Only on my small items. My two Megatron's was weighted 8kg, and when I asked. It was due to volumetric weight. So JCEX/UPS does have the same volumetric BS.

 

The two Megs were 8kg each?
Do you still plan to get them through a different means?

 

I believe you mentioned earlier it was 7 kg for both? 3.5 kg for each is plausible. It depends which volumetric weight formula they use. It's usual to use "L x W x H / 6000", but I've seen "/ 5000" (maybe this is the new standard). In one case, "/ 4000"!

My MP-36 box is around 35 x 35 x 13 cm, The KO box should be similar. If I use DHL calculator, I get 3.5 kg. But it should be ~2.6 kg. In my case, it was weighed 2.06 kg.

China to Taiwan is cheap, but you still need to ship it from Taiwan to US -- and that will not be cheap.  

 

I don't have the conversation where they told me the measurements of the box. Not as easy to find anymore due to the new system where you can message them right on the shipping page instead of using the chat app.

Shipping to NA will be free   When my parents come to visit, or when I go back for vocation. I've never thought of doing it this way since I've only ordered twice from Taobao. Last time they hasn't introduce the new weighting system. And I don't like to wait for my stuff. Might be worth it just to bring them back myself now.

 

I was going to try DHL, but now I'll probably just ship it to Taiwan where my parents live.

 

This seller Little Bee Prince Toy shop said he is willing to direct ship to the USA via EMS, DHL etc., thus removing the warehouses from the process.
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I guess you can always ask him what his shipping weight and price will be for your items.

 

just paid for my shipping (EMS) for 4 of the NBK constructicons. Let's see how this goes.

 

They're being shipped to you in the USA right? Keep us posted.

 

yeah. I expect them to be opened but hopefully not busted....I made that order pre-switching to JCEX...with all the non-sense that has been going...we NA shoppers are running out of options.

My hope is that all the shipping silliness was just due to the holidays. But who knows.

 

Yes. We are running out of options. The only methods I haven't tried are JCEX/UPS and direct selling from the shipper but not every seller will do that option.

When did you initially place your order for the NBK Constructicons?
What did EMS charge you for shipping them and what was the weight they gave it?
When did they publish the shipping charge?
Did it seem fair?

I wish there was a way we could tell for sure if the volumetric weight shipping charge increases are over now that the holidays are gone.

 

- When did you initially place your order for the NBK Constructicons?

I placed the order on the 22nd of october. The delay was waiting for all the yet unreleased ones to come out.

- What did EMS charge you for shipping them and what was the weight they gave it?

I am not sure where to look for the weight. Th shipping charge was about $23

- When did they publish the shipping charge?

Just today as the seller shipped them out like 3 days ago.

- Did it seem fair?

I would say so, yes.

 

Thanks. Before all the craziness with the shipping cost increases, the EMS warehouse charged about $21 USD to a box containing 1x Fanstoys Grinder overseas to USA. Would you say your items would weigh about as much as tightly fitted box containing Grinder?

You can use this link to view the shipping weight of your shipped packages. See if you can use that to let us know what the weight was.
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Thanks for the link. It says that the package weight is 2.08 KG...I dunnoif that is right, but after looking at my history...JCEX is ALWAYS heavier that EMS...like always.

 

No problem.

Hmm. Maybe you just happened to pick heavier items the times when you used JCEX/USPS.

 

well the weighed my mp36 ko at about 3.5 kg...so no. they just boost their weights it seems.

 

3 or 4 days ago (around January 10 or 11)) EMS weighed your 4 NBK Constructicons at 2.08 kg combined and charged about $23 USD (about 148 yuan) to ship them. That sounds about right to me. That package has to be at least the same size as a package containing Fanstoys Grinder. Maybe now that the holidays are over the JCEX and EMS warehouses have now stopped boosting package weights using the volume in the calculation. We'll know again the next time someone here posts info about a new large package of theirs getting weighed and charged.

Now the question remains what condition will your package contents be in when the arrive.

 

@smkheidze @yakitorisushi @Goldmonkey69B and everyone else. I received a response from a taobao agent Taobaoring. They have confirmed that volumetric weight period for holiday 2017/2018 has ended for EMS (and very likely other shipping options) We should now be clear to make orders again without fear of higher shipping charges due to volumetric weight being added on to the overseas shipping charge. It likely ended sometime after January 1 New Year's Day. @smkheidze I think this explains why when your 4 NBK bots were weighed by EMS 4 days ago the weight and charge seemed more in line and fair with actual weight instead of volumetric weight.

@yakitorisushi I'm sure if you try ordering the 2 KO MP-36 Megatrons now, you will notice a more reasonable weight and charge.

I've replied back and asked TBR what are the volumetric weight dates during the year so we can know what dates not to place orders. I'm awaiting their reply. Thank heavens this was not a permanent change.

 

Ooofff. Sounds like things are getting pretty crazy for some of you folks. I'm honestly amazed at how smoothly things work out using TB to ship to Aus - I'm so used to being at the ass-end of the world and getting screwed over on shipping times, charges etc.
TB and 4PX are so far great with shipping. They simply put the boxes from the seller directly into a big bag and courier it to me, drop them straight to my work, takes barely a week to ship and seems super cheap. I'm getting used to the receptionist walking in with a huge hessian sack full of toys for me - volumetric shipping would kill me!! My last order was massive (WJ OS Megatron, a huge model kit in a similar sized box as well as two medium boxes.)
I've actually bought stuff from more than a dozen random stores, I just keep an eye out for the right gold medals and funky little icons to find a good seller. Unfortunately the stuff I want isn't always available from the half a dozen "recommended stores" on here so I usually search for the item and find a likely looking seller and go from there. Half the time I haven't even bothered to communicate with them first, just hit "buy" and it all works out.

That's one issue I see with using a single supplier to ship to me directly, few sellers seem to have EVERYTHING that I want. The other issue I have is the Aliwang chat and Google Translate. So far I've had four or five sellers I've had to chat with about the shipping and address process, and it's a hard slog just to explain that they need to ship to the TaoBao forwarding warehouse and let TB take it from there. Trying to explain "ship to me directly please" using the broken Chinese I get out of Google translate would be murder.

For now, I'm super happy with TaoBao and 4PX. Hopefully it will continue to work well. I'm currently waiting on three of my current five purchases to hit the warehouse before shipping.

 

Does the 4PX warehouse open up and your boxes and inspect the items inside for contraband or to remove batteries?

Also can you post the link for the WJ OS Megatron? I'm looking for the lowest price from a trustworthy seller (at least 5 diamonds or higher and/or a gold medal sticker).

 

For stuff arriving into Taiwan, the packages I received have never been opened. There have been two times when they said my packages had contraband (batteries) but it was shipped back to the seller. My guess is that they read the product descriptions from the seller and if there might be contraband then they take a closer look.