At 10:03 04-05-04, ZoboHerald@aol.com wrote:
> > REally! doesn't that suck! The postage prices are
> > STRANGE at best.....
>
>Of course, if you're not in any great hurry, there's always Surface Mail.
>By comparison, it's usually dirt cheap. Of course, you get what you pay
>for: delivery that can easily take up to two months. Of course, there are
>some UK vendors that really don't like using anything but the very fastest
>(i.e. expensive, albeit probably better insured) shipping. ;-)
First post to this list...hi, all. Apologies if the following has been
discussed already!
I do business on a fairly regular basis with UK companies that sell parts
for Land Rovers. Even with carriage costs it's frequently cheaper to buy
parts there and have them shipped; this doesn't seem to be the case
with most popular Spit bits, though there are exceptions.
The key to driving costs down is to make large orders and have items
shipped in a cargo container. This can be difficult for a single individual,
which is why LR owners often get together and make a large purchase
from the same company. Larger parts companies can create any size
package necessary for shipment via sea cargo, and some people will go
so far as to generate an order big enough to fill a large cargo container.
Then it's a matter of either going to the pier to pick it up and pay the
customs duties, which are generally low, or having an agent receive the
package and deliver it. If one of the buyers lives close to the port of
arrival and either owns or can rent a truck in which to pick up the goods,
the final price can be very low. Motor freight can be pricey.
Generally I would not use surface mail to ship parts, especially in the
post 9/11 era. I lost $350 worth last Autumn when a Royal Mail box
went missing somewhere. Since then I've only used FedEx or UPS
for smaller orders since both are insured.
Warning: dealing with UK companies can be frustrating for Yanks who
aren't aware that the words "customer service" frequently aren't part of
these firms vocabularies. Some can be very unresponsive to queries or
claims of missing packages; others are remarkably helpful (I had good
luck with Moss UK when I lived in London).
Hope this is useful.
cheers,
dj
1974 Land Rover SIII Airportable, 'Smudger'
1971 Spitfire Mk IV, 'Harry'
http://pws.prserv.net/djoltes/family/land-rover.htm
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