by andrewa » Tue 27 Sep, 2011 9:05 pm
Having just ordered a variety of stuff from the US (from thru-hiker, some nylon and 900 loft down for a hammock quilt; from nrs, some hydroskin pants and socks; and from ??gearzone, a montbell exlight down jkt and some titanium cooking stuff), it "irritates" me to be paying ~ 25-30% of the order cost as postage, but, at the end of the proverbial day, it is still all a lot cheaper than buying it here, and I don't then try to spend "X" hours running around looking for the cheapest shop. Even buying the down and quilt, I will be "out of pocket" making the quilt, from an hourly work rate, but I'll have what I want, which I can't source from the net, so I have no choice with this one, and I actually enjoy sewing
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I suppose it all comes down to your "hourly rate". If I spend a few hours googling/driving around Melbourne looking for cheapest prices, then I've wasted much more money than I've saved, if it's impacted on work time (I am self employed). Making gear is expensive in terms of hours thinking about it, and actually making it, but on the other side, there is the satisfaction of MYOG.
If you're off to the US, perhaps buy stuff that is heavy/bulky, to reduce the shipping costs back to Oz, but think about how much you earn in an hour when you are planning this, as, even at $20/hr, your savings become small, or negative.
A