Not bad for a $2.00 item, huh? 
BINGO…This why we only ship to ( The lower 48 states only )
Nicky
Steve - help me with this - how did you find out about my new topic so quickly? Just coincidence, you happened to be on the forums page, is there a way of getting notice, or is there a way of just getting automatically subscribed to new topics? Tks!
John heres an idea, just ship it FedEx, send it to the US side of the border and have this guy deliver it over the fence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Sb_r7BKTc
Steve has a buzzer/vibrator in his pocket goes off as soon as he suspects there is a new post.
Yes “velly intellesting” charges, now imagine I can get a large 10kg (22lbs) parcel by DHL air from Germany for a cool C$61. Oh yeah, the other part of excellent service, the invoice is enclosed, when the parcel arrives I inform my Swiss bank to transfer the money.
Straight forward transaction, I’m happy, he’s happy. And I’ll keep on buying!
John Le Forestier said:Serendipity, my man. I just happened to sign on for a bit after working on some switches.
Steve - help me with this - how did you find out about my new topic so quickly? Just coincidence, you happened to be on the forums page, is there a way of getting notice, or is there a way of just getting automatically subscribed to new topics? Tks!
The info looks just like a stunt Trainz would pull. A typical American purchaser would baulk at paying $40.00 for me to ship a single LGB piece of rolling stock to him. No shipping/handling cost. No reccompense for driving several miles to the post office and awaiting my turn at the counter. No compensation for packaging materials. Strictly upfront post office cost. Because of the ‘excellent’ courier type services available in the States then that figure of $40.00 naturally seems very high for him. Possibly, many may not know how far Australia is from the States or may even not of heard of this continental landmass.
Now an American seller who only uses UPS or FedEx, would bill me for a single LGB car purchased from him. He would send me an invoice of say $180.00 just for shipping and not even give it a thought. He would complain about $40.00 from my end and yet would expect me to pay $180.00 just for shipping the opposite direction. Trainz recently had a piece of LGB rolling stock available. The cost to post was $357.00, just for one car. Typically, a locomotive is around $550-$600 for postage. I have learned to recognize the photographs in the ‘Trainz’ listings on eBay and generally ignore opening the listing.
Another one from Trainz…BIN…One piece of 12" USAT straight track…$9.58 plus $30.04 for shipping to Canada plus $2.46 additional charges
Yes but who would buy one section of track like that?
larry mosher said:Lets take this one step farther: with these policies who in his right mind would buy [b]anything from Trainz[/b]?
Yes but who would buy one section of track like that?
The International shipping rates between Canada and the USA have changed drastically from last year, and it works both ways.
Last year I received a box of electronic components from two different suppliers. Both shipments were delivered right to my door by courier for less than $10 and no additional charges applied. This year the same size box of components would have been more than double the cost by the same courier. I was also warned twice by two different representatives of the supplier that excessive brokerage charges are being applied by the courier this year. The parcel was sent by USPS for US$33.10, more than triple the price paid last year. I received in a week with no additional charges.
I shipped 17 Aristo-Craft throttles to Aristo-Craft a few months back to be updated. It cost about CDN$60 to send them by post from Ottawa to New Jersey, and about the same on the return trip by courier. $120 for a box that did not weigh 5 pounds.
About two weeks ago a friend ordered two of the new drive axles from Bachmann for his Connie. The axles are $10 each, but the shipping would have been $25. He had them sent to UPS in Ogdensburg, NY for $10. It is one hour by car to Ogdensburg from Ottawa. Four of us went on a road trip to pick them up. While we were there we shipped six battery packs by courier to New Jersey for US$11 instead of $CDN60. We also asked the replacements be shipped back to Ogdensburg.
While in Ogdensburg, we had lunch in the Freighthouse Restaurant. A refurbished NYC freighthouse with moving large scale trains for scenery. The food is great and very reasonably priced. Tim the owner is also an Aristo-Craft dealer. We had fun on the road trip, and were well fed. We look forward to going back.
Part of the reason for the increased cost is the requirement for a signature service. More suppliers using International shipping now insist on a service with proof of delivery because people were refusing to pay for goods shipped by claiming they did not receive the goods. Without tracing and proof of delivery, the suppliers could not prove otherwise.
I agree with Paul, here. Out of country shipping costs have more than doubled in the last year. I shipped a 6x8x6 inch box, weighing under 4# to England for $36 this past fall. A slightly larger and heavier package to Vancouver was $41. Its not just Trainz. Lets take it down a notch.
I agree out of country shipping costs have increased.
However when you get charged US$40.10 to ship a 6x6x8 box from the US to Australia and the actual postage stamped on the box is US$14.74 you have to wonder what is going on.
Mick
Mick,
the $40.10 is a basic minimum shipping fee for many sellers that offer shipping outside the continental U.S. (it used to be around $38.00). It is not a reflection on the actual cost. Once you deal regularly with a seller, then they start to charge you the actual cost.
Bob McCown said:You're right, Bob - A little less heat and a little more light. Everyone, buyers and sellers on both sides of the border suffer under heavy shipping costs.
Its not just Trainz. Lets take it down a notch.
Here in Canada even domestic shipping is costly. The Post Office has removed some older, less expensive options for shippers - options such as Printed Matter and Parcel Post. They have placed heavy restrictions on First Class Mail, and they have raised the prices several-fold on everything else.
I now must send a $2.00 second-hand book to my sister in Vancouverfor about $20.00; I used to send it by Printed Matter for under $5.
Our local Postmaster makes customers certify that the contents of an envelope are ‘documents only’.
A guy I know used to send out 6" swatches of fabric inside cardstock folders, First Class, for under $1.00. From the outside they looked like birthday cards. Now he’s not allowed! His sample has to go for the $7.00+ minimum for - whatever it’s called these days - the more expensive ‘Service’.
Somebody has to pay for those Royal weddings.
But back to Trainz for a minute, if you’ll permit, and without prejudice… It’s not just Trainz, although for difficulties in dealing with them, they do stand out from the pack, as I shall attempt to explain.
I hope one of their reps reads this I had very good experience with them 5-6 years ago. At the time I considered them one of the best US suppliers, and I told them so.
But things have changed drastically. They have become particularly difficult for Canadians to deal with because one can no longer correspond with them directly to request alternative shipping arrangements.
There is only a set of pre-answered ‘questions’ on their eBay listings, and no option for getting in touch directly by eMail. Trainz ship only by courier, and couriers charge Canadians a $60.00 brokerage fee. Trainz also collects the Canadian taxes before shipping the item. They state that they believe these are special considerations for Canadians, and they may have been at one time, but they most certainly are not nowadays.
Now, I’ll try to be brief.
First, USPS is cheaper than both FedEx and UPS for international shipping. The Post office doesn’t charge a brokerage fee. I’d like to tell that to Trainz if I could, just as I have done to many other US suppliers.
Second, many, many, packages come up here via the Post Office and no tax is collected. Naturally enough, most Canadian buyers would rather take their chances on getting their gear tax-free. The Trainz way you’re guaranteed to have to pay the tax.
I have nothing against Trainz at all. In the past they have been an outfit that bent over backwards to give Canadian customers far better service than most. I’d love to do business with them again, but under their present arrangements this has become impossible, and I think that is most unfortunate.
Mind you, perhaps Trainz wishes to discourage Canadian sales; I am not privy to their reasoning. With their present practices I cannot imagine that they get much Canadian business.
As things stand, the best arrangement for Canadians is probably to have a willing pal somewhere near the border to receive and stashaway stuff until his Canuck buddy can get down for a visit. By law a visiting Canadian may bring home a few hundred bucks worth tax free.
Of course, in an ideal world maybe free trade would actually mean free trade, and the Post Office would not have a Royal Charter (in US terms, that’s a monopoly).
Then all this would be so unnecessary …
It’s not model train items, but I have noticed that my local post office now wants a declaration whenever I send a thick envelope to my pen pal in Hampshire, England. Wayne and I have been writing to each other for over 38 years. Most of that time I only had to declare whenever I sent him a gift. I suppose the stiffer requirements on our side of the pond stem from Homeland Security regulations. I used to enclose postcards with train subjects. Now I enclose digital photos, as they are much more personal and unique.
Most of my letters now include a dozen or more digital photos with printed captions taped to their backs, so I usually use one of the stiff card stock mailers. These days I don’t even wait for the postal clerk to look at the mailer and cock an eyebrow at me like Mr. Spock, I just fill in the form before I get to the counter.
Best,
David Meashey
When I was in France I saw some pretty explosive postcards, Dave. :lol:
Shipping is getting out of hand but it is part of the ever rising cost of doing business. I recently sold a few items on Ebay and I guesstimated that $15 would cover it and added in my description that it is to cover the shipping and handling. The handling being the box, the tape, gas to the PO, my time,etc… just a few well earned bucks there. people do gripe on Ebay at the cost of shipping so one needs to keep it low to get bids. I arrive at the PO to ship parcel post and go through the routine, liquids, perishable, etc… and like 4 different ways to ship from first class on a airplane for about $40 down to parcel post for $13 where a 70 pound gorilla will be dropped on it from a tree. The mail lady over cautioned me about shipping parcel post but I went for it anyways due to not wanting to shell out $21 for the next best service adn losing money.
My wife ships gifts back to kids in the family in Ireland from time to time and the shipping usually adds up to more then the sum of the gifts in the box!
It is a tough day when we are making less if anything and everything is costing more and more.
Todd
My darling wife is from Ireland too. Cty Derry, in the North. We’re among the luckiest of men, Todd.