My Stash Grew Again 2019

[TheChronicOne]

No doubt about the trend.....   I WILL complain if anything is ever sent to me like that, free or not. And I agree, I'd rather fork out a little if it ensures better protection and handling. SOME places offer this but it seems to be the exception. Usually if it's "free" shipping, you get what you get and that's it. 

That's just shameful what they did to the Goshawk!! Must be one of them deals where they try to cram everything into the same sizes of boxes. Next biggest size probably costs more so rather than spring for it, the mash up the kit box.     Speculation but I imagine that's what the deal is.


I've been meaning to look up the USPS parameters. I imagine I could have saved myself some money in the past if I had just used a slightly smaller box. 

[Weaver]

As a seller, Ebay actually pushes you to offer free p&p, because their market research tells then that p&p charges put people off buying on line. Packaging materials are a LOT cheaper to buy in bulk than in small quantities, so for big companies, with big turnover, free p&p is viable within their profit margin. However small sellers, selling a few dozen things a month, simply can't absorb the cost the same way, so the push for free p&p puts them at a disadvantage.

[zenrat]

Yeah, totally agree.  Nothing like finding cool decals with lots of Whiffery potential for $3 instead of $12!

That's great for you, but it got me looking and I ended up ordering three kits.  And only one of them was on special.

No doubt about the trend.....   I WILL complain if anything is ever sent to me like that, free or not. And I agree, I'd rather fork out a little if it ensures better protection and handling. SOME places offer this but it seems to be the exception. Usually if it's "free" shipping, you get what you get and that's it. 

That's just shameful what they did to the Goshawk!! Must be one of them deals where they try to cram everything into the same sizes of boxes. Next biggest size probably costs more so rather than spring for it, the mash up the kit box.     Speculation but I imagine that's what the deal is.


I've been meaning to look up the USPS parameters. I imagine I could have saved myself some money in the past if I had just used a slightly smaller box. 

USPS may practice what we in Australian Post call "cube weight".
What this means is that a parcel is weighed and measured.  It's volume is calculated and a weight assigned to that volume (the Cube Weight). 
The customer is then charged to ship whichever of the two weights is greater - the actual weight or the Cube Weight.
Cube Weight is only applied if the parcel is going to a different state (at which time an additional charge based on distance is also applied).
Cube Weight makes a light object in a big box as expensive to ship as a heavy one and encourages people to cram stuff into smaller boxes.
Using a bag rather than a box avoids Cube Weight as we don't try and measure bags.
I can also turn off Cube Weight if I like you.

All this only applies to domestic parcels.  International ones are charged solely by weight.

[NARSES2]

That's pretty appalling packaging Nick, free P & P or not. When I sell via EBay I wrap the kit it'self in bubble wrap, then put that in a parcel box (which I buy quite cheaply from a EBay seller) then surround the kit box in shredded newspaper to fill the space. The box is then sealed with half a mile of parcel tape which also protects it.

I charge 10p on top of the postage for that which I think is reasonable ? I'd much rather pay P & P and have the kit protected.

[Weaver]

When I was selling a fair volume of kits on ebay, I quickly ran out of recycled boxes and had to start buying them. My pricing calculations were based on a figure of 75p for packing, not that I always felt I could get away with charging it. That was the total for the box, the tape, some of the packing material (much was recycled), clear sticky-back paperwork pockets (so the delivery didn't depend on my awful handwriting) and printing out the delivery note.

Packing is/was whatever I've got and whatever seems appropriate. Bubble wrap, foam peanuts and 'pillows' (like giant, individual bubble-wrap bubbles) are nice but have a significant price if you have to buy them new. Shredded paper is generally free (junk mail  ) but can get surprisingly heavy if you're not careful. If there's a lot of space in the box, toilet-roll tubes are a good way to fill it for not much weight penalty, since they're pretty rigid but hollow.

Royal Mail always used to charge purely by weight, which was favourable for kits, but then a few years ago they introduced size categories as well, and the combination of size+weight can sometimes be very unhelpful for kits. I only realised after I'd bought them that those Airfix 1/48th Merlins were pretty much impossible to post for any price that a buyer would actually pay, which is why I ended up hauling them around to shows so doggedly.

One of the perennially frustrating things on Ebay is that many buyers perceive a 'fair' p&p charge to be related to the cost of the item, not what it actually costs to pack it and post it. For instance, if you sold someone a gold chain for £100, they'd think nothing of paying £10 p&p for it, even if all you were actually doing was putting it in an envelope and sending it recorded post with a 1st class stamp on it. On the other hand, if you sold someone a cubic metre of wet mud for 99p, they'd go through the roof if you asked them for £10 p&p, despite the fact that it's obviously huge and heavy...

[Spey_Phantom]

just got back from Antwerp with some new stash additions

-1/144 AFV Club SH-3A/D Sea King
-1/144 SkyLine Decals Boeing 737-400/800 "Citybird" decals
-1/200 SkyLine Decals Airbus A310 "SABENA" decals
-1/72 DACO Hawker Hunter F.6 "Red Devils" decals
-1/72 DACO F/RF-84F Thunderstreak serials decals

[Gondor]

Received from eBay today, it was delivered by Hermes hence the Sunday delivery,

1 x 1/72 Hasegawa Tornado F3

Gondor

[NARSES2]

Received from eBay today, it was delivered by Hermes hence the Sunday delivery,

1 x 1/72 Hasegawa Tornado F3

Gondor

I actually saw a Royal Mail red van out delivering this morning,and yes it is Sunday  No idea if RM have started Sunday deliveries or if it's a case of staff having use of the van on a Sunday ?

[nighthunter]

Received from eBay today, it was delivered by Hermes hence the Sunday delivery,

1 x 1/72 Hasegawa Tornado F3

Gondor

I actually saw a Royal Mail red van out delivering this morning,and yes it is Sunday  No idea if RM have started Sunday deliveries or if it's a case of staff having use of the van on a Sunday ?

USPS occasionally delivers on Sundays if a Priority or Priority Express package needs delivered. Occasionally I've had First Class Packages delivered on a Sunday, but it's rare.

[The Wooksta!]

From Uncle Frank:
Airfix Wellingon 1a/1c
Armor Hobby Hurricane mk I

Ebay:
Xtradecal RAF Med Sea Grey code letters

From Aerocraft
Wellington Minesweeper conversion, although I'm just using the nose and tail blanks to do a transport Wellington from the Airfix kit.

[Dizzyfugu]

Another unexpected ev!ilbay win: an 1:72 Monogram Curtiss Goshawk F2C-2 for just EUR 1,-.

Thomas, I think you mean "F11C-2"?

Err, yes!!

And another ev!lbay win: a Heller Saab 35 Draken for EUR 9,50,-, which is IMHO reasonable.

[TheChronicOne]

The last bits of thing I need to make my 1/72 Australian Boeing 707! 




And a prop-job:

 

[kerick]

Martin Mauler that had to be hard to find. Going to build it straight or whiffed?

[TheChronicOne]

Elusive! I'm going to build it as-is and historically correct. It's a really neat subject, I'm happy to have it! 

[The Chaos]

New at my Stash.