I can't understand SideShow Shipping policy for Europe

[creecher]

Your post lacks any specific detail, for me as a reader, to be able to qualify what you're saying. I can only try to assume possible details. Europe is a big place. I think you are talking about Sideshows European operation, of which I have no real experience, and can only suggest you communicate directly with them, and ask that actual costs be conveyed to you, prior to any charges being made, and that they wait for your confirmation before putting those charges through.

You haven't bothered to tell the destination either. 27 days is slow, but to where?. Why would that be? Customs perhaps. Something else beyond Sideshows control. I can understand your anger. What have you done to determine the cause. Have you contacted Sideshow?

The time between ordering, and an item arriving for shipping, can change, and so can costs. Is it any wonder the estimates are wrong. Have you contacted Sideshow to see if it is possible to have costs verified before being charged? As you can see I am grasping for details. I have no way of knowing if you have taken any action to change and improve your situation, nor has anyone else. If Sideshow did happen to read of your plight here, what would they be able to do? You need to help yourself sometimes, and not leave it to Sideshow, who can't know every situation. You'd want to act fast seeing that a month has already elapsed. Shouldn't there be some kind of tracking? Why haven't you got a tracking number? Isn't that part of the costs you're paying for?

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

fat hobitss has a point. What are we paying so much money for?

On August 18th, I ordered a Medicom 12" Shock Trooper from Star Wars Shop (Torrance, CA), and to my surprize, only four days later, FedEx delivers me the package. That service cost me $46.94.

Four days and $46.94

On June 18th, I was charged for the 12" Babysitter. An item very similar in weight and size. I received that item on July 17th, that's exactly 27 days later. That service cost me $47.82.

Twenty-seven days and $47.82

And, as many EU collectors know, the three week time span between the moment you get charged, and the day of delivery is not exceptional, but it's the rule.


Currently I'm waiting for a couple of 12" figures coming form Sideshow, that my CC was charged for on July 16th. That's 36 days already. Fright? Nearly $60.

Again, fat hobitss has a point. What are we paying so much money for? I order from SSC since many years, and I kind of got used to that long wait. But, after getting some deliveries from SWS and Amazon, I really want to know, why I have to pay so much for shipping, and wait so long... Long wait and low cost would be understandable, but the way it is now, makes you wonder. Especially when other companies manage to do better, for the same money obviously.

I wonder if SSC packages to the EU get delivered faster, when they come straight from the US warehouse. Like Dusty suggested in the thread about the new EU tax/customs regime, https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38551
we should ask the SSC CS to send our packages straight from the US. I'll do that, for packages under €150 ($220).

 

[JoeMoomin]

I haven't actually had anything sent from SSC yet. However I have 3 items on pre order atm. How different are the estimated costs to the actual costs?
I am in sunny Great Britain!

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

I haven't actually had anything sent from SSC yet. However I have 3 items on pre order atm. How different are the estimated costs to the actual costs?
I am in sunny Great Britain!

I never payed much attention to the estimated costs, but I think SSC's estimates are pretty close. Only extra cost you have to add, is the TAX. Try this formula:


(item price + shipping estimate) * 0.175 + (item price + shipping estimate) = estimated total cost

I guess...

 

[creecher]

One thing that has been raised, is the possibility of Sideshow shipping your item from the US, and onto their EU operation, and then onto the consumer. I would think this would be a point for getting a discounted shipping charge. If they do do this, wouldn't they ship a bulk load of items to their EU warehouse? And wouldn't that be via a container? A low cost shipping option. Which might also explain the long wait some of you have been experiencing. If this is, indeed, the case, it would explain the price of fish in China.

 

[Battletroll]

That's how it works, Creech.
Sideshow sends the products to the EU warehouse in bulk. EU warehouse sends the orders to the individual EU customers. Shipping and GB VAT (17.5%) are charged.

What some people tend to forget, is that Sideshow by default uses a courier service to deliver the packages. This has some advantages in terms of secured signed-for delivery with tracking and insurance. It's easier to hold the courier service responsible when a package gets damaged or doesn't get delivered to the customer, than when it gets lost or damaged in regular mail service.

For courier service the base fee is very high. I pay around $50 to have a statue as big as Eagle vs FB delivered, while it would also cost me over $40 for a 12" figure. Add 17.5% VAT to that as well.

Shipping for a 12" from the US to EU might also cost around $40 so it would seem we don't get a discount, but then you're comparing regular mail with a courier service. That's like comparing apples and pears.
Try sending the Eagle vs Fell Beast to the EU for $50.

If you contact Sideshow, there's the possibility of discussing if your orders can be shipped Royal Mail. But then you'd have to make some concessions; if your package gets lost or damaged it would be on your own account, since you're willingly giving up the advantages of courier service like tracking and insurance.

 

[Marius Titulescu]

I never payed much attention to the estimated costs, but I think SSC's estimates are pretty close. Only extra cost you have to add, is the TAX. Try this formula:


(item price + shipping estimate) * 0.175 + (item price + shipping estimate) = estimated total cost

I guess...

That's the correct formula!
Hope the prices were as expected.
____________________________
Marius
Also see freight costs

 

[generalszabo]

That's how it works, Creech.
Sideshow sends the products to the EU warehouse in bulk. EU warehouse sends the orders to the individual EU customers. Shipping and GB VAT (17.5%) are charged.

What some people tend to forget, is that Sideshow by default uses a courier service to deliver the packages. This has some advantages in terms of secured signed-for delivery with tracking and insurance. It's easier to hold the courier service responsible when a package gets damaged or doesn't get delivered to the customer, than when it gets lost or damaged in regular mail service.

For courier service the base fee is very high. I pay around $50 to have a statue as big as Eagle vs FB delivered, while it would also cost me over $40 for a 12" figure. Add 17.5% VAT to that as well.

Shipping for a 12" from the US to EU might also cost around $40 so it would seem we don't get a discount, but then you're comparing regular mail with a courier service. That's like comparing apples and pears.
Try sending the Eagle vs Fell Beast to the EU for $50.

If you contact Sideshow, there's the possibility of discussing if your orders can be shipped Royal Mail. But then you'd have to make some concessions; if your package gets lost or damaged it would be on your own account, since you're willingly giving up the advantages of courier service like tracking and insurance.

I very much doubt they'd agree to send via royal mail. They have agreements with whichever courier they use and they would need to cover their own back also so they wouldnt send it without tracking. If you don't like it then don't pay it, shop locally

 

[MR Regan]

That's the correct formula!
Hope the prices were as expected.
____________________________
Marius
Also see freight costs

Probablys would have been since it was 10 years ago