Help need with info. can US seller ship to UK SURFACE mail for large amounts?

[English Jules]

I had a quick look online but didnt find out the info really.

Years ago, i used to always use surface shipping, as i could get 10, 20 etc kits from one seller and surface was cheap....the stopped it now. I did speak to a old guy called Fred in NY who trades, years ago i used him a lot, he did say about 3 car kits could be surface shipped but price wasnt too great.

Max i can get airmail (i was told by a ebay seller was about 10 car kits) but not cheap.

SO is there a way, i can get surface shipped kits over? Seen some sellers who have a lot of stuff i would like, and i could split the kits down the middle with a friend.

ta :-)

[Craig Irwin]

I'm not sure what the terms were but a few months ago I sent a $15 kit to England and it cost me $25 to do it, no speed delivery, no insurance, no ect.....

[jbwelda]

the thing is, there is no more "surface" international shipping via the post office anymore. it is all air mail, which in reality it was before most of the time...most of the time the package would just be thrown on the same airplane as the air mail was, but there was no guarantee of this and no guarantee that your package might just end up sitting in a rail car on a siding for a month either. at some point they consolidated the whole mess, which of course means we all pay high international postage costs with few options around them.

also little known is that if you declare a message in with the package, you will be charged a way higher rate than if there is no communication in the package.

so, in short, while fred (sterns probably?) used to be able to do it, and you can still send things surface mail within the usa (though it often does not cost any less), I don't think you will find many deals on international shipping no matter how long you say you are willing to wait for delivery

jb

[jrherald420]

I just shipped a 1lbs box to the UK with a firebird T/A rebuilder and a Viper GTS shell and hood and it was 14.00. Took 6 weeks for it to show up, no ins, no tracking nothing.

[English Jules]

i was happy to wait 6 weeks or so, yeah it was Fred Stern IIRC. I never had one of the shipments fail to arrive, and at the time a large mail van would turn up almost daily with a big package for me. I soon built up a collection of a 1000 car kits that way, plus it was also a good way to get genuine CHiPs toys too.

I need a few more AMT 70's Fords, few more Lindberg Crown Vics, Chargers etc plus so many muscle and trucks i want also

[Modelmartin]

As jbwelda said, the USPS quit offering surface mail at least 10 years ago. It is frightfully expensive to ship anything overseas now. It often costs $40 to 60 dollars to send a heavier book! I have always preferred USPS to other shippers but overseas rates are becoming prohibitive.

[Dave Van]

To the UK only option is Priority Mail........costly. UPS might be cheaper.

[English Jules]

it cost the other week, the 5 Lindberg Chargers 60 something $'s.

I have just had the royal mail leave me a card, saying i have to pay a handling fee of about $12 for a couple of decal sheets i ordered from the US other week....thats more than the customs tax fee by a large amount. Often sellers just stick any price down not realising unlike the US, here we get stung for high charges for toys, either for ourselves or for selling as business

I do have a lot of US cop car books, some are really thick and large. No way could i get them shipped over now.

I know Surface must still be a option somehow, as the UK importer for Lindberg bring a huge amount in (or maybe they are brought in from another country?) but they never did or will import the Charger cop car or Crown Vic (i had that from the horses mouth a while back, hence i got 5 imported myself)

[PowerPlant]

I am from Europe and have traded here over the last two years, although I find most members are generally reluctant to trade across the pond due to alleged shipping costs...

However, I have had kits sent to me from the US for as little as 12 bucks.

I traded with a member who checked online for a cost estimate for shipping 2 kits+resin body to me in Croatia, and it was grossly overestimated... Something like 75 bucks... Needless to say, he got discouraged, but still went through the trouble of packing the kits up and taking them to the post office to check... The package ended up costing 25 dollars, something like a third of the online estimate. Still not what you'd call cheap, but much less than what one might expect

Edited June 11, 2014 by PowerPlant

[English Jules]

cool. interesting.

ta

[Tom Geiger]

To the UK only option is Priority Mail........costly. UPS might be cheaper.

Just be careful about using shippers other than the postal service. Some of them use a third party customs agent at an extra cost. I'm running an educational program for an international company right now. Our training company had Fed Ex parcels of course materials sit in customs in Ireland for 2 weeks recently. And now I'm crossing my fingers that our packages to Italy will get there in time.

[Thatswhatshesaid]

Fred Sterns is a hassle. He'll leave you disappointed.

[English Jules]

Fred Sterns is a hassle. He'll leave you disappointed.

I used him many times years ago when i got surface, never had a problem with him, either in mails or shipping

[Tom Geiger]

Fred Sterns is a hassle. He'll leave you disappointed.

I tried working with Fred years ago. The problem I had with Fred was his antiquated business practices. For some reason he favored doing business with people who ordered by mail. He said he mailed out his flyers by sending the ones that traveled furthest out a few days before the near ones. That sounds good until you realize that the USPS will deliver something from NY to California sometimes faster than NY to NJ! Then he wouldn't put his list on his website until way later than the lists he mailed out. Then for the kicker, if you emailed him an order, he didn't check his email regularly so someone could phone in or mail in an order and beat you.

After laboring through several of his lists and picking out 10 or more items each time, each and every time it was all sold. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't buy anything from him so I just gave up!

[English Jules]

yeah i can imagine, i did notice that too, i got a lot from him, around 99 to 2001 when surface was still good for a big box of kits. I guess a old fashioned guy with new technology back then. I too would see stuff but by the time i asked after seeing it, they had been taken. I did message him a few weeks ago first time in well over 10 years and he was jolly. He did say the stopping of surface shipping to Europe was a huge amount of his business

[jbwelda]

Fred is one guy I told should definitely look into this interweb thing back in the ninetys...not interested. but I bought stuff from him all the time from those lists he mailed out. all you needed was a little patience and you could score really great stuff mostly really cheap. I would call him and he would tell me what was still available. it was all much more peaceful back then when people didn't expect instant service. I am surprised he made the leap, halfhearted as it may be, at all. the world needs more people like fred in my opinion.

but I digress, continually, only to note that I do not think the only option to the UK etc from USA is priority mail. ask for a priority mail rate sometime to say Croatia. it will be in the range of 75$ for a one pound package...pretty much the same rate as to western Europe. its totally outrageous. now what you DO have is the good old "small package" class, it is airmail but somehow not "priority" and there are certain rules you have to follow including that there is merchandise only in the package, no packing slip, no note to Mom, no photos from home, nothing but the object of desire as it were. and if you tell the postal person there is written communication in there it cannot go that class. and of course they have the (seldom exercised) right to open the package to ascertain the contents for themselves, so you do have to realize that involves consequences.

if and when you get to that point it is quite possible you are then stuck with the "Priority" route. but do realize sometimes all this varies based on which post office you are at. some are very busy and people are gruff and want you gone asap (big cities typically) but some are more helpful and will suggest ways to comply without really having to pay the maximum rates (small towns typically...everybody gets to know everybody and they are typically much friendlier and willing to discuss options, even with strangers). theres only so much they can do but up until sort of recently there were some back doors and protocols you could use to reduce rates. sometimes driving out of your municipal area to an outlying country town will pay back, but remember you are spending the $ to get there as well so saving 5$ on shipping may not mean much if you spend 10$ to get there.

the USPS has become prohibitively expensive to ship to and the problem is I doubt very much you will find other shippers (UPS,FedEx, etc) who will do it for much less.

jb

[Tom Geiger]

There are several reasons why USPS International rates have gone up. FIrst, I think we had cheaper rates than other countries for a long time. I remember traders commenting that it cost them a lot more money to send to me, then I had spent the other way. This also may have some bearing on where the US dollar is against foreign currencies. I know that an Aussie dollar used to be about 50 cents US, and now a US dollar is worth $1.06 Australian. So USA goods and vacations are grand bargains to them. I know an Aussie buddy-0-mine went on an eBay binge of very rare and expensive old US kits when it first happened. He had them all shipped to me and when I got 6 kits, I'd send them on to him to save on the per order shipping. I remember those packages costing something like $20 to mail to him.

As someone else said, nothing goes by slow boat anymore. So when still had surface mail on the books, the stuff really went space available on the same planes as if we had paid for airmail. Sometimes it would take a few weeks or longer, other times I'd find stuff I mailed to Europe getting there in a week.

Next, the USPS has forever been running at a loss. Some of which is due to Congress putting restrictions on them like mandating how they fund their pension fund, as well as making them continue with six day delivery. The USPS also delivers anywhere in the USA for the same basic rates, no matter how back water you are. I saw a TV news story showing a mail carrier delivering mail to remote cattle ranches in Wyoming by Cessna. UPS and FedEx have up charges for anyone who is slightly off the major path, and probably wouldn't deliver to the cattle ranch at all. But USPS continues to do so at a grand loss, and that gets spread back to all of us.

[English Jules]

I used to get a lot of thick Cop car books sent over, and surface was great as i got 2 genuine CHiPs show kids sleeping bags, really thick and weighed a lot, not like a modern sythnetic sleeping bag. I used to get lots of CHiPs toys but airmail only meant something costing me 5 to 10$s would be the same or often more in shipping alone. I was gutted as i saw so many great things i wanted but just out of my reach due to the cost. I didnt have anyone in the US who i could get them sent too, and then forwarded onto me when there were a good few.

One thing that did annoy me, often i saw US ONLY bidders, so i would ask the seller if i could bid, as i collected them, most said yeah fine but some just wouldnt shift.

I know when i send stuff to makes in the US, in a evelope or even a kit, shipping was much less then to be sent over to me. I had envelope arrive last week, it was $8.99 cost on the envelope, i was pretty shocked, as the same time i sent some guy in California some plane decals from my stash for free and i paid about $1.90 max easy.

[Thatswhatshesaid]

The problem with Fred is by the time his list is mailed out or the website is updated, its already gone. If he does happen to have something you want he sells it out from under you or can't find it. His prices are also not as cheap as they used to be. Just not worth it.