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Modeling in General: Advice on...
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buying from HK & Singapore
spooky6
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Sri Lanka
Member Since: May 05, 2005
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Posted: Monday, October 24, 2005 - 08:23 PM UTC
Hi, guys! I remember reading a thread some time ago, in which someone said that ordering kits online from stores in Hongkong or Singapore (can't remember which) was much cheaper (including postage) than anything on offer in Europe or the US.

I know Hobbyeasy is Hongkong-based, but is this the best? Any other stores you guys can recommend? Thanks.
Donald99
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Hong Kong S.A.R. / 繁體
Member Since: July 06, 2005
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Posted: Monday, October 24, 2005 - 11:10 PM UTC
I heard of people talking about Lucky Model which is also HK based.

Haven't bought anything on-line myself, except AFV modeller magazine, so I cannot comment on their prices and service.

I am sure someone here will be able to give you more useful comments within minutes.
spooky6
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Sri Lanka
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Posted: Monday, October 24, 2005 - 11:47 PM UTC
The only online stores I've bought from are Hannants and Michitoy and neither were cheaper than an actual store in Europe.
Tordenskiold
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Aarhus, Denmark
Member Since: February 12, 2005
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Posted: Monday, October 24, 2005 - 11:55 PM UTC
I have bought from HK stores a couple of times.

Shipping isn't cheaper in my experience - but the shipping time is much longer than the stuff I bought in US and Canada. In some cases several months
exer
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Dublin, Ireland
Member Since: November 27, 2004
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 12:07 AM UTC
I've bought a lot of models online including from Hong Kong and Singapore but by far the best value is Hobbylink Japan
http://www.hlj.com/
example the Tamiya Marder lll runs about €43 here in Dublin. From HLJ it cost me €23 including postage, and I had it within 7-8 days You can't beat that.
Shipping from Singapore and HK can take a long time. I've waited up to 8 weeks for a kit.
Tarok
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Victoria, Australia
Member Since: July 28, 2004
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 12:24 AM UTC
I've bought from LM (in HKG) and, yes, the service was fantastic, and yes the shipping was cheaper (USD 16 for airfreight to SA!), and no I'm not getting any kickbacks to say this...

HobbyEasy is in HKG and although their shipping may not always be as cheap as LM's, the times I have dealt with them about their site and other issues irrelevant to this topic/thread, their service has always been friendly, professional, and considering time-zones, quick.

When I place my next hobby order later this year, or early next, I will once again compare prices from HE & LM... I will only deal with these 2 companies for general modeling products (figures I like to buy either directly from the manufacturer or from a site like Colorado)....
jimbrae
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Provincia de Lugo, Spain / España
Member Since: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 12:28 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Shipping isn't cheaper in my experience - but the shipping time is much longer than the stuff I bought in US and Canada. In some cases several months



Well, if you choose the Surface-Mail option, it wll take several months....

I buy from both Lucky Model & HobbyEasy and I have nothing but praise for BOTH of them. Shipping is rapid (using small-packet Air-Mail) and cheap. Normally I get my orders within 7 days and I pay (on average) around 60% of what it would cost me within Spain!!

For those shopping from HK, the DEFAULT form of postage is ALWAYS surface - check the ordering details!!!...Jim :-)
spooky6
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Sri Lanka
Member Since: May 05, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 12:51 AM UTC
Thanks, guys!
Stormbringer
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England - South East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 03:31 AM UTC
I've ordered stuff from Luckymodel in Hong Kong and been very pleased with their communications and service not to mention their prices.

Pete
rebelsoldier
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Arizona, United States
Member Since: June 30, 2004
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 04:23 AM UTC
what jimbrae said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great service, prompt notification of shipping times, and of course the price is great, the shipping is 7 to 11 working days[ lm ]and always have been notified of any change in order status...



reb
05Sultan
#037
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California, United States
Member Since: December 19, 2004
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 04:53 AM UTC
I've ordered twice from H.Easy and am very pleased.
Some things are very nice priced and had delivered in 6 days to California for what is sale price on U.S. online stores.
There is no such thing as the perfect store,so it's good to have a stable of reliable sources for your needs.
Just a satisfied customer.
cheers!
WildCard
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Texas, United States
Member Since: May 23, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 09:57 AM UTC
I have bought from HK several times before. My experice with them was long wait and expensive postage. One instance the package was "lost" and I end up have to send another payment to get the items I need.

My unpleasant experices perhaps just an isolated case among the mass that purchase over the pacific. However, I find many reliable online stores here in the states offer great price. Why not just support our local economy and purchase in the states before we all have to end up purchsing from overseas?

WC
bocchris
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England - North East, United Kingdom
Member Since: December 05, 2004
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 11:44 AM UTC
I've got to give Lucky Model a thumbs up for good service.There are also some good guys on eBay who I buy from quite often. Including airmail I generally pay only 66% of what I would pay here in the UK.
Gt351
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Tasmania, Australia
Member Since: July 26, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 11:46 PM UTC
Hobbyeasy is by far the best place to shop in HK, i have even compared prices on same items at lucky model and hobbyeasy was still cheaper and the service is A1, have placed many orders over last year and am very happy, although i do buy Dragon products from local hobby shop because their world wide pricing policy makes them around the same price, cheers Bob.
jimbrae
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Provincia de Lugo, Spain / España
Member Since: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 11:58 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I have bought from HK several times before. My experice with them was long wait and expensive postage. One instance the package was "lost" and I end up have to send another payment to get the items I need.

My unpleasant experices perhaps just an isolated case among the mass that purchase over the pacific. However, I find many reliable online stores here in the states offer great price. Why not just support our local economy and purchase in the states before we all have to end up purchsing from overseas?



..possibly because this is an international site and not everyone is an American?

I could buy many products from traders here but, financially it doesn't compensate. I buy from whoever gives the best service - see my recent thread on this subject (link below)...Jim

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/61991&page=1
Gastel
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Queensland, Australia
Member Since: September 11, 2005
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 12:18 AM UTC
I regularly use a Malaysian online store and have nothing but good things to say about them. The prices average 19.00 US for most Dragon armour and 6-8US for figures. They also stock Tamiya and have started doing eduard AM stuff. The postage to Australia is 3 to 6US (multiple items cheaper) and delivery is never more than two weeks (always reliable). They answer emails straight away and you can pay by a variety of methods including paypal. They also have an ebay store.
The web site is www.hobby888.com and if you want ebay just search for 1/35 armour and find the seller from Georgetown Malaysia.

Regards
Alex
Twentecable
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Overijssel, Netherlands
Member Since: September 13, 2003
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Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 12:47 AM UTC
I ordered from Lucky models once.

The shippingcosts are low. It took 3 days to proces the order (you can follow the status graphicly, very nice) the shipping about a week....

Will do it again once

greetings Lars
WildCard
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Texas, United States
Member Since: May 23, 2005
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Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 - 07:01 PM UTC

Quoted Text

possibly because this is an international site and not everyone is an American?



Haha... Jim, you are right. Perhaps I should rephrase that.

What I should have said was to support your local hobbyshop. I know I know they might cost a few dollar more (in your case ESP or EUR), but it's just fun and theraputic to go and develope a good relationship with a good hobbyshop. Do you remember before the e-commerce, the excitment of going into your LHS and find what you are looking for right then and there? To me, that's half the fun in model building (c'mon, you know you will never gonna build all the models in your stash!).

I also perferr local online store for the same reason. Faster shipment, secure payment, and better communication.

The reason I say this is because I was frustrated to see several good LHS close their doors and it's PAIN IN THE BEHIND to get some paint and accessories when you are in a hurry. I just don't want to have to buy a bottle of paint and wait for a week.

WC
Teacher
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England - North West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 - 07:13 PM UTC
I sort of agree and disagree with supporting your local hobby shop. Here in the UK, most local hobby shops are complete rubbish. They are little better than toy shops. A kit, some cement, paint, a brush you couldn't paint a battleship with. Forget aftermarket bits and pieces, they won't have even heard of them. I have to travel 60 miles to find a shop that sells aftermarket, an this isn't because of the so called decline in hobby shops, it's always been this way in the UK. There used to an awful lot of shops selling kits, and they've now gone, but aftermarket has always been rare here. It's a two-edged sword, I'll support local hobby shops when they start selling what I need. My local hobby shop in a place called Frodsham, hasn't even heard of the Dragon Initial Tiger yet. What else can I do but order from the Far East? I alway use Lucky Model, their service has been fantastic, their policy on invoicing is also really helpful, as those of you who have recieved packages from them will know.

Vinnie
WildCard
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Texas, United States
Member Since: May 23, 2005
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Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 - 07:24 PM UTC
Hi Vinnie,

Ya know, I thought things would be different in Europe. IMHO Europeans are GREAT model builders. Masters like Brain Wells and Stefan Muller Herdemertans are inspirational to me. I'd think in Europe the hobby shop would fill with names like Accurate Armours, Andrea Models, New Connection, Royal models...etc.

Max Watanabe said it best on his book: There's nothing like opening a new model box for the first time to inspect the content in a good hobbyshop.
WC

blaster76
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Texas, United States
Member Since: September 15, 2002
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Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 - 09:30 PM UTC
With the cost of gasoline and the taxes, I could count the number of times I've bought a model kit from a store in the past year on one hand....3 and those were Hobby Lobby half -off sales. Excluding that It has to be 5 years since I've bought a kit at a hobby store. I've bought frm both Lucky and Hobbyeasy. Mainly very small things and it takes a week or so to get them here. Paint, well that is one thing I do get at a LHS, but usually that is only once a year as I stock up on those essential colors like black, red, whte, panzer yellow and OD when I go
straightedge
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Ohio, United States
Member Since: January 18, 2004
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Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 - 07:17 AM UTC
I've talked to a lot of people here at Armorama, that deal with there LHS, and are totally satisfied with dealing with them, but like mine, I wouldn't mind paying 4 or 5 dollars more for the convenience of picking up the model right here in town, but not 2, to, 3 times the price, I can't afford that on a fixed income.

Their paints are priced good, so if they have what I need, I will buy from them, but the last 3 times I was in there, they never had what I needed, they just have to many other things they sell, that they don't pay enough attention to models, so I use the computer to get what I need.
Murdo
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Scotland, United Kingdom
Member Since: May 25, 2005
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Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 - 10:06 AM UTC
When I got back into modelling about two years ago I decided to build all the British vehicles, tanks and guns from the latest to the earliest I could find.

Man! I had no idea there were so MANY!

Unfortunately most of these kits seem to be built by "specialist" companies like Accurate Armour, Firing Line etc and cost a small fortune each.

Therefore most of the stuff I buy (when I can afford it) is fron the internet, especially ebay.

I just saw a 1/35th Tamiya Saladin Mk II go for £44, (about $80, €60). This really is a very poor model but... The only alternative is the Firing Line model for £57.00. However , the difference between the two is like chalk and cheese.

The internet is where I conduct more and more business these days. I've even started buying paint online because I can get what I want there.
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