Purchasing outside Australia-Again

[Hans Tucker]

I am in the market for an FW8-STL Filter Wheel and Astrodon fiters. Unfortunately I haven't heard back from the Australian SBIG agent so I am look at purchasing from vendors overseas. Has anyone purchased from Anacortes in the US..good..bad..experience??

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Their reputation is pretty good, but thet have a limited range of shipment options - generally the most expensive.
They were going to charge me $168 US to ship a findercope costing $100 and weighing 19oz! I demured.
I don't want to 'dis' them unfairly, but some people have complained about long waiting times, though usually for either esoteric or high-end stuff.
If ATWB is your only easy outlet, than you probably won't go far wrong,
but try talking to them about cheaper shipping costs.
Could be they're that much farther away than the California dealers, but I've found OPT and Opticsplanet offer the best range of shipping options as well as exemplary service.
YMMV

[Hans Tucker]

Ouch..that is expensive shipping costs. I have an account, although suspended at my request, with OPT. I had a run in with OPT over them charging my credit card with a shipping charge which was considerably higher than what was quoted, all without my prior approval. They blamed an error with their auto shipping charge calculator on their website...so I have been reluctant to go back to them...but on the plus side I did have a 10% discount as a preferred customer....maybe I should drop them an e-mail.

[wavelandscott]

I bought some stuff from Anacortes while living down under...I did not have any problems with the transaction.

I did have to wait a while (couple of weeks) for an item that was not in stock at the time but otherwise no problem. I was given the chance to have the in stock items sent seperately but I did not want to spend the money on two shipments.

I don't recall if the shipping seemed high or not so it must have been what I expected...

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Hans,
Sorry to here that.
I had the same "hiccup" with OPT.
At first I suspected a "bait & switch" being the borderline paranoid type. Not so I discovered.
Apparently some of the people that enter shipping info into their website are/were entering it from the manufacturers specifications for the products. That is: without OEM packaging or shipping boxes.
Judging from the USPS, FedEx(Boooo) and UPS websites, even a few tens of grammes can push the rate up by 20-40%
OPT split the excess 50/50 with me so I can't grumble too much.

They did, however, ask me about 20 times if it was OK to use my CC, so perhaps I'm the dubious beneficiary of your dilemma! :D

[Hans Tucker]

It's incredible, after a week of sending e-mails I can't get a simple price on an SBIG FW8-STL Filter Wheel so I can place an order. I guess the next step is to do as Alex has done...go down the FLI path. I would think that vendors would want the business...I figured wrong but I trust FLI will be different and be courteous by responding to e-mails.

[koputai]

Have you tried picking up the phone and calling Peter at ATS?

I found this unheard of method worked extraordinarily well. Peter was
very responsive, and shipped fast, and my order was so small I almost
felt embarrased!

You could also try pm'ing him here on IIS.

Cheers,
Jason.

[mswhin63]

I most cases I have had no problems purchacing overseas, although as we live so far away some people have experienced being sold demo items instead of new ones.
Knowing that returning items from overseas is unlikely in most cases, some suppliers are known to do this. It is the risk we take and we have to accept.

[Tandum]

I've bought a few smaller items from Astrovid (http://www.astrovid.com/imaging.php). They list the wheel you seek although I'd email them for a cheaper postage option, which is how I've been dealing with them.

[Paul Haese]

I had heard that Anacortes were quite good but recently I have heard some disturbing trends where items took forever to be delivered.

I generally deal with OPT, but I would ring Peter at ATS and if he is in Australia he will take care of your needs. Remember that he works as an airfreight pilot and it can be a week sometimes before he gets back to you. Although that is not often the case. I am assuming that you have been dealing with Peter as your Australian supplier? If not well, give him a bell anyway.

[Jules76]

Don't bother with emails. With Optcorp and Opticsplanet, if you jump online in the morning, you can often catch them during business hours and contact either of them using their "Live Help" function. It's usually found up the top of the webpage.

I did this just the other week when trying to find stock of the Stellavue F80 Finderscope. It was much easier to talk live with one of their sales reps and get all the answers then and there, instead of bouncing emails back and forth.

Of course not all sites offer this service, but it's something to keep in mind.

[el_draco]

I've purchased from OPT on a number of occassions. I've found them very efficient with realtime chat on their website to talk to people in the store. Real polite and were happy to do "unconventional" things in terms of shipping. Online satff... amazingly efficient. Have heard some people have had issues, not my experience.

[Hans Tucker]

Had exactly the same view prior to my last transaction but I think I may have burnt a bridge when I insisted (I wasn't rude) that they cancel an order because the shipping cost were grossly miscalculated. I gather I now may have a black mark against my name with OPT, hence that is why my e-mails have gone unanswered.

[Jules76]

Quick question, how did you manage to become a "preferred customer" and get a 10% discount with OPT?

This is the first time I've ordered with OPT, but I managed to get a 5% discount after I mentioned Opticsplanet having the same item at the same price, but I said I'd preffered to buy from OPT. Opticsplanet have 5% off coupons available, so I assume they knew that and matched it.

[Hans Tucker]

I purchased from OPT over a number of years and had spent thousands of $$$'s.

I don't think you will have to spend the same amount but you will need to develop a good customer relationship before the offer the discount.

[Louwai]

I have an Astro-buddy that lives in Phoenix. He buys all my bits for me locally & then sends them over. So never any issue of not getting what I pay for, & the shipping issues are taken care of.
This also works well for items that OS retailers won't sell into Oz. :)


On the question of OPT Preferred Customer, prior to using the 'Buddy System' I made a number of purchases from OPT.
After the 3rd purchase I was offered a Preferred Customer discount card, which I still heve.
My buddy also has one so I don't miss out on the discount when buying through him, if he chooses to buy my item from OPT.