mike_t
Full Time Ride
Posts: 219
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Post by mike_t on Aug 13, 2020 14:20:49 GMT -8
What's troubling me is the prices being charged. I recently ordered decals from Indycals. They charged me $2.00 shipping. Here's the package, unopened:
Clearly marked, $1.41, so close enough, and thank you Michael. Colorado to Ontario, $1.41. So how come when one of you guys goes to the post office, they tell you it's $20.00? What do they do, make these numbers up and think it's a joke? Something is going on here.
What also gets me, as a Canadian, and I'm not sure if any of our foreign friends suffer from the same issue, but "duty" seems to be a hit or miss thing, as well. I recently received a 1/12 scale kit from the US, which had a $40.00 duty charge tacked on to it. On the other hand, I received a 1/12 kit from Japan, with not a penny added for duty. I know it's a fairly complicated scheme (it's the gov't, why wouldn't it be complicated?) but in a nutshell, duty is basically a deterrent against importing goods that are already available in your country, you know, buy local and all that stuff...but some consistency would be nice. Nothing beats going to the post office to pick up a package and find out you need to pay more money!
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Post by arcticwolf on Aug 13, 2020 16:43:05 GMT -8
What's troubling me is the prices being charged. I recently ordered decals from Indycals. They charged me $2.00 shipping. Here's the package, unopened:
Clearly marked, $1.41, so close enough, and thank you Michael. Colorado to Ontario, $1.41. So how come when one of you guys goes to the post office, they tell you it's $20.00? What do they do, make these numbers up and think it's a joke? Something is going on here.
All I can tell you is that I sending the same package, one to a US address, the other to a Canadian address, and it was $8.00 and $27 respectively. Same day, same clerk, same scales. Jim, I don't doubt that at all. I'm curious, so when I pick up your item, I'll ask what it would cost to mail it back to you. But we all know what Indycals pays, are they getting that good a discount?
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Post by arcticwolf on Aug 13, 2020 16:45:43 GMT -8
What's troubling me is the prices being charged. I recently ordered decals from Indycals. They charged me $2.00 shipping. Here's the package, unopened:
Clearly marked, $1.41, so close enough, and thank you Michael. Colorado to Ontario, $1.41. So how come when one of you guys goes to the post office, they tell you it's $20.00? What do they do, make these numbers up and think it's a joke? Something is going on here.
What also gets me, as a Canadian, and I'm not sure if any of our foreign friends suffer from the same issue, but "duty" seems to be a hit or miss thing, as well. I recently received a 1/12 scale kit from the US, which had a $40.00 duty charge tacked on to it. On the other hand, I received a 1/12 kit from Japan, with not a penny added for duty. I know it's a fairly complicated scheme (it's the gov't, why wouldn't it be complicated?) but in a nutshell, duty is basically a deterrent against importing goods that are already available in your country, you know, buy local and all that stuff...but some consistency would be nice. Nothing beats going to the post office to pick up a package and find out you need to pay more money! Mike, that's happened to me. It seems its only from US sources. But it's not duty, it's the HST they're collecting. Plus a service charge. Hurts even more!
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Post by eagle36 on Aug 13, 2020 17:20:08 GMT -8
Paul, My issue with the USPS is their screwy routing that at times literally makes no sense. Going to get worse not better here for the time being. Joel Amen to that. I live northwest of Madison, Wisconsin, about 170 miles from Chicago. I do track my orders and the northern Illinois post offices are the Bermuda Triangle of the postal system. I've had several items sit there for 60-90 days.
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Post by pbh51 on Aug 13, 2020 18:02:48 GMT -8
This thread is absolutely hilarious. I am telling all my friends about it. If only there could be some way to fix this problem. If only . . . .
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 14, 2020 4:48:00 GMT -8
Actually, I find it really sad. And as I posted before without making any political statements, it's going to get a lot worse real fast. So much so that my new plan is to place one paint order from Gravity for every model I'm even considering building within the next 2 years (they ship DHL as standard practice), decals from Indy Cal for every planned model that they have decals for, and have Michael ship them Fed Ex or UPS ( I'll pay the extra charges gladly), and as for the few new models I'm looking for, the only resource open to me is Spot of Spain, so I'll pay for Fed Ex. Unfortunately, there's just no good online model resource other then ScaleHobbyist.com and they really haven't added much to their inventory, nor any new lines like Beemax, Platz, Nunu, etc.
It' really sad that it has come down to this, but unit Nov is here and past, the USPS is going to be rocked to its core.
Joel
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Post by pbh51 on Aug 14, 2020 6:23:25 GMT -8
What makes you think things will improve in November? The weather?
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Post by 4wheels on Aug 14, 2020 8:18:56 GMT -8
Probably no REAL improvement until late January, 2021!
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 14, 2020 8:34:47 GMT -8
The election is over and the funding will have to start as if nothing else the Vets will have been up in arms. All that would be really needed is the machines that they removed are put back. I guess that a lot depends on who wins and who loses. I think at this point that we should just let it go as we're starting to get into the politics end of it.
Joel
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Post by pbh51 on Aug 14, 2020 18:18:38 GMT -8
The machines are literally being junked. Hundreds of Millions of dollars of bar code sorters, over 500, all being trashed. Mail boxes, Mail boxes are being torn up. The vandalism will not be repaired right away no matter what the weather looks like in November or January. Really don't want to hear people complaining about the USPS delays when it is being destroyed.
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Post by pnance26 on Aug 19, 2020 7:08:33 GMT -8
Here is a perfect example of why USPS is driving away customers.
I took a package (18 x 12 x 12) to the USPS counter. It was going to Iowa from California. The postal worker put it on the scale and gave me three prices, the lowest being $17.45 for 7 day delivery. The package was less than two pounds.
I said okay and as I was labeling it, she input the dimensions and suddenly the cost went to $43. I asked her what happened and she just gave me the two headed goat look.
I simply said, “I want to support the USPS but this is why I can’t! You aren’t honest with people!” It still cost me at UPS but just on principle I left!
I guess I should use a shipping site that I hear about to create my own labels etc.
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 19, 2020 7:58:39 GMT -8
Patrick,
For that price you can use UPS and Fed Ex is even a little cheaper. Better and faster service. The only way the PO is usual is with their one price for each box size no matter what it weighs.
Joel
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Post by Oldtimer on Aug 19, 2020 8:08:35 GMT -8
Here is a perfect example of why USPS is driving away customers. I took a package (18 x 12 x 12) to the USPS counter. It was going to Iowa from California. The postal worker put it on the scale and gave me three prices, the lowest being $17.45 for 7 day delivery. The package was less than two pounds. I said okay and as I was labeling it, she input the dimensions and suddenly the cost went to $43. I asked her what happened and she just gave me the two headed goat look. I simply said, “I want to support the USPS but this is why I can’t! You aren’t honest with people!” It still cost me at UPS but just on principle I left! I guess I should use a shipping site that I hear about to create my own labels etc. I always ask them to put in the dimensions. I guess I've been in a selling mode for the past year or so, and it became really obvious that weight is not the primary determinant. Anything with a dimension over 12" is subject to adjustment per their shipping rules, although a 16x8x8 box that most diecast will fit into usually will stay inside the minimum.
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Post by vintagerpm on Aug 19, 2020 10:41:30 GMT -8
Here is a perfect example of why USPS is driving away customers. I took a package (18 x 12 x 12) to the USPS counter. It was going to Iowa from California. The postal worker put it on the scale and gave me three prices, the lowest being $17.45 for 7 day delivery. The package was less than two pounds. I said okay and as I was labeling it, she input the dimensions and suddenly the cost went to $43. I asked her what happened and she just gave me the two headed goat look. I simply said, “I want to support the USPS but this is why I can’t! You aren’t honest with people!” It still cost me at UPS but just on principle I left! I guess I should use a shipping site that I hear about to create my own labels etc. Trust me, you are better off using the courier services. No matter what they tell you, that package would not have been delivered in 7 days. The "missing" packages of my wife's that I mentioned at the beginning of this thread... well, they were finally scanned in at our post office yesterday, 3 weeks after dropping them off. Mike
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Post by Joel_W on Aug 19, 2020 15:34:59 GMT -8
I just placed a fairly large order with Indy Cals today. And with every item ordered Michael has a pop up stating that you need priority mail to get tracking. Orders are now taking 10-13 weeks on the average with some much longer. Replacement orders will only happen when the post office officially lists an order lost as it can show up months later.
With this order, the paints I ordered from Gravity in Spain (DHL shipping). I'm easily set for a few years if need be.
Joel
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