Ordering online and shipping - your experiences?

[karne]

I guess I'm just really frustrated and disillusioned with the whole thing at the moment.

The Aussie dollar is really high, so my immediate reaction was: WOOHOO! New tights!

I ordered from Rainbo Sports last time, and they were very good, very fast (even with normal shipping, I had my tights after a week), so I decided to go back to them.

Last time, the shipping was $17 for two pairs of tights. Cool, okay. $50 for two pairs of tights is still cheaper than buying one pair in Australia and having it sent to me.

The shipping charges went through yesterday - the total was $65. I couldn't believe it. They're charging me $33 for shipping! More than the tights themselves again in shipping charges!


Now, the really unfortunate thing is that I shouldn't be surprised. I'd heard that a lot of American companies were charging more for shipping to Australia because they know that when the dollar is high people will order. But the shipping charge for two pairs of tights is practically double what it was about six months ago. That can't be right.


Anyone had similar problems?

[Skittl1321]

You should email them to make sure it is the correct shipping charge.  Sometimes they are estimated by the computers.

That said, shipping costs in the United States are outrageous.  It just keeps going up and up.

[FigureSpins]

Email to check and mention that you're a repeat customer.  Postage and shipping rates have gone through the roof here in the US.  I thought Rainbo handled shipping by purchase amount, but I see that they have noted that international rates have almost doubled in the past year.

http://www.shoprainbo.com/shipping_information.cfm

[kiwiskater]

Its costing me US$44.25 to ship a package slow mail via USPS from Jenskates... so I'd say your charges are pretty similar.

Its sad fact that we live in countries that Ice Skating in the minority of minority sports and we are on the opposite side of the world to anyone who has what we want at a decent price than get scalped at home.

I just hope that my package isn't coming via sea & is coming by air...if not I'm royally screwed as there is a big employment dispute happening at the port - lots of strike action!

[fsk8r]

Canada has a really cheap surface (sea) mail system. It takes a really long time (6 weeks) to make it to Europe (I'd imagine Australia is the same), but if you can wait it's a significant saving. I think last time I used it it was about CDN$10. That's significantly cheaper than all the airmail prices I was being quoted.
I did have to phone the store direct and speak to someone, but that's not that expensive with skype. (And I'm not sure if the parcels do really come by sea these days, I suspect a lot make it onto a plane)

I've also found that sometimes you can get more reasonable shipping rates shopping on ebay.

[Jennymd]

Yep!! I'm also in Australia so I definitely feel your pain...

I've previously bought most of my skating stuff from the US (including my first pair of stock size skates), and the price *including* shipping always ended up being about half the cost of just buying it in the shops here.

But last month I decided I would finally buy some skating pants. Chloe Noel pants cost $120 in the shops here, so of course I checked the US stores on the net - I found them at Kinzie's Closet for $49 US and thought that would be a sweet deal! Added all the address details, etc, and when the shipping was calculated I nearly fell over!!

JUST the shipping was $79.95!!! A year ago it would've only been around $15 or so, that's more than 5 times the cost, and that is only for one pair of pants, which would be fairly light, small, and soft/non-breakable, etc. Ridiculous!!!! I ended up buying them locally because for once it was actually cheaper (which is usually unheard of!)!

For skating tights, I would recommend looking on eBay - the shipping rates from the sellers there are a lot more reasonable! Did a quick search and it's around $7 average for tights, which is a hell of a lot better than $33 or $44!

Unfortunately I couldn't use this option with my skating pants because I couldn't find the ones I wanted in my size there, most sellers only had childrens sizes.

[karne]

thanks guys, i got a reply from rainbo this morning saying that for whatever reason, in spite of the fact that i chose regular shipping, it went through as premium shipping! they're going to refund the shipping cost to me, which is nice.

the sucky thing? the day after i ordered my tights a sign went up at the rink - there's a lady who every year does bulk orders, so we get them cheap. like, $13 a pair cheap. bother!

[Isk8NYC]

Tights don't spoil, so extras are always handy.  It brings down your average cost/pair, lol.

[chowskates]

  It brings down your average cost/pair, lol.

Yeah! I like that thought process! 

[FigureSpins]

DH once lost money playing Three Card Monte in midtown Manhattan, so he went into Macy's and bought a new shirt and pants that were on sale.  (Never pay retail at Macy's - wait for a sale or coupon.) 

He justified the $20 foolish gambling loss by pretending he had paid full retail price for the clothing.  He wore his "Three Card Monte" outfit many times over the years.  Each time he calculated what the average cost/wearing was down to, lol.  (He's a character.)

It goes without saying but (too late), don't play Three Card Monte on the streets of Manhattan (or anywhere else.)  Even if you win, they'll have their shill mug you a block away and take your winnings and your wallet.

[chowskates]

Anyway, back to shipping... yes, over the past few years, shipping costs has escalated! Plus they add on fuel surcharges and other what-have-you.

I live in Singapore, and sell skating equipment/apparel, and have to deal with shipping goods from the US. While US dollar has weakened, shipping costs is now consuming most of the difference. I've also shipped items to Australia several times... I try to keep the shipping reasonable, but its pretty tough!