Gary,

At the time I purchased these, the only UK vendor I could find wanted more than £400 for the same parts, so I thought I'd made quite a considerable saving even if I did get stung for VAT etc. I now realise that I could have bought these parts from you for around £183 inc VAT, which is almost certainly what I would have done had I known that you sold them, for just the reasons you've given.

At the moment, having bought quite a few items from China, I'm now prepared for a loss on one before too long, just based on the law of averages with things going wrong. Even so, I have to say that I'll most probably still come out on top, given the good fortune I've had so far.

I can understand, and sympathise, with UK vendors trying to compete with the Chinese. I doubt many consumers understand the risks, or even notice the often very high postage charges on ebay for goods from China. As far as I can see, the only way to compete with the Chinese ebay vendors is most probably to buy goods in bulk direct from the Chinese manufacturers, ship them by sea to save costs and hope that the quality is such that the return rate doesn't cause you to make a loss. All told a fairly risky enterprise, I would have thought.

Jeremy

PS: Now I know that you stock stuff I'll be buying some parts for the Z axis direct from you, as soon as I've finally decided what I need.