Shipping costs, logic and temptation

Went over some or my recent trades and purchases and I think I will lay off buying stuff in the UK for a while. With the average cost of 5 pounds or more for a small package or envelope from the UK I'm paying as much for one of those as I am locally for a couple of kilogram box. As I have what I want (for now), and have no money, I will focus on the local e-shops. Prices for the items compared to the UK tend to be the same at the moment anyway, and since I'm only looking for tools and paints now I'll stick to the Netherlands for the time being, and save up for Crisis to get stuff from the UK at a discount and minus shipping costs.

It is a bit ridiculous how much money is lost on shipping. I always make 20-30 Pound orders and pay 5-8 Pounds in shipping for that. In the current (Paypal) conversion that is a good 7,50 to 12,50 euros.

A single limited mini might sell for 5 pounds, have a shipping cost of 3 pounds minimum and might end up costing me 12,50 for a single 28mm mini.

Moral of the story, buy in bulk?

Buying in bulk means planning ahead and making a big purchase in one go. I keep lists of stuff I want from companies so I can make a order when they have a 10-20% off sale, technically saving me on shipping costs, but not all companies do that and planning ahead isn't always possible. Plus I have to shift stuff first to actually have money to buy stuff. Some sales only last a day or a weekend so I miss out. (Is that a bad thing? No, it is not, I already try to stay in line with the "2 weeks rule"...if I want something I note it down. If I still want it 2 weeks later it goes on the list. If I go over the list at a later date and the enthusiasm isn't there or the order is getting too big, stuff gets cut. Simple as that)

Simple example.

I got the Storm Talon for free but would like a Heavy Bolter or Assault Cannon turret to go with it. A single sprue of that goes for 12-14 Pounds on Ebay.co.uk  plus 4 pounds shipping. That's a good 24 euros. For 10 euros more I can buy a Razorback in the local GW shop and sell on the Rhino and the rest of the sprue for 20-25 euros to friends or Marktplaats (Ignoring buying it online locally as the 20% savings is not enough to cover local postage). A friend of mine was kind enough to point out last Friday, at the GW club, that the assault cannon is a 16 euro sprue with other bits like Hurricane bolters and hatches etc. As he gave me a advance payment for other stuff I used that to get the sprue, and I will pass on the rest to Marktplaats or clubmembers who want to trade bits. So now I have a assault cannon and unless I can trade one, a heavy Bolter is on the horizon too in the near future.

Having no money makes you creative, having a big circle of people to trade with helps to cut costs down even more.

I want this month to end again with a big plus (last month saw added expenses for the garden renovation and stuff that needed to be paid even with Kim in the hospital) so I will try not to trade anything and focus on filling my Paypal coffer with UK Pounds (to beat Paypals exchange rate if I eventually do need to get stuff in Pounds from producers) and euros, the latter going straight into my bankaccount to pay for the shipping costs and to put me further towards a healthy plus number.

Not spending a dime would be even better, but temptation, temptation......