Freestyle Shipping Charges - lower?

[Ross Chambers]

I don't know the specifics, but if you are ordering soon it would be nice to know. From their news e-mail:

<<Due to customer requests to offer lower cost shipping methods to our international customers, Freestyle is now offering a new lower cost shipping service offered by FedEx called FIMS. FedEx International Mail Service is a simple, economical solution for shipping small packages at a reduced rate. Please see our website for further details. We also continue to investigate other shipping options to keep shipping costs down.>>

See Freestyle Policies page: FedEx International Mail Service (FIMS)

[Michael W]

It now shows up as an option when you have items in the shopping cart and select calculate shipping. As a test I put 20 rolls of Arista Premium 400 in the cart, which is $57.80. Uninsured FIMS is $18.00, compared to $46.48 for USPS Priority. With FIMS my order total would be $76 USD or $3.80 per roll, which is about $3.70 AUD.

[Wyno]

This sounds really good. I'm aiming at getting some more film and paper from Freestye soon. It'd be nice if B&H took it up too.
Mike

[PeterB]

Thanks for that heads up Ross. This will save me using the more expensive shipito reshipper in the US which takes 1 month via the economy option before i get it in Sydney. Hopefully it will arrive in 1-2 weeks.

[Tony Egan]

Good news, Thanks Ross

[Michael W]

With FIMS, FedEx collect it from Freestyle and deliver to the FedEx base in Sydney, where it is then put into the local postal system.

[PeterB]

With FIMS, FedEx collect it from Freestyle and deliver to the FedEx base in Sydney, where it is then put into the local postal system.

That is great news, this means it should only take about 1 week, and it costs less than either buying locally or using a US reshipper.

[yeah!]

ordered though freestyle using FIMS about a month ago, from memory it took about 10-14 business days, a little longer but worth the wait for the saving.

[polyglot]

ooh, nice. I've placed only a single order with FS previously because their shipping costs made the total price significantly worse than B&H who offer a cheap UPS option.

[PeterB]

I would love to support my local distributor - Vanbar , by purchasing through them, but their prices are outlandish in comparison to those in the US. If any importer charges more than 15-20% more for an equivalent item in the US then one or more of the following things applies:
1. their business is inefficient
2. they are profiteering
3. they are being charged more by the mfg than retailers in the US are being charged.

None of these points I am prepared to pay for.

as an example , Freestyle stock Ilford Multigrade MGIV FB W24K (Warmtone) 8x10/100 sheets for $138.49. Vanbar stock the same product for $230.45. That is a crazy 66% more expensive (assuming parity conversion). And since the Aussie dollar has been higher lately, it makes Vanbar's prices look even worse.