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Post by elvenexile on Jul 26, 2010 23:06:35 GMT
Hi everyone I Am posting this because I need help from you who have purchased swords before & are savvy with the cost's involved & could you please let me know if I'm being shafted , (I'm most certain I am).
I recently bought my first sword online from a site based in the U.S (wish i had seen this site first, but didn't till afterwards) The sword was a G2 high elven king & it is a fine sword. It cost $259 US. And it is a fine sword.
I am fairly new to buying anything online & At the time I made the purchase, the price for shipping was automatically decided from some sort of cacultor or system that determines cost according to where you are. So I selected Australia. The total of $343.79 US was shown & I actually thought at the time that it was the total cost of sword & the shipping. (so, US $84.79 for shipping) I had made the honest mistake at the time of not realising & not see-ing (truth is i was in a rush) the total cost,(602.79 US?) until just after I clicked to proceed & finalise the transaction. It was an honest mistake, and i emailed them promptly afterwards to let them know. They have only now got back to me with any substance, (via email) saying that:
(quote) "What is noted on the label that you received are not all of the charges that are incurred. We are charged several handling and brokerage fees associated when shipping swords overseas. Most governments have a problem with this and in turn we pay outrageous brokerage fees for their cooperation."
Is this for real? is the normal cost of 1 sword with a total shipping weight of 12pds expected to be this much?? The "UPS" bill i got says Total for shipping is $100. I have let the company I bought the sword from know that. please I need some advice here...
Thanks Elvenexile
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Post by shadowhowler on Jul 26, 2010 23:32:25 GMT
It dosn't look good... The difference between that 343 total and your 259 price for the sword is $84... and thats in the right area for a large box of that weight shipped via USPS. It would be a bit more via UPS. However... 343 for the shipping alone + the 259 for the sword... that sounds like you getting bent over and drilled, thats NOT good. I've shipped items to Oz and had items shipped from Oz, and never paid anything near that much.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 0:15:28 GMT
could you let us know the name of the company you purchased it from
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Avery
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"It's alright little brother... There are more!!!
Posts: 1,826
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Post by Avery on Jul 27, 2010 0:24:20 GMT
No, this doesn't seem at all legit; I've bought swords from Oz too and never payed nowhere near that much. Any way you can cancel the order?
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Post by wiwingti on Jul 27, 2010 0:28:54 GMT
it doesn't matter what company you will buy it from, minimum for Australia because of the 42 inches restriction(mean that the (Box) have to be shorter than 41 inches,) if it is longer than 41 inches you will pay extravagant shipping prices .
many people have tried to have swords shipped in australia and it cost a lot to ship there.was never under 250.00 275.00
Marc
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 0:28:57 GMT
However... 343 for the shipping alone + the 259 for the sword... that sounds like you getting bent over and drilled, Without lube. I'd love to know the venders name.....
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Post by stromloswordsusa on Jul 27, 2010 0:37:05 GMT
Hey mate, if you get a chance to cancel the transaction - do it.
If you are not in a hurry, then send it to me and I will bring it to Oz in a shipping container with my swords when I return in a few months. Even better - I will do it for free, hell after that story, I will post it to you within Australia for free once it arrives.
PM me if you want to sort something out.
Cheers,
Rob
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Jul 27, 2010 0:43:50 GMT
+1 Rob... this is why I love SBG. P.S. Yeah, I bought a sword and dagger from Fableblades in Aus, and shipping was $80 for both together. $350 is messed up, period... -Slayer
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Avery
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"It's alright little brother... There are more!!!
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Post by Avery on Jul 27, 2010 2:28:05 GMT
it doesn't matter what company you will buy it from, minimum for Australia because of the 42 inches restriction(mean that the (Box) have to be shorter than 41 inches,) if it is longer than 41 inches you will pay extravagant shipping prices . many people have tried to have swords shipped in australia and it cost a lot to ship there.was never under 250.00 275.00 Marc Strange thing is a company like Global Gear ships to the US for $100. I just checked to be sure. When I bought from them I knew the shipping was going to be expensive but nowhere near $300. Hell a darned good sword can be bought for that. I hate to say it, don't want to make others feel bad, but I'm so glad I live in the states.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Jul 27, 2010 3:05:29 GMT
Yep it's not necessary.
If the box is over 105cm they would need to use a courier. As Australia Post has a 105cm maximum. Australia post charge on weight not volume. I have sent a lot of items around 107 or 108cm which the ladies allow and they have never come back.
Couriers calculate volumetric 'weight' and mass weight and charge whichever is greater. Now boxes take a lot of volume so a big full box can add a lot to the post. Thats why I ship my swords disassembled in a tube, or just wrapped in several layers of cardboard tigh up.
Anyway the most I have had to pay for shipping out of Australia was about $160 au for an assembled 54" Braveheart great sword. Via TNT. BTW FedEx is WAY dearer. Stick with TNT where possible.
I bought a 44" Gen 2 Scottish Longsword in to Australia and it cost $325 including shipping, so about $100 more than the sword.
Bottom line that price is BS and harsh. If I was posting out a sword like that assembled the price would be about $120 aud vis TNT. And there are no government hoops to jump through btw. Just a straight up customs declaration. Unless you are in Vic. In which case you need to have exemption.
Anyway it gets too pricey buying in a lower quality swords. Better to spend the same high postage on a better quality sword. You could bring in an ATrim for $600usd.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 4:28:00 GMT
Just silly, I mostly buy from KoA and they never go so hardcore like that
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Post by wiwingti on Jul 27, 2010 5:32:33 GMT
Yep it's not necessary. If the box is over 105cm they would need to use a courier. As Australia Post has a 105cm maximum. Australia post charge on weight not volume. I have sent a lot of items around 107 or 108cm which the ladies allow and they have never come back. Couriers calculate volumetric 'weight' and mass weight and charge whichever is greater. Now boxes take a lot of volume so a big full box can add a lot to the post. Thats why I ship my swords disassembled in a tube, or just wrapped in several layers of cardboard tigh up. Anyway the most I have had to pay for shipping out of Australia was about $160 au for an assembled 54" Braveheart great sword. Via TNT. BTW FedEx is WAY dearer. Stick with TNT where possible. I bought a 44" Gen 2 Scottish Longsword in to Australia and it cost $325 including shipping, so about $100 more than the sword. Bottom line that price is BS and harsh. If I was posting out a sword like that assembled the price would be about $120 aud vis TNT. And there are no government hoops to jump through btw. Just a straight up customs declaration. Unless you are in Vic. In which case you need to have exemption. Anyway it gets too pricey buying in a lower quality swords. Better to spend the same high postage on a better quality sword. You could bring in an ATrim for $600usd. yup cost a very lot to ship to australia. have had so many people thinking that i was trying to take their money lol Marc
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Post by William Swiger on Jul 27, 2010 6:11:00 GMT
Damn - that is really expensive. Keep us posted on how you resolve this.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 9:35:10 GMT
Save up some more and get Bren to make you one, can't go wrong that way
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Post by shadowhowler on Jul 27, 2010 15:19:08 GMT
it doesn't matter what company you will buy it from, minimum for Australia because of the 42 inches restriction(mean that the (Box) have to be shorter than 41 inches,) if it is longer than 41 inches you will pay extravagant shipping prices . many people have tried to have swords shipped in australia and it cost a lot to ship there.was never under 250.00 275.00 Marc Ah... Marc has a point. I forgot about the length restrictions for shipping from USPS to Down Under. I just ran some numbers on shipping a box 12lbs and 48 inchs long via UPS to Oz, and it was over 300 bucks. So the charge you are getting for shipping may actually be legit.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 20:40:32 GMT
Keep in mind he said the UPS bill said 100 dollars on it. If that's true, where did the other 200 odd dollars come from?
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Post by shadowhowler on Jul 27, 2010 22:35:28 GMT
Keep in mind he said the UPS bill said 100 dollars on it. If that's true, where did the other 200 odd dollars come from? Yeah, I duuno... I have a UPS account and I ran the numbers on if I shipped a 48 by 12 by 6 inch long box weighing 12 lbs to Queensland... and it came up just a bit over $300 bucks.
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Post by wiwingti on Jul 28, 2010 0:13:52 GMT
100 for a UPS delivery in australia,, outch,, sorry, don't want to be a pain but it is very very very low.even hard to beleive.
was it a UPS Bill or a dealer that charged 100.00?
if it was de dealer, he maybe incorporated some profit i the shipping price to look lower.
if it was UPS got to use UPS for sure.
but keep in mind that if the 100.00 UPS bill had a lenght lower than the one Quoted at 300 and something there is another difference.
Marc
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Jul 28, 2010 1:51:57 GMT
Yeah it's all about streamlining with international post. At 12lb it's no surprise. But a gun case or the like would add that. With my method the weight stays around 6lb and volume is minimised. So it's no wonder it was so expensive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2010 2:42:25 GMT
Pity you couldn't find your sword at a closer vendor. I try to purchase as many of my swords in my country of residence. That way I can keep the shipping cost low while nixing the customs fees.
That is a huge price for shipping. Rob has a great offer though.
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