalise Artwork

If you’re happy with the quote and want to move forward, it’s time to sort out exactly what you’d like printed. Artwork can be sent by you, or designed by us, or a combination of the two (See printing techniques and artwork / artwork services). If you’re keen to check our quality before placing an order, see below for details on a sample/s that can be provided.

Step Five — Finalise Payment

Step Six — Order Manufactured and Shipped

Once payment is arranged, your order is placed in the production queue and your proof is changed to a format we can print from. The art is set up, and product blanks are printed.

After manufacturing, your order is packed, addressed, and lodged with the appropriate freight company (see delivery options below).

To help you determine a likely arrival date, I’ll contact you to let you know when your order is leaving the factory. If required, and where available, I’ll provide a freight company tracking number and a link to their on-line tracking facility.

Pre-production Samples

We are unable to supply single pre-production samples featuring your logo, message or brand. However, we can supply samples from previously printed orders, generally with similar colour combinations.

By far the biggest selling items we have are the 002 cylinder with base can/stubbie/stubby/bottle cooler/holder and 553 sun glass strap. Because we make so many, I end up with hundreds of print over-runs. I’m happy to post samples of these two product types free of charge within Australia if you are seriously considering placing an order with Tropical Coolers.

There are spares available of our other products, and I am happy to supply these samples on a ‘view and return’ basis.

Payment

Printing of the neoprene product blanks is the first stage of the production process. Once printed with your logo or message, the printed product blanks cannot be sold to anyone but you, and essentially you have copyright and ownership over them. Therefore, once your proof is approved, we require payment in full prior to set-up, printing, manufacture, packing and delivery of your order. Receipts are hand written, on carbon copy invoice books and can be e-mailed, faxed and/or posted to you.

For Australian Clients

Australian clients can pay by:

For Overseas Clients

Overseas clients can make payment by:

I’m sorry that I can’t accept international currency cheques, as they incur a $45.00 AU fee and can take some weeks for the funds to clear. The original quote amount (in Australian Dollars — AUD) would be converted to your own currency on the day of the transaction, which is the amount that would be debited to your account by your bank or credit card provider. The site I use as a reference is www.xe.com. Please realise that the exchange rate for international currency changes daily.

Our Banking System

Tropical Coolers banking partner is Bendigo Bank, (www.bendigobank.com.au) and we use their on-line Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) system to process credit cards. MasterCard and Visa are accepted.

Direct Credit/Wire/Swift Transfer of Funds

For direct credit/wire/swift transfer of funds my bank account details are:

Swift code:
bendau3b (only required for clients outside Australia)
BSB number:
633 000
Account number:
114241573
Account name:
G.K. Reid T/A Tropical Coolers
Bank name:
Bendigo Bank
Bank location:
45 Murray Street, Hobart, Tasmania, 7000, Australia

Posting Cheques/Money Orders

For posting an Australian Dollar cheque or Australia Post money order please indicate payment to ‘Tropical Coolers’ and post to:

Tropical Coolers
14 Baintree Avenue
Dynnyrne
Tasmania 7005

Delivery from our Chinese factory

EMS

To send direct to our customers word wide, we use EMS, which is an international postal Express Mail Service. It’s a very fast & reliable, air mail based, door to door (or P.O. Box) service, with on line tracking, & signature upon delivery. It’s offered by postal operators (currently 191 members) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The UPU is an inter-governmental organization and the primary forum for cooperation between governments, postal services and other stakeholders of the worldwide postal sector. What this means is that China Post partners with the destination country’s postal service, to deliver your order. For Australian customers, Australia Post will deliver direct to your P.O. Box, street address, or P.M.B. anywhere in the country. Typical delivery time to Australia is 5 to 7 days to capital cities, or up to 10 days for more remote parts of the country.

Your finished neoprene goods are packed in boxes, in their original shape (where possible) & the cost of the service (which I’ll include in your quote) is not subject to ‘cubic’ rates – you pay only for the weight of the goods & the box weight. Each box is subject to a maximum size & limit weight limit, & travels on an individual consignment note, so larger orders will be split in to separate boxes (e.g. 1,000 x KQNCK-003 coolers would be packed in 4 x 250 unit boxes). The advantage of this, is that no matter how large the order & it’s value, there will often be no extra duty or taxes to pay to customs, on entry to your country. You’ll need to check with your own county’s customs service, to determine the value limit, under which there will be no extras. For Australian clients, the value of each box will easily fall well under the $1,000.00 Au limit set by customs here.

See the EMS website to initially input your tracking number & also visit your own country’s postal service website. For Australian customers, see the Australia Post website.

Delivery from our Australian factory

Within Australia

Toll Ipec

Toll Ipec

For customers within Australia, we use Toll Ipec as our main freight handlers and we have negotiated excellent contracted rates. Using Toll Ipec all products are packed in boxes, and arrive at your door in their original, manufactured shape. Sorry, Toll Ipec do not deliver to P.O. boxes. They are a cheap, super reliable, door to door, signature upon delivery road freight service. If required, we can provide you with a tracking number, when your goods leave the factory. See the Toll Ipec website.

Australian Post’s Express Post

Post

For more remote parts of Australia, or when your neoprene goods are required in a hurry, we use Australia Post’s Express Post satchels. We have sent thousands of these to all corners of Australia, and NOT ONCE has there ever been a lost satchel! These are generally delivered overnight to larger population centres, or at the most, 3 days delivery to even the remotest parts of Australia — Visit the Australia Post website for more information. Goods sent in boxes via Australia Post attract ‘cubic’ charges, and in all cases are far more expensive than D.F.E., or using the Express Post satchels.

Outside Australia

TNT Express

TNT

For customers outside Australia, our research has found that for most orders, TNT Express or Economy Express airmail services provide the most cost effective method of transporting our products.

Tropical Coolers has also negotiated excellent contracted rates with them. We’ve been using TNT ever since we started exporting back in 1999/2000.

Their Express service is very fast — 2–3 days to some countries, and offers door-to-door, signature upon delivery and on line track and trace services.

Their Economy Express service is a bit slower, but no less reliable, and is generally used when the total order weight exceeds 31 kg. In both cases, all of our products are packed in air bags to avoid excessive ‘cubic’ charges.

View the TNT’s online “Track and Trace” service on their web site.

Transit Insurance and Declarations for TNT Express

Transit insurance, (if required, but recommended), and expected delivery times will be added to your quote.

A TNT dispatch note, the original and 3 copies of a customs declaration with the original and one copy of your receipt including an AHECC number (AHECC Fact Sheet) will be attached to your consignment.

If duty or taxes are payable to your government on import into your country, TNT will contact you to arrange payment.

Smaller International Orders

For some smaller orders, or where the products are required to arrive in their original manufactured shape, we can also use various Australia Post international mail and courier services.

We have specifically manufactured boxes which fall just under their maximum size. For example, these will fit up to 400 x ‘002’ cylinder with base can coolers, or up to 2,500 x ‘553’ sunglass straps. Unlike the domestic service (delivery within Australia) products packed in these boxes are charged for their weight only, not the cubic size.

The Express International Courier service is very fast (2– days to some countries) and offers door to door or P.O. Box delivery, signature upon delivery (where available) with a full on-line track and trace service.

The Express Post International service is slightly cheaper, but also offers door to door or P.O. Box delivery, signature upon delivery (where available), but is more limited on line track and trace services.

In both cases, transit insurance (if required, but recommended) is available to most countries up to the value of $5000.00 AU.

Air Mail is the most cost effective method, but has no tracking service, and transit insurance is not available to all countries. Generally I use Air Mail to send product samples, but we’ve also used it to send quite a lot of orders overseas.

View the Australia Post’s various online “Track and Trace” services on their web site.

Transit Insurance and Declarations for Australia Post

Expected delivery times and insurance costs — where available, will be added to your quote. When sending an order, a dispatch note/customs declaration and 2 copies of your receipt, including an AHECC number (AHECC Fact Sheet) are attached to your consignment.

If duty or taxes are payable to your government upon import to your country, Australia Post, or the destination country’s postal service will contact you to arrange payment.

If appropriate, I’ll add the costs and service level to your quote in conjunction with, or instead of the TNT costs.

Shipping

Shipping in a shared or full sea container is generally a more expensive freight option than TNT or Australia Post air services. This is because once manufactured, all our products are lightweight, but take up quite a lot of ‘cubic’ area.

Most shipping companies charge a ‘cubic metre’ rate — generally at 167kg/m³, rather than actual weight. One m³ of any of our products, even when tightly packed, weighs far less than 167 kg.

Free Freight Services

We have supplied numerous Australian Defence Force personnel and units serving outside Australia, and utilised the free Australia Post air mail service available to them by packing the order into air bags, each weighing less than 2kg. Australian embassy staff serving overseas may also be able to take advantage of free postage via their diplomatic bags.