Ducati Monster Forum

Why is shipping from the USA sooooooooo expensive?

I've just ordered two sets of cylinder studs and shipping was $70! Australia doesn't stock much in the way of Ducati parts, the US is nearly always the cheapest for the stock parts but the added shipping cost often means I buy from European suppliers!

Ask the carriers.

Not much stock?  Really?  I can get anything I want right here in Australia.  But the local price frequently makes buying from the USA look very attractive, even after shipping.

Just buy from wherever you get the best deal to your door  [thumbsup].

And quit whining.

Shipping halfway around the world is always expensive.  I remember how much it cost me to fly from the US to Australia. 

One of my bikes from the late 70s was re-introduced to the Asian market in 1990.  If I want parts they come from China and Thailand.  I encounter the same thing.  However, if that's the only way I can get parts for my antique, I'll pay it.

JM

Cool, can you tell me where I can get a centre case gasket for a 95 900?  Plus genuine Ducati piston rings 92mm?

Cheers  [thumbsup]

 I can get a chef knife from japan to my door for 7 bucks in less than a week.

(https://www.mapcenter.com/addon_pics/dma_wor_1_01.jpg)

See that blue gap?  It's really big.

wtf ?

(http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110915215924/smurfs/images/2/2b/Smurfette_Cartoon.png)

^^^ Coffee out nose

Part of the problem is Australia.  It's realllllly far away.

If you shipped via slowest method, you could probably get a break.  Shop around.

That's just wrong

No comment.  [Where is the head shaking smiley?]



Slow overseas shipping is a canard.  They deliberately make it slower to piss you off.

True story: my mom sent a few books from NJ to my sister in Spain last year.  She took it to Mail Boxes Etc. to pack/ship for her.  In no hurry, so she opted for USPS because much cheaper than Fedex/UPS, although estimated to be 6 weeks delivery.  After 8 weeks, it hadn't arrived so she went to Mail Boxes Etc to ask.  They tracked it.  Ready for it? ... It took 6 weeks to get from Summit (NJ) to Kearny (NJ) and then 2 weeks to get from Kearny to New York City.  That is a 19 mile trip, and then a 10 mile trip.  That's 29 total miles and no customs to go through.  Eight weeks.  Eight.  And still sitting in a facility in NY.  >:(

Once it left NYC it took about 3 days to arrive at her doorstep in Spain.  [bang]

You get fast, cheap, & reliable.  Pick two. ;D

I always go ups, cuz freds ex wrote tom hanks off for dead.

I'm in the US and I occasionally  order stuff from Australia and the shipping charge from Australia to here isn't bad at all.  Don't know why it should be so much going the other way. 

it's known as the " Bruce" surcharge

gowanlochs (sydney) would have a centre gasket, although very few people use them these days.  just goop it up.

ian gowanloch (no longer associated with the shop in sydney that he started and sold years ago) at italspares in adelong has 92mm rings.  he probably also has gaskets.

ducati dealer will also have the rings, but they're very expensive.  the top ring is a dykes ring, so no one would bother making a ring to suit.  you could get the pistons machined with a wider top groove and fit something from wiseco/je.  they sell lots of different ring sets.

i have studs.

airfreight is weight and volume based.  so heavy stuff or big stuff is expensive.

depends on the freight company

last i send international from aus it was all weight based
domestic is weight or cubic whatever is bigger

issues with freight from usa to aus is going to depend on the freight company and method of send

and iirc you cant do sea freight anymore which was 1/2 airfreight in the past

Seriously, how can a person live in one of the most remote cities on Earth and at the same time complain about how much shit costs to get to that location.

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.   ;D

You might call it the wrong side, but all I said was "remote".

bbbaaaahahahahahaha

Something equally as odd is how cheap/fast shipping is to the US from Japan.  I've bought reproduction Suzuki and Kawasaki parts from an ebay seller in Japan and they are at my PO box in 3 days.  The shipping cost is comparable to shipping within the US and usually quicker.  I don't know how it works but I'm not complaining.

its not remote here

everywhere eles is remote

riddle me this why can i get delivered to my door in 4 days from the USA and the local shops are 2 weeks and charge twice the price ??

USPS has shipping offices in Japan and China. Why?  I don't know, buy they do.

because they don't have it in stock, have to order it one-off instead of in a big order (discounted), have to wait for it to arrive from the USA then ship it to you.

^^ This  [thumbsup]

Can't be bothered with the whining.  Live in Perth Australia (a smaller more isolated market is hard to imagine) and whinge about the cost of getting stuff shipped there??  [bang]

I live in Australia too.  Stuff costs plenty.  Can be bought far, far away for far less $$.  Plus shipping.

What the make the beast with two backs do you expect?

wrong

i can order something as a 1 off from overseas and have it delivered to my door in a few days

the shop here wants to charge double , they want me to go into their shop and pay in full before they order it and then for me to go back
to their shop and pick it up when it arrives and take 2 weeks plus before they have it

the dealer here that 15 years ago made me go to them and pay in full and wait 2 weeks for a xr250 spoke closed up shop last week

you pay in full when you order a part from overseas, why not pay in full when you order it locally?  as a seller, i'd say if you don't make people pay in full, about half will flake on you.  i still have a pc3 for a 1098 i bought years ago without taking a deposit, it's now worthless.  i had a guy do the same on some special order tyres.  you can tell me you're a great, trustworthy bloke all you like, pre payment makes you prove it.  if you don't work in retail, it might be hard to understand, but in retail you treat everyone the same.  retail really does suck.  which is why i don't sell specialty parts.  service parts are somewhat different.  there's not a heap of options based on personal taste.

if i want to order a 1 off part from a supplier overseas i generally pay the same price as you would.  i will pay the same shipping as you, so when it arrives here it costs exactly the same.  i will add 25% to it as a general rule as if i don't make money on it then why am i bothering.  then i have to add gst.  and then i have to send it to you.  so it'll be at least 40% more at a guess.  and take the same time plus maybe 3 or 4 days, given you're on the wrong side.

sprocketcentre.com for instance have a lot of stuff that is cheaper than i can buy it anywhere.  i simply have no way to compete with them.  so i don't bother.  which is why some things you can't get locally anymore, which is not an issue until you need it tomorrow.  then you bad mouth every local supplier for not carrying stock, as opposed to last week when you were bad mouthing every local supplier for being too expensive.

if it's something a local supplier would have stock of, then i buy from them at their trade price, the % discount of which varies.  but i will sell it at their recommended retail price.  plus postage to you.  the price they recommend, and sell to me for minus discount, generally allows for the fact that they order a heap of stuff, some of which sells fast and some not.  so they put a margin on it as they see fit to make money over the entire order.

for example, rizoma sells a heap of variations of many things, in 4 to 6 colours.  people always want the one you don't have, so to try to satisfy all demands you order a range and hope it all sells.  to support that you have to mark it up.  if you don't, you lose money.  business is about making money, not friends.  the line between surviving and greedy varies, but surviving is generally a bigger # than people would expect.  i believe the local rizoma importer (or one of, bike craft) has prices that are pretty competitive internationally, i'm not sure how he does it.

often it's about getting the parent company to acknowledge that you as a national importer/distributor are a worthwhile business, because the reality is you order 2% of what the north american importer orders so you get treated like crap.  and the fact you can't sell it because you're too expensive because you can't make any money out of it because you pay more for it they just laugh off because they'd rather send a big box the the usa anyway.

of course, some people charge way too much because they're greedy and/or come from the days when an island was an island.  now it's just another drop off point in a global community.  they either change their ways if it's still viable to charge less, reduce the scope of or drop the product line to reduce overhead (ie, you can't buy it locally anymore) or if they're lucky see the writing on the wall and shut up.  if not, they go broke.

 The BMW dealer that I used to go to had a parts guy that would order stuff for me without asking for prepayment because he knew I would be in to pick it up if I asked for it. That was nice, now, however, I buy from the local Duck dealer and do not even ask for that treatment, I just pay without thinking about it. I have no problem with that. If I can get something a lot cheaper through the net I will sometimes ask for some consideration, and sometimes get it, but I still support my local dealer.
 (I did break down and buy a ebay set of folding brake and clutch levers, they were so much less!)

In my experience DHL is the way to go overseas. It's cheaper and much faster, for me anyway

if we are talking about special order parts then by all means i can accept paying in full , but having to actually go to the shop first instead of paying over the phone
and then having to go back and pick it up when they feel like supplying it 2+ weeks later

but we are talking about normal consumable parts at a dealer

dirt bike spokes , a very common thing , wtf do i need to come and pay for a $10 spoke when you should have it on the shelf being a honda dealer

2 stroke pistons and rings, oh sorry we only have 1 piston when the bike needs 2 , which funny enough they have closed up recently and it makes me smile when i drive past where they used to be

I won't mind buying anything locally, if the cost of the part was a mere markup or profit; in my case it is usually twice or three times the price I can get it for.....

Here is a part I have been lusting after for years:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/TUBO-DI-RACCORDO-POMPA-ACQUA-RADIATORE-DUCATI-MONSTER-S4R-S4RS-/181356323618?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item2a39ade322 (http://www.ebay.it/itm/TUBO-DI-RACCORDO-POMPA-ACQUA-RADIATORE-DUCATI-MONSTER-S4R-S4RS-/181356323618?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item2a39ade322)
The part is not too bad ($50 is a bit high) but shipping for this small lightweight aluminum bit is nearly $90 from Italy to the USA...  yikes I guess I'll keep on wanting it.

MotoWheels have some Febur parts. Ask them?

Well I asked a while back, here is the thread, but I guess I missed the MotoWheels reply until just now.  I'll see if they can get one and how much it is.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=54156.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=54156.0)


edit:  No, MotoWheels has been having problems with them and cannot reliably get this bit.  I think I can get the stock piece powder coated black and it will be good.

DHL or nothing for large parcels. That's how I ship all my China goods that I hustle around the country reselling. Way cheaper way faster way better service.