A little feedback on my shopping experience with Rally Design for the benefit of other readers:
1. The freight charge was high, although that's not completely their fault of course. Im fact, I ended up paying more for freight than I did for the goods (note to self - buy better toys in future)! For reference, the box was 390mm x 300mm x 200mm, weighed 2.53 kgs and cost about £80. It was reasonably well packed, and not oversized.
2. They levy a credit card surcharge - £2 in this case for £64 pounds of goods. This additional fee isn't made obvious until you are about to commit to the purchase.
3. For overseas transactions they normally charge in your local currency and add 3.5% margin to cover currency conversion. If I remember correctly, I only became aware of this in an email confirming my purchase. I had to authorise the freight charge before the transaction was completed, and at that time asked to be charged in UK £, which my invoice reflects, but my on-line credit card records do not, so it looks like they ignored my request and I paid more again (my CC does not apply international conversion fees). If this subsequently proves incorrect, I'll edit this post to reflect that.
4. Despite shipping via TNT Express, they did not send me a tracking number. I requested one two days in a row, but received no reply. It was pure luck that someone was available to collect the package when it arrived. Freight was fast, but I fail to see why Rally Design doesn''t send the tracking number as a matter of course, and especially why they ignored two emails requesting it.
So in summary, I can't see myself using them again. I took a punt on them and fully accept my role in that, but I don't find their practices friendly to international customers. I understand why they feel it necessary to charge people to package and price shipping (which is refundable only if the package is shipped), as it takes time and labour, but it is unusual, £20 seems high for doing not much more than tossing a few items into an open box sitting on a scale, and their competitors don't do this. Their additional fees and charges aren't obvious when browsing, and they all add up, which makes their pricing appear more attractive than it should. And ignoring my billing request and two emails for tracking info is just downright poor in my opinion. So in future I think I'll stick with Burton's, where you know before you commit exactly how much you're going to spend, or will try Motorsport-Tools.
One last thing. This post isn't intended to be a case of "sour grapes". I've tried to be fair and reasonable in my assessment of my experience. I initially posed the question about Rally Design's freight charges, and having now used them, figured others might want to know how it all worked out - nothing more.