Thread: Shipping costs from the UK

Depending on what you buy, we only have bought light weight parts, they only offer Air mail. Reason, they say, surface mail is the same price. If you bought heavy parts I would assume surface mail would be the way to go though.

Mrs hh

Hello from Brisbane.

It depends a lot on the vendor - most will quote air mail assuming that you want the parts quickly. Also, as the Ho Hars suggest above the rate on small parcels isn't a lot different.

I find that it simply pays to ask if there is a cheaper rate than what is being quoted. For example, UK airmail and signed for airmail are quite different rates. If there is a better rate on offer that is good, otherwise make the decision on whether or not to go ahead.

Other than asking for a better rate on a paticular shipment, the best option is usually to bulk up your purchases until you hit the weight limit at which the rate increases. The savings on the post are often close to the price of the extra parts.

One thing to note on "air mail" is that it needn't mean speedy delivery - sometimes it arrives quickly, but others it can still take 4-6 weeks. For example, I am still waiting for a parcel that was sent from the UK a few weeks ago.

Cheers,

Yes; always ask if the price seems too steep.

I ordered a very lightweight part a few months ago for about 30 pounds, but the freight was 50 pounds! I asked if they could send it by Royal Mail, which they did for about 5 pounds

Cheers C

Thanks all .. phew .. I am glad there are a few options as I want to order springs ... outriggers ... seats ... etc etc

Paddocks list 4 options when quoting freight.

For example :-
- Airmail Parcelforce (courier) £163.00
- UPS £176.00
- TNT Economy £145.00
- TNT Express £211.00

I used Airmail Parcelforce and the parts were here within a week.


Colin

Expect to wait as much as 3 months for surface parcels and make sure you insure it as a lot goes missing when it comes through a port.

Even with postage, it is a lot cheaper a lot of the time buying from OS. I use Paddocks a fair bit, and as Gromit mentioned they give you 4 prices for shipping and give you the option to opt out of the order.

The latest order is on its way at the moment - quite a bulky item and the postage cost twice what the parts were, but still cheaper than the best quote I got here. Using UPS this time, but I have used DHL and TNT before as well. All have arrived within 7 days without damage.

I've even had disks for the L322 sent by air mail - over 20Kg. Arrived in 5 days at under half the cost of buying local.

Thanks all, I am concerned about the price of springs ... It will be heavy :-(