How do you get your cool stuff over here?

[Bill Gordon 2]

Hi There! I'm a poor Canadian Lad who wants to know if anyone has any bright ideas on how to get the neat stuff(kits,tools and materials) that are over there to N. America. SLEC tools, Permagrit, anything to do with actually building, really. I nearly choked when I was told my 20 GBP order was going to cost me 60 to send over. That's a whopping 135 CDN total. If anybody knows anybody importing this stuff or a cheaper way other than SLEC's primary shipper,I would be grateful. By the by, I'm going to start a DB Bi Stormer 60 for second plane shortly. I was inspired by the blog on these pages, it looks like a lot of fun.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

I have no idea about the importing of cool stuff sorry Bill

But look forward to your Bi Stormer blog

John

[Dave Hopkin]

Whats the shipping cost from the good old US or A like? Would of thought that might be a more economical way to get stuff

[cymaz]

Bill, are there any stockists in the US ? I'm sure you've had a look as the postage can really hurt.

I buy stuff from the States via Tower Hobbies, had good service for years but I do watch the cost of shipping

Try here for perma grit

Edited By cymaz on 10/01/2015 07:10:03

[kc]

Checking the Royal Mail website shows that a 1kilo small package value 20 pounds ( money, not weight!) can be sent to Canada for 8 pounds ( 56 days ) or 12.85 pounds ( 5 to 7 days) or 17.85 pounds tracked & signed for ( 5 to 7 days) More expensive for 1 day service etc. 2 kilos value 100 pounds would cost 31.75 for 5 to 7 day service if the width, length & depth total 90 cms or less. So I suggest you contact a retailer such as Avicraft or Als Hobbies or Sussex Models & ask them if they stock the items and can post them by an economical way.

I suspect the suppliers you already asked may have a contract which ties them to a particular freight company and they take advantage of the situation for unusual destinations.

P.S. Before you think we are lucky here in Britain to get modelling stuff easily check out our petrol price and compare with yours!   Petrol is about 1.09 pounds a LITRE here now ( reduced from 1.20 recently)

Edited By kc on 10/01/2015 11:01:42

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Hi Bill,

kc is right - a lot of the sellers are fixed in to a contract with a particular delivery company. That contact would have been negoiated primarily on the basis of deliveries in the UK. In fact the situation is so bad that the contract may even exclude more "remote" parts of the UK like northern Scotland and the islands. (Note that "remote" is a relative concept!) Once the seller goes outside of the UK the deliverer is almost free to charge whatever he wants.

The only thing I can suggest is do you have any relatives in the UK? You could have the stuff delivered there and they could then send it on to you via a more economical means.

BEB

[Prop Nut]

Many US sellers seem to charge only domestic shipping rates for Canada (Tower Hobbies are one, I think), but I've found that some US sites quote silly money for shipping to the UK. On several occasions I've asked them if they can ship more cheaply and they have come back with much more reasonable quotes, so maybe UK sellers can be persuaded to do the same for Canada.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Prop nut makes a good point that occurred to me just after I posted! Get in touch with the supplier. They may not be bound by their contract for overseas shipping and could use another. They are not going to be too interested in doing that for a £10 order - but if you get a heap of stuff together and are spending a reasonable amount of money then they may be prepared to make a special trip to the post office for you. Worth asking anyway.

BEB

[kc]

Well SLEC say they use the Royal Mail ( didn't our government just sell Royal Mail to the country who we defeated in WW1 and WW2 for a price far less than the real value? Now they cannot ship to a Commonwealth country for a realistic price. Payback time? ) anyway it makes confusing reading here I cannot understand the bit about free shipping for over 100 pounds orders but maybe you can!

[kc]

I had a chat with Ian the proprietor of Permagrit yesterday at the Alexandra Palace Show. He said he can ship to Canada or anywhere at whatever Royal Mail charge for postage and this is shown on his website if you insert the destination and items. So should be very reasonable and worthwhile. Note that the 20 percent VAT ( sales tax) is not charged when exporting outside EU so basic price is that much cheaper.

I find Permagrit are nice people to buy from and I recommend the 'Wedge' block and 3mm & 6mm spar slotters -coarse - as very useful tools.

[Tony Harrison 2]

Re Permagrit, I just bought one of their double-sided sanding blocks (excellent, saw it recommended here) from "follymodels" on Ebay UK - very good service, very slightly cheaper than anywhere else, and I see they ship worldwide. Might be worth checking.

[Bill Gordon 2]

Thank you all for your help. You guys are great! I think I will enlist the help of my missus' family in Cambs. and just pay the VAT and hoped for reduced shipping to add up to less than what I had to pay in the first quote. I'm on disability so I have to watch the costs. Once again, thanks.