Jump to content

Shipping to other countries


Recommended Posts

:blink:

Just sent a 1/35 scale building to Australia which cost $56 to send ,that was the cheapest shipping rate ,$56 !!

I came up with $25 using the US Post web sight and I had it at a heaver weight.

I'm not going to be able to sit for a couple of days.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't trust the website because there's so many options it's hard to know for sure exactly what it will be. Did you take it in to the post office and that's where they charged you the 56? Did you mention the cheaper price online?

I just sent a book recently which cost 22$ to ship to The Netherlands which is ridiculous. Regular sized hardcover book in a padded envelope. Shipping has gotten out of control.

Link to post
Share on other sites

That price ($56) to Australia sounds about what the USPS quoted me - in person - when I was selling some things. I can see why lots of people simply don't want to sell internationally any more (from the U.S. and abroad). It's just too darn expensive.

Rob

Link to post
Share on other sites

With international (and I don't mean North American) shipping as high as it is, if you don't figure the buyer paying the costs of the shipping, you pretty much come out on the short end of the stick, especially if you price the kit at $49.00 for a Hasegawa 1/48. With international, the buyer needs to be expected to eat some of the shipping cost. If I buy a kit from a seller in Denmark. Should that seller be expected to pay for the entirety of the cost of shipping? No. If I do find a deal in another country, I'll forward the cost of shipping...as soon as he tells me how much it is.

Edited by The_Animal
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello :wave:/>/>

From my own experience, buying from the US just isn't as affordable as it used to be. After the USPS price hike this past January (i.e. >50% across the board for international shipping options), I have limited purchasing items from US sellers, especially spruebrothers and private sellers. However, sometimes the cost of x item(s) is still cheaper to purchase from the US even after factoring in for the shipping costs. Nonetheless, I've heard even with the USPS postal hike on international shipping, it is still cheaper then shipping costs from other countries.

Edited by Rivet Counter
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello :wave:/>/>/>

From my own experience, buying from the US just isn't as affordable as it used to be. After the USPS price hike this past January (i.e. >50% across the board for international shipping options), I have limited purchasing items from US sellers, especially spruebrothers and private sellers. However, sometimes the cost of x item(s) is still cheaper to purchase from the US even after factoring in for the shipping costs. Nonetheless, I've heard even with the USPS postal hike on international shipping, it is still cheaper then shipping costs from other countries.

We're lucky. Rivet...North American shipping isn't as bad yet as International shipping. But don't worry, it'll get there. I'm sure. Give or take a couple of years. :whistle:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I know how you feel Rick. I sent one sheet of decals in a flat

stiff cardboard container to Australia and that was $14.50.

Left the PO a bit flabbergasted. :woot.gif:

Cheers,

Jerry

Link to post
Share on other sites

See, I've never figured this out. That is, why guys will limit their sales to their own country (US for example) because of postage. In the end, the buyer should pay for the postage, right? If that's so, why limit your sales on the basis of shipping? If you have a buyer that is willing to pay the shipping as well, and they are in a different country, why not sell to them?

Link to post
Share on other sites

See, I've never figured this out. That is, why guys will limit their sales to their own country (US for example) because of postage. In the end, the buyer should pay for the postage, right? If that's so, why limit your sales on the basis of shipping? If you have a buyer that is willing to pay the shipping as well, and they are in a different country, why not sell to them?

Totally agree Colin, I find the I'm not selling to xxx country because of shipping to expensive weird from buyers perspective, after all I (as the buyer) know I'm going to pay for the postage. I've never been lucky enough to find someone who will sell me something big, at a fair price, and pay the shipping :D If these people exist get in touch with me NOW.

In all seriousness though, international shipping from US to Australia is why I rarely buy anything from US stores any more. Sprue Bros is the exception, but from them it's only little stuff. It's not the retailers fault most (Squadron excepted) only seam to charge cost. I also think it doesn't help that there seems to be 100 different options for shipping from the US.

It's same in reverse, shipping from Australia is also very expensive, which limits the number of sales I make, especially if the buyer or I want tracking.

For example, to ship Victory productions re-released decal sheet to me from US is about $13 AUD, the same sheet from Hannants to me would be around $6-$7. Again I know this isn't Victory Productions fault, but it does cost them direct sales, which I assume they make more form than they do from selling to Hannants.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The problem I think with why people won't ship international in their sales is a lot of times buyers don't actually realize the true cost of international shipping. Then after you take the time to get the cost and get back to them they back out of the deal because they thought it would be cheaper. In all this time you may have missed another sale of the item because it was tie up in pending status. Ill ship internationally but I tell everyone it's going to take a lot of time. I have to physically take the box of whatever to the post office with the country code and get a cost. I don't trust or do the online stuff and I don't have a printer anyway so I always have to go to the post office. I also always have my 5 and 3 yr old in tow so anyone who has kids knows what's that like too. The real bad thing is for group build donations or the Christmas raffle or whatever I think in going to limit things to us or Canada only. Otherwise you can turn a 3 item trip to the post office into and almost 75$ affair if those who won your item live abroad.

UPS and FedEx are not even options as they have no low speed low cost international. I priced a 32nd academy hornet to Australia and it was around 56$ USPS. I took it to work (ups) just to see their cost and it was around 130$. The guy said it was a two day service to Australia which is great If you need it there then but I'm ok with it taking a couple weeks for a fraction of that cost.

Link to post
Share on other sites

If I may add the British perspective. I work for a local charity and we raise some of our money selling donated goods on eBay and we ship them all over the world. International postage is a minefield - there is a 2kg limit on parcel weights and some dimensional restraints (length + width + depth must not exceed 900mm) but over 2 kg you need to use a carrier and prices escalate rapidly. However, decals & books can be sent by Printed Paper rate which lets you send parcels up to 5kg in weight using this service. There is also the options of Airmail or Surface mail - airmail can be a week or so (longer depending on the Customs service of the destination country) whilst surface mail gets there in a maximum of 56 days (often quicker) and costs 1/2 to 2/3 of the airmail rate. The best thing to do is find a sub-Post office in the UK, go there at a quiet time and let the Post master or Mistress guide you through the maze that is international postage.

oincidentally I recieved 4 decal sheets from Two Bobs in California. 4 decal sheets in a card envelope cost them $5.45 using USPS, and that is not a bad rate. It took about 14 days to arrive from placing the order.

When we ship from work, the buyer pays all the postage, but we make no charge for packing materials (cartons can normally be picked up fre from shops & supermarkets who otherwise have to pay to have them taken away).

I hope my comments are of interest.

Link to post
Share on other sites

See, I've never figured this out. That is, why guys will limit their sales to their own country (US for example) because of postage. In the end, the buyer should pay for the postage, right? If that's so, why limit your sales on the basis of shipping? If you have a buyer that is willing to pay the shipping as well, and they are in a different country, why not sell to them?

The true cost of international shipping here is the time cost & logistics of dealing with numerous e-mails asking how much shipping will cost to UK/Germany/Finland etc., spending time to look it up and replying to the e-mails; only to have the other party back out because shipping is too much for them. In my experience I never came across anyone who said "I live in country X and want to buy your kit, and I will pay the shipping cost to my country; whatever that cost might be". They always ask for a shipping quote and more than half back out afterwards.

It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a rough estimation of shipping costs to one's country and only contact the seller if one is ready to pay for it, eliminating the time wasted with back-and-forth and indecision. Alternatively the seller should make it easy for the buyer and establish a reasonable flat-fee for international shipping; which is what I typically did before I started a business and got a full postage-printing setup at home.

Edited by KursadA
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have had enough experience over the years to kind of guesstimate the cost of shipping. I have always been a firm believer in refunding the money to the buyer if I could get a cheaper price.

I also pay out of my pocket for tracking just for my peace of mind.

I have to admit that Canada Post has a very accurate online postal rate tool which has never been wrong from my experience. So I will sell to anyone as long as they are willing to pay.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The true cost of international shipping here is the time cost & logistics of dealing with numerous e-mails asking how much shipping will cost to UK/Germany/Finland etc., spending time to look it up and replying to the e-mails; only to have the other party back out because shipping is too much for them. In my experience I never came across anyone who said "I live in country X and want to buy your kit, and I will pay the shipping cost to my country; whatever that cost might be". They always ask for a shipping quote and more than half back out afterwards.

.

Ultimately that is the cost of doing business, even if only 30% follow through with the order, thats still 30% more business

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, I can see why some guys may not want to ship international because of time and logistics, but it's just a bugger to see a kit that I want, only to read that a person will probably not sell to me because I'm international.

Link to post
Share on other sites

This issue comes up often on the boards, here are several reasons why US sellers do not like to ship overseas:

1 - While the Post Office will pick up labeled/paid for (Paypal has great shipping label service) Priority Mail packages at your house or the seller can drop them off at the PO, international packages have to physically go across the counter at the PO, no way around it. And for a lot of us that means a special trip to the PO on Saturday, my local PO used to close at 5:30, now they close at 5, and with my work schedule and the drive after work there are some days I can't make it after work. So you go early on a Saturday and hope the line is short or moving quickly, I've done this enough to know what I have to do and what I have to have ready to make it quick but there's guarantee the people in front of you are prepared.

So yes, I can see how some sellers would say it's not worth it for a $20 kit and only sell domestically.

2 - No tracking on international packages except at the upper service levels (and that tracking is spotty at times), this ups the shipping cost on a small kit from $12 to $30-40 or more depending on the level.

3 - 1st Class Parcel is the cheapest level but has no tracking, but the size and weight limits are very strict:

- weight not to exceed 4lbs

- length not over 24"

- combined length x width x height not to exceed 36"

The problem is that a lot of kits will exceed the combined dimensions before the weight limit, for reference a Hasegawa 1/48 F-18 packed in a near skin tight box with just enough packing to help protect it is right at the upper limit, for kicks I just ran a 2lb package (around average for a 1/48 jet kit) that's just under the size limits noted above:

1st Class - $9.50

Priority - $25.80

Once you exceed any of the size or weight limits above it has to go Priority or Global Express, Priority is typically double the cost of 1st Class and Global is 3-4x the 1st Class rate

Any more when someone "international" wants to buy a kit and wonders about the shipping cost I send them the stats on the package along with a link to the USPS price calculator, typically once they see that I'm not gouging them and that whatever I'm asking is the true cost they are more agreeable to the sale.

Link to post
Share on other sites

This ended up being a longer thread than I thought.

International buyers are like the rest of us in that they want a good price.

This gentleman wanted this item bad but I got the shipping mixed up I guess but I still think $56 for a box as big as a shoe box is high no matter who pays for it.

I guess jet fuel is expensive.

Rick

Link to post
Share on other sites

Out of curiosity what was the weight on that package?

I checked my log sheet, out of 68 sales in nearly 3 years only 9 have to been to international customers and all but one were in Canada. Most expensive international shipping charge was to a Canadian buyer that bought a 1/32 F-105 off me, that was nearly $30 due to the size of the box.

Ken

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just priced shipping a 1/32 scale Monogram car to France and was quoted $12.75 US by 1st Class International. Asked about Canada and Mexico and it was $8 to the north and $10 to the south. It weighs 8oz and I can send it here in the US by regular 1st Class mail for under $3. Everything is airmail now days and there are now more slow boats to China anymore I was told.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...