Should I order from Leon Paul or thru Santelli?

[Wolfman140]

Hey guys,
I asked Santelli to quote me the price for an assembled epee sword w/:
Wired electrical Leon Paul maraging blade w/ point
Pistol grip
Ultra light weight leon paul bell guard

He said it'd cost $215 minimum w/o shipping and thats if all the parts were in stock...
I went to the Leon Paul website and chose the same thing and it came out to about $180 USD in the end w/ shipping....Any suggestions? Is there any reason I should go through Santelli? The only difference I would see is Santelli offers a more styles of pistol grips. What would you do? Thanks!
-Kevin

[Lungin' Ry]

Leon Paul is a good website to order from but it only offers sales in pounds not dollars . But I personally say you should go to the links section of this site and check out their links to online equipment retailers and see what you find. Good luck! -Ryan

[daveappr]

Wolfman- I've ordered from both sites and I can say I've been satisfied with both. The only difference is coming across the pond took 2-3 days longer. I guess it comes down to if you want to spend the extra money or wait a couple of days longer. Swordmasters also sells LP blades and have great customer service. Just my 2 cents

[ThornOfTheBlood]

I"m considering getting some super light weight LP epees from LP, french grip so they're about 110$, roughly 60 ish pounds. They're supposed to be roughly 1/4 the weight of my uhlmann blade so I hope i'm not disapointed.

[CvilleFencer]

LP customer service is awesome. Their normal epee blades outlast my BF FIE blades. Their new foil tips are top notch. Once you get to the checkout it is no problem to pay in dollars and they will give you the price in US dollars if you bother to look. Their orders often get to me quicker than stuff I order from US vendors two states away.

Santelli is very overpriced in my opinion and I am not quite sure how they stay in business...

Go with LP. Besides no one I talked two a week ago had any of the LP epee blades in stock! :-)

Good luck.

[Wolfman140]

Yeah basically I've always ordered my swords from Santelli because they've never failed me...Yeah they are pretty pricey but its usually quality so I paid it. Perhaps now its time to change horses...Anyone ever order from American Fencer?

-Kevin

[CvilleFencer]

AmFence is a decent outfit and they are really easy to work with over the phone, but they are also a fair bit overpriced on some items and they do not make any clothing items in my size. They are also out of LP epee blades, or they were last week. You should really check out the Fencing Post or Blue Guantlet. The Fencing Post had very good customer service and the ship in a reasonable timeframe. They also offer a 20% discount off their listed prices so you can get a very good deal on top of the line equipment. BG order accuracy and customer service is not horrible (not great either) but they offer some really sweet deals on items and are great for club orders so I buy most of our club stuff through them and most of my stuff from either The Fencing Post or Leon Paul Direct. I would like to say again that if you are looking for LP items the best way to get them is to just order them from LP.

[Pepster]

My experiences with Santelli have been good, but not superb. They're people are friendly and helpful, but all in all I'd only buy from them unless I went to the shop and walked out with the blade. It's just not worth the premium you pay. That said, It's very nice to go hand pick your items.

LP has, hands down, the best customer service I've ever received from a vendor. If it's cheaper from them anyways, go to LP. It's the same basic blade.

Aso, in the end, the added number of grips that santelli has is only good if you can pick them up and hold them all. Otherwise, you're going on a picture, which is hard.

-Pep

[TheArmourer]

IMHO If at all possible your much better going into a shop and picking out a blade personally.
The quality of blades (from most manufactureres) can vary quite considerably from one blade to the next and there is absolutely no knowing what you'll get in the post. I have seen some premium (foil) blades with no more than 1mm of metal to the side of the wire-groove half way down the blade - very poor QC.
If you buy something mail order and it's not satisfactory you've then got to ship it back yourself and the whole process can get quite painful.

Clothing tends to be more consistent, but I would generally advise against weapons over the internet unless you have no other choice.

I've no idea how local your local fencing shop is in the states, so that obviously could be a consideration.

[Zara_athlen]

personally I love Leon Paul, the only problem is the shipping costs. I usually wait to the summer time when they have their 20 % off sale and order everything then. Santelli to be honest I really dont trust too much. The majority of their equipment is extremely outdated. You are better off ordering Leon Paul stuff from Leon Paul.

Also I agree with the post above, unless you are buying cheap blades and dont care, buy a blade in a shop where you can look at it and pick the one you like. Otherwise you never know what the hell they are going to send you.

[HDG]

I have a great deal of sentimental attachment to Santelli, but even w/ international S&H, ordering from LP can still be a bit cheaper than buying their stuff through Santelli. But, bear in mind that when you use the currency calculator on LP's website, it includes VAT which comes off, but doesn't include S&H.

[ThornOfTheBlood]

Thefencing post's overnight shipping really is overnight lol, I ordered my shoes last night and I wanted them by tomorrow's practice so I got overnight shipping and BAM I am looking at them now.

[lou]

Perhaps the ship has come in, but last week, I could not find Leon Paul Epee blades in stock at american fencers, or fencing post. DIdn't like the prices at Sword masters so I didn't check the stock. I did find them at Santelli. Though the price was a few bucks higher than American Fencers, I was pleased with their communication and rapid response. I didn't try LP itself because the site showed a shipping cost of nearly $25! Woof. There has got to be (and probably is) a better way.
I appreciate all the discussion of picking out your special blades before plunking down hard cash. However, we're still in Kansas Toto and unless someone comes to the local meet with an arm load of LP stuff (fat chance) we'uns are gonna be at the mercy of the mail order guru.

[jeff]

I just priced an electrical epee, french grip, standard fittings, and it was 54.98 pounds ($96.22) on the Leon Paul site, and $84.95 at Santelli. Not sure how it all adds up with shipping costs, VAT and so forth, but I would say "your mileage may vary" and it might not be more expensive at Santelli after all. Returns are probably easier too, as you don't have to ship to UK. (Disclaimer: long association with Santelli.)

[millsisland]

Leon Paul's customer service and attention to detail is unmatched. If you're placing a large enough order to justify the shipping charges, go direct. Just make sure you know what you are ordering, because return shipping is expensive. If you want to order gear from a US vendor, the Fencing Post
IMHO has the best customer service. Once you establish a realtionship, they take really good care of you.

[Dclax07]

yea, dont have any experiance with LP or Santelli, but generally speaking, buying from a reseller will be a lot more expensive than buying direct, because resellers HAVE to mark up because of shipping, warehouse, and of course profit.
Of course, resellers could be cheaper if they are a web order only, etc.

[DangerMouse]

One additional bonus ordering from LP is the maraging blade will come wired with their teflon coated tip assembly. Last I checked, Santelli wires with french points as standard. The difference between the two is amazing.

[Wolfman140]

Just saying thanks to everyone for their input!
I ended up ordering a LP maraging electrical blade, lightweight guard and socket. I went thru LP. Ended up being 102 pounds...which is something around 170 bucks. Yeah...big money...But by everyone's comments it doesn't sound like I'll be disappointed. Thanks!

-Kevin

[The Armourer]

Me I would buy through Duellist they have a stockist in the USA www.duelistusa.com - they are a good company. Tell them that Reading Fencing Club in the UK sent you!

The Armourer

[Lone Musketeer]

You could always order from the LP rep in Canada. That way you don't have to worry as much about customs etc, NAFTA and all that. If it cost you 120 PS which is 215 USD, the same thing from Fencing Equipment of Canada
would have been 222 CDN or 176 USD + shipping of course but even that is cheaper from your cousins to the North.

LM

Not sure if I can post a link but here goes.
http://www.fencingcanada.ca