[Spits] Shipping a "heavy" item from England -

[John Macartney]

In no way would I seek to justify high shipping charges out of the UK on anything - and yes, sending 
heavy items by mail is asking for a price like a defence budget. In my experience, asking an ebay 
seller to obtain a quote from someone like www.parcels2go.co.uk would be sensible. Over the last 
year, I shipped lots of stuff from the UK to Chicago for the Triumph Trans-America Stag and those 
rates have been surprisingly low. As an example, we've just shipped a complete exhaust system direct 
from the supplier for about $75 US. Stag exhausts are not noted for their compactness or light 
weight or small cube - all of which go into the cost equation.
As for rates via the mail (the route many ebay sellers use) European postage rates are fixed 
collectively by the National Mail Organisations of member states of the EU - and not by the British 
post office for parcels leaving the UK, so the inefficiencies of ourselves and others all get costed 
in. One last thing to consider is the British pound has until recently been worth around US$1.95 
though the rate is now around US$1.45.
It all adds up to what looks like a bad deal for the buyer and it usually is. Moral? As far as 
Europe is concerned, never think that prices *ought* to be in the same ballpark as Canada or the US. 
Sadly, they rarely are. Get your seller to shop around on your behalf - if they're prepared to.

Jonmac