The thing is. Put yourself in their shoes. Nobody in their right mind is going to sell something for $15 and then package it and go to the post office and wait in the queue for $5. Well I wouldn’t anyway. Add to that the fact that it’s not going to ship in a letter envelope from a commercial shipper.
If you have the drawings could this help. Can’t see it being cheaper tho
https://3dprintdirect.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwbnph8Oy6gIVgaiyCh1rZQiaEAAYASAAEgK-2_D_BwE
Yeah, check your “Messages”, as I’ve sent one to you regarding this topic.
Wayne
Since this is an international transaction, could customs and import duties have something to do with the absurd “shipping” charge? The true postage may be reasonable but “handling” and UK import fees drive the “shipping” to the ridiculous?
Unlikely that it would attract attention from the customs people.
It is small enough to fit into an envolope, but it may be heavy enough to not qualify for lettermail. Then it would cost extra.
Besides, taxes and fees imposed by customs are the responsibilty of the importer.
Ask Kathy Millat, she’s a UK MR celebrity, ask on her youtube channel.
Try the NMRA company store. There is a public section for non-members.
Or try Micro-Mark.
Well, initially, this didn’t look like it would be much of a problem, other than the somewhat ridiculous cost of the NMRA standards gauge.
Shipping is apparently quite affordable from here in Canada, and I could easily pick one up at a not-to-distant hobbyshop, slip it in an envelope with a $5.98 price sticker on it, and drop it in the mail.
This option seemingly wasn’t of interest to Bob for some reason, as there was no response to my PM, so I’ll leave this discussion for others to solve.
Wayne
You know I was curious about this so I went on the wayback machine and downloaded the pricelists from macsmodels.co.uk from 2004. That guy had everything; washers, every Kadee coupler and conversion kit, screws, track, rolling stock, consignment brass. You name it. A real Aladdin’s cave and 25% of his business was re-exporting back to the US. Well he had the coupler height gauge but not the NMRA. So if in those days of bricks and mortar guys who stocked all the minutia it wasn’t held then now there’s no chance.
But back to the postage charges. They’re worked out by Ebay. You list and they do the lifting for you. I also checked a similar item listed in the UK on a VPN as though I was shopping from the US. Domestically within the UK it was gratis to the US it was $17.
On the customs charges. They are getting worse and worse or maybe more efficient in the UK at picking up nearly everything coming in. The kicker is there’s a 15$ “release charge” that’s applied to the item and that’s whether or not it is $10 or $1000 and the VAT on that. As an example I bought a video from a guy in CA maybe $40 incl postage and last week had to pay about $20 in charges and VAT so the cheaper the item the higher the risk profile.
As I have said before modelling US style in the UK is becoming more precarious as time goes by but it is what it is. Suck it up or take up something else. But for me I still think the US products represent good value for the detail and I don’t buy much now as I have amassed too much really over the years but as things come up in the UK particulaily I might have a stab at it.
Thanks to all of you for your comments and suggestions, and especially to Wayne (who I have sent a PM this morning) - I haven’t been online since last week as I’ve been busy on other things.
This is all very vexing, but I’ll take a look at some of the other suggestions made, and see what comes of them.
The customs and import charges stuff into the UK is a bit of a mystery to me, as it doesn’t always seem consistently applied. I recently bought a lovely little Proto 2000 0-6-0 on EBay from the US - would you believe I was the only bidder and picked it up, new and in original box, for just over £85 ? I was well pleased. The shipping and duty added another £40+, but even so, compared to some other “new” listing from Germany at well over £200, it was a bargain. Now, fitted with a WOWSteam decoder, it runs beautifully.
Now, I must get back to my other projects - an outdoor mobile cook station unit for the deck, and redecorating a bedroom. No trains for a while … [:(]
Thanks again to all of you,
Bob
If possible you could vacation across the pond and visit some of the US railroads or ride the narrow gauge in Colorado. Slip a gauge in your pocket or suitcase while here and covet it every time you use it that you beat the government regulations.