Pre-Order from US?

I'm a long time Newark customer and I ordered one just now but they will not be getting any further business from me in

the future. A $20 handling change for a small $35 item is disgusting and despicable since many of these orders are going to students and children.

Shame on you Newark!

Here is a log of a chat I just had with support:

You are now chatting with 'Sylven'

Sylven: hello how can i help

Mark DePalma: Hello

Mark DePalma: I was looking into buying the Raspberry Pi and I was wondering why there is a $20 charge on the item

Sylven: Hi Mark...the $20 is a handling fee from the UK which includes shipping

Mark DePalma: Is that price ever going down considering that there is distribution in the US?

Sylven: We order it from Farnell Uk so that $20 will always apply...unless they decide to start stocking them in our warehouse in the US

Mark DePalma: ok Thank you

Sylven: sure

Cant preorder from http://www.alliedelec.com/

Farnell didn't give a shipping cost, only "TBA".  It does list the price as $42.30, not sure why.

Not trying to be greedy but trying to justify the 20.00 fee so I asked this question? Also some insight on they are not taking bulk orders yet? FYI

Sylven: hello how can i help

Eric : Just wondering if I can order multiple Raspberry pi now?

Sylven: Hi Eric...you can try but it has caused our servers to go down

Sylven: once back up you can pre-order

Sylven: using part# 83T1943

Eric : or is there still a limit on pre orders?

Sylven: I believe there is

Sylven: 1 qty

Eric : so if I put multiple in my cart it still will only give me one?

Sylven: from what I'm hearing it will let you proceed but at the end it will give you error and say you can only get 1

Eric : ok I will wait until the 20 handling fee comes down a bit

Eric : or buy a few at a time

Sylven: it probably won't because we buy from the UK

Eric : thanks

Still contemplating ordering though. Eric

I was able to place an order through the phone.  1-888-827-2203 was the number.  ~$58 with the tax and shipping/export costs.  Est delivery ~April 25.

Same. I ordered from http://export.farnell.com/ instead of http://newark.com/. It was 26.55 pounds (about $42) and shipping is TBA (through UPS).

I wonder if export.farnell.com will turn out to be either faster or cheaper than newark.com. Anyone have any insights?

Hi - I know the $20 is a bit shocking given that the item is only $35.  Unfortunately, Newark element14 isn't stocking in the US warehouse currently.  This means the only option is to have it direct shipped from the Farnell warehouse in the UK.  This option is available for almost all Farnell items on Newark.com which can be helpful in some situations.

I did place an order, too.  I'd prefer to pay just $35 plus nominal shipping, but I still consider it a bargain for the specs.  I think because Raspberry Pi is UK-based, unfortunately, folks in North America will have to pay extra for shipping until it is eventually stocked in our region.

Cheers,

Drew

Question - How many of the 10,000 initial production run is Farnell/Newark allocated to get and is Farnell/Newark coordinated to stop taking $55 orders once their allocation is hit or are they just taking the money from all comers with no regard to first run availability?  And if I pay the $20 extra (which I have) is the drop ship going to be direct from China or the UK after THEY recieve boards from China?

Also, how much interest are you seeing there in the Newark Sales office over all of this? :-)

Let me qualify - you would have to specify bring it through the US at the time of your order.  You can not change this after the fact. Please don't think you can place on line, then call 800-463-9275 and successfully change it from UK drop ship to Gaffney, SC.  UK orders are non-cancelable, non-returnable!