Bundlebox

[Porcupine]

Not strictly shooting related but a heads up on http://www.bundlebox.com/ They are not the only company of their kind (e.g. MyUS.com and Bongo), so shop around if you like but I think Bundlebox is the best.

How it works:

Sign up for a $15 fee which is refunded when you make your first order - Bundlebox gives you a PO Box address at one of their warehouses in the USA.

Order stuff online from American sites and have it delivered to your new American address - if somewhere doesn't do international shipping then no problem since your address is American!

Tell Bundlebox to bundle your items up and ship them to you in the UK. (they'll store them for up to 30 days)

You can use their website to calculate shipping and tax/duty costs in advance, pre-pay taxes/duties to prevent delay this end, and you can save on shipping by effectively combining orders from different sites into one. It also solves a niggling problem for buying shooting supplies and accessories which is that a lot of American sites don't ship overseas.

For low value items you're not going to save much, but for things like scopes or premium sights, rail systems, chassis systems, reloading equipment, expensive stocks etc, you can save a pretty penny.

The disadvantage is you will have to pay taxes and duties - if you ordered normally there's always a chance you'd never get charged. But you can still ask the seller not to include an invoice in the package and then lie about the value of the goods to Bundlebox if you are so inclined. Not that anyone would.

They offer all kinds of optional extras like insurance and returns insurance too.

[Mike357]

I've used them with no problems. Just do your sums first as they are not always cheaper than direct from supplier.

[Dangermouse]

My querie with this is along the lines of..

Much of what the manufacturers will not post overseas has made it on to the banned export list (official name not known). I assume that if you order one of those items and try to have it sent over you will fall foul of someone somewhere, even if that item is not regulated in this country or you have a licence allowing it?

DM

[John MH]

ITAR

[Dave 101]

Have a look at this http://www.justice.gov/usao/pae/News/20 ... mation.pdf
there certainly is a banned list and if any thing is deemed to be for military application then it is on there . This includes Nightforce scopes , the article includes the words knowingly , so if your using an address in the US and they send it to you because the supplier knows he cant then they are knowingly doing so then they will be in the smelly stuff as well .

Dave

[Sim G]

Much of what the manufacturers will not post overseas has made it on to the banned export list (official name not known). I assume that if you order one of those items and try to have it sent over you will fall foul of someone somewhere, even if that item is not regulated in this country or you have a licence allowing it?

Some of retailers and wholesalers in the US are also now starting to refuse to ship to anyone they believe is a "freight forwarder". Looks like one or two may have been burned by bundlebox and the like....

That aside, I've used bundlebox, great service, but you pay for it!

[Scotsgun]

Question: Are metallic reloading components (bullets & brass) banned? If not, does anyone know a company that will post to the UK or at least use the freight forwarding scheme?

I'd be real careful what i ordered and sent from the US. You really don't want to be sharing a cell with the numpties from York Guns or Sabre Defence. Can anyone spell 'Made in China?'

[ovenpaa]

Brass and bullets are not banned and you can get them through Reloading International http://reloadinginternational.com/catalog/index.php I use them from time to time.

Things to remember.

They have set carriage rates so no point buying a single box of bullets, I keep adding to my order until the carriage rate jumps up a band and then drop back one, this can be anything up to 1100 bullets for me but this is dependant on weight/calibre of bullets.

Some of the most common brass is no cheaper via this company than buying from a well priced stockist over here so check the prices first.

You will be charged an extra 10% on the indicated prices to cover the export licence, they also need a letter stating that an import licence is not required for the UK. (For bullets and cases it is not) I wrote something to this effect, signed it and emailed it over and they were happy.

You will be charged VAT @20% plus a handling fee of GBP8.00 so factor this in.

Delivery is around 21 days for the first order as they need to get the permit in place, after that it is a lot quicker.

Reloading International are a great way of getting your hands on very competitively priced obscure bullets, this is how I got my 180 Hybrids.