Here is a summary :
Please tell if you find other vendors in Europe, I didn’t.
Funny. At ACS (the one and only 
) they go for US$ 575. That is 472 € Even with Norwegian VAT (25%) this is only 590 €
Also, at ACS in the US they have no mention of “official dealers” in Europe.
After I found this jetcarrier, I see no reason to purchase anything from any “official” dealers in Europe. With JC I have an address in the US where stuff are shipped, and JC handles shipping from there, either sea or air. Ordering from ACS is super easy with JC, and not to mention from the large general warehouses.
So which is the best site for buying stuff? Several vendors have quite poor websites and I do not really get why you would have to pay extra for an 8130 paper when you buy something that is certified. Why don’t they just out that piece of paper in there anyway?
Jetcarrier seems interesting, I will take a look at it since I am about to buy some stuff for the aeroclub now. I guess the problem is that most “official dealers” don’t have it in stock anyway so there is little motivation to use them instead of Aircraftspruce.
Are there any other US based sites that are good to use? (This is probably another thread but it was already drifting) :)
LeSving wrote:
After I found this jetcarrier, I see no reason to purchase anything from any “official” dealers in Europe. With JC I have an address in the US where stuff are shipped, and JC handles shipping from there, either sea or air. Ordering from ACS is super easy with JC, and not to mention from the large general warehouses.
What is the delivery time once JC has the goods?
Well, both are listed on https://www.aircraftspruce.com/internationals/germany.html
So is Adams Aviation (on https://www.aircraftspruce.com/internationals/unitedkingdom.html), actually. Hmm…
Adams is a funny place. Maint shops use them. I used to have an account with them but they killed it a few years ago, saying they sell only to outfits operating 2 or more planes
I can’t see how any business model that kept stuff like that on the shelf in Europe could be sustainable – you just wouldn’t sell enough.
LAS stock mostly non US sourced lines. I mean, US made, as most GA parts are, but I doubt they import a lot directly. A lot of it is for homebuilts, not least because you don’t get EASA-1 or 8130-3 forms without which most European shops will not touch a part with a 20ft (6.25m) barpole And they sell parts without “traceability” alongside ones with traceability. Very useful of course, for those who have flexibility (N-regs, Annex 1, and some others).
Airborne_Again wrote:
What is the delivery time once JC has the goods?
Depends on air or sea. My experience is they resend it within a couple of days. About 1-2 weeks in total for air and 4-6 weeks for sea. Getting stuff directly from the seller is faster, but normally not all that much faster. The biggest difference is the price, since ACS, in particular, is clueless about international shipping. They simply use the default rates at fedex/UPS etc. JC ships in “bulk”.
I ordered 3 Aircraft Spruce items from LAS. Two were listed as in stock. I got them fast – day after next, and I’m 55 miles from nearest postal hub, in Scotland.
One was not listed, but was on Aircraft Spruce. I’m still waiting for it, 3 weeks later. Not surprised or critical, especially at Christmas.
lionel wrote:
Well, both are listed on https://www.aircraftspruce.com/internationals/germany.html
Haven’t seen that. But I think it goes without saying that when every country in Europe has at least one “official” ACS reseller, then the shipping part to Europe cannot be very efficient. Poor logistics will increase prices massively. When I can get the stuff directly from ACS in the US myself (through JC) at a better price and at a much more timely manner (a bit slower if the goods exists in Europe, but much faster if it doesn’t, and well within 2 weeks for air, 6 weeks for sea), then this is proof enough for me that the value these “official resellers” ads is in fact less than zero.
It’s a simple logistics problem of getting the stuff from ACS in the US to my door. For me, JC solves this problem much better than any European reseller.
LeSving wrote:
But I think it goes without saying that when every country in Europe has at least one “official” ACS reseller, then the shipping part to Europe cannot be very efficient.
Most of them look like small maintenance shops or operators that don’t even have a webshop, much less one that has the whole ACS catalogue, so are not really in the “league” of LAS, Sandelving or Aircraft Parts Europe. They look like they basically have ACS as what I would call a supplier, and they “resell” mostly what they install on customer’s aircraft.
LeSving wrote:
When I can get the stuff directly from ACS in the US myself (through JC)
Jetcarrier looks very interesting indeed. We have something a bit like that in Luxembourg https://www.bpm-lux.com/ but they are not in the same league… While they have forwarding addresses in several countries (not just USA), they won’t organise sea freight. While they have weekly air freight “group” shipments, … they don’t cost a significant amount less than USA seller shipment charges or air freight individual shipment (where they just hand the parcel to DHL/Fedex/…), so, well, they can only be cost-effective when one combines several USA parcels into one. Also, they take a subscription fee to the service.
I would be quite happy to have a Jetcarrier-like for Western Europe.
