This stove is for sale on ebay, I have bid on it but its priced itself out for me. The seller is German, but I have emailed him and he will accept paypal or cheque and DHL overnight delivery to the UK is 20 euros (I've bought several things from Germany, and the postage is always cheap and quick, why not here in the UK?).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3671625281&category=65959&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBBI%3AIT&rd=1


Good luck

Rik

Check with the guys at:
Highland Gear
Tel) 217-224-HIGH
IL, USA

Last time they were selling a brand new 111C for US$90, Nova for US$79.
They also list other stoves on Ebay.

Hi Bark, do you have a web address?

Many thanks, Rik

November 2003 was the last time they posted sales on ebay, but thanks for the information.

Rik

Go to:
http://www.highlandgear.com/catalog/contact_us.php

It shows the following:
Highland Gear, Inc.
1019 Gardner Expressway
PO Box 87
Quincy IL 62306
Voice (217) 224-4444
Fax (217) 224-7889
E-Mail HighlandGear@hotmail.com
Hours of Operation
8am - 5pm Monday thru Friday

Their website does not show everything they sell on Ebay. They still list 111Cs at $1 beginning price with high reserve--e.g.:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16036&item=3672510124&rd=1

The prices on website are not always the same ones you quote with a direct phone call.

Calling is the best way, based on my experience.

Cheers Bark,

Rik

not bad at all from the USA to UK at $25 airmail. I moaned in an earlier thread about shipping costs from the USA, but I suspect many sellers "guess" the cost when they quote or are a little greedy. One seller I contacted recently wanted $US 45.00 to ship me a primus 96,,,,,I am all for paying extra for packing, but some sellers seem to wack up the price a lot if their item does not seem to be selling at a price they want (thats what a reserve price is for I would have thought).

In the past I have "guesstimated" postage and its cost me money, so now I have a set of scales and check weight and costs from Royal Mail.

OT a little, but why are people not posting feedback? My ebay rating has been stuck at 80 for a while now, but in fact is a lot higher than that. I always post feedback as a way of saying thank you, it seems some can't be bothered to take a minute and type a few words

Rik

Whenever I buy items from US seller, or am considering bidding on them, if the item weight isn't included in the description or I don't have a good idea what it would be, I ask them. Armed with a weight, and allowing a bit extra for
packing I visit:

http://ircalc.usps.gov/weight.asp?Contents=1

& open the International Postage Calculator page. Thus I can find out what sort of postage I am looking at on top of the selling price, for different classes of carriage. Quite often these days I ask the seller to send the item using a specific service ( I find that Global Priority Variable Weight is quick & reasonable for lighter items - had a stove home from San Diego; 6000 miles or so, in slightly under 3 days a couple of months ago- but mostly it's the quoted 4-6 days).
You didn't say how long your feedback rating has been static, but some of the people I have dealt with leave feedback until the turn of the month. Also, when buying or selling I always wait until the item has reached me, or the buyer, B4 leaving feedback, so I may not be alone in this.

I went to buy a nova from highland, but the postage was $62, making the price about the same as in the UK. They did not give a cheaper postal rate

Oddly enough I was queried this morning about a postage estimate I had made concerning the posting of an item from USA, so it's still fresh in my mind. The item weight was 15oz. which, according to Optimus' site, is about what a Nova weighs without the fuel bottle, and I allowed another pound for packaging (err on the side of caution). USPS gave the Global Priority Variable Weight price for this weight on this service, US - UK as $15.00 and this is what I sent back to my correspondent. I don't know how big the Nova package is but I would imagine it's fairly compact, enough so to meet the measurement criteria for this service. If you question Highland's price for postage AND offer what you think is a cheaper alternative, they may well oblige. Check the numbers out for yourself and get back onto them - the worst they can say is no!
I don't know how much a new Nova is, here or there, but bear in mind that it may be liable for duty on entering UK.

I hope those guys at Highland are not trying to hit the jackpot with shipping charges.

It bothers me when someone puts up a seemingly good deal with buyitnow option, but not list the shipping charge. Once the fish bites, Snag! The buyer is whopped with a hefty shipping charge. You just swallow the charge, only to discover the seller used the cheapest shipping method, and pocketed the difference.

Such a difference will not break one's bank, but the moral implication of the whole thing leaves a sour after-taste. Sometimes, it borders on feeling being stabbed in the side, especially when the item arrives with missing piece of accessory or a flaw that was not explicitly mentioned.

All that e-mail exchange and leaving neg. feedback do not erase that pollution you were subjected to walk through. Those are the types who post malicious feedbacks in retaliation.

It is like having stepped on a doggie-do; one must wipe it off, and go on one's way.

I mentioned to Ken acouple of posts back that I had had a postage estimate queried this morning. This was from a seller who is awaiting the payment, which is on its way by snailmail. The seller quoted a price which was 60% more than my estimate & I, in turn, queried this and quoted my figures and sources and we came to agree on a postage price which, whilst still more than my estimate, was only 20% more.
I still think it's a bit high but it takes two to tango as the saying goes. There's no reason why you can't establish what the postage cost is going to be before you part with the dosh; indeed eBay gives you the facility to do this in the "Pay for your item" pages. If you think it's too high and can quote an alternative, then query it.
I don't do cards or any form of electronic money, but I can see the attraction of just banging your Paypal password into the machine and leaving it at that(not that I'm suggesting for a moment that this is what you do). If the seller is totally inflexible on postage you must decide for yourself what is the best course of action. I don't know if eBay have a procedure for complaining about excessive postage charges, but they may have. After all, once you have paid for an item it's yours, and I should imagine that sellers who don't waive resposibility for an item once it's in the post are like hen's teeth. Surely the buyer, who is now the owner, has some say in how the item is delivered to him.
I, too, have received goods that weren't all they were cracked up to be but neither party has got to the -ve feedback stage yet, and things have been sorted amicably(ish).

Ian

Hello,
I have found that inflated shipping costs are because.

1) The seller is to lazy to pack and weigh the item before hand so they are guessing a high price.

2) They are making the profit on the shipping so they don't have to pay fees to e-bay. Kind of like the $1.00 dollar cost with the 19.00 shipping and handling fee.

Some sellers are just better left alone by passing up on the auction.

Chuck

Just out of curiosity I hunted around to see how Highland Gear shipped their gear to merit a $62 shipping fee.
Allowing for the fuel bottle to be included which pushes the weight up to 19oz. & allowing 1lb. for packing I went into USPS & they dont have a service for anything weighing 2lb. 3oz. that costs as much as $62. So I went into Highlands site & looked at their shipping policy (link at bottom left of Home page). I copied this from there:

"All shipping prices are quoted for the 48 continental states in the USA. For shipments to Alaska, Hawaii, or outside the US please e-mail for a shipping quote. All orders are shipped through UPS unless otherwise arranged before shipping. All packages are shipped without insurance, however, insurance can be provided at the buyers expense. Highland Gear, Inc. is not responsible for lost or stolen shipments."

The important bit in this, from Ken's point of view, would appear to be:

"All orders are shipped through UPS unless otherwise arranged before shipping."

UPS should not be confused with USPS - it's an easy mistake for a limey to make - I nearly did once. USPS is the US equivalent of Royal Mail whilst UPS is a worldwide courier service whose brown vans are pretty common on UK's (& probably everywhere else's) roads, and whose prices are a good deal steeper than Royal Mail's, let alone USPS's.
If you want Highland to use adifferent service to UPS get in touch with them and tell them, in the nicest possible way, what their shipping policy says. They should then agree to ship by USPS.
On the face of it Highland don't appear to be shipping ripper-offers. Not only that, but they have been mentioned favourably elsewhere in this thread and whilst their choice of carrier is expensive, UPS have a reputation second to none, by all accounts.

Ian

I hate when no postage is quoted (for within the UK, from a UK seller) and when you ask for details you get no reply.

As to feedback, this last 10 days, I have sold 1, bought 2, all items paid via paypal, as of this minute,,,,,not one feedback apart from what I have left.

Why do people pay the same for a used Trangia (give or take a pound or two) as for a new one. Are the older models better build? They look the same to me!

Off to bed now I have had a good moan (been working a night shift)

Rik