Stein Frameset Group Purchase?

[B. Sanders]

With Stein's great spring sale prices (until April 15th), the RoadShark frameset is down to 810 Euro
(about $872 USD). I could actually afford that. I have all of the parts to build it up, including
two brand new Avid disc brakes and a complete 9-speed drivetrain. A beautiful Road Shark is almost
within my grasp...

Now the "ouch" part: When I add shipping (to the USA), it costs $1388 USD. So it costs $516 to ship
a frameset? I don't know the package dimensions; but Stein trikes are modular, thus they break down
quite small, I presume. A frameset can't weigh more than 28 lbs or so, right? $516 for shipping is
madness. If Taiwanese mfr's can build, ship and retail a bike for $99 at WalMart in the US, I have a
feeling that they aren't paying anywhere near $516 for shipping. Call it a hunch There is a
trick to this. We don't need speedy delivery, we just need cheap delivery (well, I can only speak
for myself I guess.)

Any ideas? How about a group purchase? I'm sure I'm not the only one of us who wants one of these
framesets, and now is the time to buy. Anybody here savvy with this kind of shipping situation?

-Barry

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

I (almost) bought a Road Shark frameset myself last June and when I found out what the Shipping and
then the Insurance and then the Import Duties and then the Taxes on all the other costs combined
YIKES, the Road Shark cost more to deliver it than it cost to buy it. HELL it would cost less to fly
Robert Stein to America and have him build it here....there is where the Group thing might work BTW,
get 10 people to raise the $ to bring R.S. to America for a week (way less $ and he gets a vacation
too). Hell the man lives in a friggin War Zone...coming to America would be a nice thing for him.

As for WHY is it cheaper to ship from Taiwan to California over shipping from Yugoslavia to New
Jersey....isn't Taiwan a tad closer? Other thing is there are freigheters leaving Taiwan every hour,
no big deal for a Broker to toss in a bike box to a shipload of Walkmans...but from Yugoslavia,
cannot see too many ships leaving there per week and then the ship goes to Italy and then to Spain
and then to port in New Jersey...THEN you need to pay to have it trucked overland to your doorstep.
Way cheaper and faster to just Import Robert Stein.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"B. Sanders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:uPEia.302897$F1.51704@sccrnsc04...
> With Stein's great spring sale prices (until April 15th), the RoadShark frameset is down to 810
> Euro (about $872 USD). I could actually afford that. I have all of the parts to build it up,
> including two brand new Avid disc brakes and a complete 9-speed drivetrain. A beautiful Road Shark
> is almost within my grasp...
>
> Now the "ouch" part: When I add shipping (to the USA), it costs $1388 USD. So it costs $516 to
> ship a frameset? I don't know the package dimensions; but Stein trikes are modular, thus they
> break down quite small, I presume.
A
> frameset can't weigh more than 28 lbs or so, right? $516 for shipping is madness. If Taiwanese
> mfr's can build, ship and retail a bike for $99 at WalMart in the US, I have a feeling that they
> aren't paying anywhere near $516 for shipping. Call it a hunch There is a trick to this. We
don't
> need speedy delivery, we just need cheap delivery (well, I can only speak for myself I guess.)
>
> Any ideas? How about a group purchase? I'm sure I'm not the only one of
us
> who wants one of these framesets, and now is the time to buy. Anybody here savvy with this kind of
> shipping situation?
>
> -Barry

 

[B. Sanders]

"Joshua Goldberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I (almost) bought a Road Shark frameset myself last June and when I found out what the Shipping
> and then the Insurance and then the Import Duties
and
> then the Taxes on all the other costs combined YIKES, the Road Shark cost more to deliver it than
> it cost to buy it.

Yes. This is a big problem for American and Western European fans of the Stein trike.

> HELL it would cost less to fly Robert Stein to America and have him build it here....there is
> where the Group thing might work BTW, get 10 people to raise the $ to bring R.S. to America for a
> week (way less $ and he gets a vacation too).

Might need more than 1 week for 10+ framesets. He'll have to bring his frame jigs along, too. Maybe
if we could get 30 people to buy one, that might be more like it. It would definitely give Robert an
incentive to consider the offer, wouldn't it? We could contract to have the tubing and welding
equipment, and a temporary workshop, ready and waiting when he arrives. He would probably need
access to a milling machine, or at least a tubing notcher.

> Hell the man lives in a friggin War Zone...coming to America would be a nice thing for him.

It wouldn't hurt to ask, now would it?

> As for WHY is it cheaper to ship from Taiwan to California there are freigheters leaving Taiwan
> every hour, no big deal for a Broker to toss in a bike box to a shipload of Walkmans...

Right. Once the bikes are shipped by the container load, the per-unit shipping cost drops by decimal
orders of magnitude.

> Way cheaper and faster to just Import Robert Stein.

Joshua, you are a genius. I like the way you think. Think we could get Ian Sims to do the same thing
after Robert heads back to Yugoslavia?

-Barry

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Wouldn't be weird if no one has ever suggested to Robert Stein that he emigrate to some place a bit
safer and closer to where his buying public would be re: settle in a place like Corvallis Oregon.
--------------------------------------------
"B. Sanders" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:mbHia.305140$F1.52294@sccrnsc04...
> "Joshua Goldberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I (almost) bought a Road Shark frameset myself last June and when I
found
> > out what the Shipping and then the Insurance and then the Import Duties
> and
> > then the Taxes on all the other costs combined YIKES, the Road Shark
cost
> > more to deliver it than it cost to buy it.
>
> Yes. This is a big problem for American and Western European fans of the Stein trike.
>
> > HELL it would cost less to fly Robert Stein to America and have him build it here....there is
> > where the Group thing might work BTW, get 10 people to raise the $ to bring R.S.
to
> > America for a week (way less $ and he gets a vacation too).
>
> Might need more than 1 week for 10+ framesets. He'll have to bring his
frame
> jigs along, too. Maybe if we could get 30 people to buy one, that might be more like it. It would
> definitely give Robert an incentive to consider
the
> offer, wouldn't it? We could contract to have the tubing and welding equipment, and a temporary
> workshop, ready and waiting when he arrives.
He
> would probably need access to a milling machine, or at least a tubing notcher.
>
> > Hell the man lives in a friggin War Zone...coming to America would be a nice thing
for
> > him.
>
> It wouldn't hurt to ask, now would it?
>
> > As for WHY is it cheaper to ship from Taiwan to California there are freigheters leaving Taiwan
> > every hour, no big deal for a Broker to toss in a bike box to a shipload of Walkmans...
>
> Right. Once the bikes are shipped by the container load, the per-unit shipping cost drops by
> decimal orders of magnitude.
>
> > Way cheaper and faster to just Import Robert Stein.
>
> Joshua, you are a genius. I like the way you think. Think we could get
Ian
> Sims to do the same thing after Robert heads back to Yugoslavia?
>
> -Barry

 

[Mikael Seierup]

"B. Sanders" skrev

> Yes. This is a big problem for American and Western European fans of the Stein trike.

Huh? Its not a big problem if you're living in the EU. The Atlantic is the real culprit.

M.

 

[Mikael Seierup]

"Joshua Goldberg" skrev...
> Wouldn't be weird if no one has ever suggested to Robert Stein that he emigrate to some place
> a bit safer and closer to where his buying public would be re: settle in a place like
> Corvallis Oregon.

Safer? Serbia was the part of the former Yugoslavia that was least affected by war. Well apart from
bombing when the West went in. And the war is over in case you hadn't heard. ;-)

m.

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Mikael...confuse me, when did Yugoslavia/Serbia/Bosnia join the EU?
----------------------------
"Mikael Seierup" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "B. Sanders" skrev
>
> > Yes. This is a big problem for American and Western European fans of
the
> > Stein trike.
>
> Huh? Its not a big problem if you're living in the EU. The Atlantic is the real culprit.
>
> M.

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Yeah and they have almost no economy left to show for it. They are trying to get back on the global
stage, but it is taking a while longer than they thought it would. Tourism is still flat and many
nations are still not into reinvesting in a country with claymores in the fields and former
neighboring leaders still at war crime trials.
------------------------------
"Mikael Seierup" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Joshua Goldberg" skrev...
> > Wouldn't be weird if no one has ever suggested to Robert Stein that he emigrate to some place a
> > bit safer and closer to where his buying public would be re: settle in a place like Corvallis
> > Oregon.
>
> Safer? Serbia was the part of the former Yugoslavia that was least
affected by war.
> Well apart from bombing when the West went in. And the war is over in case you hadn't heard. ;-)
>
> m.

 

[Michael Perry]

> Now the "ouch" part: When I add shipping (to the USA), it costs $1388 USD. So it costs $516 to
> ship a frameset? I don't know the package dimensions;

Barry: I assume that's their charge for shipping and not actual cost(?). I notice UPS doesn't pick
up there, but estimated German shipping cost would be half that price. Maybe Fedex delivers from
Yugoslavia?

 

[Ken Kobayashi]

On Wed, 02 Apr 2003 17:09:46 GMT, "B. Sanders" <[email protected]> wrote:

>So it costs $516 to ship a frameset? I don't know the package dimensions; but Stein trikes are
>modular, thus they break down quite small, I presume. A frameset can't weigh more than 28 lbs or
>so, right? $516 for shipping is madness. If Taiwanese mfr's can build, ship and retail a bike for
>$99 at WalMart in the US, I have a feeling that they aren't paying anywhere near $516 for shipping.
>Call it a hunch There is a trick to this.

Their "trick" is that they use full size shipping containers and cargo ships. I think you need about
50 trikes to fill up a container. I think you need that many if you want to save by group purchase.

Last time I bought a recumbent, my shop used BAX Global ( http://www.baxworld.com/ ) which turned
out to be cheaper than even USPS. I don't know if they have offices in that country though.

Of course you could always take a vacation there and bring it back...

Ken Kobayashi [email protected] http://solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jp/kobayashi/personal/

 

[Alpha Beta]

I was look in 1993 for how much it is to ship a car. I think it was 600$US. I think they are
profiteering on the shipping. They probably have a loss leader kind of promotion.

> Now the "ouch" part: When I add shipping (to the USA), it costs $1388 USD. So it costs $516 to
> ship a frameset? I don't know the package dimensions; but Stein trikes are modular, thus they
> break down quite small, I presume.

 

[Mikael Seierup]

"Joshua Goldberg" skrev...
> Mikael...confuse me, when did Yugoslavia/Serbia/Bosnia join the EU?

The trikes are shipped from Austria. AFAIK the prices are for a trike shipped from there. Thus
theres no extra VAT or toll.

M.

 

[Ken Kobayashi]

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 23:48:37 -0500, "Alpha Beta" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> So it costs $516 to ship a frameset?
>
>I was look in 1993 for how much it is to ship a car. I think it was 600$US. I think they are
>profiteering on the shipping. They probably have a loss leader kind of promotion.

No, it really costs that much to ship a trike by air. Just check the UPS or FedEx web page.

I don't know where you got the $600 figure from, but I know someone who transported two cars from
the US to Italy about 5 years ago, and I think he said it cost $3000. I believe that was for two
cars in a single container, and of course that's surface, not air.

Ken Kobayashi [email protected] http://solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jp/kobayashi/personal/

 

[Dave Larrington]

There was an article in the UK's "CAR" magazine a couple of months ago, wherein photographer and
FLJS drove USA coast-to-coast in a Smart. Their not being imported into the USA, they had it
airfreighted over from Frankfurt to NY, at a cost of ~1500 GBP.

By surface is much cheaper - I've seen figures down to 300 GBP quoted for getting cars from the
USA to GB.

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Too bad you cannot just toss a bike box onto one the 100s of US/International Cargo ships serving
the conflict in Iraq. Afterall they move foodstuffs to the area and return empty, logic being if you
can make a few extra bucks transporting a frameset (why not). I had a friend who shipped his Italian
MASI 10 Speed Racer to Brazil for a South American tour...shipping cost was $50.00 CAD paid in cash
to the captain. I'm sure there is a way to beat the high shipping costs IF people got more creative
and spent the time hunting a deal. It was Robert Stein btw who gave me the original transAtlantic
shipping costs, using whatever carrier served his region...so maybe bargain hunting would save
people a few hundred ducats.
------------------------------------
"Mikael Seierup" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Joshua Goldberg" skrev...
> > Mikael...confuse me, when did Yugoslavia/Serbia/Bosnia join the EU?
>
> The trikes are shipped from Austria. AFAIK the prices are for a trike shipped from there. Thus
> theres no extra VAT or toll.
>
> M.

 

[B. Sanders]

"Michael Perry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Now the "ouch" part: When I add shipping (to the USA), it costs $1388
USD.
> > So it costs $516 to ship a frameset? I don't know the package
dimensions;
>
> Barry: I assume that's their charge for shipping and not actual cost(?). I notice UPS doesn't pick
> up there, but estimated German shipping cost would be half that price. Maybe Fedex delivers from
> Yugoslavia?

Tried it.

FedEx quoted me....are you ready? [drum roll]

$1299

Twelve Hundred and Ninety Nine Dollars

Can you believe that?

-Barry

 

[Michael Perry]

> Tried it.
>
> FedEx quoted me....are you ready? [drum roll]
>
> $1299
>
> Twelve Hundred and Ninety Nine Dollars
>
> Can you believe that?
>
> -Barry

Ouch! What a difference.

I was out on the I-net looking at armored cars, located in England. They can ship a truck over here
for only about twice the cost of shipping that bike.

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Barry I know I shouldn't ask this, but why would you want an "Armored Car"??
---------------------------
"Michael Perry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Tried it.
> >
> > FedEx quoted me....are you ready? [drum roll]
> >
> > $1299
> >
> > Twelve Hundred and Ninety Nine Dollars
> >
> > Can you believe that?
> >
> > -Barry
>
> Ouch! What a difference.
>
> I was out on the I-net looking at armored cars, located in England. They can ship a truck over
> here for only about twice the cost of shipping that bike.

 

[Tom Sherman]

Joshua Goldberg wrote:
>
> Barry I know I shouldn't ask this, but why would you want an "Armored Car"??
> ---------------------------

To transport valuable recumbent bicycles and trikes in, of course!

By the way, it was Michael Perry and not Barry Sanders who was shopping for armored [1] cars.

[1] Wouldn't they be "armoured" cars in England?

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)