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Author Topic: Mail order hobby suppliers  (Read 2173 times)

clockworks

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Mail order hobby suppliers
« on: September 02, 2019, 01:13:29 pm »

Why are some mail order suppliers really fast with shipping, some really slow, and others seem to flip between super fast and painfully slow?


There used to be a few local hobby shops and toy shops with modelling departments. I could pop in for stuff I needed, when I needed it. Those have all gone, killed by internet sales and high shop rent/rates I guess. All that's left now is a Hobbycraft shop an hour away, and a model shop 90 minutes (45 miles) away. Hobbycraft stocks consumables, model shop is more into RC cars, but will order things in - takes longer than me ordering online. No real alternative to mail order now. I guess that's the same for most people outside of the big cities.


When I was into RC cars, I found a couple of decent suppliers who had reasonable prices and fast shipping. Few years on, I switched to RC planes. Same deal - couple of good suppliers, stuck with them.


I'm now into RC boats, and haven't found a consistent supplier yet. One week, order will arrive in 2 days. A few weeks later, order takes a week or more. Another supplier - order via eBay, get it a few days faster than ordering direct on their website.  No consistency, which gets very frustrating.


I can fully understand that some really small specialist suppliers can take a long time to fill an order. They may only be working part time, from home, and might even be juggling a family with running a business without any employees to help. I don't expect lightning fast service from these guys.


Different matter if it's what looks like a relatively large supplier with a professional website and business premises, maybe even a retail store too. "Sorry, bloke that does the packing isn't in today" isn't really a valid excuse IMHO.


Am I expecting too much?
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Antipodean

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2019, 01:26:34 pm »

Where I live the nearest hobby shop is 90 minutes away and doesn't carry anything that is related to my boats or drones. It is all pre built rtr or arf and they would charge 2 to 3 times the price for parts that I can buy from a specialist online from across the country.
When I do have to buy from ebay or someone like Aliexpress I can get varying shipping times of 3 days to 2 months with tracking that is mostly useless . These are from places I have bought from before.
You expecting too much. Consistency would be nice.
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Netleyned

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2019, 02:38:17 pm »

Royal Mail don't seem to have any consistency either. As soon as the aforementioned suppliers post you their wares delivery times are out of their hands.
I have had 48 hr delivery beat Next Day by two or three days when ordered the same time from the same location.
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clockworks

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2019, 03:04:47 pm »

Maybe the Royal Mail delivery times depend on the trunk route taken, and whether the supplier delivers to their local post office, or RM collect direct from the supplier?


I have been using one particular supplier for many years for parts for my business. Delivery times used to be quite hit and miss.
A couple of years ago they switched to just using RM, Parcelforce (very heavy items) and UK Mail (for items that RM and Pf won't carry - batteries, cleaning fluids, etc).


Since this strategy was adopted, deliveries have been like clockwork (pun intended - they are a clock & watch parts supplier). I place an order nearly every week, choosing RM tracked 48hour as it's the cheapest option. Without fail, the order will arrive 2 days later, as long as I order before 3pm (before lunchtime if I place the order following a bank holiday weekend). Perfect service.


It's a big company, many hundreds of orders a day. Everything is tracked as it is picked, all on CCTV. Only once has an item been missing from an order. Quick email to the company, CCTV checked, error spotted, part shipped that day.
Orders are logged on the RM tracking system, collected the next day, shipped 400-odd miles, delivered to me by lunchtime the next day. They charge £3.45 for up to 2 kg. I really couldn't ask for a better service, which is why I gave them £5k business last year, and it's part of the reason why they have grown to be the biggest supplier in the country over the last 10 years or so.




I don't expect that kind of service from a smaller company, but some idea of how long it will take, and consistency week to week, seems reasonable.  I have a lot more choice of supplier for hobby materials than I do for my business parts, so I'd expect suppliers to think "if I do a good job, I'll grow my business by keeping existing customers and gaining new ones". Maybe hobby-trade customers are just too laid back about it, so businesses don't have to try too hard?

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Dave_S.

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2019, 03:13:36 pm »

I beginning to realise how lucky I am to live 20-30 minutes from Howes. I used to spend my pocket money in Howes years ago and now I spend my pension there!
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DaveM

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2019, 03:43:07 pm »

It seems strange that, living where you do, you should have problems with model boat mail order. One of the best suppliers of the lot is in Camelford!
DaveM
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clockworks

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2019, 04:02:07 pm »

Yes, they are usually my first choice, and sometimes deliver quickly....
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clockworks

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2019, 04:39:32 pm »

Order placed on the website first thing last Tuesday, nothing arrived yet. I've just checked, and the order is showing as "awaiting delivery from supplier". A bit odd, as everything I ordered was showing as "in stock" at the time.


I've no idea what item is not on the shelf, as the order status doesn't show that. No email to let me know either. The order was for quite a few low value items, some of which I actually need now, some of which I just ordered "while I was there, might need that in the future". Quite possibly whatever is out of stock is something I don't actually need right now, and would be happy to have included on my next order, but they just delay shipping the whole lot for at least a week.
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Cornishman

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2019, 05:32:34 pm »

   I purchase my model railway parts from Track Shack.   Not only are they based in the Isle of Man, they are cheaper than anyone on the Uk Mainland and delivery is by 1st class mail.
  Ordered some parts last Thursday morning, received 1st post Friday.
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RST

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2019, 09:55:03 pm »

Cornishman I also experience completely dis-proportaional service.

Being as you in Cornwall and I in the very north of Scotland are both in "gods country" depending how you look at it....
I have experienced many, many times orders in a shop with poor service.  The minute you order same from ebay it's done and dusted and in your hands a few days later, usually with tracking etc.  Seems hit or miss.

Cornwall Model Boats still consistently come up trumps for me.

Model Dockyard I stopped ordering from because they openly let you order things out of stock and you don't know until you enquire why things haven't progressed (or used to be the way anyway).

Leeds model Centre are pretty good, quick to deliver also for radios and anything else they list.  Also a bit of a portal for Model Radio Workshop.  But you can order from MRW direct also.

Westbourne models have priveledge of hitting national press, even a 20min special on radio 4 of the troubles -avoid at all costs if they're even still going


2k technologies (E-Bay name, can't remember the shop name), very expensive but things arrive quick quick!

External to UK:

Folk are ordering PEBA kits via Germany on unsecured websites or banking.  Just crazy these days.  Makes it worse for the rest of us having to comply with increasingly tighter anti-fraud methods of banking

I ordered from modelbouwshopnederland last month but nothing came caompared to 3 orders from elsewhere.  Items out of stock despite me SPECIFICALLY changing my order to suit things In-stock -no notification afterwards.  Had to check paypal which throwed up an "anomaly" with the order, then had to check back etc etc.

It's all a bit hit and miss.  Ironically one of the best model shops I find in the country these days in Scotland is buried up in the Highlands, the "Sports and Model Shop".  I try and put money through them whenever I can.  They're not on-line much though.  I use hobbycraft in the town alot, their wood stock-what they have is good quality.  Costs more, but I don't pay postage.  Their plastic stock from Dumas is just fantastical prices, someone in my town buys it -poor souls.

Shippig is so hit and miss.  I find allot of ebay sellers quick compared to their website.  Living "apparently" of the "Island" of Inverness I learn not to pay for enhanced delivery -because it's no batter.  NEVER ANY delivery even remotely associated with YODEL or HERMES now whatsoever.  Truly AWFUL, even police cases when Hermes drivers were caught stealing parcels.
I've been hit with unreasonable shipping in Germany (like 20 EUR for a 5 EUR order) and told the reasons -but I've ordered from someone else no bother like normal but I avoid German companies now -they are so hard to deal with for almost anything after they take your cash.


....It's not hard to get the hobby done these days but it needs a bit more forwards thinking.  Have to say I'm split between UK and EU, and UK comes up trumps most of the time.  Prices in EU are just crazy -I paid +50 EUR for some polystyrene the other week which would have been less than 30GBP in the UK -and they're very relaxed on communications and bank protocals out here.  My bank home is stringent on rules and regulations, strangling me with new EU rules on mobile code checks now -none of that nonsense when dealing with real EU companies out here in the EU, they seem to ignore it all!!





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cdnfurball

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2019, 10:45:37 pm »

I believe some of the suppliers on the web are just " middlemen " a website to sell from, but ship from someone else's after raising the price a little bit.  Not just in our little hobby, but many other interests as well.     Watch for a seller who quotes 4 - 8 weeks delivery.   If a supplier has the item in their shop, why would it take 1 to 2 months before you receive it.     :-X
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RST

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2019, 10:59:23 pm »

I believe some of the suppliers on the web are just " middlemen " a website to sell from, but ship from someone else's after raising the price a little bit.  Not just in our little hobby, but many other interests as well.     Watch for a seller who quotes 4 - 8 weeks delivery.   If a supplier has the item in their shop, why would it take 1 to 2 months before you receive it.     :-X

...Chinese sellers (sorry, not racist) also.  Ordered several things on good faith from UK stock, then they come via Holland direct from "Amazon" on the label.  Each time look back a Chinese name He je Ping, or Jing Ping Pong.  Not being racist! but I would have just ordered on Amazon from the start if I knew that's where it came from!!! Ebay uninterested each time on false selling.  It's just full of it now.  I also tend not to order from anyone less than 99.5% feedback now, 99% at an absolute push.  It seems to separate the real and reliable traders out a bit more.  99.4% feedback usually just not good enough these days.



I often find the opposite, weary of folk saying 48hrs delivery, it takes 2-3 weeks to arrive, then it's bust and "they do all they can for your satisfaction" and beg for 100% feedback regardless.
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tigertiger

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2019, 03:39:49 am »

Just thinking outside the box/packing carton for a moment.

I am not sure about UK/EU postage regulations. Where I am things with batteries and batteries themselves cannot go through normal channels; the same for flammables like paint. They come by road freight (not train or plane), which means that things can get held in a distribution centre (hub) waiting for a truckload to be assembled to send by road to the next hub.


I mention this because if you have a mixed order, that is shipped together, the whole order will come via the slower route. If you have unrestricted items that you need faster, it is worth considering two separate orders and paying any extra postage.
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regiment

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2019, 12:34:22 pm »

you lot have not got problems like me insured my lg tv with domestic and general it went wrong on the 11 aug rang 12 aug took 5 days for some one to look at it screen gone took it away  5 days later told will be getting a new tv on the 6 sept 26 days then d'g wondered why i cancelled the insurance  on my other tv found another one same day service
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DaveM

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2019, 12:58:57 pm »

I realised a while ago that there is a monetary limit below which I can write off a total loss without either significant financial hardship or a large increase in my blood pressure. It varies from one supplier to another, usually based on my previous experience of them, but for E-Bay it's a tenner. That is, I won't buy anything over £10 from an unknown E-Bay source, irrespective of feedback. It is a flea-market, after all. If I'm at all suspicious of the supplier's location or the delivery times estimated then I move on to the next supplier - there's usually several for the same product.

IMHO appliance insurance is a rip-off. If you buy from a reputable local supplier then you shouldn't need any insurance. I reckon we've saved several hundreds of pounds a year by avoiding it i.e. probably enough to replace one large appliance annually if necessary.

DaveM
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grendel

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #15 on: September 03, 2019, 02:52:21 pm »

yes most appliance insurance only covers the period the item will be most reliable in, ie 5 years, then once it is 6 years old it will fail, so paying out for extended warrenty or insurance is just a means to print money. that said our new cooker at about 9 months old the fan motor failed, i didnt even bother claiming under warranty, for £40 I had a new motor in my hands just a couple of days later, fitted and working within an hour, i bet I would still be waiting  for them to fix it if I had gone through insurance, 1 wasnt going to be without a cooker any longer than I had to be.
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clockworks

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Re: Mail order hobby suppliers
« Reply #16 on: September 03, 2019, 03:24:14 pm »

I've just received an email from the supplier, and another from the courier - order will be delivered tomorrow. Get there in the end.


One positive - the lack of needed supplies has forced me to concentrate on doing paid work for the past week, so this week's work will be done by tomorrow, meaning a 4 day "weekend" to do hobby stuff. That's the problem with self-employment and working from home - there's always the temptation to put work to one side and do something more interesting.
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