Almost half price BLS251 anyone?

[Rctintin]

Just received Hobby Kings new catalogue through the door today, and was comparing the MKS and Turnigy servo specs (Looks like they are one of the same), and I came across this Futaba at this price!!

HobbyKing Online R/C Hobby Store : Futaba BLS251 Digital Brushless Heli Rudder Servo 3.8kg/.06sec/61g

Compared to

Fast Lad Performance


Guess thats why we are called rip off Briton!

[pgkevet]

Sadly I have to disagree.
HK price 115usd = 77ukp roughly depending on exchange rates at the time... then add import duties and vat and carriage charges and relative purchase power/discounts... OK you coud still argue that FL is about £10 more..but whose guarantee would you trust? And if you had to return post it?

now don't get me wrong..i've shelled out about £3K in HK stuff over the years but this isnl' as good a bargain as it seems suoerficially..

[Rctintin]

There are no import duty's from HK, and the postage is £3.21.

If you put it through the checkout, then it comes to $122.69 = £76.21 at tonights exchange rate.

If I was to order through FL tonight, including postage = £115.23

So the one from HK is £39.02 cheaper.

So 'Half price' is a bit ambitious on my behalf, but nearly £40 difference is a hell of a lot, and if a problem arises with it, (which I doubt being Futaba!) you can return to their European branch (It says so in there advert).

[raptorheli2]

There are no import duty's from HK, and the postage is £3.21.

If you put it through the checkout, then it comes to $122.69 = £76.21 at tonights exchange rate.

If I was to order through FL tonight, including postage = £115.23

So the one from HK is £39.02 cheaper.

So 'Half price' is a bit ambitious on my behalf, but nearly £40 difference is a hell of a lot, and if a problem arises with it, (which I doubt being Futaba!) you can return to their European branch (It says so in there advert).

to correct you here if i may-there ARE import duties from HK......whether you get caught for them is the key here. even if your not caught it is your duty to let HMRC know you should have been charged...............

i'm all for a bargain but you need to play fair to the UK shops. imo the prices in the UK shops is pretty damn good considering ATM.

cheers

[pgkevet]

As stated..there are duties and often ordering small items from HK one gets lucky and avoids them. Bigger parcels may end up with duty and a handling charge.
businesses like FL will always pay those duties.

Even if hK's checkout in ££'s gives you a figure then you can also bet that the charge for foreign transactions on your cc or paypal will be at a worse rate.

Once again..i order lots that way, better than half the time I avoid the duties..but i do do my math and accept matters when I get caught or get dud kit and have issues returning it.

But it's unfair to slate a business that is unable to avoid working by the rules and taxes..whine at the goverment instead.

[Rctintin]

Who was slating and whining? Not me!

I purly used FL as an example price, could be any UK seller.

Fact is that the HK price is a huge saving on the UK based price.

I also have bought many items from HK, not had any duty charged, nor any problems with their service.

This post was ment purly to let people who are in the market for this very good and expensive servo, that there is a much cheaper way of getting it.

Thanks, Rob

[Milamber]

Got the same catalogue on Wednesday morning. Placed an order early that same afternoon. All items are in stock at the German warehouse and my order shows all items are "reserved", but, as of this morning, the order status is still "Processing".

M.

[pgkevet]

Who was slating and whining? Not me!

I purly used FL as an example price, could be any UK seller.

Fact is that the HK price is a huge saving on the UK based price.

I also have bought many items from HK, not had any duty charged, nor any problems with their service.

This post was ment purly to let people who are in the market for this very good and expensive servo, that there is a much cheaper way of getting it.

Thanks, Rob

Fair comment.

I buy loads of small electric spares plus blades and cheapo canopies HK and do get caught on duty and handling from time to time..but agree that overall i save significantly..also good deals on some of their tools. i always pack a few of those cheapo 'leatherman' copy multitools when i go third world and hand them out as gifts...very popular.

[LipolyGone]

That sevos out of stock at hobbyking wonder if its in stock at fastlads

[Pitman]

So 'Half price' is a bit ambitious on my behalf, but nearly £40 difference is a hell of a lot, and if a problem arises with it, (which I doubt being Futaba!) you can return to their European branch (It says so in there advert).

Don't you believe it! I had a HK ESC go pop when first connected. When I raised the warranty return claim on their website, I was told to send it back to China. I queried this with their customer (did)service department, and their response was:
"Sorry for the misunderstanding. The European Warranty dept is comming soon!"

IMO, the biggest bunch of con artists out!!!

[Rctintin]

I fully understand what you are saying, but their site does now say the European one is running now, but the USA and Australia ones are coming.

They may be out of stock, but that is no supprise looking at that price. Like their Nanotech 6s 5000 lipos are never in stock, as they sell out as fast as they can stock them!

[Rctintin]

Got the same catalogue on Wednesday morning. Placed an order early that same afternoon. All items are in stock at the German warehouse and my order shows all items are "reserved", but, as of this morning, the order status is still "Processing".

M.

My last order still says processing, yet they were delivered to me on Thursday!

[Milamber]

My last order still says processing, yet they were delivered to me on Thursday!

Ok, thank you for that little gem of information. No real problem with waiting, just wondered about the length of time against a "reserved" status when it just needs wrapping and sending.

M.

[Pitman]

I fully understand what you are saying, but their site does now say the European one is running now, but the USA and Australia ones are coming.

They may be out of stock, but that is no supprise looking at that price. Like their Nanotech 6s 5000 lipos are never in stock, as they sell out as fast as they can stock them!

Rob, the pop up re the warrenty centre in Europe that appeared when I was looking at the ESC also said that! When I queried why I was being asked to sent the faulty ESC back to China, this is the response I got:

Dear Dave:

Thank you for your email and sorry for late reply.


For the information you have provided below:

Worried about warranty!?
Other stores will force you to ship your faulty item back to China, but not us!
We guarantee all products to be free of defects at the time of sale and have warranty centers in Europe, USA* and Australia*!
We also have instant replacement on some items. Ask our Customer service staff via chat or email for details.
*coming soon!

Please note the last 2 words " *coming soon! " Sorry for all the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

*Due to high volume of daily emails, it may take 3 - 7 days before we read your email reply. We thank for your patience during this demanding time.*

Best Regards,

Morgan

HobbyKing Customer Support Team
www.hobbyking.com

This is the popup, where it is quite clear that only the USA and Australian centres are 'coming soon'. You are warned!

[p4ddy]

Did you guys see the size of that brushless motor in someones palm. It was MASSIVE!!!!.


We are definatley ripped off in britain, bloody vat....an invention from some rich sod to make him richer