Ordering from Wingnut Wings

[jacksdad]

Is there anything I need to be aware of in ordering direct from Wingnut?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[Jennings Heilig]

Nope. Sterling service.

[sinnerboy]

Only that you will probrably get stung for VAT & Parcel Farces charge for paying it on your behalf.

It was £8 + the VAT, but something in my rapidly contracting memory tells me it may have increased, no doubt others will advise.

[Mike]

Yep. You might get hit up for import duty and the usual Parcel Farce gimme if you're importing them into the UK. That's nothing to do with WNW of course, just standard for anything imported to the UK

[jacksdad]

So, for something costing £60 from WNW I should expect to pay another £20 to Parcel Force?

[crobinsonh]

for one kit it was £13 recently

[PDH]

So, for something costing £60 from WNW I should expect to pay another £20 to Parcel Force?

Yep, unless you are very lucky!! When you get the despatch notification from WNW there should be a NZPost tracking number on it. If you go to the ParcelForce website use that number to track the kit. Once it enters the UK it will be allocated a UK tracking number but don't worry as the ParcelForce website automatically converts the NZ number to the UK one.

A couple of days after the parcel arrives at your local PF depot you should get a letter telling you what the VAT/Handling Charge is. Suggets you go to the depot to pay/collect the kit. Paying online or via the phone is a fraught process and also you don't have to worry about getting it delivered.. If you don't get the letter then go anyway to the local depot with your tracking numbers and sort it out. You'll need proof of identity to collect/pay.

I've imported about 15 WNW kits to date and these are the usual areas where it goes wrong!!

Edited March 24, 2013 by PDH

[Scratchbuilder]

Oh yes. The postman is now also the tax man. You'd never know NZ was part of the Commonwealth would you?

I was sent a WW kit by a client to see the quality he required. I was asked to pay tax on it to the post office, so I told them to send it back. In the end the customer paid it somehow and it was delivered. I will NOT pay tax to the postman!! And I didn't ask for it anyway. WW really should have dealerships worldwide. To do otherwise is very unprofessional.

I think the PO stung my customer £13.

Seems to be a NZ thing. I was sent, also unsolicited, some slot car tyre samples and they wanted some unholy sum for that too. I told them to poke them. The Kiwi guy went ape! Tough.

I get stuff from the States without a problem.

Martin

[sinnerboy]

So, for something costing £60 from WNW I should expect to pay another £20 to Parcel Force?

yep, probrably about that, I order 2 at a time to lessen the PF pain,last 3 orders I've placed in reverse order are as follows

LVG + DH9 = £28 to PF & HMCE

Fe2B + Rumpler = £26

RE8 + W29 = £26

[Arachnid]

"The bloody government taxes things which are considered toys by those outside of the modelling community and you call this fair", but if WNW had a europeon distributor they would cost more just look at Hannants prices for WNW !!! The answer could be to set up a block order at your local club and then split the charges between you.You would save money as the is only one PF charge.

[sinnerboy]

WW really should have dealerships worldwide. To do otherwise is very unprofessional.

If you look at the mark up of distributors ( ie Hannants price WNW kits at the same £'s for their original $'s, at present exchange rates that equates to approx multipy by 1.5.In addition WNWs offer free delivery worldwide, so whilst the PF & HMC&E charges are indeed annoying & frustrating, I still believe it is cheaper buying direct from them as opposed to having an importer/distributor over here.......and IMO they are worth every penny!

edit....yep I think the way to go is Hawkers

[Scratchbuilder]

Apart from paying for transport, Hannants should charge whatever WNW say the price is, BUT, that means WNW giving Hannants a massive (usual) discount, like any other manufacturer has to if he wants a big shop to flog his stuff. Perhaps Hannants are adding on what the tax is as well.

I was under the misaprehension that WNW didn't have dealers anywhere.

I just don''t see why the postman has a right to take a tax.

But then I'm not a fan of flying "old crocks", so thank Heavens I'll never be tempted.

Martin

[gcn]

Expect to get caught for duty and a charge from the PO.

I always order in bulk and I reckon on just over £20 all in for 1 big kit and 1 small one.

I don't get too upset with the PO charge, they pay the duty on our behalf and there's no way round it, best order four kits at a time and its only a couple of quid a kit.

Hannants sell them but you'll pay for their margin, which is more than an £8 charge or there's a load on eBay at the moment but don't expect any bargains there either.

[Graham T]

Paying online or via the phone is a fraught process and also you don't have to worry about getting it delivered..

Really?! I've not had 15 but probably half a dozen or so direct from WNW & it works like a dream. Pay on-line & you can even nominate the day for delivery. My last one (a couple of weeks ago), I was able to pay & delay delivery for 5 days until a day I knew I'd be there to receive it.

[Jennings Heilig]

I just love it when Americans trash the US Postal Service. I link to threads like this... We're so spoiled it's ridiculous.

Paying online or via the phone is a fraught process

How so? I've been using e-commerce pretty much since it started, and have yet to have a single problem, including using PayPal since 2001.

[Max Headroom]

Hannants has handfuls of the kits such as....

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/WNW32003

that way you have certainty as to price

Trevor

[Viking]

Got to say I agree with Sinnerboy, setting up a Uk distributor is unlikely to make them any cheaper.

I don't like the UK post service paying the Vat on my behalf and then charging me for doing it, but I think we are cornered on that one.

In the end you pays your money and you takes your choice. I just factor it in when working out my orders, and really these kits are so good that I deem them worth it.

WNW unprofesional? Never in a million years.

Cheers

John

[Scratchbuilder]

My point was that whatever WNW say the kit should cost is what Hannants should charge, but of course if WNW won't give them the normal discounts, Hannants will have to charge more to cover it, just to keep their customers happy. It smacks of WNW not doing the normal deal, which is a bit unprofessional in my view. OR...they (WNW) pay the ridiculous tax at source and factor THAT in to their price, not the post office.

Not that I'd ever pay that price for a kit anyway!!

Martin

[PDH]

I just love it when Americans trash the US Postal Service. I link to threads like this... We're so spoiled it's ridiculous.

How so? I've been using e-commerce pretty much since it started, and have yet to have a single problem, including using PayPal since 2001.

When you pay the ParcelForce charges via their website it works fine. However the website fails to inform the PF delivery depot that the charges have been paid. So you sit and wait for the delivery but it never arrives.

So you phone PF again, paying extra for the privilege because its an 0844 number and they take another day to check you have paid, confirm pay has gone through and then arrange delivery.

Pay by phone the PF depot connects you to an automated payment system which is fine. You go through the process, enter the card number etc and it says 'Card Number Invalid'!! I tried 5 different CC's the last time I tried to pay via the phone, the result was the same for all of them.

ParcelForce lives up to its nickname!

Edited March 24, 2013 by PDH

[Tim T]

The service from WNW is about the best I have come across. The kit I bought had one broken part for the cylinder head. I emailed them about it and they sent a complete replacement sprue.

Parcelforce have you over a barrel with their admin charge and there is no way round it. Look at it this way, all in, buying direct it is still cheaper than buying from Hannants.

[HMSLion]

Jennings is right. Although it's UnAmerican not to bash the U.S. Postal Service. :-)

That being said, WNW is using a business model tailored to the modern Internet marketplace. Direct ordering, direct shipping, payment by Internet transfer...and they are cutting out the middlemen. Which is why Hannants, HLJ, etc., can't offer the kits except at a higher price. The "retail" price is the "wholesale" price.

[Phil]

My point was that whatever WNW say the kit should cost is what Hannants should charge, but of course if WNW won't give them the normal discounts, Hannants will have to charge more to cover it, just to keep their customers happy. It smacks of WNW not doing the normal deal, which is a bit unprofessional in my view. OR...they (WNW) pay the ridiculous tax at source and factor THAT in to their price, not the post office.

Not that I'd ever pay that price for a kit anyway!!

Martin

Oh, sorry, for a minute I thought you were complaining about something you wanted to buy, but in fact you are complaining about something you'd never actually buy.

WNW can hardly be held to account for the tax practices of the postal service in every country.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Phil

[gcn]

There has been a fair amount of nonsense posted on this thread.

Wingnuts paying our VAT for us has to be top of the pile

[GEEBEE Z]

WNW kits are,to me,the best value kits around.And,believe me,I've built a few dogs in my time.Ive got a few in the stash,and never had any problems whatsoever with ordering from WNW,However,the PO is a different matter.Even with the charges,they are bloody good value,though there may be some who disagree,but,we're all entitled to our opinions.So,order with confidence from NZ mate,j

just factor in the excess charge.

Go on,buy a couple,you know you want to......................

[Work In Progress]

Oh, sorry, for a minute I thought you were complaining about something you wanted to buy, but in fact you are complaining about something you'd never actually buy.

WNW can hardly be held to account for the tax practices of the postal service in every country.

It's not the postal service that imposes the tax. VAT is an EU tax. Some limited discretion over the exact levels of that tax is still retained by what remains of our increasingly impotent 'national' governments, but the basic fact of the tax is decreed in Brussels. The postal service, as with any delivery service within the EU, is obliged to recover the taxes imposed by governments whether at national or supranational level. If it came on FedEx or UPS they have to collect the VAT too, on anything VATable above the threshold value, that is imported from outside the EU.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Work In Progress