I am looking for an online store that has reasonable shipping for small items. I only need about 10 dollars worth of small parts. Tower hobbies charges five dollars. I cant see spending 50 percent more just for shipping.

That's a tough one. Shipping in general has gone up considerably over the past few years. $5 isn't all that bad for USPS priority mail or even standard parcel post dependign on the items. I would have no problem with it to be honest.

I did just order 3 props from Hobby Lobby though and the shipping cost was surprisingly only $3. We'll see what method is used and how long it takes.

One thing I do is try to anticipate what small hardware and other miscelaneous items I will commonly need and buy them whenever I am placing larger orders that generally get free shipping. These keeps stuff on-hand and saves on shipping cost.

John, look at it this way. In my case, the only LHSthat I know "might" have the items I want is 40 miles away. Round trip + 80 miles. 20mpg = 4 gallons of gas. Gas at $2.99for the cheapest I can find equates to just about $12.00 to go the the LHS to buy what I want. $5 shipping on a reasonable time frame sounds like quite a bargin to me.

Don

I've used these guys a couple times . good prices and very cheap shipping considering the distance. takes a little time but worth it to me. ( receiver and servos )

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_index.asp

I use hobby city but not for a couple of cheep things. Their shipping is 26 dollars.

Camp, I have three points to make in response to your comment.

First, I understand what you are saying about the savings in gas however, my LHS is not 80 miles away, it is only 7 miles away. Consequently, I have no reason to look at it that way. The 7 mile drive takes me about 30 minutes each way plus time waiting for someone in the store to help me out. The gas prices do not affect me, it is the time consumption. My time constraints are incredibly limited for the next three weeks.

Second, Tower Hobbies is able to offer reasonable shipping on big items because they charge higher shipping on smaller items. I have no problem with this method as an ethical issue however, I do not order large things from tower so I never reap the benefits.

Finally, it makes no difference who is right or wrong because I am just worried about my wallet and the point of my post was to find cheaper shipping rather then to start an argument. If cheaper shipping does not exist then I will just wait until I have time to go to the LHS.

try www.gravesrc.com

I can't see where an argument was started john. The other posters was just explaning how they would think when in the same situation.

I have no idea what the prices overseas are etc, so I can't really give a satisfactory answer to your question. I do however think you should look at it this way. If you are not able to find cheaper shipping then you would have to ask yourself - my wallet or my time? If you don't have the time then you will probably have to go and fork out x amount of bucks for shipping. If you would rather safe money then you will have to wait till you get to the LHS I guess. This is what was trying to be conveyed. No arguments.

I do however understand your point of view from the shipping costing half of the goods ordered. But if that is what is being charge...unfortunetly shipping isn't something which one can really negotiate to a better price. I do not know how it works in the US when getting prices on shipping. In SA it gets placed in categories :
*example*
1 - 5 kg
6 - 10kg
etc

The higher the weight of the parcel the better the price per KG? If you want to send a 1kg parcel in SA door to door over night you pay a crap load when comparing it to a 10kg parcel.

I do also understand why Tower Hobbies has a more decent price on shipping for larger quantities/bigger orders - they are taking care of the people who support them best and also probably gets a cheaper price from the shipping company for bigger quantities.

No argument started - just facts stated.

Hope you come right with a cheaper price. Good luck

Try Head Up RC. Fast shipping; great info on the website and shipping is $2.00, for one item or 100. Thanks; Ernie P.

Yeah, I posted a string about local hobby shops going away. We just lost our favorite.. economy just drove him out of business. He actuall tracked his business for the past year and a half, and showed it to me on an Excel Spread sheet chart. Very dramatic how things changed (dropped) somewhat casually until about last August when the crap hit the fan.. then it was like the bottom fell out.

His business went to nothing, no models sold, very few engines and radios.. selling mostly small parts and some railroad stuff.

And, he was one of the better ones because he would match the large mail order places penny for penny, right down to the shipping.. meaning, you could get it from him for just about exactly the same cost as mail order so it was good to support him and his shop because he was local and available.

But, he finally got tired of his income only equaling his overhead.. no salary for several months can certain taking it's toll.

Tower hobbies has always had their frequent buyers program, whatever they call it, but you pay to join and then, depending on how much you buy from them, eventually get it back in lower or free shipping. (nothing is actually free, you pay for it one way or another).

CGr.

myatomic.com has been really good, free shipping over 25 bucks. same prices as tower on most everything.

Wow, I was just going to say My Atomic. Never heard anyone else mention them before. They are great, and yes, free shipping on $25 orders.

swanghobby.com! FREE SHIPPING! on most things!!

If you are talking about nuts, bolts, screws and washers, you might try your local Ace Hardware. I have found them to carry them in sizes that include 2-56, 4-40 and larger. The price is normally lower than what you see in the hobby shop, or even on Tower, and there is no shipping charge. I purchase most of my fastners from them now, when I run low on my large supply. Give them a try.

Oh and they normally have a good display of K&S tubing and sheet metal. Michaels Craft stores also has a Midwest Balsa and Ply display.

Bill, Waco Brother #1

ps. I go over to Graves Hobbies about once a month, and if you want something from there, let me know, and I'll be happy to pick it up for you. Shipping will be actual USPS flat rate.

I needed an exhaust/muffler nut for one of my Magnum XL .52 RFS engines. I tried searching the hardware store for it, but the fitting is an extra-fine threading that isn't commonly used for general hardware. I was told that a plumbing supply or HVAC company may have that kind of hardware on hand.

I decided to just pay $15.99 ($10 part plus $5.99 S&H) to Hobby People to ship me the replacement exhaust header with two nuts when I only need one of the nuts. I'd rather waste $16 and get my plane flying again rather than spend my precious leisure time looking for some obscure part.

Either money is more valuable than time, or time is more valuable than money. If you can't afford to waste an hour at your local hobby store, then pay the shipping. Buying an hour of free time for $5 is a bargain!

I'd still go with Tower Hobbies for $5. You won't regret it if there's any issue with the parts. TH customer service is hands down the best. Otherwise, I'd go to your local hobby store.

Yep. Also, take a small package down to the post office and find out how much it would cost to ship to Champaign IL or Reno NV (where Tower DC's are). You'll find out that the $5 Tower wants is more than fair for them to ship from one of those locations to you. I sell here on RCU now and then and on eBay. I've noticed that shipping has gone sky high just like a lot of other stuff.

I live in Il, shipping from tower to me for an envelope sized package is worth about $1.50. So for me, it is just too much.

Yikes!! Gas up the street from my house is only $2.02. One of the many reasons I love Oklahoma..

Five dollars isn't bad! I think its unreasonable to begrudge them a measly 5 dollars.