"Front Rank Shipping to USA" Topic

Does anyone know if Front Rank has suspended shipping directly to the USA for now? I am trying to purchase miniatures from Front Rank but the shopping cart refuses to give me options to ship to the USA.

Anyone experiencing this or is just me because I am special?

There is a banner now on their homepage indicating current suspension of shipping to USA.

Darn, I was just thinking of placing an order for the new Brunswickers…

Not sure what the "significant problems" with USA deliveries are… It's odd since I have received other orders from the UK without any problems and only with the occasional added delay (mostly 3-4 weeks instead of the more normal 10 days to 2 weeks).

I think there has been a notable adjustment (upwards) in shipping charges TO the US. I read that the 'last mile delivery' costs have been bumped up substantially. This might (?) have something to do with the fight around shipping international shipping charges which saw China able to ship stuff for almost nothing…Perhaps withdrawing from the treaty has mucked up reciprocity agreements between post offices so I think each country (UK & USA) is now having to gouge one another rather than figuring it sorta balances out. .

One thing to keep in mind is that shipping is still a mess, A package I was supposed to get in 2 weeks from Australia came in 3 months. So plenty of instances of issues.

Damon.

There is a previous TMP thread on the announced U.S. 1 July withdrawal from the International postal union that regulates postal rates, which means anything going going to the U.S will cost substantially more. How much more is not clear as yet. Hence the likely reason for the Front Rank caution.

The original post made it clear that the cost increase would be of the order of 50%. More details:

"On Wednesday, 01 July the Royal Mail will increase the cost of sending small parcels airmail to the USA. This is due to unilateral moves by the USA to increase its charges to other members of the UPU. So if you are in the USA and thinking of ordering June would be a good time.

This price rise only affects parcels sent to the USA that are more than 25 mm deep (so called small parcels). However, it is a significant change because it's a large one: an increase of between 40-50%.

The cost of airmail letters and parcels less than 25 mm deep (so called large letters) will not go up. Neither will the slower Surface/Economy airmail service."

Details of how vexillia.com are dealing with this issue.

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Martin Stephenson
Vexillia: Shop | Rules | Twitter
Personal: Blog | Twitter

TMP friends,

I apologize for wasting everyone's time. I was so eager to buy some figures that I missed the banner and link right there on the front page.

This is unfortunate because it is actually cheaper to buy from Front Rank directly and pay shipping than it is to buy from Front Rank's distributor here in the USA.

Unless the US distributor reduces the price per figure to come into line with current pound sterling/dollar values, I will have to wait for now.

I live in Virginia USA and recently received orders from Wargames Foundry UK in 8 days.

I don't see the connection between the price increase and shutting down on account of delivery problems… especially more than two weeks prior to said increase taking effect. Indeed, one of the considerations that has spurred me to start placing some orders with UK firms is to beat the increase. Even when the price goes up why would a seller rather than a buyer make the decision? Many, like me, will simply grit their teeth and bear it (and given the favorable exchange it will still be cheaper than the old days of $2.05 USD to a £1.00 GBP with the old postage rate).

I appreciate the detailed explanation by Vexillia.

Nooooooo….I love Front Rank and was about to order some more from their WSS range!!!!

The postal situation is highly variable. Different US international mail centres are affected to a greater or lesser degree, see Royal Mail's international incidents update for details: link Anything that has gone through Chicago is particularly affected: the backlog is so bad that mail is now being routed away from there.

Orders to the US from Fighting 15s, appear to be taking at least (repeat, at least) six weeks to arrive, resulting in differing levels of "frustration and anxiety" from customers, especially those who cannot conceive of delays or more than five weeks being possible. Nor can they conceive that just because an order has been received from one part of the UK quickly, an order from another part of the UK may not arrive quickly because it may have gone a different route, or even by surface mail (the Royal Mail will sometimes bump airmail packages down to surface mail because of their weight or contents).

The delays and potential losses on orders to the US led me to shut Fighting 15s to US orders a few days before I closed for June (I'm setting up a new webshop for Fighting 15s and Gladiator Miniatures). When I reopen in July, if the situation in the incidents update hasn't improved, the USA will remain off the menu and I'll be encouraging customers there to use my agent, Scale Creep Miniatures.

I am also looking at offering only a courier service as a shipping option to the US. When the new postal charges for small parcels come in on 1 July, there will not be much difference in cost. As Martin of Vexillia points out above, the increase in standard postal charges is from 40 to 50%.

Anyway, now you have one small UK seller's perspective on what is a grim situation mail-wise to the USA. :-)

Ian
Fighting 15s
fighting15s.com

It does look like an awful lot of hassle to post stuff to the US at the moment, no wonder some sellers have opted to sack it off or redirect orders to a US based distributor.

Also if the costs of postage are anything like the reciprocal costs to the UK it no longer makes sense to buy stuff from over here.

Looks like as of today Front Rank is once again accepting US orders. from the homepage:

***19th June NOW ACCEPTING USA ORDERS***
USA & ROW SHIPPING CHARGE INCREASE 26th June