Thread: Rockler Store

Hi Tergar 37, we can only wish we had a Rockler or a Woodcraft in AUS. The woodwork market in US is huge and the Australian market would not sustain such big stores. They make Carba-tec look like a toy store.

Regards,

Frank.

Thanks for that Frank, and I suppose the postage from America is more than the Article??

Gary

Watch the exchange rate, and select items (weight) carefully and you can still get good off shore buys.. Most will give you freight options and associated price prior to placing an order. Go surface mail, wait about 10 weeks, and it could be a good purchase.

Just watch the small print on Rockler. There was an extra $15 charge for shipping as well as the shipping cost on an order I recently placed.

Andrew

Use a sharp eye when computing the total cost of any "bargains." Products themselves can be "loss leaders," with all the profit in Shipping & Handling.

Cheers,
Joe

I've bought stuff from Rockler a few years ago excellent service and reasonable freight. Maybe it has changed.

Given the us dollar was only around 60cents au then I still bought cheaper than in oz with about a max of a fortnight turn around.

I've bought stuff from Rockler, but you have to watch the postage charges, particularly on bulky or heavy stuff. I was quite taken with their new extendable dust hose but found out that the shipping would cost twice the sale price. Small tools and fittings are OK with USPS but they have changed their international rates on the bigger parcels recently.
Cheers
Graeme

Originally Posted by Barry_White

I've bought stuff from Rockler a few years ago excellent service and reasonable freight. Maybe it has changed.

Given the us dollar was only around 60cents au then I still bought cheaper than in oz with about a max of a fortnight turn around.

That was a few years ago

I've bought from Rockler a couple of times, also from Van Dykes Restoration. With Rockler, use their live chat facility to argue the freight charges. They'll be able to do better from my experience. I found Canada even worse than the States. Lee Valley have great gear but freight was expensive and very slow by sea.

I've bought from Rockler recently and found them very helpful.

Its worth asking to get the best shipping rates rather than just relying on the options displayed on their website. For my most recent order they shipped the stuff via the US Postal Service "Int'l First class mail" which is reasonably economical for smaller light weight stuff under 4 lbs - I think I paid $20USD shipping.

I also recently tried one of these Mail Forwarders where you can buy stuff from sites like Amazon that don't ship to Aus. You have your order sent to a local US address and Mail Forwarder will sent it on to you via USPS. I found the folks I used on eBay. Its obviously got some risks but it worked really well for me.

Cheers,
Geoff

Because my daughter is in LA regularly I have built up a very good relationship with the local Wooodcraft owner. Apparently , Woodcraft is a franchise outfit and they have over eighty outlets all over the States.

Ingko, the owner really looks after me and I order direct from him and he delivers the items to the Hotel my daughter stays at a day before her arrival. Freight is not an issue for me.

One thing I have noticed though is that the price on some items is cheaper in Australia, especially those items that come from China. The lower the cost the more the advantage by buying in Australia, and vice versa.

I have noticed that on some of the more recognizable brands that are available here and in the States that items say gouges sold singularly, might be cheaper or about the same but in sets when the total value of the goods are more the advantage to the states increases dramatically.

It seems the higher the value of the goods the more advantages it is too buy in the US.
Maybe its because there accountants price things differently like a 100 % mark up in OZ is across the board. In the US Prices say up to $10 may have a mark up of 150%. From $10 to $30, 100% from $30 to $75, 75% and so on. This might be because the initial overheads are absorbed in the first amount of the price and the Americans are more concerned in the dollar value of profit rather then here where they are fixated on percentage mark up.

However, saying that if a cost on a small item is approx what I can get here I might add it too the order if it is small enough so I can bump the value of my total order up to make it worthwhile for both of us.

I am now eying off one of the Woodcraft Woodriver block planes which is causing so much conjecture in another thread in the Hand Tools section on my next order.

My restrictions I have of course is the small size and weight of the items and not pushing my luck too far with my daughters generosity in helping an old man with a bad habit.

Peter

Frankly, it is cheaper to buy direct from the US or Canada than to buy from a local retailer. That is also one of the many reasons someone like Lee Valley have not set up a local store - the retailer has to add shipping, customs & quarantine charges, then pay local wages, warehousing & retail costs plus interest & bank charges on the cost of purchase & shipping while waiting for the goods to land AND GST calculated on all of the preceding.

If you buy moderate lots - less than $1,000 Oz - you should manage to avoid GST & Customs if you ship USPS (DON'T use UPS unless you like paying twice for shipping)

If the Oz dollar fluctuates quite a bit, as it has been doing lately, it can be an advantage to buy locally, unless the independent local retailer decides to really take a bite out of the locals - I recently bought a plane and a couple of other LV items from Carbatec as they were quite heavy and the cost of air freight would have made the end price pretty much the same. That said, I am going to blow a few hundred dollars in a month or so with Lee Valley on items that are not stocked locally.