On-line shopping analysis – shock

[klutz_100]

I am stuck in 2 days of meetings in Budapest so decided to make good use of my time and do some on-line shopping for modelling supplies

In my naivety I had assumed - until now - that the differences in prices between stores was probably relatively small (+/- 5-10%) and therefore not worth worrying about. However, I did some comparisons between stores and boy did I get a shock!

My analysis is based on a basket of 6 products from 3 different manufacturers that was composed of p/e sets, detail rivets and multimedia detail sets. All prices were in US$ as quoted by the stores. The prices are for the goods only and do not include shipping charges.

It is worth noting that I have used all of the stores in the past and have found all of them to provide an equally reputable and high quality service.

One of the stores is in the UK (Hiroboy), one in Australia (escale shop) and one in Japan (HLJ) and one in Singapore (MediaMix Hobby).

The eScale store won hands down.

Here’s a quick summary of the results:

On a simple average basis, Hiroboy was 44% more expensive, HLJ 63% and MediaMix 18%.
High/low dispersion was: Hiroboy 62%/35%; HLJ 109%/10%; MediaMix 36%/6%

However, this is not truly a good comparison because it is not weighted in any way and not all stores had all the products (each store was out of stock on one item).

A better comparison is to make a basket of only the products that all stores had in stock (1/20 MP4/4 Cockpit Detail-up Set, 1/20 MP4/4 Antenna (2 Pieces), 0.7mm Hex Rivet with Flange (20pcs) ).

The cost of this basket looked as follows:

Escale: $29,35
Hiroboy: $41,56 (+42%)
HLJ: $51,29 (+75%)
MediaMix: $36,04 (+23%)

Just for the record, the shipping charges on my order were $10 and I don’t imagine that it cost any less in any of the other stores.

I need to point out that this is far from being a robustly representative analysis – to do that would require a larger and more differentiated sample base but none the less, I think it gives a lot of food for thought…

[gionc]

OKI buddy... I'll try the Australian shop but.... havent't it to do with the currecies chart? USD isn't so low like our better shopping days but neither strong, pound is a bit stronger than a couple YA (20% is not only a bit) and yen is stellar HI right now.....

Haven't the comparo to be affected by it?

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by gionc

havent't it to do with the currecies chart? USD isn't so low like our better shopping days but neither strong, pound is a bit stronger than a couple YA (20% is not only a bit) and yen is stellar HI right now.........
Haven't the comparo to be affected by it?

Not for the purpose of this analysis.

A dollar is a dollar. And these are the prices that the stores are charging in dollars. I have not made any currency conversions.

If the reason for a high price is because a given store has applied a high rate of exchange, it was their choice. This is still what they are expecting a customer to pay.

Of course, it is possible that in EUROs the differences would change but 75%???

Also, the dynamics of the prices strongly suggest that this has little to do with exchange rates but a lot to do with pricing policy.

[gionc]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Not for the purpose of this analysis.

A dollar is a dollar. And these are the prices that the stores are charging in dollars. I have not made any currency conversions.

If the reason for a high price is because a given store has applied a high rate of exchange, it was their choice. This is still what they are expecting a customer to pay.

Of course, it is possible that in EUROs the differences would change but 75%???

Also, the dynamics of the prices strongly suggest that this has little to do with exchange rates but a lot to do with pricing policy.

Yes, 50-75% is a lot... and yes, I analized the currencies changes starting by our dear euros standpoint
Interesting stuff BTW, I think we're often in a hurry and untidy and we purchase in the "usual" webshop.... your though push we to think about

[91p10nizmo]

Some interesting information there. Just wondered do you have a link to that aussie shop?

[Forhod]

FYI, Mediamix is in Singapore.

[star21]

Originally Posted by Forhod

FYI, Mediamix is in Singapore.

Ditto... I was going to chime in on that one too.

The total cost of the items may be cheap, but for me shipping is still a very important deciding factor. Shipping cost from the UK or Australia is simply ridiculous. I only order from Hiroboy when I've got no other choice.

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Forhod

FYI, Mediamix is in Singapore.

Of course you are right! Thanks for pointing out my bad.
Apologies to MediaMix for that

[jaykay640]

Well there's also another factor that you have to consider...customs and tax charges. If i order from outside the EU my beloved government will make me pay at least 19% VAT ( and they include the shipping charges... ). So items that are cheaper in Japan, Singapore or Australia may be more expensive than something ordered inside the EU once they get to my doorstep.
For example a Hiro kit is cheaper if i order it from Hiroboy than HLJ because of that.
Generally i always compare prices in different shops and then order based on the total including shipping and tax. At least you can do that nowadays very easily from your desk. Great improvement over "ye olde days" :-)

[ChicoBR]

What is the link to eScale?
Have to take a look there...


Francisco

[racer93]

Originally Posted by ChicoBR

What is the link to eScale?
Have to take a look there...


Francisco

I was going to ask the same thing...

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by jaykay640

Generally i always compare prices in different shops and then order based on the total including shipping and tax. At least you can do that nowadays very easily from your desk. Great improvement over "ye olde days" :-)

Absolutley! A very good practice that I had not done before.
Although with the tax, any saving better than 19% I guess puts you ahead?

This was my simple spreadsheet

Originally Posted by ChicoBR

What is the link to eScale?

http://www.escalemodels.com/shop/

[360spider]

You should check www.hobbyeasy.com - you might be pleasantly surprised.
I find it about 30% cheaper than MediaMix - depending on the products of course.
their service is excellent as well, I've been shopping there exclusively for the past 4-5 years.

[GTV2000]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Absolutley! A very good practice that I had not done before.
Although with the tax, any saving better than 19% I guess puts you ahead?

This was my simple spreadsheet





http://www.escalemodels.com/shop/

The 19% rule is not always true for EU countries unfortunately....
This purely depends on each country's policy. For instance, if I buy from HLJ and have the goods shipped to my country (Greece) there is a chance the package will be stopped at customs (has only happened once but I paid trough the nose). Anyway , if it gets stopped my friendly customs guy will charge me about 10Euro for the privilege of checking my package, he will then calculate the 21% VAT on the total price, including forwarding costs and his own 10Euro charge and will issue a bill for the package. After all this is said and done the package will go to my local post office, which will then issue a paper and summon me to collect the package. When I go to collect I will find out that the post office will charge me an additional sum about 5-10 Euros depending on the customs charge.......You can see how a 300$ order can easily have a 100Euro surcharge-Ouch
So for the more expensive stuff I am usually getting through Hiroboy.. Much cheaper in the end, and quite fast, but of course that is just my case. I did read a similar story here not long ago about the UK though...

P.S. Some years ago I was ordering some models from the USA. Back then nobody was stocking AMT and R-M models in Greece. Anyway to cut a long story short, quite unexpectedly the USPS stopped forwarding the packages to the post office but instead made a deal with some private company (I believe then privatized Royal Mail? )to distribute the packages in some European Countries, Greece among them. That meant that when the package had cleared customs it was treated like an international forwarding instead of regular package mail and you had to hire a forwarder to get it through customs!!!!!! Thankfully this has been revoked since.....

[jano11]

Originally Posted by GTV2000

The 19% rule is not always true for EU countries unfortunately....
This purely depends on each country's policy. For instance, if I buy from HLJ and have the goods shipped to my country (Greece) there is a chance the package will be stopped at customs (has only happened once but I paid trough the nose). Anyway , if it gets stopped my friendly customs guy will charge me about 10Euro for the privilege of checking my package, he will then calculate the 21% VAT on the total price, including forwarding costs and his own 10Euro charge and will issue a bill for the package. After all this is said and done the package will go to my local post office, which will then issue a paper and summon me to collect the package. When I go to collect I will find out that the post office will charge me an additional sum about 5-10 Euros depending on the customs charge.......You can see how a 300$ order can easily have a 100Euro surcharge-Ouch
So for the more expensive stuff I am usually getting through Hiroboy.. Much cheaper in the end, and quite fast, but of course that is just my case. I did read a similar story here not long ago about the UK though...

P.S. Some years ago I was ordering some models from the USA. Back then nobody was stocking AMT and R-M models in Greece. Anyway to cut a long story short, quite unexpectedly the USPS stopped forwarding the packages to the post office but instead made a deal with some private company (I believe then privatized Royal Mail? )to distribute the packages in some European Countries, Greece among them. That meant that when the package had cleared customs it was treated like an international forwarding instead of regular package mail and you had to hire a forwarder to get it through customs!!!!!! Thankfully this has been revoked since.....

Post and customs are model builder's blood suckers everywhere in Europe!
And even so it is cheaper than buying at the local scale model shop.