This comes up a lot

I wish I’d saved all my previous replies to the same question!
I’ll offer the same again though...
I was wary of ordering from the States to start with. My experience of dealing with Lon however, has always been that he is an exemplary trader. He only charges you the actual postage, which is not always what the cart calculates. I know that’s not entirely helpful and it can be a leap of faith, but my experience has always been positive. The shipping cost has not been prohibitive at all, and Lon normally manages to get your toys to you across the Atlantic rather more quickly than many UK-based manufacturers seem to manage. Generally around one week or so from order to receipt in my experience. He’s also admirably sensitive to the customs charges situation, so if you make smaller orders you should always scrape under the limit for HMRC and Royal Mail import and handling charges. All in all, I’ve never found it a problem ordering direct from Brigade in the US, and the figures - so many of which are by our very own Mr Hicks - are absolutely worth it. Here endeth the testimonial!
Of course, I appreciate that there have been some recent increases in transatlantic mail costs, and it’s been a year or so since I ordered last from the States. So things may have got worse. But in the past - always fine.