Phil Seig writes: Of course, if a seller wishes to use p&p as a separate profit center...
As a regular UK seller of frames, allow me to give you some facts, based on my own experience.
I charge a flat shipping charge of £75 for frames to the USA. If I am lucky, I can get one of the very light boxes from my local bike shop (those made in Vietnam such as Saracen are usually the lightest), and then if the frame is a Reynolds throughout, I can get the package under 6½ Kg, and the cost will be just under £60. If it is a heavier frame, and I have to use one of the British made heavier boxes, the weight will be over 8Kg, and the cost about £70. For my £5 to £15 profit, I have to:
Go to town and scrounge the best box I can find.
Re-make it to fit within the now very strictly enforced Parcelforce limits.
Pack the frame on the assumption that it is going to be on the bottom of a container, and that the delivery man is going to walk all over the box (and I have seen that happen!)
Spend at least £5 on suitable packing material, light enough to keep the cost down, and strong enough to make it bomb proof.
Complete all the paperwork and deliver it to the Post Office, having spent a total of about 3 hours on the total job.
So, you see, the profit soon vanishes, and I doubt if Peter McCleod will see any on the frames that he is selling. Buyers should be more concerned with the quality of the packing and the service they receive. There is little point in spending £400+ on a rare and possibly irreplaceable frame, and then trying to beat the seller down to a cheap and inadequate packing job.
And if you think shipping from the UK is expensive now, have a look at the volumetric calculations on the Parceforce website, which for the time being can be skipped, but which will probably lead to shipping costs of £105 and upwards from August.
Peter Brown. Lincolnshire. England.