Tuga2112 wrote:.... its not uncommon for me to find that 50% of the costs are in postage and taxation when i order stuff from there.
I know what you mean - a set of rubbers for the bake brake sliders was £1.77 (I bought 2 sets, so spent £3.54) - took off my 5%, then the whole lot came to about £11.50........ still a lot cheaper than getting them in the UK, but that's the way it is.
It isn't even RA ripping us off - the costs of USA to UK shipping is ridiculous (far higher than sending the other way) and is something that John Callahan suffers from with his gear cables. I have looked at getting things sent to a friend in USA for onward shipping, and it is no better (even with multiple parcels to him and then amalgamating them) by the time you add up the USA internal postage, the box to send over the water etc, and that doesn't even take account of his time and effort (which wouldn't directly cost me, but obviously needs consideration - even if it's just buying him a lunch at some crappy tea shop in the middle of nowhere on one of our adventure trips).
The first time I used RA for a biggish order was when I first found them and did a group buy for a few waterpumps - it was obvious that they were far cheaper than getting them in the UK, and shipping was split between the group, with UK distribution being a separate issue and a mixture of handing them out at Donington, passing them through a mate (or Dico Transport Distribution!!!), or whatever.
It was only after I had realised that the pumps were cheap in America and organised a GB, that I also found the complete list of other stuff they sold - at that point I was like a fat kid in a sweet shop......
..... so the GB for waterpumps ended up also being a list for cam belts, idlers, tensioners, thermostats, gaskets, seals etc etc - fortunately, it was before I was aware of the cross-reference for the rear brakes, otherwise it would have been even worse.
On that first order, there were 3 different warehouses involved and they offered a 'Combined Shipping' system, which took a few days longer but meant that everything got sent to their main warehouse, where it was boxed up and send to me. It was quite a significant saving at the time, and worthwhile. This was back in the dark ages where such shipments arrived at East Midlands Airport and got thrown in a corner until the box was processed, I was invoiced, and then paid Royal Mail for the import duty and VAT (plus their admin fee).... so it wasn't a quick process anyway, and 3-4 weeks was a quick service.
I don't know when they stopped the combined shipping service, or even if they did stop it, or if it was only ever for larger orders, but such is life. At least now they collect VAT and duty at source, so there is no hassle and delays with that this end. 71 hours is my best ever time from order to delivery (new clutch and a few odds and ends), but a week is still quick when you consider the logistics involved.
I have noticed over the years that their inventory has diminished for our parts, but that is only to be expected with time - grab it while you can is the only way to ensure that you have the parts when you need them - but not everyone wants to do that, or has the financial and physical capacity to store bits, so it is in the lap of the gods as to when you need parts, can you still get them.
(I know DAYCO have stopped the manufacture of the timing belt tensioner/idler box sets - so it is a case of buying NOS, or seeing what else is about.)
Oh, and for an up-to-date discount code you can follow the link on
WikiLEC to "Discounts" and then get the latest useable code.... they are always "only" 5%, but it all helps.
