Heelychat, the forum for heelys, the shoes with wheels - View topic

*Last edited by Heelynut on Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:45 pm; edited 1 time in total*

SLICER'S EDIT: READ THE WHOLE TOPIC. THE SOURCING AGENT NO LONGER DOES THIS AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET PROS FROM HIM. HE IS GETTING ANNOYED BY PEOPLE EMAILING HIM.

I recently bought both Pro colors along with a pair of Ninjas (7318) that were no longer available here in the states in my size.

I buy them through a Sourcing Agent in So. Korea who represents two of the four factories used to make Heelys.

There are four Heelys factories; three in China and one in Indonesia.

My order was shipped directly from the factory in Indonesia.

The cost of the shoes was $60. per pair. I asked the sourcing agent if more shoes could be bought at the same time at a discount. Here's what he said: “We can sell Heelys directly to consumers at same or similar retail prices as that in USA or other countries but we can not sell to other distributors or customers at lower prices according to the agreement between us”.

I think he sells all styles for the same price. In this case, we're probably getting a deal since the Pros will likely sell for more when they first become available here in the states.

Now, let me backup...
When I first saw the Pros on Heely's website, I contacted 4 major Internet retailers to see if they would have them available soon. None were even aware that this style was available. I sent them pics and they all said they would order them ASAP. But the word I got back was they wouldn't be available here in the states until about March 2009. As you know, these were suppose to be available this summer. As usual, Heelys is behind in getting new styles here in the States. I'll say more about this later.

My shoes were shipped via DHL. Fortunately, the exchange rate with Indonesia is much more favorable than with China at this time. The cost of shipping my 3 pairs was $95. This price might vary depending on where you live in the US, or elsewhere in the world.

In summary, I paid $275. for three pairs...approx. $92. per pair (not too bad).

So, what do you do if you just want one pair?
You get together with your Heely friends or fellow Team members. In some cases, you may have to take delivery and then ship your friend's pair to them. Using USPS, the cost to ship a pair to them will be less than $10.

Next, I suspect you want to know how you pay for them...
To pay for your purchase, you will need to send a wire transfer. It seems scary but it's not difficult. I bank with Washington Mutual and wire transfers are free. Other banks may charge a fee. I would urge you, though, to double check the bank's document before you finalize the transaction.

Usually, the wire transfer takes less than an hour. When I first ordered two pairs of Neos back in 2005, I rec'd my shoes the next day! I found this incredible! My latest order took a little longer because of customs.

When DHL comes to deliver your package, they will want a signature. If no one is home, they'll leave something for you to sign so they can leave it the next day without your being there. If you leave an signed authorization for them to leave it in the first place, they may leave it on their first visit.

When you get the tracking information, it may have your last name or city incorrect. This is done for security reasons. The city may actually be the name of your local DHL hub. Don't worry, the package will still get to you.

When communicating with the Sourcing Agent, keep in mind that he's in Korea. So, if you send an e-mail one day, you'll not receive a reply until at least the next day. If you send it Friday, you will not get a reply until at least Monday.

Here, now, is a sample E-mail:

Dear Mr. Seol,
My name is Seth. I live in Miami, Florida, USA.
Heelynut said I could contact you and order some Heelys not yet available in the USA.

For myself....
I would like to order the 9202 (gray/white/red) Pro Series in US size 9.
I would also like the 7403 (black/gray/camo) Ninja Glow in US size 9.

For my very best friend, Hailey...
I would like to order the 9201 (black/white/red) Pro Series in US size 7.

Please let me know if these are available, the cost of the shoes and the cost of shipping.

We are both on Team Heelys. Here are some links showing our skills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9etzv7siQa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxZNjh6H26c
I hope you enjoyed seeing them.

Thank you very much for your kind assistance.
Regards,
Seth

Notes:
1.Put your primary request near the top of the e-mail.
2.Be very clear. His English is pretty good, but I recommend using common English words. Don't use any abbreviations
3.If you have other questions, try not to ask too many. He usually only gets around to answering a couple.
4.These are the current styles available in Indonesia: Pro Series, Ninja, TKO, Havoc, Grind This and Five-O.
5.In the sample e-mail above, I mentioned the Ninja Glow, a new Ninja style that was suppose to be available this holiday season...but you guessed it...it's late coming to the US. The best pix of it is on youtube at 17 sec. into this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meyYx7rUcwQ This shoe has a graffiti-patterned, glow-in-the-dark Mega wheels with ABEC 5 bearings...also a glow-in-the-dark logo. I don't care for the style but some of you might.
6.I suspect that this Ninja and the Pro Series are readily available in all sizes. Other styles may not always be available in all sizes. It's OK to send an e-mail asking about the availability of various styles in your size..
7.There are other new FATS wheeled styles also available but they're nothing special and I wouldn't buy them at these high prices.
8.There are some Evos and Torches available in assorted sizes from the factory in China. But right now, the shipping rate is so high that I doubt that anyone would consider buying them. I'm trying to get some improvement in the shipping costs and will update this post if I get some good news.
9.If you send your initial e-mail on the weekend, you'll likely get a response on Monday. You can do your wire transfer on Tuesday morning and probably get your shoes on Thursday.

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Sending an e-mail means that you accept the above conditions.
NOW, quickly prepare and send your e-mail to KD SEOL:
<DELETED>
And don't forget to empty your piggy bank and open an account at Washington Mutual!

Cheers, HN
PS, I hope that you HC members who have a bank account will help the younger HC members who don't have a bank account.
PPS, I primarily prepared this post so that those who wear sizes 8-12 and have no Mega/Grind Heelys will be able to buy some.

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

Thanks Heelynut Smile

Well, if anyone is keen to do a mass order to get better rates and needs an extra buyer, I'm interested in 1 or 2 pairs.

But since most of you are US it would require a second lot of onward shipping to get them to me, so it might be cheaper for me to handle UK orders, which'd probably be just me and Sara, so I'll ask Sara if she's interested and we should all keep each other informed via this thread so that we can all get the best deals? Smile

Otherwise poor Mr Seol might get annoyed if he gets a dozen different people all wanting to purchase only 1 or 2 pairs and all asking the same questions, and he might lose interest in selling them this way, and we wouldn't want to waste such a valuable resource. Smile

Open an account at Washington Mutual? Laughing

WaMu is bankrupt, HN.

March 2009? WTF? I've been getting told September, now October.. now you're saying March. Looks like international is the only way to go.

*Lives in miami*

makes me wish i had some moolah, i just bout a camera >.> AND my mom has a WaMu account so we could have totally done this.

WaMu was bought by Chase. Hard to say at this time if some branches will close or if the free wire transfers will continue. And everyone is free to use another bank or even Western Union.

I have done this 3 times without a problem.

Actually, you'd be a better choice than me for receipt and distribution to others:
You're closer to the east coast and Parcel post would be less than for me.
The members probably would trust you more than me.

I have been trying to see if KD will allow shipments of up to 6 pair to one person so that the shipping costs from overseas will be less per pair. I should know Monday.

Members can order just 1-2 pair if they want but they'll pay more since shipping is not proportional to the number purchased.

I originally considered being a go-between but I need to "get back on the wagon" (get back to the Henry Ford Clinic) and "get a life!" Thus, I will only be answering questions for a couple more weeks.

If KD becomes too overwhelmed with requests he may just say NO.
Also, I would hope that no one will bother him with requests if they don't have the money to buy something.

I've also asked KD if there are other distributors who have the Pro Series and if any can also take credit card payment. I should get a response to this question also on Monday.
HN

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

One more idea:

Perhaps we should keep his email address non-public and have someone only give it out to members, so that it doesn't become a target for spam?

I dunno how true it is but I heard that some bots trawl the web snagging anything recognised as an email addy so they can send their junk to it?

Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 166 Location: Toronto, Canada

Im thinking the same as ME. It should be taken off and slicer gives you if you need it. ME Im not entirely sure about the bots with the spam but I heard something close to that one time.

@Seth So you live close to me Very Happy

(Closer than any other HC member but not that close )

Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 469 Location: Ol' Virginny

Very nice. If anyone is organizing a group buy, put me in for 2 prs of Pro's in grom sizes. (2&3 I think... I'll have to check).

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 469 Location: Ol' Virginny

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

Ah ok thanks, not heard that before, but I like it. At 5 foot ish with size 6 or 7 feet I'd probably be almost considered "grom size" myself Very Happy

If I remember right from a shoutbox convo the member tomboi is taller than me with bigger feet at 11, and a friend of mine who is about 9 is too LOL.

Whenever I'm at a skatepark kids ask how old I am and few them believe I'm more than 14, and none will accept 30 LOL. . . no idea what they think when I get in the car and drive away - maybe i stole it? Very Happy

All right, I suppose I'm doing it for the US.

Deez: I'm going to ignore you until you tell me *exactly* how many of what sizes you want.

The deadline for this group buy is Halloween. If you do not post on this thread before then, you get nothing, you lose, good day sir.

Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 469 Location: Ol' Virginny

Gonna double check when the wife gets off. She'll know what they'll be wearing at what times... she's good like that.

Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 291 Location: Washington, USA

http://www.finishline.com/store/catalog/product.jsp?sourceid=channel&productId=prod633732&HEELYS&cid=42&CAWELAID=253658759

The glow in the dark ninjas appear to be available at Finish Line.

am I one of the only people here who thinks it may be a bad idea to do that? I mean, in honesty, yeah the Pro Models are cool, and larger sized Heelys are hard to come by, but its only a few months and you get to support your local retailers.

In a way that is placed a little more simply...

My Journeys in the mall is currently eliminating all their Heelys and they aren't getting any more in. Finish Line has pretty much cut half of their inventory.

Granted I am not the only person in Colo. Sprgs. to by a large pair of Heelys, but I can hopefully say I own the most.

Just recently I had to turn to eBay to purchase the shoes I needed because the local inventory just isn't there.

But for you kids that the inventory will be there, why do you want to jepordize not being able to buy the shoes locally? No shipping and handling, no worrying about if they will get lost somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

It's basic economics. Stores will stock what is in demand. You purchase Heelys directly from the exporter, then the business will stop selling the shoes. You pay $92 per shoe vs getting a pair of Ninjas at Finish Line for $70. Oh, yeah, you get grind models. Well what about the people who want grind models and DON'T know about this guy in S. Korea? I again say look at my Journey's, Finish Line, and TSA in Colo. Sprgs. in which I will offer anyone $5 dollars to find a pair AT THE STORE with an express plate (no, not mega/grind, just grind). They are not there...

So what you have to wait a few more months. Half of you kids have torches that are still almost brand spanking new, and with Winter right around the corner is a few more months going to kill you?

Anyways, thats my input on this. For those who will do it still will do it, but I thought I would just be the one to chirp my dislike of this strategy...