Delivery Charges

[Kevin 216]

A bit puzzled over delivery charges-the cost quoted by two different model shops to deliver the same Tx next day delivery by DPD vas as follows

Shop 1} £14.20 distance to deliver 86 miles.

Shop 2: £4.50 distance to deliver 207 miles.

The difference in cost not being hidden in the price of the Tx as shop 2 Tx was £20 cheaper.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[kc]

We can only guess that either the delivery firms are giving better deals to some sellers or that someone is marking it up and pocketing the difference. perhaps both. Of course the dearer shop might actually be giving us better value by offering worthwhile advice!

I am afraid that's why the best shops go out of business..........

[TartanMac]

I remember talking to a model shop owner and he told me that some of his competitors were selling engines cheaper than they could get them for. I think maybe some shops just want to move the stock and keep customers flowing through there shop and want to free up the money they have in stock that is not selling quick to buy in stuff that is hot that month maybe. I just got bearings from the U.S.A 2 Hybrid ceramics for £12.60 free postage they got here in about 5 days I was shocked that it was actually a nice set of bearings it was cheaper than buying from the UK or even China. They had discounted them to get rid of them to restock I think.

[onetenor]

I've problem with customs charge £12.10 for items charged at 2p. Try and get through to right person .No chance. Anyone ideas ?

[Dave Bran]

Posted by onetenor on 14/03/2018 21:30:06:

I've problem with customs charge £12.10 for items charged at 2p. Try and get through to right person .No chance. Anyone ideas ?

Customs charge is usually split, customs plus mail firms handling charge, is your charge BOTH?

Is the 2p per item, surely not correct for the whole order?

If genuinely being charged £12.10 for a single items true value 2p, just tell them to keep it!!

[TartanMac]

If you buy from EU you don't get charged if it is outside of EU and above £15 you get charged with the VAT and the handling fee. Maybe the sender wrote a value on the box. Royal mail charge £8 plus the 20% for her majesty 's government. I would let them keep it and contact the seller. Did you buy lots of 2p items ?

[Andy G.]

Delivery charges are frustrating, but try living on the Isle of Wight if you want real delivery frustration! Lots of sellers won't post to us. I even tried to buy something from a seller in Portsmouth who flatly refused to deliver to the island even though you can see my town from Portsmouth!!

[Andy Palmer]

Posted by Andy G. on 15/03/2018 08:44:00:

Delivery charges are frustrating, but try living on the Isle of Wight if you want real delivery frustration! Lots of sellers won't post to us. I even tried to buy something from a seller in Portsmouth who flatly refused to deliver to the island even though you can see my town from Portsmouth!!

Many years ago I worked on the Isle of Wight for a while and used to travel over on the ferry from Portsmouth every day. I built up quite a nice little sideline taking stuff over for people as goods were often cheaper on the mainland even before delivery charges/problems. There's a price to pay for living in paradise!

[ROSS MANSELL 1]

Posted by onetenor on 14/03/2018 21:30:06:

I've problem with customs charge £12.10 for items charged at 2p. Try and get through to right person .No chance. Anyone ideas ?

....and yet oddly..model railway stuff does not attract duty only VAT as customs describe it as Toy Railway!! so a £1k model locomotive (1:22.5 scale) gets in by paying VAT only (plus of course the airmail charge ex USA by UPS or DHL...around £50 and three days delivery.)

[Cuban8]

It's all down to value for money and how you might value the cost of convenience IMHO. I'm fortunate to have a good small model shop within a seven mile round trip from home, so the cost of car travel to visit is going to be a quid or so all in. If they've got what I need in stock, then I'll use them, particularly for small one-off items, but for larger purchases they really can't compete on price even factoring in the cost of postage for on-line buys.

A couple of days ago I placed a £60 order with Sussex Models, half a a dozen items all in stock and next day delivery for an additional £6 P&P. My local shop didn't have everything I needed so the business goes elsewhere this time. I suppose that's what our politicians will call the market economy at work?

[Kevin 216]

Posted by Percy Verance on 14/03/2018 19:15:45:

Why bother trying to understand it Kevin? Just buy from shop 2......... As you've discovered, it does pay to shop around.

Hi Percy - that's exactly what I have done shop 2 got the sale. Shop 1 despite the glowing testimonials it gets dipped out this time.

[Sid Dennis]

Posted by TartanMac on 14/03/2018 23:39:23:

If you buy from EU you don't get charged if it is outside of EU and above £15 you get charged with the VAT and the handling fee. Maybe the sender wrote a value on the box. Royal mail charge £8 plus the 20% for her majesty 's government. I would let them keep it and contact the seller. Did you buy lots of 2p items ?

The annoying thing here is, that the handling charge varies from courier company. I gavr up ordering from overseas due to this. I was once charged £14.80 handling from HK. and previous very similar order £3.40. both delivered by DHL. in my case`s there is no standard,which cant be right.

I have received a order before and royal mail left a card saying what costs are and for me to collect. so I could of refused to accept the item and lose it. A friend got a parcel from DHL with no costs at all,UNTIL several weeks later when he got a demand for costs. how would that work if the cost was crazy and he did not want or afford to pay?

it seems like it made hard on purpose

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Postal charges are part of the package when you make a decision about where to purchase but sellers who charge a premium are unlikely to get business from me unless there is no viable alternative. I had a conversation with a model shop last year who charged far more than many competitors (second class and dispatch "within a couple of days" where competitors offered first class and for it to be sent out on the day of order or the next day if after a cut-off time, at the same price or less) and happily admitted that he added on a charge for taking the package to the post office.

This was only discovered after querying non-delivery after 3 clear days - their website didn't specify that they used 2nd class or the handling time. When speaking to them, they told me that I could have requested first class at the time of order but it would have been even more expensive.

Their attitude was "If you don't like it, shop elsewhere."

Guess how many orders I've placed with them since?

[Trevor]

I wonder whether the high delivery charges are sometimes used as a lure to encourage you to add to your order to make the delivery charge seem less disproportionate? I’d like to think I wouldn’t fall for that but why, even when ordering from Banggood where even the cheapest items tend to be post-free, do I find myself wondering what else I should add to the order?!

What really winds me up though are sites that don’t give any idea of delivery charges until the very last stage of the checkout process, a very cynical attempt to make it just seem too much trouble to back out at that point and look elsewhere.

Trevor

[chris Bond - Bondaero]

As a small but specialist business couriers are one of the most challenging areas that we deal with. It is no surprise that people travel quite long distances to collect airframes from us in particular.

We ship all over the world on occassion and courier costs on the face of it seem Ok but are often variable and quoted without VAT, but the real killer is the option to insure the package. The insurance costs can easily double the courier costs on higer value items. The fact that insurance is high means that the chances of damage and loss are high. Courier business models seem to be on volume and no iterest in quality of service.

I our experience when we have a claim the couriers are very reluctant to pay out as you would expect. We have tried pretty much all of them and find none that we would recommend consistently but the post office rarely let us down.

Just a view from the other side, Hope it is not too much of a moan.

We have on occassion been overcharged on import duty and VAT We have never managed to get a refund

[Mike T]

Just to clarify (a bit!) the import duty scenario: If the total value of your purchase is £18 (equivalent) or less, then you pay not VAT, no duty. Over £18 and up to £135, you pay the VAT, plus whatever handling fee your shipper charges for processing the payment (their fee for collecting tax on behalf of HMG).

If your purchase is over £135, then you pay duty, plus VAT on top of the duty-inclusive cost, plus the fee. However, you only pay duty if the duty is more than £9. You would need to look up the duty rates, dependent on type of goods and country of origin, but the stuff we usually buy as modellers e.g. from China is usually rated at 2%, so your order (inc delivery) would have to be the equivalent of £450 before duty kicked in.

HTH. E&OE...

PS - You can't always choose, but if your delivery options include DHL - avoid!

Edited By Mike T on 15/03/2018 11:34:55

Edited By Mike T on 15/03/2018 11:35:47

[PatMc]

Posted by Mike T on 15/03/2018 11:32:34:

PS - You can't always choose, but if your delivery options include DHL - avoid!

I think KFC could have benifited from that advice recently.