crossmr

So you want to buy some Oxford Blocks

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Interest seems very high, so even though the first order is still in transit, I'll post this. He's told me he's got a shipping confirmation and it's only a couple days out via normal shipping time, and EMS is like a courier service it generally keeps it's time.

In Korea we have a website which most online shopping is done through. It's called Gmarket. I often buy my sets through there, as well as just about anything else I need. It's known in Korea for having the lowest prices. I had completely forgotten that they do overseas shipping. They also have an English site and you can pay with a credit card or even paypal. Now, even though the interface is in English, the item pages will often still be mostly Korean. You can easily search for stuff with the Oxford product code though. If you see the military guide as an example I've listed the product code of each set with each picture. You can get other product codes from the Oxford site. You should use this site in Internet Explorer. Koreans love Internet Explorer, I don't know why, but most Korean sites involve an activeX control or two and are not always reliable in Firefox. This site was originally a Korean creation, but a year or two ago it was bought by E-bay. So you can be sure this isn't some fly by night operation.

To get started, head to their English site and set-up an account:

http://english.gmarket.co.kr/

To get an idea of shipping cost refer to this chart:

http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_help/oversea/oversea_help4_2.asp

It's in Korean, but very easy to read. On the left you see the weight of the shipment, on the right you see the shipping cost to various regions. Almost everyone here will be in region 3. The column labelled 3지역. The first two regions are for countries very close to Korea, like Japan, Malaysia and the like.

Do not base the shipping on the sellers estimated shipping weight. Most Korean sellers aren't sending things overseas and in Korea, except for large bulky items, like say an air conditioner, the weight of the item is irrelevant to shipping. So they aren't too accurate with that. Your basic order will go like this:

Order Process

1. Add the item to your cart

2. Pay for the item and estimated overseas shipping cost based on what the seller has listed as the weight (generally wrong)

3. The item is shipped from the seller to the gmarket warehouse (usually takes 1-2 days)

4. The item is weighed by Gmarket for overseas shipping and a new invoice is issued for the actual shipping cost

5. If the cost is less than what you paid they'll refund the difference, if it's more you'll have to pay the actually shipping cost

6. The item is shipped via EMS shipping which is a fairly fast, and very reliable shipping method. It's like any other postal courier service, tracking, etc. In the case of our first test order, he ordered on the 20th and estimated delivery time is the 28th.

Some more advanced information

If you can, it's better to order several sets at once for shipping costs. Shipping costs have a bit of a high starting point, but you can add a lot of weight for less. For example, a 2KG (4.4 lbs) set is about 30,000won to ship. However a 9KG delivery is around 60,000 won. Double the cost but over 4x the weight.

To that end Gmarket allows you to combine orders. If you order everything from 1 seller it's combined automatically. But if you order 3 sets from 3 different sellers you can go to this page:

http://english.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_my_gd/oversea_bundle_request.asp

to combine your orders into one shipment, and save on shipping cost.

Any questions, let me know. It should be fairly straight forward. The other guy was able to create his account quickly and order the same day without any trouble at all. His adjusted cost for the helicopter seems to have been about $56 as the helicopter package is around 2KG. $25+$30 shipping. In this case he would have been better off buying another set of about the same size, as it would have only cost him an addition $9 in shipping for 4KG. So in order to make your shipping worth it, I'd highly recommend if you're buying a medium sized set, to buy at least a couple at once as it'll make the shipping per item a little more bearable. If you're buying small impulse sets, I'd buy several. Maybe at least half a dozen or more.

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Right on thanks for the info> Let's give it a go. SO I'm looking through the selection and I come across this. The way I see it is one would get all five of these for $15.20 + shipping. Am I missing something? Sorry to be a pain but if it seems too good to be true then... Never mind figured it out, sort of. They have these items and you select the ones you want, duh.

Edited by treeboy

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Right on thanks for the info> Let's give it a go. SO I'm looking through the selection and I come across this. The way I see it is one would get all five of these for $15.20 + shipping. Am I missing something? Sorry to be a pain but if it seems too good to be true then... Never mind figured it out, sort of. They have these items and you select the ones you want, duh.

Yes, some sellers sell several items in a single listing, they list a base price for the lowest priced unit and other items have an additional price on top of them. You can order multiple different items at a time by hitting the multipurchase button, or you can just go back to the listing and add different ones to your cart. That guy you found is the only one selling the jet right now. I also ordered mine.

If you do order things, I wouldn't mind if people would post where they are, and how much the shipping was for that order. It would be nice to give people a more clear bit of feedback on exactly how much the shipping is, and if people could also update on how long it took from order to delivery, that would be nice too.

Edited by crossmr

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If you do order things, I wouldn't mind if people would post where they are, and how much the shipping was for that order. It would be nice to give people a more clear bit of feedback on exactly how much the shipping is, and if people could also update on how long it took from order to delivery, that would be nice too.

Ordered OM3302, OM3303, and OM3304 from the link in my previous post. As it stands now the cost of the sets is $73.56 and shipping is $50.52 for a grand total of $124.08 to California. The estimated weight was 2.21kg for each item I believe. Let's wait and see.

Edited by treeboy

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Update: I got an email from Gmarket saying the order has shipped and the actual shipping cost is $42.25 add to that the local delivery fee of $2.18 and you get $44.43. Now we wait and see how long EMS takes.

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Update: I got an email from Gmarket saying the order has shipped and the actual shipping cost is $42.25 add to that the local delivery fee of $2.18 and you get $44.43. Now we wait and see how long EMS takes.

So they refunded you about $8?

That's great.

The first order arrived well and about on time. It's also been mentioned that to order the NCM0872 (The big one with 5 vehicles) it's only about $85 with shipping, as opposed to $110-$135 off Ebay. Also if you don't get the e-mail about your adjusted shipping price, go back to your overseas order tab page and you'll be able to check the adjusted shipping price.

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Alrighty then. Got the order today though I think it's been at my PO Box for a while. The package arrived at SFO (San Francisco Int Airport) on the 30th of September, the day our new son was born. So naturally I've been a little busy. However, I made it to the PO today and the package containing the three Oxford sets were there all looking as they should.

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Alrighty then. Got the order today though I think it's been at my PO Box for a while. The package arrived at SFO (San Francisco Int Airport) on the 30th of September, the day our new son was born. So naturally I've been a little busy. However, I made it to the PO today and the package containing the three Oxford sets were there all looking as they should.

Good to hear it, let us know how it goes!

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Good to hear it, let us know how it goes!

Hi Crossmr. I registered at the site and fell in love with some of the kits like 'Big Ben' and 'Tower of Pisa' but was only able to find one seller http://item.gmarket.co.kr/detailview/Item.asp?goodscode=235679029

I don't think this seller allows shipments to the United States? or does everything listed get shipped to the Gmarket warehouse and then re-routed to the United States?

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Hi Crossmr. I registered at the site and fell in love with some of the kits like 'Big Ben' and 'Tower of Pisa' but was only able to find one seller http://item.gmarket.co.kr/detailview/Item.asp?goodscode=235679029

I don't think this seller allows shipments to the United States? or does everything listed get shipped to the Gmarket warehouse and then re-routed to the United States?

I believe because this person is a Chinese seller. Those aren't oxford blocks, they're another brand and you may find them somewhere else. They probably wouldn't ship the items into gmarket and then back out again.

Yes, the company name is Wange Toys

http://wangetoys.en.alibaba.com/productshowimg/454095920-212459791/WANGE_TOYS_The_Eiffel_Tower_of_Paris_France_978_pcs_blocks.html

Try Ebay

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=wange&_sacat=See-All-Categories

of course ebay's prices are through the roof

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I believe because this person is a Chinese seller. Those aren't oxford blocks, they're another brand and you may find them somewhere else. They probably wouldn't ship the items into gmarket and then back out again.

Yes, the company name is Wange Toys

http://wangetoys.en.alibaba.com/productshowimg/454095920-212459791/WANGE_TOYS_The_Eiffel_Tower_of_Paris_France_978_pcs_blocks.html

Try Ebay

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=wange&_sacat=See-All-Categories

of course ebay's prices are through the roof

you rock! I plan to place an order today :)

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I was looking a way to buy oxford block sets in normal prices (not the inflated ebay prices) and I found this topic!

not only you help me to buy oxford block sets but also you introduce me also to this great forum, I ve just been registered...

THANK YOU! :classic:

I have only one question, before ordering some sets..

What exactly is EMS shipping? Is Express Mail Service of the normal post office (for example usps) or is it some courier like ups or fedex?

I am just asking that, because here in Germany the custom office doesnt leave anything without control and without imposing fee :hmpf_bad:

As far as I know, when you use ups or fedex they charge you lots of money in order to complete the procedure, in contrary to the normal post office, which charge very few...

thanks!

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I was looking a way to buy oxford block sets in normal prices (not the inflated ebay prices) and I found this topic!

not only you help me to buy oxford block sets but also you introduce me also to this great forum, I ve just been registered...

THANK YOU! :classic:

I have only one question, before ordering some sets..

What exactly is EMS shipping? Is Express Mail Service of the normal post office (for example usps) or is it some courier like ups or fedex?

I am just asking that, because here in Germany the custom office doesnt leave anything without control and without imposing fee :hmpf_bad:

As far as I know, when you use ups or fedex they charge you lots of money in order to complete the procedure, in contrary to the normal post office, which charge very few...

thanks!

EMS is like express shipping from the post office.

It gets delivered via the regular post, but done in an express manner all around the world. Regular shipping from Korea is pretty fast though. It is much slower to ship things to Korea than out of Korea. I've sent regular small packages out of Korea and had them arrive on the far side of Canada 5 days later.

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EMS is like express shipping from the post office.

It gets delivered via the regular post, but done in an express manner all around the world. Regular shipping from Korea is pretty fast though. It is much slower to ship things to Korea than out of Korea. I've sent regular small packages out of Korea and had them arrive on the far side of Canada 5 days later.

ok thanks for the info!

I will put today an order! :classic:

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Just received a huge order!

Some info for potential new buyers...

EMS was really quick and gmarket ships also very fast.

shipped one day after the payment and arrived in Germany after 7 days.

I bought 5 sets from two different sellers (4 and 2).

I didnt ask for combining shipment, the orders were combined automatically.

Initially, I paid too little for shipping cost (around 30$ estimated weight 2,5kg , but then they ve sent me a mail in my gmarket account demanding 42$ more for shipment real weight 12kg (!!!!I didnt receive it in my googlemail and therefore it took me 10days to find out by checking gmarket account... so if you buy check alway gmarket account messages)

Gmarket english version appears to have some problems in navigation despite using internet explorer(I experienced some problems when I wanted to pay..I clicked the pay now button but the hyperlink to paypal didnt open...) but generally works fine.

No need to add a credit card and follow verification process!! you can choose paypal afterwards... Site doesnt clarify it well from the beginning giving the wrong impression...

Despite the fact that my products were in gmarket storehouse for 10days waiting my extra payment for shipping, everything went really fine!

They marked them in the custom declaration form as gift and they let you write not only the recipient's info but also the sender's info.

So, for

oxford military

[OM3302] anti aricraft tank and hummer

[OM3301] tank with 5 soldiers

NCM0848★apache, tank, radar truck, truck carrying soldiers, small jeep and lots of minifigs

OM3306 blackhawk, tank, artillery, humvee, outpost

NCM0872 modern design truck carrying troopers, missile launcher tank, small jeep and 7 minifigs

I paid initially 210$ + 44$ = grand total of 255$ which is not bad at all!

72$ for super fast shipment of 12kg products and 183$ for two huge, two big and one medium set which is a really good score (at least IMO)!

My experience was more than positive! Highly recommended! Definetely I would buy again!! :thumbup:

Thanks crossmr! :classic:

Edited by Tria

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