Lost trade

[Brian Jarnell]

I have tried to order from this crowd http://goo.gl/oguH0

Will not deliver outside of USA.

I wonder how much trade is lost through this habit?

I might add I buy stuff from Cabelas all the time, without a problem.

[Mike Heidrick]

You are one of only 25 wood workers in New Zealand didn't you know that. ;)

Now come on, You have ample opportunity every year to have one of our film crew guys stick that bit in their checked baggage and bring it to you. Heck Harry P. has been there for the last 7 years. You guys should be old friends by now.

I have always wondered, Do you guys (folks from real far from US/Canada) whine about Chinese made vs NA made tools as much as us? I personally like european tools as my preference but own a lot of everyone's. No New Zealand tools though - you guys need to get with it. China is taking over your trade too! :)

[Brian Jarnell]

You are one of only 25 wood workers in New Zealand didn't you know that. ;)

Now come on, You have ample opportunity every year to have one of our film crew guys stick that bit in their checked baggage and bring it to you. Heck Harry P. has been there for the last 7 years. You guys should be old friends by now.

I have always wondered, Do you guys (folks from real far from US/Canada) whine about Chinese made vs NA made tools as much as us? I personally like European tools as my preference but own a lot of everyone's. No New Zealand tools though - you guys need to get with it. China is taking over your trade too! :)

Talking to my tool supplier yesterday, they now mostly sell Taiwanese kit, the standard is up with German stuff at about half the price.

You are right we don't make many tools, mainly an agricultural exporter and we would sell more to you if you had free trade.

The fact remains that you are losing trade by not exporting.

This export thing includes Australia, so it's not just our low numbers, we are 4 million.

[Brian Elfert]

Shipping overseas from the USA can be a huge hassle with all the customs forms and everything. You also have the hassle at times of the overseas buyer wanting to use a different shipper than the seller normally deals with. I know for Canadian shipments from the USA UPS charges the buyer some horrendous fees and Canadians typically want stuff shipped via the postal service to avoid the fees.

[Brian Jarnell]

I would suggest they all get in touch with Cabellas and find out how it is done.

Lee Valley send overseas, but take about 10 time longer than Cabellas to deliver, they should get in touch too.

You must admit it is funny that it is only hard for some.

[Chris Parks]

This issue is starting to rear its head more and more. As a rule there is no problem for the sender, pack and send by US Post, only a declaration on the parcel required and that is all. If there are any issues it is on receipt and that is up to the buyer. Me, I ring them now, easier and faster and I nearly always get what I want quicker.

[Gary Max]

Most international shipping is hard to track and impossible to insure. I really don't think they want to lose the trade but just can't afford everything that goes with it.

[Rick Fisher]

I agree.. Most companies in the USA will ship to Canada.. Holbren, Laguna.. Its usually the smaller ones that don't want to ship international, I suspect is got more to do with fear of the unknown.

[Peter Quinn]

CMT is an Italian company in any event. Seems there must be another distributor closer to NZ no? Most US retailers that carry CMT only list a fraction of their product line in their catalogues, not sure why. I don't have trouble believing a small business with a web portal doesn't want to lose money on overseas shipping given the risks, and they may also be restricted by their vendors from shipping certain products to other markets.

[Matt Meiser]

There are rules to keep track of what can and can't be legally exported to other countries--imposed by both governments and manufacturers protecting distributors' territories. I'd imagine especially so in the tool industry where there are varying governmental safety standards. Several minutes of time spent checking restrictions and filling out custom forms could quickly eat into profit margins. Then there are that hassles of lost shipments, angry customers due to sometimes unreliable shippers, fraud (probably not as much in NZ but in other parts of the world,) etc. I can easily see why a company, especially a small company, would just make a blanket "no" statement.

If Google is right, this is Tool Home's world headquarters:
http://cbk3.google.com/cbk?output=thumbnail&cb_client=maps_sv&thumb=2&thumbfov=60&ll=30.250287,-97.792507&cbll=30.250094,-97.792643&thumbpegman=1&w=298&h=118
Just a guess, but I'd bet they don't stock much inventory but drop ship it from suppliers instead. It appears their operations might be in a bit of a different league than Cabelas.

[Ed Hazel]

First I would not order from this website as it violates one of my first Internet buying rules. They do not list an 800 number prominently on there website so I'm assuming they are not very eager to talk to their customers, real businesses have 800 numbers.

I ship internationally and it is a pain in the neck. UPS charges are extremely expensive so I ship everything via the United States post office, there are so many different rules based on weights size and items and they seem to be different for almost every country it probably is not worth it for me to ship internationally I think I do it more or less so I can say that I have shipped my products all over the world.

[Brian Jarnell]

First I would not order from this website as it violates one of my first Internet buying rules. They do not list an 800 number prominently on there website so I'm assuming they are not very eager to talk to their customers, real businesses have 800 numbers.

I ship internationally and it is a pain in the neck. UPS charges are extremely expensive so I ship everything via the United States post office, there are so many different rules based on weights size and items and they seem to be different for almost every country it probably is not worth it for me to ship internationally I think I do it more or less so I can say that I have shipped my products all over the world.

The idea that it is only convenient to trade with ourselves seems a strange one to me.

But what do I know?

[Matt Meiser]

Its not about convenience, its about profit which is why most companies are in business.

[Frank Drew]

Nova woodturning chucks are made by a New Zealand company (Teknatool). Years ago I wanted one of their chucks not then exported to the U.S., so I called the NZ embassy here in Washington to get the phone number, then called Nova, and they arranged to have the chuck sent through Craft Supplies, out in Utah. The people I spoke with both at the embassy and Nova itself could not have been friendlier nor more helpful; the whole thing was a very nice experience and as pain free as they could make it.

[Brian Jarnell]

Its not about convenience, its about profit which is why most companies are in business.

And there I was thinking they were in business due to trade.

[Tom Walz]

It is a different process than what we usually do but we are happy to do it. Mostly with us it is just a reflexive desire to take care of the customer. Then, too, I was out of work when I started this business 30 years ago. No matter how bad work gets, it is better than not working at all.

We are getting more business from outside the US all the time and the government has been by encouraging us to export more. We seem to be putting together more packages of our ordinary lines as well as sourcing other lines for these shipments.

We have been doing business on the sawmill side with a fine company called Thode for maybe 15 years.

Send me a PM or contact our customer service and we will be happy to help you.

Tom Walz

P.S. As much as I love my country, we are not nearly as sophisticated as the rest of the world at this. We are about 100 miles form British Columbia. Everybody in BC takes US dollars with no problem. Almost no one in the US can figure out how to take Canadian money.

[Jason Fastenau]

I feel your pain. It can be hard to get stuff shipped to Alaska as well, and we're a freakin state! Apparently writing the state abbreviation "AK" is too much for many companies to get their heads around.

[Mikail Khan]

I ship my stuff to one of two freight forwarders in Miami. Both consolidate smaller shipments into larger ones.

One does air freight which costs about $3US per lb. They are clear the items though customs and deliver to my home. I reimburse them for customs duties and VAT. Items are delivered to be 3-5 days after they arrive in Miami.

The other one I use for sea freight. Costs about $150US per 1000lbs. Once I tell them to ship I get the item about 2 weeks later. I clear the stuff through customs myself. I'm sure there is a similar service for NZ. Call any shipping agency and ask about their LCL (less than container load service).

MK

[Brian Jarnell]

Well there we are, all sorts of answers, from it is too difficult to we are doing well looking beyond our shore.

I use thode for my buzzer blade.

On the Creekers site, there is a Texan who has the bits speediing to his home as we speak,all I can say is, great stuff and thanks Bill.