I posted elsewhere on this forum asking for advice on what to buy and amongst the helpful replies was one from Mark suggesting I try some of the trainboard advertisers. Well I did and found the item there, but I did not buy from there but bought off ebay instead. Now I don't want to seem ungrateful so I thought I'd explain my decision as it's one of my pet peeves with online shopping. If I'm going to order something online I want to know the cost of shipping upfront. I don't want to go through all the effort of registering on your site, giving you my name, address, credit card details, mothers maiden name and inside leg measurement only for you to tell me you want $40 shipping for a $7 item! Now I know this may not be possible with whatever software you are using, but if anyone is thinking about opening their own online shop please think about this when choosing your software. Ebay is superb for this, the cost is there on the first page. OK rant over. Tom
I agree, and being from "up North" I need the option of USPS - UPS charges a fortune to bring any goods across the border as a handling fee.
My LHS supports the sale prices at Walthers. This is a big help to me, because I'm at that stage of layout-building where I don't buy a lot of things at any one time, and when I do, I'm usually looking for small detail parts or the occasional structure or freight car. So, with a small order, the shipping charges are a killer. Instead, I e-mail my LHS, he orders through Walthers, I pay no shipping charges and everyone is happy. The Governor, unfortunately, gets his cut, but it's generally less than shipping charges. If I order by the weekend, my items show up pretty reliably by Thursday afternoon. It sure works for me.
I must be a very lucky person having ordered from at least five of the trainboard advertisers and never run into any of the issues you referenced in your comments. Let's see, I wanted to develop a relationship with a vendor I could trust so I: Selected a trainboard vendor based on a variety of factors Contacted them by phone Connected with them on a personal level Exchanged information Placed my orders via email. Elapsed time: 30 minutes I'm not sure what you did save only that you came seeking expert advice and then went to an impersonal megalithic institution to order your stuff. If you truly care instead of posting a hyperbole studded rant I would suggest two concurrent approaches: Contact each vendor here by email or phone and politely convey your concerns. Use the method I did and enjoy the results. A concept / rule I live by: "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
I won't order from E-Bay...period. Why?....haven't I had such problems when ordering in from TB's sponsors? There are a number of Internet Train Sources I use and they all spell out the shipping cost as you are "Checking Out". You don't need to register with them, just place the order. My experience: Let's see shipping from as far away as Baltimore, Maryland or as close as Albuquerque, NM is very reasonable. Usually less then the cost of gas to get down this dratted hill to my LHS. To my surprise and delight PRICES are usually friendlier... then down the hill. So, what's the beef? Just teasing, I do know what you meant. I'm having problems with a Sound System provider. They just can't get it together and I will most likely not order from them again...loads of regrets and problems. But that's another story for another time, place and website. I do hope you can find a simple enough resolution to your problem.
I absolutely agree and this is not just for train things. Expecting you to go 75% through the checkout before letting you know the shipping cost is just not on - and it isn't unique to the US, I get the same trouble over here. Sometimes there is a non-obvious link to a page showing carriage, etc, or it's buried in the terms and conditions, or occasionally there is a place to put in your postcode (zipcode to some of you) and press a button to get the cost. But if I can't find the cost without putting in my personal data I simply close the site and go elsewhere if I have a choice, even if I may pay more. I've done just that a couple of times in the last month or so.
I buy from whomever has what I want. I purchase stock goods like "Plastruct" Channels, Detail Associates Parts, Accurail and other undec'd "shake-the-box" kits from local hobby stores and on-line stores. I also purchase tools like drill bits, files, and so on from local stores and on-line stores. I purchase specialty stuff and products going out of business (Like Champ Decals and Westerfield Kits, etc) from EBAY. Sofar, I haven't been "pegged" by shipping costs. I DO understand the original poster's frustration with executing a very lengthy registration just to find out shipping costs and other terms that may be "unsavory". However, I haven't had (knock on wood) any outrageous shipping fees..................... yet. It is amazing to me how much the online buisiness has hurt the brick and mortar stores. I always liked going into a well-stocked hobby store and buying good stuff from plenty of stock. THAT is my preference. But I understand those days are over. Bottom line? I don't spend a lot of money on many things. I DO spend money on my season tickets to college football and I DO spend money on this great hobby of ours. The bottom line is I spend the money wherever I find WHAT I WANT the quickest and at the best price. I want what I want and I want it NOW.
Yes, Maybe I should explain that I'm in Europe so sometimes I do get excessive shipping charges quoted. I also try and avoid shops that ship via UPS after they tried to charge me a $50 customs clearance charge on a $18 item - and that was on top of the $6 customs duty they where trying to collect! What made this particularly galling was that I often, as in this case, order in small quantities as orders less than $36 come into the EU customs free. The customs duty is not much but I also get charged our local sales tax and thats at 20%, then they stick on a $10 charge for collecting the tax! In most cases it's cheaper to buy in small quantities than to pay these charges. I'm also a bit of an odd modeler in that I don't buy much ready to run stuff - I'm a narrow gauger and tend to build most of my own stuff either from scratch or through 3-d printing. If fact I'm now starting to supply some of the later to other modelers. Rest assured, If I ever open my own online shop I'll make sure you can find out the shipping charges easily ! Tom
Why not tweak your profile to show your location. Then whatever nutty comment or request you make people will understand
I know I found with shipping to a overseas address, the shipper has to fill out extra paperwork and make sure you choose wisely on the method of shipping so to insure your parcel is insured; or you the shipper/seller is held responsible for parcels that do not arrive. So even though you have to be and are concerned about your interest, the vendor/shipper should be equally concerned about theirs. I won't ship overseas period not worth the hassles.
I normally never bother with insurance - I think I've lost one item in 20 years. It's far cheaper just to accept the loss than send each parcel at insured rates. I also find that having a large value written on the outside of a parcel is tempting fate. I've had a couple of parcels I've sent insured at the recipients request rifled through in transit, and in one case, to Germany, a Brass loco removed from the parcel.
Since I started collecting US outline stock just before last Christmas, I've ordered items from several TB advertisers. Thank you, folks, for the very prompt service! You know who you are (in Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico and New York). My gripe about buying from overseas is not so much reimbursing the vendor's shipping costs and your State Governor's cut, if applicable, but the charges imposed at this end. There is a delay while Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs people decide how much they are going to charge, then it gets to my local Royal Mail sorting office, who won't deliver until I've paid the HMRC levy plus the 8GBP charge imposed by Royal Mail for handling the package. I now have over half the freight and passenger stock I'm planning to buy, but I still have to buy several locomotives. I prefer to see those test run in the shop, especially if I'm buying "used". Regards, Pete Davies
Sorry to drag this post of mine up from the past, but it's always nice to find out your not the only one irritated by something. I just came across this post about how forcing people to log on first was costing one online retailer $300,000,000 a year. http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_button
I can feel for you tebee. Shipping Internationally can be a HUGE mess! And I'm trying to be polite here (was going to say something about a PAIN IN THE A**). I find the best way for me to ship Internationally (overseas & Canada ) is via the USPS. Most of the times I can get a tracking number and usually the cost is RIGHT ON. Really easy, now that USPS has the FLAT RATE BOXES for International Shipping. Costs a little more, but I usually get a delivery confirmation and the buyer has a better chance to get his item(s). I will NOT use PARCEL POST........NO WAY--NO HOW!! If the buyer demands PARCEL POST, I will usually cancel the sale or make the buyer SIGN & DATE a letter stating that I am not responsible for TIME IN TRANSIT. It took almost 6 months to get a shipment, sent via PARCEL POST, to THAILAND. Talk about a PISSED OFF buyer, but I tried to tell the guy................ So PLEASE bear with and work with your vendor/seller. I'm NOT a commercial seller. Just a guy on the web who is a Model Railroader, and will sell some excess (?) stuff every so often. I sell everywhere I can, but only sell on FEEBAY if I have to! Good Luck with your shipping problems.
That's an excellent story to read at the link. It does express my feelings about unnecessary registration at a website. I agree with the international shipping. I don't understand it all, but even shipping to our friends in Canada can be expensive if you don't know all the consequences of your different shipping options.
The online store I usually buy from has a simple policy. If your purchase is more than $100 the shipping is free! Easy and simple and sometimes if I am just under the $100 mark I will buy a car or something small to get the free shipping. I have recently been selling some of my excess rolling stock on Feebay and I ALWAYS send flat rate box with a tracking ## on it. I have a $6 shipping fee as it costs me $5.90 actual shipping cost. I have some buyers that think that is steep, but I fully disclose that the item will be shipped in a small or medium (depending on the item) box. I once had an item in a priority small flate rate box take 12 days to go from Seattle to Chicago area. The buyer didn't mind, he gave me a good feedback, but I was a little upset with USPS taking that long. I told the USPS that the RR would have been faster. Pun fully intended!
My rant is not with shipping charges - but with the amount of effort it takes to find what those charges are going to be ! Something that too many online retailers do not seem to have realized - I as the customer am not interested in forming a "relationship" with you. We want to find what we want to buy quickly and easily, then find the total price including shipping I'm going to have to pay. if this looks good I might have a look round see what else is in the shop I might be interested in or I may just go straight to checkout and get what I want. And I want to be able to do this quickly and easily, if you start bugging me with too many questions I might decide to give up and go back to Google and find someone else selling it. We internet customers are fickle creatures, we don't have the "brand loyalty" of brick and mortar store customers. If you are selling something I can get from a dozen other online stores we won't think twice about going to one of those if you throw obstacles in out way. Of course there are stores we will form a relationship with. If you are a specialist store or have unusual or hard to find things and are there at the end of a phone call or email when I want to ask you something I'll come back time and time again. I may even buy something from you when I know I could get it 5% from another faceless online emporium. But start charging 20% more than the opposition and you've probably lost my custom. The internet is a great tool for empowering the informed customer . It can be a great tool for those who want to sell things too - just done expect any loyalty from your customers. I live in a country area so there are a lot of things that need a 50 mile journey to the nearest shop that wil sell that sort of thing. I's much easier for me to go online and order it there. But I find many times now I'm ordering stuff direct from China or somewhere else thousands of miles away. Some times the total cost of an item including the shipping has been less that what a suppler in my own country wanted for shipping ! Ebay used to be a great place for the smaller retailer to sell his wares to the world in general, but they are making harder and harder for the small to mid sized seller and the costs of selling there are making what is on offer there uncompetitive. Maybe there is a need for something new to replace it. Tom
Tebee, I happened to notice that your placing the order to be delivered to the Country of France. It has been my experience that when shipping overseas that shipping cost can be quite high and options are very limited; needless to say that the paperwork is a bit to deal with which probably adds to the cost of shipping/handling. I'm not a vendor or LHS but from the few sales I have done with friends in this hobby that reside overseas I can tell you that it might just end up costing that much to ship the $7 item to you and assure that it get there to you. ie: registered Mail My small tip would be is to save up your items for ordering for one larger order to make it worth your expense and the LHS/online vendors efforts. Or find some LHS in your country of France to import the item for you and purchase from them. Justsayin
Shipping overseas can be tricky. I used to have a flat fee but had to drop it after getting burnt a few times. The cost can very so much depending on not only the weight but size of the box. I do now I just shipped some strip wood to Australia. The shipping was more then the cost of the wood, so he added a large O scale kit to the order and to ship both was only 2 dollars more then just the strip wood because of the box size required for the strip wood. In fact i can ship two O scale kits for the same price as one again due to size not weight. So it is best to ask the dealer the cost before you order. rich www.rslaserkits.com
