Shipping from the US - my turn!

[jasond]

I used to import O-scale regularly in the noughties then tailed off.   Thought I should get up to speed on how much it can cost these days.  So last month I saw Norms O-Scale in Maine were having a sale.  I know Norm and gave him a call  (2.5p/min last time I looked, with 18185.co.uk).  Selected 8 Atlas O-scale frt cars and chose USPS shipping.  He sent them around 25/7 and Parcelforce's import, etc bill arrived in the post 11/8, my choice for delivery was yesterday, so actual transit time was as good as I'd hoped.

 

The 8 frt cars cost $355 and my total cost - TOTAL (USPS postage $111.44, VAT and Pforce clearance £12 meant each dollar cost me £1.22.  I used to use 90p as my average cost factor back in the noughties when estimating cost to quote price to customers.  So, yes it's got more expensive!  

 

Next I should try Shipito or similar.  Have never tried UPS, maybe I should.  Fedex screwed me up in the mid-noughties when a seller asked to use them and the covering documentation with the shipment said that was it US-door to UK-door.  Priced and sold all the shipment THEN got another import cost invoice from them.

 

Got together with a mate this time, 2 cars for him and 2 for me, but still got 4 Atlas coverered hoppers (ATSF, DRGW Airslides, L&N PS-2 3-bay and IC 4750) boxed, as new.  

 

Jeepers, I must sort my Doctor Who biscuit tin out sometime bits, bits and more bits....

Jason

Edited August 17, 2020 by jasond

[Lovemymodelling]

I’ve had about 8 deliveries from Shipito now and so far no problems I do take the risk and use the economy shipping, they give you several choices 

[F-UnitMad]

2 hours ago, Lovemymodelling said:

I’ve had about 8 deliveries from Shipito now and so far no problems I do take the risk and use the economy shipping, they give you several choices 

I'll be interested in Jason's experience as it'll be with O Scale. Prices from Shipto that I looked at didn't seem to offer any savings over ebay shipping prices - for O Scale.

[jasond]

Rio Grande Airslide still available ... er ... oh, I'll risk it ... £45 plus P&P

[Barclay]

I have a Pacific Fast Mail GP35 on its way from Brass Trains in Florida, they are using UPS so I can feed back in due course. Not cheap though - the loco cost $50 (it's in very poor condition !!) and the mailing was $58....

 

How they handle the tax/customs issue I don't yet know, but it can't be worse than Royal Mail who once charged me £8 for the privilege of collecting £4 tax from me.

[Guest Jack Benson]

Please note that any discussion involving the USPS is tainted with the interference of the current US administration. Our friends working in this US public sector have been long under threat to dismantle the organisation by raising prices beyond the ROI, closing local Postal Offices, the latest outrage is the removal of the blue Postal Boxes in certain areas. The reasons are based on pressure from courier companies and the events in November. 

 

Sorry to mention this but you might as well know the truth.

 

Cheers and Stay Safe

[Barclay]

Well it's here - UPS charge £11.50 to collect the tax, so perhaps the Royal Mail isn't so bad after all. At least with UPS though you pay the man at the door. With Royal Mail they leave a card and you have to go and collect it.

Hell, though - I've paid about £38 for a battered old loco and best part of £75 more to get it into my grubby mitts. US modelling in the UK is not cheap !!

[Alcanman]

12 minutes ago, Barclay said:

Well it's here - UPS charge £11.50 to collect the tax, so perhaps the Royal Mail isn't so bad after all.n at the doAt least with UPS though you pay the man at the dooor. With Royal Mail they leave a card and you have to go and collect it.

Hell, though - I've paid about £38 for a battered old loco and best part of £75 more to get it into my grubby mitts. US modelling in the UK is not cheap !!

You can also pay UPS online .I paid the day before my Atlas MP15dc arrived. I paid them £47.16 . Total cost of my dcc sound fitted loco was £237.00 which I thought compared favourably with the the cost of buying from a UK retailer and I got the model I wanted.

[Andy Reichert]

3 hours ago, Jack Benson said:

Please note that any discussion involving the USPS is tainted with the interference of the current US administration. Our friends working in this US public sector have been long under threat to dismantle the organisation by raising prices beyond the ROI, closing local Postal Offices, the latest outrage is the removal of the blue Postal Boxes in certain areas. The reasons are based on pressure from courier companies and the events in November. 

 

Sorry to mention this but you might as well know the truth.

 

Cheers and Stay Safe

 

That hasn't recently changed the rates recently . Nor have you been able to legally drop off a parcel over 1 LB into a blue collection box from sometime after 9/11. Those are over the counter acceptance only.

 

Andy

[friscopete]

I have just ordered a NWSL Stanton drive for my brass RDC .Postage wasnt too bad .Not in the 50 bucks a throw league .I knew when I bought the Alco models RDC it was a noisy contraption but that nickel finish looks so good ..not overkeen on plastic versions .I try to avoid ordering from the US which is easy with Ebay postage prices .

Edited August 17, 2020 by friscopete

[Guest Jack Benson]

3 minutes ago, Andy Reichert said:

 

That hasn't recently changed the rates recently . Nor have you been able to legally drop off a parcel over 1 LB into a blue collection box from sometime after 9/11. Those are over the counter acceptance only.

 

Andy

Hi Andy,

 

My comment did state  ‘have been long under threat’ therefore I suppose I had already covered your attempts to correct whatever I had not actually said.

 

But thanks anyway.

 

Cheers and Stay Safe

 

 

 

 

[Barclay]

38 minutes ago, friscopete said:

I have just ordered a NWSL Stanton drive for my brass RDC .Postage wasnt too bad .Not in the 50 bucks a throw league .I knew when I bought the Alco models RDC it was a noisy contraption but that nickel finish looks so good ..not overkeen on plastic versions .I try to avoid ordering from the US which is easy with Ebay postage prices .

 

So - you think I should re-motor this baby then ?!

 

 

 

[friscopete]

54 minutes ago, Barclay said:

 

So - you think I should re-motor this baby then ?!

 

 

 

i would try a cheap Chinese can motor first and some silicone tubing .Then if it still runs badly I would install two Standon  type drives but i have no idea how well they perform .i did try out two Tenshodo spuds back in the  day Bernie Victor gave me to try and installed them on a flat platform GE electric switcher type chassis  .I then laid and balanced  hefty Record Imp vice on   it and ran it for hours round a circle of track  with no ill effect .Do Kato make their newish  motor powered trucks in that size ?T hey look interesting.

[Barclay]

I've hijacked this thread enough - will start a new one to describe progress.

[Andy Reichert]

On 17/08/2020 at 07:01, Jack Benson said:

Hi Andy,

 

My comment did state  ‘have been long under threat’ therefore I suppose I had already covered your attempts to correct whatever I had not actually said.

 

But thanks anyway.

 

Cheers and Stay Safe

 

 

 

 

 

I was referring to the implication that the current US administration actions were merely similar to and just part of the long term underfunding trend.

 

Andy

[Andy Reichert]

On 17/08/2020 at 07:42, Barclay said:

 

So - you think I should re-motor this baby then ?!

 

 

 

 

Connecting a UJ to the gear head would help. If it's 5 pole motor, replacing the magnet with a Neodymium stack will make huge difference without replacing the motor. Cheap cans don't usually have 5 poles or rare earth magnets.

 

e.g.  http://www.proto87.com/Motor_upgrade_help.html

 

Andy

[jasond]

BTW Parcelforce do indeed send you a letter when the goods have arrived.  Charges can be paid online and a front door delivery date agreed, as well as going to collect.  I'm still in my importing days frame of mind, the more you can get in at one time, the smaller the import charge adds to the 'unit cost' ... well 'slightly smaller'.

 

Selling the Rio Grande Airslide has to happen before I try anything else! 

Jason

[jasond]

Bah, Rio Grande Airslide sold, now I'll have to try another import using ... um ... er...

[F-UnitMad]

22 minutes ago, jasond said:

Bah, Rio Grande Airslide sold, now I'll have to try another import using ... um ... er...

Soo Line...??.  

 

Or for my slightly more up-to-date interests, CSX....

...and if you could offer 'click & collect' like some on ebay, so I can pick up from a local shop, rather than risk the Postie delivering a suspiciously large parcel to SWMBO....   

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by F-UnitMad

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, jasond said:

BTW Parcelforce do indeed send you a letter when the goods have arrived.

They are supposed to.

Twice this year they (or their sub-contracting agents) have failed so to do.

On the first occasion, the item was returned without me even knowing it was in the country.

On the second occasion, I paid a lot more attention to the tracking, despite several weeks of radio silence whilst the goods were in transit across the Atlantic. (Given the length of time they took, I think they may have used a rowing boat.)

 

And even then, once I had phoned and paid the charges, they sent the parcel to the wrong sorting office for final delivery. I mean, it’s not like that’s what they do as part of their purpose for existence, is it? Oh, wait a minute...

[daveyb]

UPS will invoice you for import taxes like FedEx did.  UPS have also recently upped their prices to match Fedex, so your market is being squeezed further.

 

Purolator use DHL as the Euro delivery agent, so they might be worth a look.  USPS and Canada Post are just public corporation expensive.  They are no different from the semi-private Royal Mail in their outlook, cost and capability.

[jasond]

Choice is an honorary 4-letter word.  To choose which domestic shipper to use in the USA is ...er ...impossible?  OK, you're right, spin the knife!

 

DHL is one of the trans-Atlantic methods offered, they don't appear to do person-to-person shipping (like USPS for example):

https://www.dhl.com/us-en/home/ship/parcel-and-document-shipping.html

Look for the X

 

Jason

[Regularity]

So...

 

Despite a clear address. Despite me providing the address 3 times, first time when paying the VAT, and despite having a Northampton postcode (which begins NN, just to make it clear) my parcel first went to Coventry, then to Milton Keynes. Where it did nothing for the best part of a week, despite me telling them that it was in the wrong depot. I love the fact that it also takes 12 hours and 38 minutes for them to go from "Address problem resolved" to realising that it was "Received at incorrect delivery depot"! No. It was sent to an incorrect depot. It didn't just randomly turn up at the wrong place.

 

Funny thing is, if I walk southwards for about 20 minutes, I am in the MK postal area, but still nearer to Parcelfarce in Northampton.

 

[alastairq]

I have been buying service parts and other parts, for my daily driver US Ford, of advancing years [53, to be precise], from a US parts dealer.

The parts dealer I use has very reasonable delivery rates, with several options..mostly around USPS and Fedex.

I always chose the cheapest Fedex option, because all UK costs are paid up front [the dealer itemises the VAT, etc costs being charged as well].

 

As an example, I ordered [online] a water pump, for the car, last Wednesday.  Plus top & bottom hoses, as mine were a bit soggy.

Total cost around the 40 quid mark....all in. {Add a hundred to that if buying from a UK parts specialist!!!!]

 

Anyway..the arrival date was given as by next Friday. So yesterday I started the job of stripping out the old part..to find the new parts arriving before 11am, same Monday. thus I was able to be all done & dusted before afternoon teatime....[and before all this rain!] Mind, using the tracking sites I knew it was in the UK by last Friday....two days after buying the stuff!

 

So I have nought but praise for Fedex [and RockAuto!!!].....

Edited August 25, 2020 by alastairq

[mikjd]

I've bit the bullet and have several parcels of O scale on the way to Shipito.

One includes 6 freight cars from Trainz, for $28 combined shipping (the same as a single car to the UK using the GSP), and a weight of 8lbs. Whether I combine this with the other parcels, each of 2 Lionel PS4427's I dont know yet.

 

I will let you know how I get on, hopefully it won't be a totally expensive disaster .......   If nothing else it spreads the cost over a couple of weeks. If it is cost effective, then there are a lot of bargains about at the moment, as people look to bring in some cash. Lionel PS4427's and PS5 gondolas at less than £30 are not to be sniffed at.