Purchases from `'overseas' vendors

[onyx]

Been snooping around UK online stores and drawn up quite a list of goodies that i'd like to purchase...

Some advice please guys on:
• shipping charges
• Customs bribery techniques
• tips
• any stores you would recommend

Your help much appreciated

[springbok]

1. Shipping - some of the sites quote shipping but others you have to ask them to quote and some ONLY deliver to addresses in the UK.
2. Customs - I never had a problem... but most times I got a family member to bring over after getting it delivered to them.
3. Compare prices - check bottle/container sizes carefully. Use paypal to pay. Check out ebay.co.uk as well.
4. Cleanyourcar.co.uk are very helpful and highly regarded. Clean and Shiny. Polished Bliss.

[Carn]

You will find plenty of awesome goodies from the UK...trust me I know

•Shipping charges vary according to parcel size & weight along with the chosen courier (Royal Mail or dedicated courier, etc). Royal Mail is always the cheapest but you are limited to around 5kg if I am not mistaken, and it can take anything up to 3 weeks to see the package....if it arrives at all!

•Customs is luck of the draw in my experience. It depends on the description the shipper uses, value, customs agent on duty, etc. We have been charged customs and vat on some shipments whilst other similar ones have slipped through. Some courier companies include the customs in the quote whilst others don't so make sure when ordering.

•Tips....Stick to reputable suppliers, avoid purchasing products imported into the UK from US vendors, and oh yes most important, double your budget

•Stores to recommend is difficult. Many of them refuse to ship to SA altogether (fraud claims, etc) ,whilst some insist on shipping via insured couriers which drives the price up.

Cleanyourcar and Polishedbliss have nice selections to choose from and can offer really good advice. Tim at CYC ships here but of late his service has been really poor (his newborn son taking up most of his time I guess). Rich and the gang at Polished Bliss are, IMO, at the top of their game but unfortunately they refuse to ship here even via courier. Springbok, Clean and Shiney bit the dust around a month or so ago I think, well either that or they forgot to renew their domain


Onyx I don't buy directly anymore, instead I use a contact over there who sources all the products I want and then bulk ships them over to me. It's the best of both worlds IMHO (pricing and range), as I have yet to find a single store that has everything I wanted at the most competitive prices. If you drop me a pm with a list of items you are after I would be more than happy to get some quotes for you. I will be placing an order within the next 2 weeks or so, so if you keen we can always combine the parcels & shipping

Hope that helps

[calypso]

$ x 20 = R