30 replies to this topic

[Tom_Rent_MN]

I'm trying to get a sense of actual current lead times on new scopes. 

Don't reply if you haven't received yours yet.  Please supply:

 

Scope:  _________________

 

Supplier:  ________________

 

Order date: ______________

 

Receive date: _____________

 

Did it come earlier or later than you expected?  

 

Notes/comments:

[DaleEh]

I took a different approach. I waited until a dealer in Canada had it in stock (watched their web sites regularly), then ordered it immediately, and had it in a few days (evo 8 last october). That way I did not rely on which retailer received their allotment first, and I avoided attaching myself to one retailer, in case another one got it first. There is a risk that they all have waiting lists, but I did not find that. And I did not order a specialty scope. And I paid $100 more than most were charging. The same problem exists with new AMD CPUs and Nvidia 30xx graphics cards, but for those there are tracking websites.  

[mabeard]

Celeron 1100 HD edge on CGX mount
Highpoint scientific
May 2020
Received 5 days later

[Ulmer Spatz]

Interesting survey, but I don't think you can draw any conclusions from it. Things change daily, so vendors don't have typical lead times. One example: the shortage of shipping containers. An agent may find 10, one or none at all from one day to the next.   

[James_5474]

Orion SkyQuest XT4.5
Orion (Telescope.com)
Ordered: Late Jan 2021
Received ~1 week later

Notes:
-Purchased a 2nd, so it was ready to ship
-Originally placed an order in mid-January for a new one, but that was backordered until early March (and it kept getting pushed back; happened at least twice, each time by a week); this new order was cancelled after buying the 2nd

Edited by James_5474, 23 February 2021 - 10:15 AM.

[teashea]

I do not order any telescope unless it is in stock.  No exceptions.  It is getting quite difficult to do this.  Since December I have purchased several telescopes but I had to do a lot of searching.  I have a new telescope being delivered tomorrow.  It took 10 days to receive it because of the winter storm.

 

Recently I have started purchased astronomy equipment from Japan and China because the equipment is not available in the US.  I have been very pleased with the service and the speed of delivery.  For example, I ordered some things from Amazon Japan and receive them in three days.  I ordered two sets of eyepieces from AliExpress, Shanghai, and they shipped them in six hours.  They arrived in the US one day after I ordered them.

 

These are the telescopes I have been able to purchase since December.  

 

[teashea]

Here is a study I did of out of stock items.

 

https://www.cloudyni...of-stock-items/

[SDAngler]

Scope:  _Celestron Nexstar 6se SCT__

 

Supplier:  ___OPT________

 

Order date: __December 1, 2020 - website said it would be delivered in 6-8 weeks____________

 

Receive date: _Never.  Cancelled order after 8 weeks, because they couldn't provide a delivery date and were difficult to contact/get updates.  I don't blame OPT, because a lot of telescope equipment is backordered and with Covid everything is messed up.

 

Did it come earlier or later than you expected? 

 

Notes/comments: Ended up buying a used 10" SCT from the local Astronomy Club for just a few dollars more.

[Tom_Rent_MN]

I did place a scope order with OPT, figuring everything they get in would be shipped-out to fill earlier orders and thus no scopes would ever really be "in stock" for a long-long time.  Since they have my money, and they don't want me to cancel, they will push to get product delivered.  

 

That said, not many people are replying to this survey, which suggests almost no one is getting orders delivered recently.  

 

When I do go on the OPT page, and filter their 189 Reflecting scopes by "In Stock," it lists only 7,  and of them only 3 are truly in-stock when you go to the specific scope's detailed page.  

[radiofm74]

Note that I am in Italy and the market and stocks may be different.

 

I got a Celestron Powerseeker 127 EQ via Amazon in November 2020. It shipped quickly, and I barely managed to return it in January 2021. I suspect you can get one of those anytime you want ;D

I then scoured the internet to find a vendor with a suitable kit in stock. It took me a couple of days of thorough research.

When I found one – a Celestron OMNI 150 XLR kit with CG-4 mount apparently available with an Italian shop – I called before ordering to make sure they really had it in their store. 

Ordered on Saturday 23.1.2021, received and first light on Wednesday 27.1.2021. 

[ayadai]

Like others, I won't order unless it's in stock. That said, I purchased an 8se from B&H 1/27/2021. It shipped 2 days later, but DHL routed it through Australia, then Singapore, then Hong Kong, then Korea, then Guam, so it took 3 weeks to get here, rather than the usual 5 days from DHL.

[JOEinCO]

Buy used. Always in stock.  

[radiofm74]

Buy used. Always in stock.  

This seems like a great suggestion – and it's what I'm doing now for my accessories. 

 

EDIT: forgot to mention. I am as happy as a clam with my Newt, but quickly realized that the OTA will not be allowed on my luggage-crowded car en route to vacations. THUSLY, I resolved to buy a used C6 OTA for about 1/2 of the new price, which is on my way! I'll therefore soon be the owner of one mount, one rich FOV Newtonian OTA, and a higher-mag, more portable SCT OTA… and there I'll stop for a while, hopefully!

Edited by radiofm74, 24 February 2021 - 06:28 AM.

[Ulmer Spatz]

 That said, not many people are replying to this survey, which suggests almost no one is getting orders delivered recently. 

Could also be people aren't all that interested in responding to surveys. Some years ago, I stopped quantifying recreational pursuits (in my case, it was keeping track of my bicycling mileage). About 23.5 hours later, I felt 45.6 % better!  

[CowTipton]

 

Scope:  Apertura AD8

 

Supplier:  High Point Scientific

 

Order date: 9/10/20

 

Receive date: 10/21/2020

 

Did it come earlier or later than you expected?  

It arrived about 10 days earlier than expected.  HPS said end of October or early November.

 

Edited by CowTipton, 24 February 2021 - 01:23 PM.

[ayadai]

Buy used. Always in stock.  

For small items perhaps. Otherwise, not an option for everyone, as few will ship large items like scopes.  Even if they would ship, I'd rather not inherit someone else's problems after paying $300+ shipping and waiting for 6-8 weeks for arrival.

[JOEinCO]

Buy used. Always in stock.  

 

For small items perhaps. Otherwise, not an option for everyone, as few will ship large items like scopes.  Even if they would ship, I'd rather not inherit someone else's problems after paying $300+ shipping and waiting for 6-8 weeks for arrival.

You assume everyone selling something is getting rid of a problem. That's too bad. Such a negative outlook. 

 

Find a reputable person by reading their ratings and the comments others have left for them. And what did you buy recently that cost $300 to ship? I just sold a 5.5" refractor in a footlocker case (47 pounds in a BIG box), and with several thousand in insurance coverage, it was about $130 to ship 1/3 of the way across the country. Would have been about $160 coast-to-coast. Bought it used, enjoyed it for a few months, sold it again. Not because there was a problem I was dumping on the next guy, but because I enjoy trying all different kinds of scopes.

[Gabs]

Hi all,

 

I live in London

 

Scope:  Meade 80 mm refractor 

 

Supplier: OpticstarUK

 

Order date: 01/01/2021

 

Receive date: 06/01/2021

 

I have to say they have a very good customer service. They kept me updated by email with delivery date and time.

[scotsman328i]

You assume everyone selling something is getting rid of a problem. That's too bad. Such a negative outlook. 

 

Find a reputable person by reading their ratings and the comments others have left for them. And what did you buy recently that cost $300 to ship? I just sold a 5.5" refractor in a footlocker case (47 pounds in a BIG box), and with several thousand in insurance coverage, it was about $130 to ship 1/3 of the way across the country. Would have been about $160 coast-to-coast. Bought it used, enjoyed it for a few months, sold it again. Not because there was a problem I was dumping on the next guy, but because I enjoy trying all different kinds of scopes.

Hey, it’s all good. Some of us purchase second hand equipment that is basically brand new at 30% or more off MSRP, others won’t lower themselves to those deals and only purchase new...then sell 2-4 months later for, yep...30% or more off MSRP. Be glad we have many big spenders in the hobby. Every day in the classifieds, it’s Black Friday. 

[JOEinCO]

[ayadai]

You assume everyone selling something is getting rid of a problem. That's too bad. Such a negative outlook. 

 

Find a reputable person by reading their ratings and the comments others have left for them. And what did you buy recently that cost $300 to ship? I just sold a 5.5" refractor in a footlocker case (47 pounds in a BIG box), and with several thousand in insurance coverage, it was about $130 to ship 1/3 of the way across the country. Would have been about $160 coast-to-coast. Bought it used, enjoyed it for a few months, sold it again. Not because there was a problem I was dumping on the next guy, but because I enjoy trying all different kinds of scopes.

Please note my location. Shipping large items here is much more expensive than shipping within the mainland US, as they must go to a freight forwarder or ship via premium services. Example: the 8SE I purchased last month at B&H cost $242 to ship via DHL. This is with the significant discount B&H realizes due to their contract with DHL. The same item shipped from a non-contractual account  would incur shipping northwards of $400.

 

I do not "assume that everyone selling something is getting rid of a problem", but I do have 25 years experience shipping large volumes of sensitive antique horological items from the US and Europe to my location and can state unequivocally that it's rare for any piece to arrive without need for significant adjustment and/or repair. ~50% of sellers do not know how to properly package a delicate item for shipment across the world.

 

When it comes to a large used item like a scope, I might consider buying it from "the popular auction site", where I enjoy excellent buyer protections, but not from a resource with no means of arbitration.

 

/Addendum/ FWIW, I really enjoy thrift shops when I visit countries that have them, and buying used items in general, and will frequently "lower myself". If only more sellers would "lower themselves" to deign to ship to my location, I'd buy even more used stuff, but not when cost + shipping is within 5-10% of new.

Edited by ayadai, 25 February 2021 - 04:02 PM.

[Rwhit]

Interesting discussion if only to understand how the supply of telescopes have changed over time. Seeing someone else order from Highpoint in September and receive their AD8 in October is a breath of fresh air compared to my anticipated wait!

 

Scope:  Apertura AD8

 

Supplier: Highpoint Scientific

 

Order date: 01/14/2021

 

Receive date: TBD I've had 3 updates: It'll come when it comes, then end of march, end of April/May

[Sheol]

                             Scope: Orion XX12i Truss tube Intelliscope Dob.

                             Date: Ordered: August 20, 2020

                             Date Received: November 24, 2020

                              Supplier: Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.

 

                       Everything seems on back order, some things, esp. larger scopes very much so.

 

                            Clear Skies,

                                  Matt.

[Sam Danigelis]

Scope: TS Optics 8" f/4 Newtonian astrograph

Supplier: Teleskop Express

Ordered: Oct 2020

*Came a bit earlier than expected.

*Via UPS express. Box exterior a bit damaged, but scope inside was well padded, no damage.
Received: 3 weeks later.

[sg6]

Last one was ordered one day and delivered 2 days later.

Lost track of the dates but 18-24 months back.

However they were in stock. So activity would be:

I ordered and paid, they located one and checked and wrapped and handed to shipper next day, it arrived the following day.

Scope was a Skywatcher 72ED and supplier was FLO.

 

Ordered another scope Monday (4 days ago), but it is clearly stated as delivery yo the retailer is not expected for 20-25 days and I reallistically guess that is optimistic. Basically I don't expect a delivery notification in the next 6-8 weeks. However in no urgent need (actually don't "need" just want) and I expect prices to rise significantly and this was/is at the present cost.

 

A previous WO ZS61 was about 20 minutes - I called in at the FLO one day and said have you got a Blue ZS61, they had 1, and I paid and departed with it. Payment was amusing. They had no method of taking a payment. So they pulled up their site, and I payed as per an at home internet purchase, it was authorised, and I had the scope. Saved them any shipping cost.

 

Shipping of 2-3 days is sort of normal on scopes here. If it is in stock.