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[Porkscratching]

$36 to post that is insane, the part I was posted free of charge in a letter from the US was probably slightly longer than that.
Tbh I'd have just cut down and slit a bolt to replicate that..

[Larry S.]

$36 to post that is insane, the part I was posted free of charge in a letter from the US was probably slightly longer than that.
Tbh I'd have just cut down and slit a bolt to replicate that..

Yup - insane.  It's one of the reasons I don't buy from them, but others are getting just as bad.

[agg221]

Alec, your part arrived.  I'll send you a PM for further info, but thought others might like to see what that thing looks like.

It arrived in a LARGE heavily padded envelope that weighed a lot considering. 

Also, the danged thing is rusty!!!  I can clean the rust off for you if you'd like.

Attached below is you "$36 to ship" part.

Thanks for the photo - good to see what a real one looks like! Don't worry about the rust - I will be spraying the exposed part with aluminium and the thread will be fitted with boron nitride spray before it goes in.

$36 to post that is insane, the part I was posted free of charge in a letter from the US was probably slightly longer than that.
Tbh I'd have just cut down and slit a bolt to replicate that..

That was always my fallback. However, the problem was seeing what a real one actually looks like, including getting the right thread. Once i have it, I will measure the thread and post it up for future reference.

Alec

[Larry S.]

For those of you interested...

Alec's bolt is on its way to its new home - I hope.

I have no idea what is going on with the postal service here in the States, but I feel like I just got out of an interrogation!   

The shipping wasn't as cheap as I had hoped, but it was less than half of what ABP was going to charge. The total weight was 1.80 ounces, and the packet was 6" x 9".  I asked if it would of been cheaper if I had used the 5" x 7.5" packet and he said "no".

The last package I shipped to the UK was just a few months ago, weighed almost a pound, was in a small box and only cost me about $12.00.

If I had used the International Express Mail, like ABP would of, the cost was going to be about - $38.50 - but it is shipping form the middle of the country and not the east coast so it woukd be slightly more.  International 1st Class would of been about $23.50.

The Postal Clerck said it will probably take 2 to 3 weeks to get to Alec, but said it could hit the airport at the right time and get there faster. 

In re the tracking number the clerk said "good luck with that".  The USPS is notoriously bad when it comes to tracking numbers.  I have all of my packages tracked and I'm lucky if half of them actually enter the system before it gets delivered.  There are a couple of companies in the UK that no longer provide tracking numbers though.

Since Alec isn't "technically" buying it from me we were able to list it as a "gift/other" on the customs form.  Here in the US, an auto is an "antique" once it's 30 years old, so it's listed as an "antique screw replacement" on the form.

The clerk said that the UK customs service is getting really bad when it comes to packages arriving from the US.  So far I've had no issues with packages I've sent.  He said it WILL BE scanned and if it looks funny to them they will open it.  I collect WWI militaria, you should see some of the descriptions sellers have put on customs form when shipping to me!!

Also...his address... the kept putting it in the system and the system didn't like it.  This isn't the first time either.  Every time I ship to the UK this happens, the USPS system just doesn't like UK addresses!!  I always worry a package won't arrive because of this, but haven't had one go missing yet.

[109+1]

  top marks for effort. 

[Porkscratching]

Phew! So couldn't the bolt go in a simple letter? Like I said the thing I got ( sent with no charge, a couple of weeks ago ish) effectively also a headless bolt, they sent to me in a paper 'catalogue' ie a couple of folded A4 sheets of paper with the part in the middle, it came in a letter envelope, I'd have thought this would be the same but

[Big-chris]

I recently purchased a couple of small items from a NewYork based company 5”/1” both items packaged together under 500g, standard deliver £3.99 but 10-21 days so opted for the DHL express service 3-5 days..
Order was placed on Sunday afternoon 1500hrs, items paid for £33, express post £15, got a text from DHL later that Sunday evening to say I have a parcel that is due a uk customs charge of £17? No mention of this from the dealer the goods were from but after a bit of reading it was due!!! So paid the £17 using the DHL link provided, got a confirmation text and email from DHL so say my parcel was on route, Monday got a text and email to give me a time slot for delivery on Tuesday, received the parcel 11am Tuesday morning, amazing service and turnaround but not cheap, although it would have cost me a bit more to collect in person!!!!!

[agg221]

It has been an interesting exercise which, assuming it arrives safely through the post, will also have been very useful in resolving both my part issue and understanding the current situation with shipping. Very grateful to Correus for his help with this.

Fortunately, the whole thing will fall below the threshold where duty will become payable, otherwise I too could expect a nasty final sting in the tail from our helpful UK postal service who charge £12 for the privilege of collecting your duty and refuse to release the goods until you pay them.

Alec

[Larry S.]

Phew! So couldn't the bolt go in a simple letter? Like I said the thing I got ( sent with no charge, a couple of weeks ago ish) effectively also a headless bolt, they sent to me in a paper 'catalogue' ie a couple of folded A4 sheets of paper with the part in the middle, it came in a letter envelope, I'd have thought this would be the same but

I considered trying to ship it as you mention, yet I had a packet of similar items shipped to me about 6 weeks, when it arrived the packet had been torn and one of the items lost.  When I asked about it the postal clerk said that items,  like what I ordered, are sent in envelopes (even padded ones), they can get snagged on the sorting machines and the envelope can be torn open.  This one is going to go through several of these and I just don't want to take the chance, too much effort has gone into it.

For what it's worth... I just ordered some grommets from a supplier here in the US.  The 1st one I went to wanted to charge me $14.85 from the east coast to Kansas.  The company I bought them from is charging just over $10.  However, the company I'm buying from is know for refunding shipping charges if their automated system over charges for it.

[Larry S.]

It has been an interesting exercise which, assuming it arrives safely through the post, will also have been very useful in resolving both my part issue and understanding the current situation with shipping. Very grateful to Correus for his help with this.

Fortunately, the whole thing will fall below the threshold where duty will become payable, otherwise I too could expect a nasty final sting in the tail from our helpful UK postal service who charge £12 for the privilege of collecting your duty and refuse to release the goods until you pay them.

Alec

Glad to be of service, just wish a cheaper rate could of been had.

I was telling the father-in-law about this and he told me about the notice their church secretary got from the post office.  Their church has a youth program that starts when school starts.  The church sends invitations, to kids who attend, to a cookout to kick off the beginning of the program.  The secretary sent out about 60 post cards - post cards!! - a couple days ago; they were all returned with a note saying that the church owed an additional $0.15 per card.

[Larry S.]

It's not just shipping items across the pond. 

I ordered a handful of grommets from a Rover parts dealer about 450 miles away.  The shipping was almost the same as what it cost to send Alec's package.  There were 10 grommets.  They arrived in a box instead of an envelope.

[Kernowcam]

the basic charge from the us seems to be $11.25 for a Med size Jiffy bag Not to heavy. Going back seems to be half that!

[Peter Holden]

Alec

Once this part that is as rae as rocking horse manure arrives in the UK, I presume that you are going to photograph it and produce a working drawing so that copies can be made at a sensible price.

Peter

[Porkscratching]

That would be a good plan! Looks a piece of cake to make too.. 

[Raybis]

I have been looking for parts for a 1966 GM pickup and looking on the US sites they are quite cheap until you add the carriage. I looked on Amazon.com. the US site and found the brake parts I was looking for at a cost of £8.83 and the carriage was £3.97 Considerably cheaper than the other US sites I looked at