The Problem of Growing Postage Costs & Exchange Rates. (1 Viewer)

[Desertkiwi]

Price increases are a fact of life and as we all know this hobby is not immune. Apart from the retail cost of an item, there are other factors that contribute, such as postage and exchange rates.

For some this isn’t such a big deal, especially if you’re able to visit your local TS stockist. However I know from speaking with others increased postage coats and fluctuating exchange rates are having a big impact on many collectors and greatly reducing their spending capacity.

I’d like to hear from other members how they work around this issue and if they have any tips or tricks they would like to share?

 

[DMNamiot]

This is a topic that I wrestle with a lot mainly because most of the sets or figures I am searching for are from older makers or long gone makers. So the way I deal with it is based upon the price, if the seller has a reasonable price lower than originall retail on the item I will pull the trigger on the item but lately I have been less in a hurry and willing to wait a bit longer since postage costs from overseas are ridiculous. So I guess it boils down to how big your collecting budget is and what part of it you are willing to eat up on postage

 

[sfarrelly]

ok this is a very useful question and as a collector who buys/sells a lot of stuff here is what ive found;

1. Do NOT use local post office unless you absolutely have to. Their prices have gone nothing but go up and up over the years. a complete ripoff.

2. Use couriers if at all possible. The competition between the many international courier companies is fierce and they will offer discounts. dont take a price from one courier - call many !!! this is crucial. Ive seen so many people ripped off by the first courier they contact. Never use a courier from a post office - they are extremely expensive. Phone couriers or try their websites.

3. Use a courier comparison website for shipping as they get quotes from many couriers and you get the cheapest price. for example I have found nobody cheaper than; https://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/ Their prices are the best ! and they have a no quibble £5 insurance you can add. ANYTHING goes wrong and you get a complete refund of the postage AND the value of the item shipped. Fantastic for shipping large planes/ships which can easily get damaged during shipping.

4. Transglobal also pickup from anywhere in the world (almost) and deliver to anywhere. Very useful. DISCLAIMER: I am not employed by transglobal and have no connection to them!! I just use them a lot.

5. For mail inside your own country there is plenty of competition nowadays too. You can always find someone cheaper. In UK we have Hermes (cheaper then PO - you just need to find a nearby shop that will accept once you self print the postage label and pay online. Walk/drive down and drop it off yourself). Ebay use them as cheaper than PO. We also have Collectplus who work the same but specialise in large packages - bigger than PO will take and massively cheaper. Also very useful.

6. Ebay have a GPS - Global shipping service. If you sell something online select this option. You only pay to ship to ebay in your country - not international ! ebay pay for that and as ebay are massive they get a massive discount on shipping making the total postage cost very cheap for international. If you have something to sell to someone individually put it on ebay with GPS and a private auction and email the buyer the item number so only he can buy. Now its cheap - but you pay ebay fees but overall it still works out cheaper than you could ever post yourself.

7. Remember volume=cheap postage. The couriers only offer big discounts to those companies which use them a lot. If you know someone who works at a large company who has a big discount ask them if they can post for you. If you work for a big company use your post room and ask your boss nicely if you can pay.

8. I know business who survive on postage. They sell stuff at cost or nearly at cost but due to volume (one sells 10,000 items a week) they negotiated a big discount from couriers by playing them off against each other and they make 10k a week on the postage only - thats their profit !

Good luck,

Cheers,

Stefan
Palmerston North, NZ (but stuck in London

 

[Desertkiwi]

ok this is a very useful question and as a collector who buys/sells a lot of stuff here is what ive found;

1. Do NOT use local post office unless you absolutely have to. Their prices have gone nothing but go up and up over the years. a complete ripoff.

2. Use couriers if at all possible. The competition between the many international courier companies is fierce and they will offer discounts. dont take a price from one courier - call many !!! this is crucial. Ive seen so many people ripped off by the first courier they contact. Never use a courier from a post office - they are extremely expensive. Phone couriers or try their websites.

3. Use a courier comparison website for shipping as they get quotes from many couriers and you get the cheapest price. for example I have found nobody cheaper than; https://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/ Their prices are the best ! and they have a no quibble £5 insurance you can add. ANYTHING goes wrong and you get a complete refund of the postage AND the value of the item shipped. Fantastic for shipping large planes/ships which can easily get damaged during shipping.

4. Transglobal also pickup from anywhere in the world (almost) and deliver to anywhere. Very useful. DISCLAIMER: I am not employed by transglobal and have no connection to them!! I just use them a lot.

5. For mail inside your own country there is plenty of competition nowadays too. You can always find someone cheaper. In UK we have Hermes (cheaper then PO - you just need to find a nearby shop that will accept once you self print the postage label and pay online. Walk/drive down and drop it off yourself). Ebay use them as cheaper than PO. We also have Collectplus who work the same but specialise in large packages - bigger than PO will take and massively cheaper. Also very useful.

6. Ebay have a GPS - Global shipping service. If you sell something online select this option. You only pay to ship to ebay in your country - not international ! ebay pay for that and as ebay are massive they get a massive discount on shipping making the total postage cost very cheap for international. If you have something to sell to someone individually put it on ebay with GPS and a private auction and email the buyer the item number so only he can buy. Now its cheap - but you pay ebay fees but overall it still works out cheaper than you could ever post yourself.

7. Remember volume=cheap postage. The couriers only offer big discounts to those companies which use them a lot. If you know someone who works at a large company who has a big discount ask them if they can post for you. If you work for a big company use your post room and ask your boss nicely if you can pay.

8. I know business who survive on postage. They sell stuff at cost or nearly at cost but due to volume (one sells 10,000 items a week) they negotiated a big discount from couriers by playing them off against each other and they make 10k a week on the postage only - thats their profit !

Good luck,

Cheers,

Stefan
Palmerston North, NZ (but stuck in London

Excellent post (no pun intended) Stefan, thanks for taking the time to share this mate! :salute::

 

[sfarrelly]

forgot to add;

for ebay private auctions to use their GSP for international postage (Global shipping center) wait till ebay has a special offer one which they often do. For example "Sell for £1" or free listing so it only costs you £1 in ebay fees (ebay.com does same for $1) and you still get the benefit of ebays super cheap GSP.

And the best part is you only ship locally in country to ebay then they fwd on which means ebay is responsible for shipping to the buyer, not you. Recently I had a sale to someone in France via GSP. I posted locally to ebay GSP aok then it got lost from there to France so ebay paid out, not me. If I had posted I am responsible for it getting to France and if disappears I lose the sale amount and postage !"£$.

Cheers,

Stefan

 

[Desertkiwi]

forgot to add;

for ebay private auctions to use their GSP for international postage (Global shipping center) wait till ebay has a special offer one which they often do. For example "Sell for £1" or free listing so it only costs you £1 in ebay fees (ebay.com does same for $1) and you still get the benefit of ebays super cheap GSP.

And the best part is you only ship locally in country to ebay then they fwd on which means ebay is responsible for shipping to the buyer, not you. Recently I had a sale to someone in France via GSP. I posted locally to ebay GSP aok then it got lost from there to France so ebay paid out, not me. If I had posted I am responsible for it getting to France and if disappears I lose the sale amount and postage !"£$.

Cheers,

Stefan

Some really helpful info here Stefan, I'm sure plenty on here will appreciate your knowledge and previous experiences, especially those who regularly use ebay and post internationally.

 

[jazzeum]

I both buy and sell internationally and I don't like their GSP, especially as a buyer. As a seller, I prefer to do it myself. In all my years of sellling overseas, I've only had one problem with the postal authorities and in the one case the package found its way back to me. So I don't agree with the above advice.

On using couriers, I assume he means FedEx and the like. In the US, they are not cheaper than the post office although I prefer to use them where they are cheaper. However, as a buyer, I prefer USPS as they are quicker than UPS or FedEx.

Getting back to the original question of international postage, it can be expensive and when bidding on eBay, I factor that into my bids. If someone proposes to charge a lot for shipping, I may skip the auction.

 

[Desertkiwi]

Of course on top of ever increasing postage costs, we also have the dreaded taxman lurking at the boarder waiting to pounce.

Thankfully down here we currently are still able to side-step our nasty GST (Goods and Services Tax) if buying off shore, provided the value of the item/s remain under $400NZ. I've only been caught out once (touch wood), but I'm aware other countries have similar problems.

Again this all adds to the over all cost of buying things from over-seas and I'm sure it reflects in sales for manufacturers too.

I'm not having a moan as such, but these extra costs all add to the original purchase price and have an influence on what I buy or in some cases not buy.

In saying this there are still plenty of bargains out there, you just have to know where to look and do your homework.

 

[Northgate Woods]

Toddy mate,
If you buy your TS from Australia then your purchases should be GST (Australian Goods & Service Tax) Free. You should not be charged the 10% GST and if your purchase is AUD$370 approx. (after the 10% has been removed) this converts to under NZD$400 as you mentioned then you should be exempt from your own Kiwi GST of 20% when your parcel arrives in NZ.
As you mentioned in your post, you have to be aware of all the lerks and perks of taxes, exemptions and order values.

Cheers Howard

PS Orders of AUD$370 from most Dealers in the Land Of OZ are postage free.

 

[Oberstinhaber]

I both buy and sell internationally and I don't like their GSP, especially as a buyer. As a seller, I prefer to do it myself. In all my years of sellling overseas, I've only had one problem with the postal authorities and in the one case the package found its way back to me. So I don't agree with the above advice.

On using couriers, I assume he means FedEx and the like. In the US, they are not cheaper than the post office although I prefer to use them where they are cheaper. However, as a buyer, I prefer USPS as they are quicker than UPS or FedEx.

Getting back to the original question of international postage, it can be expensive and when bidding on eBay, I factor that into my bids. If someone proposes to charge a lot for shipping, I may skip the auction.

I have to agree with every word said above. Except that I would be much stronger about the GSP: I loath it!! A buyer cannot consolidate items into a single parcel, the postage costs are unbelievable and it takes too long to arrive.

These days, no matter how much I need/want an item, if it is GSP, I don't bid.

In my experience, the only time Couriers are cheaper is when the item is too big to Post conventionally.

The "Fiscal fiend" in my country is now trying desperately to enforce the payment of GST on items purchased overseas for "personal" use. We have enjoyed a "Holiday" on this for several years.

One way around some of these problems would be for the major manufacturers to "licence" production in foreign countries?

Or we could all go back to making our own?

Happy Collecting,

Oberstinhaber

 

[Desertkiwi]

Toddy mate,
If you buy your TS from Australia then your purchases should be GST (Australian Goods & Service Tax) Free. You should not be charged the 10% GST and if your purchase is AUD$370 approx. (after the 10% has been removed) this converts to under NZD$400 as you mentioned then you should be exempt from your own Kiwi GST of 20% when your parcel arrives in NZ.
As you mentioned in your post, you have to be aware of all the lerks and perks of taxes, exemptions and order values.

Cheers Howard

PS Orders of AUD$370 from most Dealers in the Land Of OZ are postage free.

Cheers Howard; yeah buying TS from Aussie has been cheaper than other countries for us Kiwi collectors for some time now, mainly due to our exchange rate with the Australian dollar. The postage from OZ is also very good compared with others and even better if it's free. The trick of course as you mention is keeping under our GST threshold and not getting hit with any other hidden costs.

Of course it's even better if you can afford to pop across the ditch and buy direct. ^&grin