Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Peoples Republic of China
Posts: 7,259
AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
During the humble beginnings of AeroClassics in the late 1990s, when our models were made in the U.K.'s west country on spuncast metal, with decals, and a screw in the belly, we were selling all of our own products directly to collectors, either at airliners shows, or from our retail shop in Kent, WA.
Shortly thereafter, ARD in London and BuchairUSA in New York started carrying our products, and from there it grew. Lots of great retails supporting us, a few bad ones, but it all worked.
This year, we were faced with a new challenge; how to keep the prices for the collectors at a reasonable level amid price rises from China. Eventually there was only one solution that would work, and that was to turn back the clock to our beginnings, and once again sell directly to the collectors.
A few dealers did remain on board, and a few burned some bridges on their way out. We are using the Amazon business model, and our fulfillment center is located in northern California.
So, we would like to introduce the new website;
aeroclassicsdirect.com
We are starting simply, and please excuse us if something technical occurs. We'll fix it immediately. Please register on the new site, where some discounts may be available from time to time.
We'll try to have photos up shortly, but in the meanwhile, here ate the new releases for March 2020.
1:200 Scale
United n/c DC-8 /61
Pan American L-749
__________________
Enjoying aviation from a "TSA-free Zone"!!
Take the money-grab & deceit out of our hobby, and bring back ethics and quality!!
Just say NO to Apollo400/Black Box/NG(No Good)/Panda Models/Junk-X/First Choice/C&C/IF400/Witty400/Magic/AV200/AK200/Flightline/Flightline200/Flightline400/Pegasus/Blue Angle/5stars & any BigBirds (real or fake)
I suppose it's no coincidence the website architecture is nigh identical to JetCollector, haha.
I'll withhold any opinion, whether positive or negative, until I get my first order from the new site. Those United 737-200's look great, although I'm a bit surprised to see the Saul Bass as small titles, instead of the long-anticipated large titles.
But, I'm always a sucker for any United Saul Bass planes... count me in for a couple of those. Nice to see the tail number N988UA is one of the 737-200 (Advanced), where the original release N9018U was the 737-200 (Basic).
Last edited by Transpac787; 03-07-2020 at 05:32 PM.
Looks promising. I'm hoping to place an order soon. Quality models in my hand will back up a good retail system to consider this a success for the opinion of this collector. Good luck AC, sometimes a little old fashioned is what does the trick.
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Alas as I have said several times, shipping from USA to UK is out of the question due to our imposed customs import charges plus post office handling fee on top of the shipping, so I shall continue to purchase mine from ARD.
I was really looking forward to the PAL HS-748 but disappointed to see it's in the bland all-white final PAL scheme instead of one of these two more attractive earlier schemes.
__________________
Adrian
DC-8s still needed to be done in 1/400: Air Ceylon, Air Spain, Seaboard World (-63CF)
Comets still missing- Dan Air (4 & 4C), United Arab Airlines/Misrair/Egyptair, Kuwait AW, Sudan AW, East African AW, Saudi Royal Flt.
Caravelles still not made: Luxair, Air Algerie,SABENA (final scheme), Libyan Arab Airlines, SAS ( SCANDINAVIAN titles scheme)
Ilyushin IL-18s still not made: Tarom (billboard,) Malev (1st scheme),Cubana, Balkan/ Tabso-Bulgarian Air Transport,
Well, just registered on your new site but will only order here in the case of emergency lol, because as Adrian has already cited a number of times, shipping + customs to the UK makes it so damned expensive. Hope I can continue to rely on ARD as we don't have February's lot here yet. That Saul Bass United o/c 732 is definitely of interest, I'm also glad it is of variance to the Aurora release of 2006. Hopefully the larger titles version will follow shortly.
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Those United 737-200's look great, although I'm a bit surprised to see the Saul Bass as small titles, instead of the long-anticipated large titles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by barison82
That Saul Bass United o/c 732 is definitely of interest, I'm also glad it is of variance to the Aurora release of 2006. Hopefully the larger titles version will follow shortly.
My hopes were up high too to see the Saul Bass B732 and I scrolled through the site to see if the large titles would be somewhere in the mix.
Harvey
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Most Recent Arrivals: AeroClassics Lufthansa A319 D-AILU, GJ200 American Eagle CRJ-700 Old Livery
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Peoples Republic of China
Posts: 7,259
Re: AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
Quote:
Originally Posted by barison82
Well, just registered on your new site but will only order here in the case of emergency lol, because as Adrian has already cited a number of times, shipping + customs to the UK makes it so damned expensive. Hope I can continue to rely on ARD as we don't have February's lot here yet. That Saul Bass United o/c 732 is definitely of interest, I'm also glad it is of variance to the Aurora release of 2006. Hopefully the larger titles version will follow shortly.
FEB & MAR AeroClassics are at LHR entering the UK. They were late in getting out due to Coronavirus. We should be back on schedule now.
__________________
Enjoying aviation from a "TSA-free Zone"!!
Take the money-grab & deceit out of our hobby, and bring back ethics and quality!!
Just say NO to Apollo400/Black Box/NG(No Good)/Panda Models/Junk-X/First Choice/C&C/IF400/Witty400/Magic/AV200/AK200/Flightline/Flightline200/Flightline400/Pegasus/Blue Angle/5stars & any BigBirds (real or fake)
I'm glad we'll still be able to go through ARD for these, would hate to miss out, but as others have said UK customs would make it prohibitive for me. Good luck with the website, I hope it's as successful as you hope it will be.
FEB & MAR AeroClassics are at LHR entering the UK. They were late in getting out due to Coronavirus. We should be back on schedule now.
Thanks for the update Andrew, that’s great news. The virus is really starting to affect things here in Europe. Northern Italy is particularly badly hit, with some drastic measures being implemented.
__________________
"If you're in a hurry, don't worry because I've got a pretty fast act. Before you get a chance to hate me, I'll be gone." - Tommy Cooper
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My hopes were up high too to see the Saul Bass B732 and I scrolled through the site to see if the large titles would be somewhere in the mix.
Harvey
It’s great that we have another version of the United Saul Bass (smaller titles) released, as the previous version is very difficult to find, so it gives collectors another chance to add this to their collection. I’m sure the larger titles version will be following soon enough! ✈️👏😉
__________________
"If you're in a hurry, don't worry because I've got a pretty fast act. Before you get a chance to hate me, I'll be gone." - Tommy Cooper
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Registered and ordered Aer Lingus A321. With standard shipping it works out at about £43GBP which isn't unreasonable. I'll take my chances with the customs, but find in USA terms I only get a guaranteed charge where the big shippers like Fed Ex and DHL are involved.
__________________ Let's be having, the British Airways/British, Negus & Negus BAC 1-11-500 in 1:400 please !
Registered and ordered Aer Lingus A321. With standard shipping it works out at about £43GBP which isn't unreasonable. I'll take my chances with the customs, but find in USA terms I only get a guaranteed charge where the big shippers like Fed Ex and DHL are involved.
That's actually not bad at all! Let us know how it goes. I've been hit regardless of the courier. Much of what I've had sent over has been via USPS Priority etc., and that's always got hit. Maybe up in Scotland it's a bit different!
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"If you're in a hurry, don't worry because I've got a pretty fast act. Before you get a chance to hate me, I'll be gone." - Tommy Cooper
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Regarding customs import fees in the UK, in general I've found most shipments by USPS Priority International Mail make it in without attracting charges, unless you've bought more than 2 mid-sized models, and the total purchase value (including shipping) has gone >$100. DHL and FedEx have always attracted the charges.
Looking at my records, I've made 27 purchases from the US since Jan 2018, from several private sellers, lots from Waffles, and one each from Jet Collector, BuchAir, DieCastAirplane.com, Grayland and The History Store. 17 made it without charges, 10 cost me an arm and a leg....id say with USPS you have a 75% chance of not attracting charges based on ordering no more than 2 models at a time.
That said, the only order I made from Jet Collector with USPS did attract the import and post office handling charge, as did those from BuchAir and DiecastAirplane.com which were also shipped with USPS.....
Regarding customs import fees in the UK, in general I've found most shipments by USPS Priority International Mail make it in without attracting charges, unless you've bought more than 2 mid-sized models, and the total purchase value (including shipping) has gone >$100. DHL and FedEx have always attracted the charges.
Looking at my records, I've made 27 purchases from the US since Jan 2018, from several private sellers, lots from Waffles, and one each from Jet Collector, BuchAir, DieCastAirplane.com, Grayland and The History Store. 17 made it without charges, 10 cost me an arm and a leg....id say with USPS you have a 75% chance of not attracting charges based on ordering no more than 2 models at a time.
That said, the only order I made from Jet Collector with USPS did attract the import and post office handling charge, as did those from BuchAir and DiecastAirplane.com which were also shipped with USPS.....
That's pretty much been my experience too, the only tax I paid on a Waffles delivery was on a $100 model. Although IIRC it attracted expedited shipping with DHL as a result of the spend.
__________________ Let's be having, the British Airways/British, Negus & Negus BAC 1-11-500 in 1:400 please !
Hah, I'd like to think so, but it all goes through Heathrow customs processing centre before heading north in the Royal Mail system.
I guess they are already training for the post IndyRef2 era, when they will be no longer in charge of Scottish customs.
__________________
Models I want to see in 1/400:
Boeing 737-300 Condor (grey), Boeing 737-500 Air France, Boeing 747-200B SAA (white belly), Boeing 767-300ER LTU süd
Regarding customs import fees in the UK, in general I've found most shipments by USPS Priority International Mail make it in without attracting charges, unless you've bought more than 2 mid-sized models, and the total purchase value (including shipping) has gone >$100. DHL and FedEx have always attracted the charges.
Looking at my records, I've made 27 purchases from the US since Jan 2018, from several private sellers, lots from Waffles, and one each from Jet Collector, BuchAir, DieCastAirplane.com, Grayland and The History Store. 17 made it without charges, 10 cost me an arm and a leg....id say with USPS you have a 75% chance of not attracting charges based on ordering no more than 2 models at a time.
That said, the only order I made from Jet Collector with USPS did attract the import and post office handling charge, as did those from BuchAir and DiecastAirplane.com which were also shipped with USPS.....
Yeah there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason with this I guess, just luck of the draw. I've been lucky a few times with some quite high value items getting through without any charges (full amount was declared, too). So I can't complain really
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I guess they are already training for the post IndyRef2 era, when they will be no longer in charge of Scottish customs.
There is only UK Customs & Excise. The only 'Scottish Customs' I'm aware of are eating haggis on Burns night and torturing Mars Bars to death in pots of burning cooking fat !
__________________ Let's be having, the British Airways/British, Negus & Negus BAC 1-11-500 in 1:400 please !
There is only UK Customs & Excise. The only 'Scottish Customs' I'm aware of are eating haggis on Burns night and torturing Mars Bars to death in pots of burning cooking fat !
There will be. I was talking of the future. But haggis on Burns night sounds good, too.
__________________
Models I want to see in 1/400:
Boeing 737-300 Condor (grey), Boeing 737-500 Air France, Boeing 747-200B SAA (white belly), Boeing 767-300ER LTU süd
I forgot that lol. Thought you Scots had your own separate processing centre; might be a possibility now!
There's a man standing near the border in a long coat and bicycle clips round his trousers. If you give him the old 'nudge, wink' routine, he can do you some old Dragon Wings at 90's prices. Cologne and stockings for the ladies too...
__________________ Let's be having, the British Airways/British, Negus & Negus BAC 1-11-500 in 1:400 please !
There's a man standing near the border in a long coat and bicycle clips round his trousers. If you give him the old 'nudge, wink' routine, he can do you some old Dragon Wings at 90's prices. Cologne and stockings for the ladies too...
Hilarious! Reminds me of some of the characters that were hanging around Camden Town, where I worked for a few years. Crazy place. Although, they were mainly flogging bottles of stolen booze & meat You saw everything there. Another 'local regular' I recall was a tall bloke in his mid-50's, who always wore a black leather bucket hat and walked backwards (I'm not even joking) !
Better steer thread back to topic though
__________________
"If you're in a hurry, don't worry because I've got a pretty fast act. Before you get a chance to hate me, I'll be gone." - Tommy Cooper
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
During the humble beginnings of AeroClassics in the late 1990s, when our models were made in the U.K.'s west country on spuncast metal, with decals, and a screw in the belly, we were selling all of our own products directly to collectors, either at airliners shows, or from our retail shop in Kent, WA.
Shortly thereafter, ARD in London and BuchairUSA in New York started carrying our products, and from there it grew. Lots of great retails supporting us, a few bad ones, but it all worked.
This year, we were faced with a new challenge; how to keep the prices for the collectors at a reasonable level amid price rises from China. Eventually there was only one solution that would work, and that was to turn back the clock to our beginnings, and once again sell directly to the collectors.
A few dealers did remain on board, and a few burned some bridges on their way out. We are using the Amazon business model, and our fulfillment center is located in northern California.
So, we would like to introduce the new website;
aeroclassicsdirect.com
We are starting simply, and please excuse us if something technical occurs. We'll fix it immediately. Please register on the new site, where some discounts may be available from time to time.
We'll try to have photos up shortly, but in the meanwhile, here ate the new releases for March 2020.
1:200 Scale
United n/c DC-8 /61
Pan American L-749
Nice website, already registered. Shipping rate within the U.S. is very reasonable.
One thing I'm wondering. I've seen you post time to time about existing stock you physically have when folks complain about their dealers running out of stock. Will this new site now give us access to all past releases that you still have stock of?
Harvey
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Most Recent Arrivals: AeroClassics Lufthansa A319 D-AILU, GJ200 American Eagle CRJ-700 Old Livery
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Peoples Republic of China
Posts: 7,259
Re: AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
Harvey.. all remaining stock is slowly being loaded onto the site. Please check back from time to time.
__________________
Enjoying aviation from a "TSA-free Zone"!!
Take the money-grab & deceit out of our hobby, and bring back ethics and quality!!
Just say NO to Apollo400/Black Box/NG(No Good)/Panda Models/Junk-X/First Choice/C&C/IF400/Witty400/Magic/AV200/AK200/Flightline/Flightline200/Flightline400/Pegasus/Blue Angle/5stars & any BigBirds (real or fake)
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Peoples Republic of China
Posts: 7,259
Re: AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
Quote:
Originally Posted by CBL
US$15 to ship that $38 model to Montreal? that's a rip-off
Thanksfully I don't need this as any others from this brand
Then buy it from Toronto Philippe!!
Or are you one of those who thinks we should gift you the shipping, and take a loss on the sale?
Do you always only have hostility in your posts?
__________________
Enjoying aviation from a "TSA-free Zone"!!
Take the money-grab & deceit out of our hobby, and bring back ethics and quality!!
Just say NO to Apollo400/Black Box/NG(No Good)/Panda Models/Junk-X/First Choice/C&C/IF400/Witty400/Magic/AV200/AK200/Flightline/Flightline200/Flightline400/Pegasus/Blue Angle/5stars & any BigBirds (real or fake)
US$15 to ship that $38 model to Montreal? that's a rip-off
Thanksfully I don't need this as any others from this brand
That's actually about what it costs these days. I'm charging $12 to Canada in my current auction for a 737 only because I re-use boxes I get when buying models. If I had to go buy a box, I'd be charging $15 as well. Really can't say that it is a rip off. A rip off would be $20+, for which I know there's a Canadian seller on eBay that charges for shipping to the U.S.
Harvey
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Most Recent Arrivals: AeroClassics Lufthansa A319 D-AILU, GJ200 American Eagle CRJ-700 Old Livery
That's actually about what it costs these days. I'm charging $12 to Canada in my current auction for a 737 only because I re-use boxes I get when buying models. If I had to go buy a box, I'd be charging $15 as well. Really can't say that it is a rip off. A rip off would be $20+, for which I know there's a Canadian seller on eBay that charges for shipping to the U.S.
Harvey
Canada post rates are ridiculous, it makes it impossible for us to ship anything outside North America.
USPS website does indeed state $12 for what I said before (non discounted rate), hence a $3 profit on shipping for the seller...
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Canada post rates are ridiculous, it makes it impossible for us to ship anything outside North America.
USPS website does indeed state $12 for what I said before (non discounted rate), hence a $3 profit on shipping for the seller...
Canada Post rates are basically why I don't sell models anymore. eBay or private. Once the potential customer hears the shipping cost, 10/10 times, the deal is off.
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Ridicules post. How does a company make $3 profit on shipping?
You have to pick the item, pack the item plus carton (cost involved with labour)
Print a shipping label (cost involved)
Either deliver it to post office or contact the carrier to collect. (cost involved)
I believe that the so called $3 profit you mention doesn’t even cover the cost of shipping.
Bob
Hi Bob, quick question. Do you also find shipping rates from the US to be extremely high to Australia? Sometimes the shipping can be close to if not more then than the model itself I have found.
That's actually about what it costs these days. I'm charging $12 to Canada in my current auction for a 737 only because I re-use boxes I get when buying models. If I had to go buy a box, I'd be charging $15 as well. Really can't say that it is a rip off. A rip off would be $20+, for which I know there's a Canadian seller on eBay that charges for shipping to the U.S.
Harvey
Yeah its not pretty here, the Club models I sent out averaged $21.00 cdn dollars to the U.S. Don't forget for U.S. buyers its lower due to our exchange rates.
Shipping within Canada is just sad, sending a box to Toronto cost more sometimes.
I am crying crocodile tears for all the Americans and Canadians in regards to postage costs. To ship a single 1:400 from the US to NZ is about $27 and for 4 or 5 you can easily get stung for well over $60 and this is just bog standard shipping. Plus the USD:NZD exchange rate makes this a lot worse.
All you lot need to do is spend over $100 and its free shipping all round! My only salvation is I get to live in NZ and you have to live in the US (ducks for cover)
__________________
Richard
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Will there be an Australian dealer(s)? Postage is expensive from the US for us antipodeans.
Collectors Aircraft Models Australia (CAMAUST) offer a lot of aeroclassics products. However, they don’t tend to update their website so you’ll have to visit them in person or contact them personally.
Ridicules post. How does a company make $3 profit on shipping?
You have to pick the item, pack the item plus carton (cost involved with labour)
Print a shipping label (cost involved)
Either deliver it to post office or contact the carrier to collect. (cost involved)
I believe that the so called $3 profit you mention doesn’t even cover the cost of shipping.
Bob
You are funny! Isn't the markup on the model cost what is used to cover the handing costs (since the shipping is charged separatly)?
If we go back to this HS748 exampe, sold for $38 when its cost is about $16 arrived at the shop? I already see here a reasonabe margin to cover costs and offer a sound & justified income!
It's like airines trying to make us believe that they are not ripping us off by listing all operating costs separatly !
People are shameless...
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Man o man! Been reading the posts on this thread! Some are ungrateful! Here a mfg. is trying to help the collector save a little and all the moaning and whining going on is too much! If you can't afford a model because of shipping or import tax then you either can't afford it or don't want it bad enough!
I had a UK buyer on EBay a year or so ago refuse to pay the import tax...you know what happened...he didn't get the plane as I refused to pay the tax, and Royal Mail sent it back to me!
Maybe some need a new hobby if they can no longer afford it. The mfg. makes products to make money. Would some that are complaining start a business and lose money just to please customers?
I am crying crocodile tears for all the Americans and Canadians in regards to postage costs. To ship a single 1:400 from the US to NZ is about $27 and for 4 or 5 you can easily get stung for well over $60 and this is just bog standard shipping. Plus the USD:NZD exchange rate makes this a lot worse.
All you lot need to do is spend over $100 and its free shipping all round! My only salvation is I get to live in NZ and you have to live in the US (ducks for cover)
If I could live in New Zealand, I'd do it in a heart beat. Love your part of world my friend.
Man o man! Been reading the posts on this thread! Some are ungrateful! Here a mfg. is trying to help the collector save a little and all the moaning and whining going on is too much! If you can't afford a model because of shipping or import tax then you either can't afford it or don't want it bad enough!
Who's whining ? People are discussing shipping prices to non USA destinations. It's a discussion group after all, so please "quit whining" about discussion...
__________________ Let's be having, the British Airways/British, Negus & Negus BAC 1-11-500 in 1:400 please !
AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
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Re: AeroClassics Re-invents the Wheel
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