cnidocyte - 22-8-2010 at 12:23
I was about to order a cheap hotplate + stirrer from a US site and at the last minute realized that the shipping was $140. The shipping was more
expensive than the stirrer itself which was $120. Paying $140 on shipping pretty much defeats the purpose of buying a cheap hotplate. Is shipping
always this expensive for a heavy item like a hotplate? For ordering inside Europe what countries have an abundance of good suppliers? My country only
has 3 that I can find on the internet and all 3 of them require you to be a company and other complications like that.
Contrabasso - 22-8-2010 at 13:00
There are certainly vendors in the UK who will supply via Ebay, some will supply simply mail order. However Europe is a big place too so you could be
on the far side and have to pay a lot of postage here too.
SecretSquirrel - 22-8-2010 at 23:28
You should really search this forum, if you haven't already. More than a few suppliers that sell equipment to individuals were mentioned over the
years. But as Contrabasso said before Ebay is one of the best places to look for such stuff. Especially the german one (ebay.de). But, depending on
where you live, shipping might be expensive even if ordering from a EU supplier.
zed - 23-8-2010 at 17:15
That shipping charge is excessive. I'm in the US. Last year, I sent a large parcel to Japan, for only 50 dollars.
Most items will fit in the USPS Priority Mail, Large Flat Rate Box. International fee, was 50.00 bucks. I couldn't guarantee the rate is still the
same, or that the charge to the UK is identical. But, it is worth finding out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK, I just checked. Service is still offered. Here is a link.
I also took a couple of low profile hot/stirplates, and tested the Priority, Large Flat Rate Box, for size. The box was big enough, with room for
some bubble-wrap too.
Has to be shipped in the special "Flat Rate" Priority Box. Otherwise the magic doesn't work.
http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-international-price...
[Edited on 24-8-2010 by zed]
[Edited on 24-8-2010 by zed]
[Edited on 24-8-2010 by zed]
Gruson - 24-8-2010 at 00:32
Shipping costs from Germany to Holland (and other countries in Europe) are in the range of 12 euro (glassware only) to 26 euro (complete rotavap).
There is a lot of cheap laboratory equipment on the German ebay, which is really worth the shipping costs. Also, when a seller states on ebay that he
ships to Germany only, just ask and most of the times he (or she) is willing to send abroad.
[Edited on 8/24/2010 by Gruson]
peach - 24-8-2010 at 01:20
Zed is correct.
You need to keep in mind that a lot of the items you see on the US eBay, the seller hasn't actually worked out the shipping for you, the eBay software
has chosen the simplest option to save on potential complaints (the most expensive) and automatically applied it. Bearing in mind that eBay owns
PayPal, and they'll earn more by having you transact more to the seller (including the postage). As they do by 'accidentally missing' fraud taking
place on the auction site (shill bidding).
Check out the USPS or Fedex websites. I think Fedex do standard box sizes / weights that the seller can simply drop the item into and hit send. And,
as Zed says, it's a lot less than those numbers a lot of the time.
The USPS used to do that 6 week ground shipping thing. I used that all the time when I wasn't desperate for an item, as it was dirt cheap.
As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the surprise of a big box arriving covered in stamps, stickers and labels was always
good, two months later. But, for whatever reason, I think they've stopped offering that now, and 2 weeks is the slowest. There may be some more
obscure carrier still offering that service.
You'll have to pay import duty / VAT on it as it comes through customs, as the US is obviously not part of the European Union, so it's not part of the
harmonized market either. That includes the postage, as it's a service you've bought from the US.
Speaking of shipping, the guys in Auzzytralia and NZ have got it so bad it's unbelievable. I have been a member on a number of different forums, this
one, DIY ones, harmony central, DIYAudio, and so many others I've lost count. Ubiquitously, there are guys out there who can't find items we all take
for granted. I've had people paying huge amounts of shipping to have things sent out there, heavy things.
I tried having some normal delivery companies in the UK pick up a 1l bottle of dilute sulphuric for me. £450. 
I'm currently engaged in an arguement with eBay's legal team over £12 they 'borrowed' from my PayPal account, despite me presenting them with
mountains of shipping codes and statements from the courier I sent an item with. If I don't get it back, I may soon be in court with the eGayers
themselves; over £12, for the fun of it.
cnidocyte - 3-9-2010 at 16:31
Nice one peach. I've yet to see a post by you that isn't highly informative. Ordering dilute H2SO4 in the UK? You sure you can't get concentrated
H2SO4 in the hardware shop? In Ireland 98% H2SO4 can be had OTC.
wg48 - 25-7-2016 at 01:24
Has anyone in the UK purchased laboratory glassware from China that cost more than say £20?
If so what was the import duty/vat/extra cost you had to pay?
I have researched the issue and my understanding is vat is imposed on items that cost (value + shipping) more than £16 and vat and import duty on
items that cost(value+shipping) more than £125.
Can anyone confirm these figures? Thanks in advance.
Sulaiman - 25-7-2016 at 01:59
I buy lots of stuff from China (eBay>500) ... not once paid customs duties
EVERY time >£18 from USA I get a customs bill which is reasonable, plus an exorbitant 'handling fee' for customs clearance by courriers, and post
to/from USA is insanely expensive compared to China or far-East.
Ordering equipment from China
Jules - 27-12-2016 at 08:43
I have ordered several items from China at prices of a couple of pounds to over a hundred and had no issues with extra charges from customs duty. The
price advertised is the price I've paid. It's the waiting that's hard to bear! If you want it quickly then source it locally and pay the extra cost
but Chinese goods are hard to beat for price.
Dr.Bob - 27-12-2016 at 18:33
The way international shipping works, the costs are very odd, depend a lot on how much goes in or out of a country, and the postage goes only to the
sending country. China subsidized postage outgoing from China, so it is very low, but then the receiving country has to still delivery it,
effectively for free. So since the US is not trying to subsidize exports, they charge a huge amount for shipping out, and that amount pays for the
cost of delivering imports. So people sending items from the US pay for all of the inbound shipping from China, etc. Makes no sense to me.
But shipping internationally has many issues, shipments are lost, get customs taxes and fees that the sender has no control over, and often things
bounce all over before finding their destination or getting lost. So I don't blame people that don't ship to Europe, and the price keeps going up
every 6 months. Plus items above 4 pounds require customs forms in quadruplicate, half of the time something is not to the post office's liking, so
you have to do it all over. I would try to find you stuff closer to home, plus most US items will not work on European voltages and frequencies.
pneumatician - 22-1-2017 at 09:36
every year across europe they are made trade fairs. so visiting any search engine...
http://tofairs.com/fairs.php?fld=&rg=1&cnt=&cty=...