Shipping on 2 packages vs 1

[Atoombolle]

A machine I want just showed up, but the seller ships it in two boxes: One for the cell and one for the frame. I've seen this from others as well. Is there an advantage to shipping costs doing it that way? Either from them or for the buyer?

Can anyone share their experience with it and can wager a guess as to what the difference in shipping is for one heavy box vs 1 pretty heavy box and a somewhat lighter box? I have no idea what a cell weighs and how it affects shipping.

Would it make sense to have From Japan combine the shipments into one even bigger box?

[lotsoballs]

Hard to say, probably because it’s easier to handle just a frame and cell packed separately. Or possibly exceeding a certain weight limit might have incurred oversize/overweight surcharge?? Every time I’ve bought a full machine from yahoo auctions machine the cell was installed in the frame.

Just a cell (15-20lbs) costs around $150-200 range generally. I recently imported a full machine Amtex Hoo Mini Assistant for around $350… so if the total cost was more than $400 or so; depending on how heavy it was.. probably cost more than would have otherwise? What was your total shipping cost?

JT Comatz has a special now for some machines; $599 machine + air shipping included to your door… might be worth checking them out; since their machines are fully tested, unlike a roll of the dice on yahoo auctions… I know I would use them unless they can’t get what I’m looking for.

[Atoombolle]

Nice. For my Pirates of Dynamite King I paid $420 in shipping. The machine (including transformer, 500 balls, dollar box and the machine topper) was $130.

The machine I'm looking at is Umaibo, which I can't get through JT Comatz yet last time I asked. But your estimates would put the shipping as likely more expensive than just the single machine. It looks like I'll wait a little while longer for another one to pop up at a decent price.

[Drunkenclam]

Basic post office has a max weight if 30kg. It may even be a case that it was shipped to FJ in 2 boxes. They wouldn't reassemble it as that's not their job. They just forward what they receive.

[lotsoballs]

Nice. For my Pirates of Dynamite King I paid $420 in shipping. The machine (including transformer, 500 balls, dollar box and the machine topper) was $130.

The machine I'm looking at is Umaibo, which I can't get through JT Comatz yet last time I asked. But your estimates would put the shipping as likely more expensive than just the single machine. It looks like I'll wait a little while longer for another one to pop up at a decent price.

They can get Umaibo… I already asked Karen about it. She said was $550 I’ll wait till it comes down a bit in the coming months. I’m cheap…


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[Atoombolle]

They can get Umaibo… I already asked Karen about it. She said was $550 I’ll wait till it comes down a bit in the coming months. I’m cheap…

That's good to know . But yes, that's out of my price range as well. Once it gets below $300 I'll be interested. Sadly enough group shipping isn't saving me all that much since I'm not in pickup range of NC. Still a little savings when you get multiple machines, but not enough to stop me from trying to find great deals on Yahoo too.

[lotsoballs]

That's good to know . But yes, that's out of my price range as well. Once it gets below $300 I'll be interested. Sadly enough group shipping isn't saving me all that much since I'm not in pickup range of NC. Still a little savings when you get multiple machines, but not enough to stop me from trying to find great deals on Yahoo too.

Yeah, I’m only 1 hour away from Randy, so only costs me $200-240 to import machines; but air shipping prices keep dropping luckily for others…. I’m waiting for it to get under $400 at least. It’s #1 on my list though! I’ve been burned on yahoo auctions multiple times, broken machine in shipment, cell with animatronic issues, and another cell with missing parts, so kinda avoid it if at all possible.

[Atoombolle]

It's the same number on my list . Of course, Pirates wasn't on my list at all since I didn't know it existed until I saw one pop up in an auction. I like the seller I bought from, so I especially keep an eye out on his auctions (and saw that there's a Dynamite King Kiwame pachislo too that looks great, but pachislos less than 25 year old are illegal in Iowa so I can't buy it).

I don't know what it's going to cost me to get my machines from Randy yet, but my guess it'll be somewhere between $300-$400 per machine. Hopefully closer to the lower end since I got multiple machines.

Anyway, pure guesswork on my part using the estimate of 20 lbs for a cell and 30kg for the frame got me to a shipping estimate of roughly $550 for the two on the low end, so I'll wait for now.

[lotsoballs]

It's the same number on my list . Of course, Pirates wasn't on my list at all since I didn't know it existed until I saw one pop up in an auction. I like the seller I bought from, so I especially keep an eye out on his auctions (and saw that there's a Dynamite King Kiwame pachislo too that looks great, but pachislos less than 25 year old are illegal in Iowa so I can't buy it).

I don't know what it's going to cost me to get my machines from Randy yet, but my guess it'll be somewhere between $300-$400 per machine. Hopefully closer to the lower end since I got multiple machines.

Anyway, pure guesswork on my part using the estimate of 20 lbs for a cell and 30kg for the frame got me to a shipping estimate of roughly $550 for the two on the low end, so I'll wait for now.

Fastenal is fairly cheap per machine since they ship by the pallet, from what I’ve heard, (way cheaper than FedEx or UPS at least) but that’s on top of the $200+ to get them to NC. Probably be closer to the $300 figure total each.