Shopping around for one more Willys Jeep I found Buy 4 Less UK, they sell through Amazon.
The price was super, the shipping and handling was $3.
Ordered on Dec 28th, arrived today. All the way from Birmingham UK!! Now that I call service! 
Postage from the UK must be subsidized by their government. Iâve bought a lot of stuff off of eBay from the UK over the years.
Postage was always $3 or $4 
Ralph
Just donât ship anything INTO the UK, at least thatâs the impression I get from reading on GSC the woes of those trying to import overseas purchases. One fellow speculated it might be cheaper to drive to Germany, buy his stuff and then drive back than to pay the high shipping and duty prices thru the post.
I too am amazed at not only the low cost but the speed whenever I have stuff shipped from the UK. I recently discovered the same from France. Granted, nearly everything I purchased was 8 1/2 x 11 photoâs but still quite cheap.
HJ,
Royal Mail âsmall parcelsâ, less than 2 kgs, less than 24 inches in length and total 30 inches including length plus girth. However, go over 2 kgs or 24 inches in length and it becomes horribly expensive. I can have an item shipped to me from Britain (15,000 km) for less than it costs to send the same package to my next suburb (1 km).
Shipping time can be hit or miss. The least time was four days, posted 27th December 2012 and the longest time posted at the time of the London Olympics took over eight weeks and that is airmail!!!
I donât know of a single postal system that is not run by the government of that oountry. Even our bastardized semi private post offide is run by the government and paid for with a ombination of revenues generated by the postal service and taxpayers.
c
Itâs the job of government to make it possible for its citizens to communicate with each other.
Richard said:Not any more sir. The US Postal Service does not receive any money from Federal taxpayers. Government run, yes. Government financed, no. Part of their big problem now is they are mandated by law to be self sufficient. Yet Congress has to approve everything from rates to Post Office closings. Ralph
Even our bastardized semi private post offide is run by the government and paid for with a ombination of revenues generated by the postal service and taxpayers.
Back in the day a guy in Winnipeg once tried to set up his own little local mail delivery service. They arrested him, tossed him into the can, dragged his sorry rear end into court, and then bankrupted him with fines. His service had been better, cheaper, faster than the Royal Canadian Mail Service. But somebody has to pay for all those royal weddings, tin soldiers, horsedrawn carriages etcâŚ
Yeah, yeah ⌠but this parcel was handled by the post office in the UK and delivered by the post office here in Canada. However they do it I hope they keep on doing it. BTW it would have taken longer to order that Jeep out of Montreal; 4x the shipping cost and it wouldnât be here yet.
I buy odds and ends from China. The postage is often free.
I ordered a car cigarette lighter adapter with 2 x USP outlet for my I Phone and GPS. It cost US$2.94 post free on line with PayPal and was delivered in 3 weeks. Works like a gem. Jay Car sell the same thing for around A$15. Plus local postage.
TonyWalsham said:Yep, I buy lots of my electronic odds and ends from China. I can get the mini toggle switches for $1.99/10 with free shipping, where the same ones (same color, size, markings) from Radio Shack for $2.49/2. Its amazing.
I buy odds and ends from China. The postage is often free. I ordered a car cigarette lighter adapter with 2 x USP outlet for my I Phone and GPS. It cost US$2.94 post free on line with PayPal and was delivered in 3 weeks. Works like a gem. Jay Car sell the same thing for around A$15. Plus local postage.
Bob McCown said:And, it is probably the same stuff, from the same manufacturer.TonyWalsham said:Yep, I buy lots of my electronic odds and ends from China. I can get the mini toggle switches for $1.99/10 with free shipping, where the same ones (same color, size, markings) from Radio Shack for $2.49/2. Its amazing.
I buy odds and ends from China. The postage is often free. I ordered a car cigarette lighter adapter with 2 x USP outlet for my I Phone and GPS. It cost US$2.94 post free on line with PayPal and was delivered in 3 weeks. Works like a gem. Jay Car sell the same thing for around A$15. Plus local postage.
So far Iâve been too chicken (Rooster, donât even think about it!!! 
) to order from China, but those toggle switches sound interesting.
H.J.
Iâve ordered many items from China, among many other lands, and never had the slightest problem. These guys are used to working with overseas customers - have been doing so for generations. Business ethics in many Asian countries would put many of our small-time Canadian businessmen to shame, though I hate to say it⌠Much of what youâll order will actually be shipped out of Hong Kong, which is legally China now, but the same people, companies, and operating rules apply as when it was British, and the mainland folk will treat you right as well. They make every effort to communicate clearly with you too. Sometimes itâs amusing, so the chuckles come for free.
One caveat, however: Iâve found that I must be patient sometimes for delivery from China. Three weeks would be normal, six not all that unusual. So you just sit tight and donât worry. Oh, and another thing, the stuff youâre likely to order from China will be âfactory-freshâ, BTW.
Donât sweat it. Iâve been importing train stuff from foreign countries since I was a kid of thirteen. Thatâs 52 years now, and in all that time I can only remember two problems, both from English-speaking nations, and never one from China.
Bob McCown said:Would you please share the name and address of the switch maker? I need some DPDT center off for putting battery power into a bunch of loks.
Yep, I buy lots of my electronic odds and ends from China. I can get the mini toggle switches for $1.99/10 with free shipping, where the same ones (same color, size, markings) from Radio Shack for $2.49/2. Its amazing.
Similar need for other components-see Paul Nortonâs K27 write up on the OVGRS site.
http://ovgrs.editme.com/BachmannK27
Don Howard said:Bob McCown said:Would you please share the name and address of the switch maker? I need some DPDT center off for putting battery power into a bunch of loks.
Yep, I buy lots of my electronic odds and ends from China. I can get the mini toggle switches for $1.99/10 with free shipping, where the same ones (same color, size, markings) from Radio Shack for $2.49/2. Its amazing.Similar need for other components-see Paul Nortonâs K27 write up on the OVGRS site.
http://ovgrs.editme.com/BachmannK27
I get em on eBay. I search for âMiniature toggle switchâ and then drill into them until I find someone that is selling them. There are literally hundreds of electronic suppliers selling out of Hong Kong or mainland China. I dont think Ive ever done business with the same one twice, but I can usually always find someone selling them for .25 or so a piece, in bulk
I would be careful with switches that cheap. The quality of them does vary quite a bit. Some, even so called good ones such as the DPDT switches once used by Soundtraxx, are junk and fail quite easily. Even brand new. Still, if Bob has had success then they should be OK.
I used to buy at radio shack. I started buying online and from ebay and like Bob can get switches plugs sockets resistors LEDs (you get the point) for cheap in bulk. The switches that showed up were the same exact switch that radio shack sells, same number on the side and everything. Out of the 100 I have bought Iâve had one fail. Iâm calling it a win.
Terry
If youâre soldering to the miniature plastic-box toggles itâs exigent to use a heat sink or the worksâll melt and mangle.
I did exactly that today wiring a miniature, DPDT battery switch in a trolley. I slipped the shrink wrap up the wires for the battery pack connector. Soldered the red wire and warmed the shrink wrap. Soldered the black wire, and found the shrink wrap missing. Unsoldered the black wire, added another piece of shrink wrap, and soldered the wire to the terminal again.
As my dad used to say, âNot even a donkey trips over the same stone twiceâ. Well Hee Haw! I did that about five minutes later soldering the receiver power wires on.
When it came time to link the receiver, there was no response. I was not surprised to find there was no power passing from the battery pack terminals on the switch to the receiver power wire terminals. I was that kind of day when nothing went right.