BrettBrick Posted November 13, 2011 Posted November 13, 2011 I'm not impressed with DHL. I've just received a Bricklink order (my first *grin*) from Germany. 4kg package, size of three minifig cartons taped together, shipping cost 40 Euros. Seller sent it the day payment was made but it took a month to get here and was pretty beaten up as you'd expect when it's been in the sausage machine for so long. Most of it was bagged parts which survived fine but I didn't get the mint Series 5 box I was after. Their tracking was rubbish too. If you've got my package for a month, tell me what you are doing with it and what the ETA is. At least it eventually arrived but it's pretty poor value and service compared to the good value, low damage, faster shipping I've seen people getting from amazon.fr/UPS. I'd definitely recommend UPS. Last time I used them the boxes arrived completely undamaged in 5 days from the US. I think it was about the same money for 2 medium and 1 large boxes (can't remember the weight) from B&N. I won't be using DHL again if I can avoid it. :classic: This is DHL the German post arm not DHL the courier company. If you get to use DHL COurier rather than DHL Deutch POST you will be much better off. Interesting, I'm in a similar position - Bricklink order from Germany shipped via DHL, though I ordered 4 large sets and it only cost 25 euro for shipping. I'm at the end of week three since it left Germany and haven't had any update in tracking. I actually emailed them to see about tracking in Aus and aside from giving me the number for here (dubious as to whether or not it will work - not showing any results on AusPost) they said it usually takes 11 business days to make the trip but to wait an extra week before asking the seller to lodge a complaint or whatever. Anywho, I'm really hoping my parcel arrives in better condition than yours, as I may have to move one set on... :S THis is the same thing as above, I have personally necver had anything in Australian customs more than 2 days and usually once it arrives in customs I have it in 2-4 days. Europe Post seems to be the slow end of the train. Australia post dont even make any money out of a parcel sent from overseas so it should actuall take longer on this side of the delivery.
distortme Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Had much more luck than usual putting sets into Amazon UK tonight however it's only allowing for the Priority Shipping to be chosen therefore not free… maybe their way of offering it but not at a massive discount. But what did seem quite discounted - Mindstorm set for £112.19. Goes down to £93.49 plus £22.58 shipping = £116.07. Aussie that's about $180 delivered where RRP is $449.
TheDarkness Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Had much more luck than usual putting sets into Amazon UK tonight however it's only allowing for the Priority Shipping to be chosen therefore not free… maybe their way of offering it but not at a massive discount. But what did seem quite discounted - Mindstorm set for £112.19. Goes down to £93.49 plus £22.58 shipping = £116.07. Aussie that's about $180 delivered where RRP is $449. It didn't last long, that's for sure. Only other sellers with the Mindstorms set there now
Belchher Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 All this talk about amazon.fr led me into trying it out for one of the kids Christmas presents, and all I can say is you guys are evil! Battle of Endor ended up costing AU$104 delivered ( its $179 RRP here for those in other countries, assuming you can even find it now ), and UPS had it here in 5 days, perfect condition. Now I have my wife breathing down my neck every time she spots me browsing the site, telling me not to spend all our money, and she made me wrap it right away to avoid temptation! Thank you, though, for pointing out about the VAT not being taken off till the last part of the purchasing process, or I might not have used it. The only thing I regret is that I had a senior moment and forgot to order it through the EB star wars shop. I'll be sure to next time though.
streeker Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I hate to tell you this but she might be breathing down your neck again because Amazon.fr just went through another round of the same price drops as before. If you missed out last time, try tempting fate again. Discounts will be in effect until the 23rd or 24th.
TheDarkness Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 They've also seemingly adjusted their shipping prices, at least for Flash delivery.It is alot more expensive now. I'm dubious about using them for slow deliveries because their packaging can be rather poor at times, alot of my exterior boxes arrive torn. But it is awfully hard to refuse those deals
Legoman Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 They've also seemingly adjusted their shipping prices, at least for Flash delivery.It is alot more expensive now. I'm dubious about using them for slow deliveries because their packaging can be rather poor at times, alot of my exterior boxes arrive torn. But it is awfully hard to refuse those deals Intresting. Of my 4 'Fast' orders, none were damaged at all (far better than B&N! Every 2nd set from them had sticker tears and dents over them), and the 2 Flash deliverys were the same, only faster! Most were about what you'd expect to find at a store, if not better. It does indeed seem they've put some deals up again. Endor's and MMV's, Anyone? Also ended up getting a couple those Brick boxes.. came out at about 16Euro for 650 bricks, decent
Kryne Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I just went on amazon.fr to see the GE had dropped 40 euro since last visit, Tower bridge went through a massive price drop, along with everything in my basket, just hope it stays that way for 2 weeks till i can afford it.
TheDarkness Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 Intresting. Of my 4 'Fast' orders, none were damaged at all (far better than B&N! Every 2nd set from them had sticker tears and dents over them), and the 2 Flash deliverys were the same, only faster! Most were about what you'd expect to find at a store, if not better. It does indeed seem they've put some deals up again. Endor's and MMV's, Anyone? Also ended up getting a couple those Brick boxes.. came out at about 16Euro for 650 bricks, decent I place some bigger orders (usually minimum 10 sets at a time) and usually the exterior box starts to rip apart at the sides. I dont know why, I know their packing boxes arent the best quality but probably half the boxes I receive have been falling apart. It is all well and good that it occurs during fast shipping, less time for damages to occur, but now having to shift to standard, I am concerned what condition some will end up. I will undoubtedly be placing another order tonight (one cannot have enough Grand Emporiums IMO) but will just be keeping my fingers crossed they arrive safely
lorax Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 I just ordered a bunch of Minotaur games from amazon france. Cheap way to get baseplates and lime bricks. I also ordered 5 of those monkey games... can't have too many bananas (I want some of the tree building stuff).
distortme Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Also ended up getting a couple those Brick boxes.. came out at about 16Euro for 650 bricks, decent Cheers for the tip - got two coming also - $50 for 1300 bricks is good :)
Splat Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) I was just doing some research on the prices of some Lego sets on Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk compared to the Australian prices, and I thought that I would share my results for anyone that is interested: Click the image to enlarge. Some things to note: I can't guarantee that I didn't make any mistakes These are just a handful of the Lego sets available (the ones I am interested in), displayed in Set Number order These are the prices as displayed on the Amazon websites today. Taxes will be removed from these prices during the checkout process; about 19.6% for France, 20% for UK All of these sets are being sold by Amazon, not third party sellers, which increases the chance that they can be shipped to Australia No shipping costs have been included, and I haven't confirmed that all sets can be shipped to Australia or not Currency conversions fluctuate and may change, and the AUD price doesn't include credit card fees, etc. Anyway, hopefully someone finds this info useful. Edited October 13, 2012 by Splat
TheDarkness Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 Thanks for your effort Splat. I've been looking over it, shipping is obviously a key factor but it also depends on how many sets you order. Are the ones in your .uk column definitely able to be shipped?
Splat Posted November 19, 2011 Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) Are the ones in your .uk column definitely able to be shipped? I haven't confirmed if all of these sets can be shipped to Australia. To confirm that they can be shipped you'd have to add them to your cart and go part way through the check out process. All of these sets are sold by Amazon though, not third party sellers, which seems to increase the chances that they can be shipped to Australia. I have updated my post above accordingly. Edited November 19, 2011 by Splat
Legoman Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Thought I might as well share this link: For those of you intrested in supporting our local community
greenpaw Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) I found: Anakin's & Sebulba's Podracers for EUR 64 Grand Emporium for EUR 110 Mill Village Raid for EUR 44 I am sure there is more but was in a hurry so.. And thanks splat and legoman for the links and chart work :-) EDIT:- Just read back on the thread to see you already know there are discounts so sorry for the double up. Was so excited ...and strangely worried about spending more money at the same time....[/b] Edited November 20, 2011 by greenpaw
Concept Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Nice work on the spreadsheet Splat. I do not need any further encouragement to purchase more Lego however lol
Splat Posted November 21, 2011 Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) Astrodiddy (on the Whirlpool forums), the guy that created the ShipsToAustralia website, has also created another site just for Lego that is available from Amazon.com and Amazon.fr: www.brickguru.com.au At brickguru, we give you access to Amazon's amazing LEGO deals, while providing the final delivered price in Australian dollars. Amazon.fr and Amazon.com have some of the cheapest prices on LEGO bricks, models and sets, regularly at a fraction of what you would pay in Australian stores. However the prices displayed on Amazon are the base price in Euro or US Dollars, and not all products can be shipped to Australia. We take the hard work out of calculating the final price you will actually pay.... Sample Amazon.fr Price: €13.99 - VAT (19.6%) €2.29 + Postage €6.24 * Currency Conversion ie 1.341 (updated hourly) Australian Delivered Price: $24.06 NOTE: Delivered price can be confirmed when paying at Amazon checkout. I guess that this makes my little spreadsheet look a bit superfluous, but I'm ok with that Edited November 21, 2011 by Splat
greenpaw Posted November 21, 2011 Posted November 21, 2011 (edited) Hi all Some great resources around thanks for all your work. Just an update : POTC Queen Anne's revenge has dropped from EUR 126 to EUR 93 this morning. Thats EUR 85 shipped regular method or AUS$116 Hogwarts castle has also gone down but only by EUR 8 to EUR 87.50 (AUS $109 shipped). UPDATE:-Also The Death Star 10188 is down to EUR 339 again, which makes it AUS $405 shipped Cheers Edited November 22, 2011 by greenpaw
TheDarkness Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 I ordered another Tower Bridge from Amazon.fr this morning for 120.37 EUR before freight (and with tax removed) It is temporarily out of stock though, so fingers crossed I get one shipped
AussieJimbo Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks for the spreadsheet, Splat and also for the brickguru link. Very useful. Haven't bought anything from Amazon.fr yet but knowing about the deals available has helped me resist the urge to lash out on too many things locally and save a bit of money for a better value online purchase sooner or later. :classic:
Legoman Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 I ordered another Tower Bridge from Amazon.fr this morning for 120.37 EUR before freight (and with tax removed) It is temporarily out of stock though, so fingers crossed I get one shipped What's that, 6 now? I do not want to know how much you've spent with these guys, haha. I'm starting to get told I need to hold off a bit myself, and a call from NZ customs telling me my last package is going to cost me $150 GST+Taxes, I'm a bit hesitant for a bit now ..Until I see another steal
TheDarkness Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 What's that, 6 now? I do not want to know how much you've spent with these guys, haha. I'm starting to get told I need to hold off a bit myself, and a call from NZ customs telling me my last package is going to cost me $150 GST+Taxes, I'm a bit hesitant for a bit now ..Until I see another steal Actually if you include the ones for family and friends I have bought 7 from them so far :P I keep forgetting to go through the eurobricks link though. I just see what is discounted in my cart and go from there. A quick look on my credit card says I have ordered over $2200 of Lego prior to this order since the start of October
Legoman Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 Actually if you include the ones for family and friends I have bought 7 from them so far :P I keep forgetting to go through the eurobricks link though. I just see what is discounted in my cart and go from there. A quick look on my credit card says I have ordered over $2200 of Lego prior to this order since the start of October 7! Far out.. I'm impressed Only $2200? Thats not actually too bad
Darth Draks Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks for the links greenpaw, I just got my first death star ;)
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