"Buying from a USA distributors vs direct from UK maker." Topic

I was recently looking at buying from a dealer here in the USA. He states he will being going up on his prices due to increase in prices from UK . I checked and his prices are currently @ $.60 USD cents more per figure than what the UK cost to buy directly from the manufacturer( sfter current price increase at UK side).He charges shipping and gives no discount. The UK MFG gives a discount. So even with shipping added my price per figure is considerably less than what he will charge.I will assume it will be more once he increases his price per figure. So why would I buy from him? Does he also get a discount as a distributor from the UK supplier? Just like to get some feedback from the community as to why anyone would buy from a distibutpr when it is cheaper from what I can seeto but direct. Thanks

As a consumer buy direct unless the other chap can get the goods to you more quickly and delivery time is a factor.

If delivery time is not a factor, you would go direct no?

There can be reasons for not going direct, which may actually benefit the maker, but that may not be the case here.

I've stopped buying from redists unless they have an excellent track record, like Noble Knight Games, or a massive discount like Warweb. Having ordered direct from the UK from 2 different companies and getting FASTER service then a previous redistributor I will be buying most of my UK stuff direct from now on.

Have you factored in any import duties / handling fees or similar?

The US distributors price probably reflects the cost per figure of shipping from the UK to the US. Until somebody invents the transporter beam, shipping has a cost and someone in the chain has to bear the cost.

The US representative may also be obligated to sell stores or other secondary sellers. This means that the representative has to raise their prices in order to give a discount to a US store, which most likely will not order unless they get a 40% discount. The discount which the US representative gets, selling at an equal price for the UK price, would most likely mean they would be losing money.

As a US importer, we are often caught between a rock and a hard place.

If an item retails for $10 USD we usually buy it for $6.50 USD, maybe $6.00 USD. We then pay shipping – in my case that is usually 15-20%. then I pay processing fees and import duties.

So I set my price where it makes sense for me. After all, I could spend that same money on other product with a better margin.

If I find a range won't sell at that price, i clear it out and move on.

That said, my bread and butter is orders in the $30 USD-50 range for which shipping is usually less than $5. USD A large number of my orders ship for under $2.50 USD!

But I know that when someone approaches and wants to buy 1000 packs, he'll end up going direct because I simply can't match the manufacturer on price.

In the USA I wasn't aware there were 'Import duties'.

Doesn't it make sense that if an Importer can only make 14-20% on a product that they shouldn't carry the product? I know that there are special circumstances for some situations. But IMHO, raising the per unit price (in the US) well above what it costs purchasing direct is a unsatisfactory solution.

I have used Heroics/Ros as an example for years. In the USA they charged $6.50 USD per pack. Retail direct is $4.00 USD. Even with shipping the price is still cheaper. I'll leave it for the consumer to decide which is a better deal.

Thanks,

John

When you buy from a US redis, a significant proportion of the funds go to someone in the US, who in turn is able to spend some funds, hopefully, in the US.

Most businesses have to be competitive to stay in business. If the USA dist becomes uncompetitive with the mfg it's time to drop the line. Not rocket science….

For some items, I very much prefer to order direct, even if I don't get a discount on figures or shipping mainly because oftentimes if I'm ordering in quantity (and quite often even if I only want two or three of the item) the US distributor doesn't have more than one in stock. I've run into this too often! And surprisingly, I've even run into it with US suppliers who have the rights to reproduce the item in the US.

EC's summed it up really – importing lead is hard, because you have to mark up your shipping costs to preserve a sensible margin, which makes you more expensive than ordering direct.

That means that either (a) you don't mark up so much, and work on a very tight margin, or (b) you trade on the service and fast delivery that you can offer rather than price, and accept that big orders will probably go direct to the manufacturer not you. There's simply no easy solution for a distributor when shipping costs are such a big element, which is very much the case where toy soldiers are concerned.

(Which isn't to say some distributors don't take the mickey at times, particularly when exchange rates make a substantial long-term shift.)

(As for Long Valley Gamer's post – yep, absolutely. Which is why quite a few ranges no longer have overseas distributors…. But then there are customers who simply won't order overseas; for them it's a domestic reseller or no purchase. Go figure….)

I just want to make clear I am not trying to take a shot at any Company. Almost all the folks in this hobby are good folks. And Dom is correct. When the imported price is only a little more it can make sense to buy from them for the reasons mentioned. However, when the price is 50-80% or more higher I start to take issue.

Thanks,

John

Dealing with the UK has gotten more difficult. There was always the problem of low markdowns and large inventories required so you don't keep your customers waiting forever. Shipping costs have gone up, and some companies charge huge arbitrary shipping costs to the U.S.A. It varies from company to company but usually the ones that have no U.S. distributors are that way for a reason.
Some require very large minimum orders before they will apply the wholesale discount, so if you have to order small amounts for a customer you are losing money. And lately several UK companies have split or merged and left their distributors out in the cold. And finally the exchange rate can play havoc with ones profit margin.
Like the other guy said, if you can't make a profit…

@ John Leahy: yes there are import duties some of the time. It seems to be based on the value of the goods on the invoice or the weight of the box.

@ others: common sense tells you that the price of the same product can not be equal on both sides of the pond if for no other reason than shipping costs.

There are a lot of people who are willing to pay a modest premium for the convenience of fast delivery in their resident country. I buy from both distributors and direct depending on the size of the order or my sense of urgency to get the product.

Hey DAF, I agree completely about the convienence factor. I think the term of debate is 'modest premium'.

I'm curious as to more info about import duties in the US. When did this start and how is it applied (since I have never heard of this).

Thanks,

John

There are no duties on white metal castings but there are on other gaming related items, such as scenery, paint, etc. Much depends on how it is categorized on the invoice.

Shipping to Canada from the US for example, a toy is not dutiable but a toy set is. So Barbie flies free but her playhouse with 200 parts, not so much.

The internet has killed or will shortly kill most resellers.
I am in Perth Australia, most likely the most isolated city in the world and order several times a year direct from manufactures. The wait time from order to holding the goodies in my hand is usually between 1 to 2 weeks. I find Australian based distributors can't match the turnaround time I get from going direct. Then you have to factor in that the reseller most likely won't have everything I want in stock and they only reorder every few months so I have to go overseas for the balance anyway.

Appreciate all the feedback regarding this question. It just seems from looking that some distributors seem to charge a price that is a bit out of line with what you can buy directly from the supplier.I won't mention any names as I do not know their buying agreement with the supplier. I just wanted to get feedback as to how they make any money when it doesn't take a math degree to figure out the cost to purchase from them seems to be too high to do business with them.Thanks again all.

I agree that you can often buy directly from the UK and even with the high shipping pay less than if you bought it from an American distributor. Still, I would likely pay more and buy from the US distributor if they had what I wanted on hand.But, I don't see the logic in paying more and than waiting several weeks to get my order when I can order direct, pay less and get it sooner.

Inkpudata- I agree completely with you.I have found that more often than not, ordering direct is a cost savings in addition to getting the item faster. Also with the discounts(based on $$ I spend) I get with a larger order and in some cases discounted shipping cost, I find it odd that I hear about cost to ship, etc regarding what the dealer pays as a reason in some cases to charge a substantially higher price. Thanks again.

I don't think I can find a retail distributor of H&R in the States….. "Mr. $6.50 USD/pack" only sells as a wholesaler and when he adds his shipping on the comparison to buying direct is a joke. Making a comparison on a recent purchase, even with Andy's 40% of order shipping cost, he was 22% less expensive than buying from Regal….even if I could have done so! Claude