forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
Modelers Lounge => Time to relax => Topic started by: Chris Johnson on September 27, 2012, 08:34:33 AM
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For those interested, Squadron's Mystery Deal today is Roden's 1:32 Nieuport 24bis.
List Price: $74.99
Regular Price: $67.49
Sale Price: $19.99
http://www.squadron.com/product-p/rd0611.htm
Cheers,
Chris
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Thanks Chris, this is a great price for that particular kit, but shipping to Australia is $74.99, that is a ridiculous price to be charging for shipping, I guess they don't want any overseas orders.
Hey, I just worked it out, I can see what Squadron is doing, they are charging kit price for the postage and postage price for the kit, so it's a win win for them.
Des.
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Just shipping north of the border from Squadron has become impossible.
Steve
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Man that is tempting...
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Is this a US Postal thing? Buying stuff off eBay used to work out quite well compared to retail here in NZ, but not anymore. The shipping costs are getting ridiculous!
I don't think it is completely a USPS thing. You can ship packages to non US addresses for considerably less than the $74.99 Squadron is charging, but with the less expensive service you cannot get insurance or tracking. I'm guessing the retailers are forcing the customer to pay for the service that includes tracking and insurance and that can get very pricey.
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Try ordering the Eduard 1/48th scale Fokker DR1 Weekend Edition kit from the Squadron site. The $US17.96 listed price jumps to $US72.96 including postage, with postage to Australia accounting for $US55, for a small 1/48th scale kit!.
No thanks Squadron. Won't ever be shopping with you.
cheers
Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia
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I have had an enormous amount of products sent to me from all parts of the world and at very reasonable shipping prices, non have had insurance or tracking but all have arrived here safe and sound and within a respectable time frame, the most time I have had to wait is probably a week, and all items are sent airmail (apart from one which was sent surface mail from Canada, it took quite a while to get here but still got here in perfect condition). Companies who are charging these exorbitant postage charges are doing themselves an injustice, they are not only missing sales but are driving customers away. A lot of the places I deal with from overseas offer free post and products at a reduced price, to me, this is a great way to run a business, they continue to attract repeat orders and word spreads very quickly.
The prices Squadron are offering for their specials is fantastic, but unless you live next door to them forget about having anything posted, it wipes out all the savings on their special prices. As a comparison, Roden will send me a 1:32 scale kit, this is from the Ukraine to Australia via airmail for around $20, and it usually takes 4 - 5 days to get here, the Squadron price of $75 for the same kit is just plain ridiculous.
Des.
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Thanks for the headsup Chris! I've always liked the 24bis, it's on the way (5 bucks for shipping to cheeseland)
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I would imagine that Squadron are contracted to US sales only, hence the stupid postal prices for non US sales, as it would seriously cheese off Roden's retailers elsewhere.
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A bit of "basket overloading" reveals the following results for Squadron's current stocks of Roden WWI 32nd scale kits:
Nieuport Ni 24 124
Nieuport Ni 24bis 145
Nieuport Ni 28 14
Fokker DrI 17
Fokker F1 14
Fokker DVI 12
DH2 22
SPAD VII 22
Albatros D.I 12
Alb D.III 0
Alb D.III (OAW) 13
Pfalz DIII 4
SSW DIII 0
SE5a Viper 17
SE5a HS 34
Sopwith Triplane 0
The Nieuport sales story is a sad tale indeed and if we needed an answer to why Roden aren't releasing a mass of WWI kits, perhaps there is a message here.
How much of the lack of sales is down to the very poor price/quality ratio of Roden compared with WNW kits is an obvious question or perhaps it is the subject choice? Certainly at $20 Squadron are probably just recovering the wholesale price but given the quality of the kit it is a far more realistic price than the normal one (it is even worse in the UK where Hannants want £50 - $81 USD for most of the 32nd Roden kits!) The low stock of the Pfalz and zero stock of SSW D.III, Alb D.III and Sop Tripe could be down to subject choice - although we don't know how many were stocked initially or whether Squadron re-stocked at any point.
An interesting exercise, if nothing else!
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Rowan,
I really like your idea of a ratio to evaluate kits. Although, I might suggest that it be
quality/price rather than price/quality. An example, with totally arbitrary numbers. A WNW kit
would rate about a 9 with an avg price of about $90? This would give a ratio of about 0.1. Now,
a Roden kit with a quality rating of about 6 and an avg retail of $75 would have an index of about
0.08. Now, if Roden could produce that same kit for a retail of $60, then the index is back up to
0.1. As I stated, these numbers are totally arbitrary and just used for illustration.
Jim
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Just shipping north of the border from Squadron has become impossible.
Steve
I was of the same mindset as you Steve but I took advantage of a Mystery Deal from Squadron last week. It was a very large Hobby Boss armoured tractor-trailer kit retailing at the time with Squadron for $154.00 on sale for $49.99. Shipping to Ontario was a very reasonable $12.99, so I bought the kit. Instead of shipping by USPS as stated in the shopping cart, it was delivered by FedEx four days after placing the order. I was afraid that I'd get stung with brokerage fees but there were no additional charges at all.
Cheers,
Chris
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How much of the lack of sales is down to the very poor price/quality ratio of Roden compared with WNW kits is an obvious question or perhaps it is the subject choice?
In my case, Roden's excessively high prices for mediocre (at best) quality is the main reason I don't buy their kits unless the prices are slashed such as with this kit. Even then, I'm passing this one by because of the subject matter which doesn't appeal to me.
Cheers,
Chris
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A lot of the retailers are overcharging for their stocks of Roden kits, some are asking ridiculous prices. A quick check of the Roden shop revealed these prices which you can get directly from Roden, they have reduced their prices quite a lot compared to 12 months ago. Most of the retailers here in Australia are asking around $65 - $75 per kit plus postage, makes for an expensive kit and no comparison to a Wingnuts kit for around the $80 mark, with free post.
Des
Fokker Dr.1 $38
RAF SE.5a $45
Fokker D.VI $38
Spad VIIc1 $45
Fokker F.1 $38
Albatros D.III $45
Sopwith Triplane $45
SS D.III $45
Nieuport 24bis $45
DH.2 $45
Pfalz D.III $45
Albatros D.1 $45
Spad VIIc1 $45
Nieuport 28c1 $45
Nieuport 27c1 $45
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Those numbers look much better.
Jim
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Well I did a test and Im willing to eat crow. Chris is right. At least to Canada the shipping seems reasonable. If no brokerage kicks in I will prob go for the mystery deal on occasion. Thanks for the heads up Chris....missed the Nieuport though...like I need another one....
Steve
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My 24bis kit arrived today. It's a nice looking kit. A little bit of flash here and there, but the surface detail is nice. Should build out to a nice looking model. I'm looking forward to it. Now to find a nice 5-color scheme...
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Just shipping north of the border from Squadron has become impossible.
Steve
I was of the same mindset as you Steve but I took advantage of a Mystery Deal from Squadron last week. It was a very large Hobby Boss armoured tractor-trailer kit retailing at the time with Squadron for $154.00 on sale for $49.99. Shipping to Ontario was a very reasonable $12.99, so I bought the kit. Instead of shipping by USPS as stated in the shopping cart, it was delivered by FedEx four days after placing the order. I was afraid that I'd get stung with brokerage fees but there were no additional charges at all.
Cheers,
Chris
Chris,
Watch your mail box or get your name changed; my last (and it will be the last unless things change!) arrived the same way, followed about 10 days later by a bill from the Broker for roughly the same cost of the order! Hope you escape this nasty type of surprise......
Cheers,
Lance