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Shipping Shaving gear around the world

Lefonque

Even more clueless than you
Living in Australia I have become aware of how expensive it is becoming to ship shaving gear from other countries. Recently I was going to purchase from a well known soap maker in the USA as I would normally. When it come to the shipping cost they now only offer priority air freight. This took it was above my limited budget. It is not the fault of the soap maker but the escalating cost of shipping around the world. This will put a crimp in my plans to save the world with my shaving hobby.
I have wondered how shipping costs may be affecting other members on the forum. I would be glad to hear your thoughts.
 
I live in India and face similar situations as you when it comes to the shipping costs especially from individual artisans.

Purchasing one or two soaps is not cost effective and placing order for more will attract higher delivery costs depending upon the weight.

For many people tracking is not paramount and they are OK with it but I've experienced that chances of getting the items safely delivered without tracking are slim.

So I choose tracking whenever possible, most of the time it ends up being too much and I have to drop the plan of purchasing entirely.

Many sellers (multibrand and artisans as well) don't deliver their products to my country due to the hassle and increased cost of delivery.

Add to the cost of shipping and items, I have to pay import duties (44% and higher), so getting anything from other countries is basically a super expensive affair from beginning to end.

To put this into perspective :

A $13.50 Stirling soap ends up costing me $22.
 
I feel you.. overseas shipping has become a serious pain the extra import fees since brexit on top of the shipping costs made it almost unacceptable to get gear in to Europe and lots of artisans soap and razor makers still haven't started a collaboration with EU vendors so until this happens I'll have to stick with what I can find here
 
I’m in Canada and make quite a few purchases on EBay. The automatic Global shipping set up on USA eBay can be quite ridiculous considering I’m right across the border and sometimes closer than most other US cities. Lately I’ve found it to be cheaper and faster buying from UK vendors than from my next door neighbour.
 

Lefonque

Even more clueless than you
To add insullt to injury in my city there is also a parcel delivery strike. If lockdown isn’t bad enough.
 
It hurts when shipping from the states costs as much as the product itself but you do get over it eventually. It’s part of the ‘fun’ of being a B&B shaving junkie and having a shave den stocked up with exotic products. Eventually you forget how much you paid anyways. You’re just happy to have great gear to use everyday. Much of which lasts a long time.

I try to consider the total cost per item delivered to my door and decide if it’s worth it. You feel less ripped off if you don’t dwell on how much cheaper someone else can get it for.

From Europe it can often work out cheaper than it does for the locals as we get to skip the sales tax. You just have to spend enough!
 
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Months ago I was interested in a razor on Etsy. I had even asked for extra info from the US vendor. Four months later I was still interested, but shipping to Canada was $40 via USPS, more than the product cost.
I finally contacted the vendor, mentioning I was interested, but shipping was unreasonable. He asked me how much was shipping. It seems he didn’t know. I think Etsy has some kind of Auto shipping calculator or something.
He got back to me saying that the shipping cost was ridiculous and chopped it in half. I now have the product I would have purchased four months ago. Actually the price had been knocked down a bit since I first spotted it.
 

Lefonque

Even more clueless than you
One of the major vendors here is just not bringing in many things because of the shipping costs. Fortunately there are a number of local soap makers. Still it is a shame that the products that we all know and love are becoming out of reach. Anyhoo!
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I am lucky enough to have a good supplier in country and can get most things in a couple of days for €2.50 shipping. For other things I have to go to gifts and care in Spain and then the postage goes up to €12.50 for anything heavier than a pack of blades, meaning it is only worth it to buying in bulk. But if you buy anything expensive it is a lot to add to the cost.
 
Shipping costs have changed my buying habits. I buy more from domestic vendors, buy less often, wait for sales and then buy a large enough amount to qualify for free shipping. I have gotten some great deals recently, but bought very little during the previous 18 months. I'm stocked up. It's gotten to the point now where I won't need to buy anything else for at least a year.
 

ylekot

On the lookout for a purse
I live on the border with Canada and in the pre-pandemic lockdown days myself and my Canadian friends would have stuff shipped to one of our in country addresses and just bring whatever it was across at our next race/game night/pub crawl.
 

Lefonque

Even more clueless than you
UGH! Thought shipping costs were bad here in the US. I feel your pain!!

These days I tend to let my ’needs‘ pile up until I can get ‘free’ shipping!
No free shipping to Australia from most US producers.

It is not the fault of the producer but spiraling costs of shipping. In no way do expect manufacturers to absorb the shipping cost however with the previous examples that I have quoted it becomes increasingly difficult to justify the cost of me bringing shaving stuff from the USA especially as a retiree on a very small income.

Recently Australia announced getting a number of nuclear submarines from the US. With the current costs of shipping I am glad they will be coming by sea 😬😬😬
 
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Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
No free shipping to Australia from most US producers.

It is not the fault of the producer but spiraling costs of shipping. In no way do expect manufacturers to absorb the shipping cost however with the previous examples that I have quoted it becomes increasingly difficult to justify the cost of me bringing shaving stuff from the USA especially as a retiree on a very small income.

Recently Australia announced getting a number of nuclear submarines from the US. With the current costs of shipping I am glad they will be coming by sea 😬😬😬
The submarines probably qualify for free delivery
 
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