I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, so you guys can correct me if I'm in the wrong.
My current gaming group is looking to expand its miniature collection. One of us bought a lot of booster packs back in the day when they were a bit cheaper, but the only option we have at our local gaming shop is the 4E Lords of Madness booster packs which are risky to say the least. After buying 3 packs we got around 50-60% of creatures we can see ourselves using, the rest, well... not so much! There's only so often you'll be using the brain in a jar miniature, and most of the time we're just hoping to get something simple like a human town guard or mounted cavalry. So we wondered whether or not buying individual miniatures would be a better solution.
We found most of what we need here at Paizo's webpage, but there's a couple of issues we need sorted out. We live outside the US, so ordering things from abroad usually comes with a shipping fee. If you buy a bulk package, can you get all the miniatures you ordered along with a single shipping fee, or do you need to make several smaller orders? We don't have any experience making these sorts of purchases, so personal experiences and tips would be greatly appreciated :)
While I am unfamiliar with the shipping for overseas, I can give some suggestions on where to buy or research single minis. I have used these websites:
http://www.reapermini.com/
http://www.nobleknight.com/Default.asp
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/
http://miniaturemarket.com/
http://wyrd-games.net/shop/product.php?productid=16189&cat=260&page =1
I hope this helps.
Just my 2 cp.
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I am from Australia & my gaming group sometimes buys miniatures as a group order
we have used Coolminiornot, minature giant & reaper - all good companies
we make a list up individually of the minis we want then give our lists to one person to order as a combined list
we divide the postage between us & pay the money to the person ordering
this has worked for us many times & never had a problem with any of the companies
let me know if you want to know more
Hi Ellington - happy to help out someone else from the cold north :)
I've ordered a bunch of minis [both D&D plastics and metal] from the US over the last few years... tend to break them down into smaller orders as we can get shafted by import duty if over $18 bucks or so in the UK... you can dodge the bullet with some bigger orders, but I tend to err on the side of caution [having been stung by a $40 order in the past]
I'll typically order from Paizo, CoolstuffInc and Red Box Games - all have been excellent and if your savvy in your purchases you can get the most out of your money and order [if Iceland has import thresholds like Scotland]
Anyway my 2 runes worth - also happy to help more if you need it :)
Thanks for the insightful replies!
While I am unfamiliar with the shipping for overseas, I can give some suggestions on where to buy or research single minis. I have used these websites:
http://www.reapermini.com/
http://www.nobleknight.com/Default.asp
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/
http://miniaturemarket.com/
http://wyrd-games.net/shop/product.php?productid=16189&cat=260&page =1I hope this helps.
Just my 2 cp.
I'll be sure to check those out, thanks!
I am from Australia & my gaming group sometimes buys miniatures as a group order
we have used Coolminiornot, minature giant & reaper - all good companies
we make a list up individually of the minis we want then give our lists to one person to order as a combined list
we divide the postage between us & pay the money to the person ordering
this has worked for us many times & never had a problem with any of the companies
let me know if you want to know more
Yes, this was pretty much how we intended to do it, we were just worried there was something we were overseeing. Glad to see it works out for you guys.
Hi Ellington - happy to help out someone else from the cold north :)
I've ordered a bunch of minis [both D&D plastics and metal] from the US over the last few years... tend to break them down into smaller orders as we can get shafted by import duty if over $18 bucks or so in the UK... you can dodge the bullet with some bigger orders, but I tend to err on the side of caution [having been stung by a $40 order in the past]
I'll typically order from Paizo, CoolstuffInc and Red Box Games - all have been excellent and if your savvy in your purchases you can get the most out of your money and order [if Iceland has import thresholds like Scotland]
Anyway my 2 runes worth - also happy to help more if you need it :)
The north is indeed quite cold at the moment :)
Out of curiosity, how much did they charge you when you had the $40 order? If it's not TOO high, making a single bulk order shouldn't be too much of a problem for us.
I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, so you guys can correct me if I'm in the wrong.
It's probably the best one you can put it, short of the CS forums (for shipping questions).
If you really looking for big bulk purchases of generics, like town guards and orcs, goblins and so on, there's always eBay. It might take some hunting to find the right shipper, but generally you might find something in your group's price range.
Here's what I did with a few clicks eBay linky.
It's got sellers specifically shipping to Australia.
Chief Technical Officer
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we make a list up individually of the minis we want then give our lists to one person to order as a combined list...
That would be the most sensible way. And you probably will save quite a bit in shipping if you order enough. We do a lot of things to minimize postage costs, and if you have a bunch of minis, odds are good we'll be putting them into a USPS International Priority Flat Rate Box, which is volume-based and not weight-based. That is, once you have enough minis to make that kind of box worthwhile, you can essentially add a *bunch* of additional minis without your shipping costs going up very much, until you need a larger box. (You don't need to worry about this too much, as we'll pick the smartest methods automatically.)
Black Dow's advice about import duties is good, though—you might want to check that out on your end before you order. We declare them as "Toys/Figures" for customs purposes.
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Black Dow's advice about import duties is good, though—you might want to check that out on your end before you order. We declare them as "Toys/Figures" for customs purposes.
For the UK, that duty, is simply VAT, charged at the normal rate. Usually with a small (ish) handling fee on top.
To be completely within the law, you should be declaring, and paying this VAT on any thing you import. Most of the time with Paizo though you never notice, as paying the zero% VAT rate on books is quite automatic ;)
Out of curiosity, how much did they charge you when you had the $40...
As mentioned above it was VAT + "the handling fee" which effectively raised it to the £ equivalent in dollars - so I saved sweet FA in ordering from the states [despite the favourable exchange rate]
The guys here marking them as "toys" makes it more likely for them to slip through the radar if you do order bigger... but like I said when you get stung it is a pain.
Hope that helps
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but like I said when you get stung it is a pain.
Lol, it isn't getting stung when you *should* be paying it on every order! Be thankful you aren't paying the US sales tax a well (I think).
Out of interest, if you buy reaper minis in £ on the website, do they still ship from the US and so would they still incur those andling fees and added VAT?
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I will second the suggestions of:
www.coolstuffinc.com
www.miniaturemarket.com
And add:
www.trollandtoad.com
www.toywiz.com
http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/auggiesgames/Categories
I live in the States, and have no clue if all or any of these do overseas shipping, but its worth a look either way.
Auggies generally does pretty cheap shipping, if you buy in bulk, so you may want to check him out.
Hope that helps. GL
but like I said when you get stung it is a pain.Lol, it isn't getting stung when you *should* be paying it on every order! Be thankful you aren't paying the US sales tax a well (I think).
Out of interest, if you buy reaper minis in £ on the website, do they still ship from the US and so would they still incur those andling fees and added VAT?
lol - yeah I know... but state gets enough from me in taxes so a little victory here and there doesn't hurt :)
Not sure regards Reaper - normally I order my Reaper minis through the Paizo store...
