Hi All,
Do any model shops in the US do free international shipping, if you purchase over a certain $$ value, like BNA models in Australia do??
Cheers
Mike
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There is a few that do it domestically but I don’t think any do free international shipping.
Rates from here to down under were ridiculous a few years ago, don’t think they have gotten cheaper. $30 for a Revell OH-6 kit if I recall correctly.
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Ahh ok, Sprue brothers want to charge $100 to ship a $50 kit.
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Like I said ridiculous shipping cost to down under. Which is funny cause it doesn’t cost that much the other way as I have ordered from BNA before. Probably get similar results from other stores not just SB.
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Don’t forget to add in those wonderful tariffs that are supposed to do so much good and not hurt anyone.
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I don’t think those tarrifs apply for buying stuff from the US, I think it is for shipping / selling stuff into the US.
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Even before all that I was always hesitant to order stuff from Australia as the shipping to my area was always high compared to China or Eastern Europe. I’m in the Atlanta area.
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Yeah i don’t see how sprue brothers are justifying that cost, myself
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I live in Georgia and I don’t order from them; it always seems high relative to sellers in other more distant states.
I wait until they turn up at one of the Atlanta area events and buy from their stall.
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Some of it is price gouging to be honest. I used to live in Canada 150 miles from the border. Shipping from SB to Montana was $10 flat rate, to Canada was like $30 on $50 item. This was pre tarrifs when trade flowed freely between Canada and the US. I’ve shipped plenty to the US from Canada. The price difference is not $20-30
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Could you possibly recommend any good hobby shops in Canada, I am struggling to find Dragons Sdkfz 10/5 anywhere in my part of the world.
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Have you checked eBay?
Also check hobbyeasy
If you don’t need it quick they have slower shipping options. Looks like they have one for $33 USD plus $17 shipping to the US
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Yeah I have, i am in Australia.
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It’s no better in Canada. I can actually buy stuff from BNA and have it shipped from Australia for less than from here in Canada and WAY LESS than from the States.
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Ok thanks for that info, i just found one for free shipping from China so 
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International shipping from the US remains very, very expensive. And there is very little a US vendor can do to lower that cost.
The least expensive shipping option is the US Postal Service’s First Class International Package (FCIP). Shipping rates are determined by package weight. A package weighing up to 8 ounces typically costs us about $23 USD in FCIP postage to send from our workshop in North Carolina to our valued customers in Australia. That cost does not include the cost of packing materials and labor to pack, it’s just the postage. So we add a small amount to pay for the packing materials and labor, typically $1 to $2. Packing material and labor upcharges are a common industry practice.
A package weighing more than 8 ounces up to 16 ounces typically costs nearly $40 USD in postage to ship to Australia. Packages weighing more than 16 ounces are much more expensive.
Shipping from the US to customers in other countries by courier such as UPS or FedEx is astronomically more expensive than the US Postal Service.
For example, to give you some idea of what the UPS or FedEx shipping cost would be for a typical 16 ounce package from our workshop in North Carolina to your address overseas, go to UPS.com (click here) or FedEx.com (click here) and put your address and ours in their shipping calculator. The origination address is:
UPS store - 1421 E. Broad Street, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526, USA.
FedEx store - 1051 E. Broad Street, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526, USA.
Select a 11" x 8" x 6" cardboard box (15.25 cm x 15.25 cm x 15.25 cm) weighing 1.0 pounds (0.5 kg) for a typical package big enough to ship a model kit.
You are likely to be shocked at just how expensive it is.
Keep in mind, for Australia, the Australian government will also require a 10% tariff for packages arriving from the US no matter which service is used.
UPS and FedEx may require an additional courier handling fee from you prior to delivery. This cost may come later and sometimes is assessed to pay for customs processing or other handling once the package is in the destination country.
Also keep in mind that the vendor is likely to add a small amount to cover the cost of packaging and packing labor to the shipping cost, too.
I wish there were less costly options. If you are aware of any, please let us know.
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I bought some old kits using ebay, one from the US and one from a vendor in Canada.
Both crossed the Atlantic to Europe. Same size and weight (old Monogram 1/24 car kits)
The shipping for the US package was twice the shipping from Canada.
The only reason for going across the pond was that I couldn’t find either of those kits from a vendor in Europe or Asia.
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Tariffs do apply when buying from the US if, the country of origin (i.e. China, Taiwan, etc) has US tariffs levied against said country. The US will collect that tariff from you, in fact they get the tariff twice. Once by importing company, second from you.
This could be the reason SB charge $100 shipping as the tariff is included in that price?
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I don’t know.
Using the size and weight from this kit which should be close to one he is interested in.
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/dragon-6939-sdkfz-10-ausf-a--1186021
Going from my house in NC to Sydney as an example.
This is just for me shipping, I would assume a business software rates would be higher. That is before any restrictions/tariffs one or both countries might have. I had to list product type and origin.
As I recall most businesses only give one option for shipping and not multiple like I have. Even domestically at most SB and others only two options if you have options.
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I agree in this case it is likely reasonable. But Canada versus US shouldn’t be double. When I lived in Canada it also scaled with package size from SB. Whereas with US shipping its flat rate.
I also imagine businesses would get a better rate than you or I due to volume
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