Hi all. I have just been on to engraver.com to order Christian's DVD on landscape bulino and accompanying casting. The DVD and casting were around 75 dollars. Shipping to the UK was a staggering 80 dollars on top. I can't believe it. How come it is so expensive? Has anyone had similar problems or is it some sort of gremlin in the webpage? The cost for shipping can't be that expensive surely.
I can't believe it.
- Thread starter phil
- Start date
Marrinan
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Phil, Let me tell you a story. At one time we had a swap where several of us engraved something and then those participating names were drawn from a hat and we sent our projects to each other. I sent a cheap knife that I over insured to Estonia and the recipient got hit with a import duty of $100. He was very unhappy. Don't think I will ever ship anything to anyone outside us ever again.Fred
Contact Tira before post here i think is the more effective, considere that if are shipping via Fedex is normal a high shipping price like this, but a lot of time websites have an automatic shipping calculator that can do wrong estimations.
Well Fred, that sure is heavy import duty. It is my understanding though that as long as the item is not sold for more than 100 pounds ( around 120ish dollars) then there should be no import duty for UK residents. I can't comment though on Estonia. I would have thought customs and excise must have looked at the engraving on the knife you sent and valued your engraving very highly indeed!!!!!!
Mrthe. That is what I am hoping. That It is just a massively incorrect automated calculation. I have emailed Chris to see what is going on. I had a little confusion when ordering. I originally ordered from Christian's website and the order seemed to go through no problem. However when I went back onto his site I had a message displayed saying that the shop had been removed and all orders must be placed through Tira's site. It was when I went on there that I saw the large shipping costs, so emailed Chris to see what was happening. I am sure everything will be OK. I am just waiting for a reply.
Haraga.com
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
13 years ago a 747 cargo grossed 250K$ every time it crossed the Atlantic with a load.
rayf24
Elite Cafe Member
My wife had the same thing when she tried to order a book from grs
postage was more than the book.
yet I have had other items from US same sort
of weight for 8 to 10 dollars its a bit like if its engraving
related you pay I have this when I buy marine items for my yacht put the word marine in front and pay double :thinking:
Ray
postage was more than the book.
yet I have had other items from US same sort
of weight for 8 to 10 dollars its a bit like if its engraving
related you pay I have this when I buy marine items for my yacht put the word marine in front and pay double :thinking:
Ray
Tira
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hello!
While I am happy you tried to shop via my website, I wish you would contact me directly about issues before posting on a public forum. Had you done so, I could have helped you with a custom shipping option.
International shipping is tricky. I help customers with individual quotes regularly. The problem with custom international quotes is that they are not easily generated through a website.
With respect to the UK, I have had trouble with the UK's postal service. They do not reliably track packages coming in from the US, and for that reason, you can't get shipping insurance on high dollar items unless you choose their premium Global Express Guaranteed service. Therefore, I don't offer shipping through USPS when shipping to the UK. Instead, I offer FedEx as a default. It is less expensive than the USPS GXG service and it is insurable and reliable.
If a customer wants a product and is willing to assume the risk of another method then I will use that method at the customer's request. I have calls and e-mails every day in which I work out custom shipping options to best suit each persons needs of insurance, tracking, timing, etc. Over this past year I've worked out shipping to places I didn't even know existed and have only lost one package to date. It was a USPS package that was sent on the cheap which was not insured and was not trackable....
While I am happy you tried to shop via my website, I wish you would contact me directly about issues before posting on a public forum. Had you done so, I could have helped you with a custom shipping option.
International shipping is tricky. I help customers with individual quotes regularly. The problem with custom international quotes is that they are not easily generated through a website.
With respect to the UK, I have had trouble with the UK's postal service. They do not reliably track packages coming in from the US, and for that reason, you can't get shipping insurance on high dollar items unless you choose their premium Global Express Guaranteed service. Therefore, I don't offer shipping through USPS when shipping to the UK. Instead, I offer FedEx as a default. It is less expensive than the USPS GXG service and it is insurable and reliable.
If a customer wants a product and is willing to assume the risk of another method then I will use that method at the customer's request. I have calls and e-mails every day in which I work out custom shipping options to best suit each persons needs of insurance, tracking, timing, etc. Over this past year I've worked out shipping to places I didn't even know existed and have only lost one package to date. It was a USPS package that was sent on the cheap which was not insured and was not trackable....
Eugene Carkoski
Elite Cafe Member
I noticed that they charged Marcus 16 pounds to ship a small book and 2 dvd's , its the middle man that is getting rich.
Willem Parel
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Hello!
While I am happy you tried to shop via my website, I wish you would contact me directly about issues before posting on a public forum. Had you done so, I could have helped you with a custom shipping option.
...
In spite of this Tira it's very useful to the other forum members Phil has posted it here, whether it's before or after contacting you...right?
It's a pity for himself but at least now I know what to ask when ordering something in then US.
Thak you for your reply Tira. I have done nothing wrong by posting on a public forum. If you read my post I am simply asking if anyone has encountered similar experiences. If shipping really is that expensive, or if it is a computer generated estimate/ gremlin on the website.
My order was placed on Christian's site and seemed to go through normally. However on returning to his website to show my wife what I had purchased I had a mesage displayed saying that this webstore was closed and all orders were to be placed through Engraver.com. I had a look at the displayed link to your website and saw the shipping charges and simply wanted to know why they appeared so expensive. I can't order through your site at the moment as the money has been taken from my account, yet due to that on screen message I am unsure if my order will be processed. I have phoned Chris and emailed but am still waiting for his reply. I am aware that he is a very busy man and that both of you offer the very highest levels of customer care.
The reason I didn't contact you is because my order was placed with Chris.
No derogatory remarks were intended or implied.
Thank you again for your response.
Kind regards. Phil
My order was placed on Christian's site and seemed to go through normally. However on returning to his website to show my wife what I had purchased I had a mesage displayed saying that this webstore was closed and all orders were to be placed through Engraver.com. I had a look at the displayed link to your website and saw the shipping charges and simply wanted to know why they appeared so expensive. I can't order through your site at the moment as the money has been taken from my account, yet due to that on screen message I am unsure if my order will be processed. I have phoned Chris and emailed but am still waiting for his reply. I am aware that he is a very busy man and that both of you offer the very highest levels of customer care.
The reason I didn't contact you is because my order was placed with Chris.
No derogatory remarks were intended or implied.
Thank you again for your response.
Kind regards. Phil
Gargoyle
Official Cafe Stone Carver
I've shipped my cast resin gargoyles to 14 or 15 countries. I always caution foreign inquiries that shipping could be as much as the piece, and they may be subject to VAT or other import taxes. Even shipping to Canada is surprisingly expensive.
Mike Fennell
Elite Cafe Member
When I had a branch of my law office in Seoul Korea, the import duty on anything I wanted to ship there was 100% of retail. Some countries intend to let money in and goods out, but discourage the reverse.
Brian Trace
Member
Dear All,
I've just suffered a similar fate when trying to order a $40 book from the UK through Brownells in the USA. In the first instance, the shipping cost to the UK was a staggering $65 but I was only told of that cost after the book was shipped. To add insult to injury, the book took 12 days to ship via UPS. When it arrived in the UK it was then was subject to HM Customs duty of $45 because the total value of the purchase including shipping was over $100. Hence, the overall cost of the $40 book was $150. You can guess that I refused to pay this obscene cost and the book was duly returned to sender for a total refund.
I've just suffered a similar fate when trying to order a $40 book from the UK through Brownells in the USA. In the first instance, the shipping cost to the UK was a staggering $65 but I was only told of that cost after the book was shipped. To add insult to injury, the book took 12 days to ship via UPS. When it arrived in the UK it was then was subject to HM Customs duty of $45 because the total value of the purchase including shipping was over $100. Hence, the overall cost of the $40 book was $150. You can guess that I refused to pay this obscene cost and the book was duly returned to sender for a total refund.
Idaho Flint
Elite Cafe Member
Thanks for this thread, this is very interesting and enlightening.
Mike
Mike
Well just a quick update. I have now received a refund from Christian and he is most confused as his site has indeed had the webstore facility removed. How on earth I was able to order on there he doesn't know and is looking into it. Just out of curiosity I popped back onto his site this evening and can still order the DVD. Those pesky gremlins are definitely active tonight. Anyway..... after all of the horror stories of import duty, heavy shipping charges etc I am going to give it a miss and treat myself to Marcus's dvd and casting. If you read this Marcus can you tell me if you are still on schedule for an early November release. I tried a pm but your box is full.
PS... hope that bug hasn't knocked you about too much.
PS... hope that bug hasn't knocked you about too much.
Gemsetterchris
Elite Cafe Member
Phil, call Sutton tools in Birmingham, I'm sure I got my bulino DVDs via them.
The problem of trans-Atlantic transactions is using courier rather than a good old fashion stamp.
Hardly likely parcels won't arrive eventually despite what you hear.
The problem of trans-Atlantic transactions is using courier rather than a good old fashion stamp.
Hardly likely parcels won't arrive eventually despite what you hear.
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