Hobby King taking the mick?

[John Tee]

I know there have been a lot of posts about HK since they closed the UK depot. Today I received an email for a sale including a Twin (King Star). Reduced by £111 to £261 and a further shipping reduction of £74 bring the price to £187. Not bad I thought and the checked the shipping cost - £519 from Hong Kong cheapest.

 

Is this business suicide by HK or is  the Chinese government having a hand in things?

 

John

[kevin b]

I think you will find that Chinese shipping charges are all now increasing.

Don't forget also that the Chinese tend to set their prices in U.S. dollars, which will also be affected by the current (lack of) value of Sterling.

 

[FlyinFlynn]

Yes....shipping from China has gone off the deep end. Either heavy or large ( volumetric weight) is very pricy now. I was looking at lathes while following along with another thread and $400 - $500 shipping was the norm. I wonder if it would be cheaper to take a short break and bring it back as hand luggage 🙂

[Zflyer]

This has also caused 2nd hand (or is it preloved i can't keep up) items to see a slight increase in price. It may also have the effect of having people build stuff. Yes I appreciate there is still some items that would have a cost increase in that area, but re using stuff from crashed, retired models and even that old motor/engine lurking in the shed/attic could finally be put to use.

[leccyflyer]

Whilst it makes purchasing new models much more expensive than previously that's not too bad - alternatives exist. Where the hugely inflated shipping costs really have an impact is in shutting down the availability of spares for models which are unique to Hobbyking. You can't be paying £70 postage -or whatever it is - for a replacement airframe part, or bespoke retract unit, or specific matched prop adaptor/prop/spinner assembly. In some cases there are no suitable alternatives available and the model is grounded, without making wholesale replacement of the power train. That's the situation a flying pal of mine is in with his wee HK Hurricane - the spares he needs have been unavailable for more than a year and are now even more unlikely to ever become available,

[Zflyer]

ah yes the propriety issue, hello Apple.

Battery connectors, phone chargers etc. I am under impression E.U. have mandated for common charge plugs and so on. I wait to be corrected. 

[Don Fry]

Believe you are right, future date but not long, Apple has to fit a USB C?, to their stuff, for sale in EU. 

[PatMc]

40 minutes ago, leccyflyer said:

In some cases there are no suitable alternatives available and the model is grounded, without making wholesale replacement of the power train. That's the situation a flying pal of mine is in with his wee HK Hurricane - the spares he needs have been unavailable for more than a year and are now even more unlikely to ever become available,

What about converting it to PSS ?

Or would that just be taking the PSS ?😉

[leccyflyer]

If it were me I might consider it - heading to the slope for some PSS fun after lunch - but I don't believe he flies slope.

[SIMON CRAGG]

Does not seem to have affected all companies. Got a good set of 140mm oleos from Aliexpress for £22 posted. Arrived after eight days. So its not all over yet!.