A few questions and possibly a favour

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Hoblit

New member
Here is the situation I find myself in. I would like to order some stuff from the disney shop in the US, but the shipping out to SA is horrific. The items in question are 40$ and the shipping is going to cost 80$.

Now, what I am trying to find out from those of you with experience in international shipping is what sort of price should I expect.

Secondly, and this is where the favour part comes in. Is anybody willing for me to be able to ship stuff to them in the states, and then they send it on to me. I would gladly reimburse the expense in cash or miniatures, your choice.

Thanks
Gareth
 
S

sebrushworth

Guest
80 dollars sounds insanely expensive for 40 dollars worth of items, but I don\'t know, it all depends on what particular agreement South Africa has with USA.

One thing that really bugs me living here in Sweden is that it\'s more expensive to ship to/from England than to/from USA!!!!
 
QuietiManes

QuietiManes

New member
You can go to the website for the company that\'s going to do Disney\'s shipping and check what rate they give you, although it\'s only an approximate value it should give you an idea if this is all worth your time. Probably FedEx or UPS or USPS. Sending anything to SA is probably very expensive because of the lack of population there. Fewer parcels on each truck means each truck has to charge more to make the delivery sort of deal.

Also, keep in mind there\'ll probably be alot of packing foam and such around your product so the box will be a fair bit larger/heavier than you might expect for the item, especially if it\'s a snow globe or ceramic figurine or something delicate like that, they put it in huge boxes.

They\'d really have to be hosing you for the shipping to make this pay off though, shipping to the USA then to SA would cost alot more than a single shipment strait to you.
 
QuietiManes

QuietiManes

New member
The shipping is like that here in Canada too. It costs more to ship within Canada than it does to ship to the USA. There\'s some sort of agreement with the USA that Canada Post only has to pay to get the item to the border, then the USA pays to get the item to its destination, so Canadians dont have to pay for half the trip. It causes lots of people to complain because the USA has a much denser population so USPS can ship parcels alot cheaper than we can so to get something sent from the USA is cheaper than to get it sent from Canada, so this causes alot of Canadians to buy from the USA because they think they\'re getting gouged on the shipping from the Canadian retailers/eBayers etc. It wouldnt suprise me if someone in the US was smart enough to arrage these sort of things with multiple countries to facilitate this sort of income. Sounds like a fair trade anyway, lose a couple bucks on the mail system, gain a couple hundred bucks foreign income in some local business.
 
H

Hoblit

New member
Thanks for the info.

It looks like I should be able to get the stuff shipped much cheaper If I send it surface mail. The 6 week delivery time is not a concern. The stuff I want to get is a surprise present, and it can be a surprise whenever it arrives. Depending on the weight of the parcel I may consider air mail. But these considerations would need to wait until I can find someone to ship it to.

Now, would anyone be willing to help me out?
 
Y

Yellow one

New member
Yes, sometime postage is the real pain. So, another sad history. I cant receive my slayer sword. GW was send it to my by UPS. His invoice cost is 200 pounds. So, for receive it i must pay over 250USD for a customs and services of custom broker. I must reject the sword and getr it personaly in my next visit in UK.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Hoblit, I am not sure I understand your request?

You are going to buy from the Disney store, ship it to SA, then ship it to me to ship back to you?

I could pick up from the Disney store on the way home. But you\'ve alread found that they can ship to you reasonable.

But I think I am confused....
 
H

Hoblit

New member
Yes airhead, you are confused.

Here\'s the situation.

I\'m in South Africa. I am going to buy stuff off the disney site based in the USA. Then I am going to ship it to someone in the US, and they are going to put my address on and send it to me.

The reason for this is the international shipping from the site is a complete ripoff. and I should be able to halve the shipping costs by doing this.
 
M

marineboy

New member
Originally posted by airhead
Hoblit, I am not sure I understand your request?

You are going to buy from the Disney store, ship it to SA, then ship it to me to ship back to you?

I could pick up from the Disney store on the way home. But you\'ve alread found that they can ship to you reasonable.

But I think I am confused....
Click to expand...

You seem to have quite a good grasp on the situation, airhead...lol
 
V

vincegamer

Active member
Originally posted by Hoblit
I\'m in South Africa. I am going to buy stuff off the disney site based in the USA. Then I am going to ship it to someone in the US, and they are going to put my address on and send it to me.
Click to expand...
Disney has stores in shopping malls all over the USA. It would probably be easier and cheaper to get someone in the USA to buy it at the mall if possible, then ship directly to you.
Is this something commonly available in their retail stores?
Also, if you know the weight, you can calculate shipping at www.usps.com
 
H

Hoblit

New member
I have no idea if the stuff I want is available in stores, so I don\'t know.

As far as the weight goes, again, I don\'t know.

For the disney website anything over 100$ is free shipping anywhere in the US, and if I am going to all this effort, I\'ll at least make it a decent order. And, at least this way I don\'t have to try and explain what I want to someone else.

The main reason I was going to do the purhase is that I would hate for someone to be out of pocket until the transfer arrives, and I have no idea how long that would take. if it\'s only 20 or 30 $ I think that might be a slighter better amount to wait for.
 
R

RedDawn

New member
Hoblit - let me check and make sure we still have a Disney store (or stores) here in Atlanta and if we do I\'ll be happy to send it to you. It\'ll have to wait until after next week since we\'re going out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.
 
R

RedDawn

New member
Found one!

Hoblit, there\'s a Disney store at the mall right around the corner from me! Let me know what you want and I\'ll try to get it.

RD
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
If it is not at the mall, let me know. I live in the mouse\'s back yard. Send me a picy/item number and I should be able to get it.
 
M

Modderrhu

New member
Unfortunately, there\'s nothing of interest for me at the Disney store, or I\'d offer to share an order with you, Hoblit.

However, from my last DickBlick invoice; $42.44 worth of items, $18 for postage, $60.44 total. Granted, it was for 8 brushes, so minimal weight. Last order from GW in the UK was ₤8 postage for up to 1kg.

Double check that you did not ask for courier delivery, or something like that. $80 :)o ) is otherwise plain insane.
 
Dragon Forge Design

Dragon Forge Design

New member
Originally posted by Yellow one
Yes, sometime postage is the real pain. So, another sad history. I cant receive my slayer sword. GW was send it to my by UPS. His invoice cost is 200 pounds. So, for receive it i must pay over 250USD for a customs and services of custom broker. I must reject the sword and getr it personaly in my next visit in UK.
Click to expand...

Wow thats got to suck..where do you live that they are chargeing almost 100 percent duties fees. I just received a 140 pound army from UK GW mail order to me here in the states.. no duty at all.
 
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