K & C Corsair on Ebay (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

Someone is selling the K & C Corsair polystone on Ebay for a Buy it Now at $299. This is a pretty good price and under market. So, if you're interested, don't wait.

 

[jazzeum]

Here's another one, at a much better opening bid.

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I buying anything from "isoldit". 18.00 to ship to New Jersey

 

[maddadicus]

Brad, what is the going price for these? Michael

 

[jazzeum]

Michael,

$350 to $450.

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I was watching another auction for this piece that ended at around 265.00

 

[jazzeum]

Yes, that one ended on the 19th for $255. I haven't updated lists for the past couple of days yet. It's possible there may be a couple of bargains on ebay with Christmas approaching.

 

[tdubel]

I buying anything from "isoldit". 18.00 to ship to New Jersey

I think you always have to factor shipping into total price. I don't sweat that too much unless it is absolutely ridiculous. BUT I will say this, the USPS priority mail rates are out of sight, when I ship from East coast to West Coast, the cost for a 3 to 5 lb box jumps to close to $19. UPS Ground is under $10 for that. The Postal service rates are awful.

Also, in defense of sellers on ebay, they are hit with listing fees, final fees and paypal fees. There has to be a some sort of handling charge to recover that especially if it is on a low dollar item. Now direct sales are different, shipping should be at cost or near cost.

My 2 cents

Tom

 

[Gideon]

I think you always have to factor shipping into total price. I don't sweat that too much unless it is absolutely ridiculous. BUT I will say this, the USPS priority mail rates are out of sight, when I ship from East coast to West Coast, the cost for a 3 to 5 lb box jumps to close to $19. UPS Ground is under $10 for that. The Postal service rates are awful.

Also, in defense of sellers on ebay, they are hit with listing fees, final fees and paypal fees. There has to be a some sort of handling charge to recover that especially if it is on a low dollar item. Now direct sales are different, shipping should be at cost or near cost.

My 2 cents

Tom

Right on Tom. We are switching most domestic shipping to UPS next year. The fees to the West Coast are insane and I'm a bulk shipper. MAkes no sense anymore. Even parcel prices have gone up tremendously.

I bought the plane - I sold my last one recently and I guess I had sellers remorse.

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I buying anything from "isoldit". 18.00 to ship to New Jersey

Being an online retailer I know that shipping costs have been climbing out of control. I did have a bad experience with this auction company in the past. I bought a small lot of Britain's Civil War figures on eBay from an isoldit in NJ. They charged me 20.00 bucks to ship from north to south jersey. At the time it should have been 4.60 USPS Priority mail. When I called them the explanation I was given was that they base their shipping on the most expensive location to ship too. In this case the west coast. If you live closer your screwed. They said it would also be insured with signature confirmation. It arrived to be in three weeks with no insurance or signature confirmation.

 

[tdubel]

Ya, I hear ya, you have to be careful with I SOLD IT, they are franchises basically so each is different. Some are better than others, but you are absorbing some of their own fees in the shipping, that's for sure!

Tom

 

[Gideon]

Back to the USPS issue - those idiots lost/stole 4 packages. My customers are very understanding and I am working with them to get replacements out. Each time I call in, the statement is that they do not guaranty delivery unless it is Express and insured. No accountability what-so-ever.

I have shipped over 4-5K packages in the past 12 months. I have never - NEVER - had this many go missing ever. Something is up with this local post office. All 4 went missing after being scanned as leaving Philadelphia and all 4 were Parcel Post.

 

[tdubel]

I have sent 2 packages to Australia, 1 Express, 1 Surface, guess what, BOTH LOST and BOTH LARGE BOXES. Our postal service sucks plain and simple, it is over priced, slow and has no accountability whatsoever. Ridiculous. By the way, the Surface mail claim has been in process since March 2007, by the time I get repaid, is it worth it???

I complain a lot when I order overseas (England) about postage, but I have to say, they seemingly always make it here, only delays I have ever had are caused on this end by our own USPS.
Tom

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I have to say for the price I don't think the USPS can be beat. I ship hundreds of packages every week, both domestic and international, and in over eight years have only lost one order. I have had a few take a long time to finally arrive, but 99.9% of the time it's been because of a foreign PO or customs office screwing up. US and FedEx are too expensive for overseas mail. FedEx is cheaper in the US for mail over 3 lbs, UPS is the most expensive in the US.

 

[tdubel]

I beg to differ on UPS. Fed Ex in my opinion is awful.

BUT UPS with my business account is by far way cheaper on average for ground service than Prioirty Mail ever will be. You are talking about $18 for a decent weight box from Maryland to California with USPS. The same package is $7-9 for UPS ground. No comparison, plus the tracking on UPS is much better, more efficient and there is actually a customer service that can assist you in mid shipment.

So, more power to you if you have a good time with the USPS, but they are not my choice. AND International service is awful. DHL provides a fully tracked service that is cheaper than USPS express by far.

Again, my experiences only, but after the USPS latest rate change, I am not going back to priority.

Disclaimer, I do not ship toy soldiers for a living, my experiences range from ebay as a hobby. (an extensive one at that!)

TD

 

[jazzeum]

I'm with UPS. Now, I'm not in this as a business but just to sell things so I can buy more soldiers. In seven or eight year of using UPS, never had a broken package and only one screwup, which was quickly addressed. USPS you can't track and they have all these new regulations so that it's just a pain.

 

[Gideon]

I'm with UPS. Now, I'm not in this as a business but just to sell things so I can buy more soldiers. In seven or eight year of using UPS, never had a broken package and only one screwup, which was quickly addressed. USPS you can't track and they have all these new regulations so that it's just a pain.

No kidding. A real pain. I must say that I will continue to use USPS international services but not domestic.

We shipped a number of Parcel packages earlier this month - I warned all our customers about choosing the lower priced shipping option on the website but some chose Parcel anyway.

There are now 5 parcel post packages shipped in the first week of December now missing.

I call the USPS. Nothing. No accountability. Not in so many words, they are basically saying "use us at your own risk". Now that's customer service. No tracking, not required to scan anything except for Express packages (they haven't been scanning mine by the way) and if it's not insured you are screwed.

On another forum, a postal worker said during the course of the year, parcel packages will often be included in trucks carrying Express and Priority packages so you run a good chance of fast delivery - anything to fill up a truck. During the holidays it's different. They contiuously fill trucks with express and priority mail pieces and leave the parcel post until there is room. That can mean a bin containing parcel packages can remain at distribution for any given amount of time pending enough space to include it. This is why parcel, first class and media take so long this time of year.

I was thinking about FedEx but I've been having problems with them too. My latest K&C order was shipped from a dispatch point in Tennessee to JFK - Yo! I'm in Philly!