Had a nice little order all set to go-they had good prices and very friendly and quick replies to my e-mail. Six little bits-air breathers and wire separators for $35 that weighed 1.3 lbs. Final step-- shipping-cheapest was almost $17!! I have a business-I understand inventory and handling costs, but I really do not care for places that price their stuff low then use shipping fees as a profit center. Not mad at them, just pissed I wasted so much time when I could have been working on the car.
Box size is one thing that will affect the rate, but I agree that overcharging for shipping is a big turnoff. Don't get me started on the STUPID eBay shipping rates they take upon themselves to print in my auctions! Once they chased away all put one bidder on a $19.99 item with a $140.00 shipping rate that in fact cost $11.60 via FedEx Ground!
shipping rates have gone out the window lately..Ive noticed this too. I think its the shipping companies , and fuel costs that are driving it..and some parts houses and on-line auction center (sellers) that are using it to their advantage to scalp a few more bucks off of their sales.. I bought something a few months back for lets say $50 bucks, they tell me shipping was $15..so I pay it..the package gets here and the "Real" cost of shipping is right on the package..$8..they made an additional $7 bucks off of the item just in shipping..idk..maybe thats a handeling fee?..seemed like alot to me when you know there were costs in the price of the $50 dollar part to begin with.. just food for thought i've had other experiances that the quoted shipping costs were one thing and the reality of the cost was reveiled to me, and it was way worse than this.
With my furniture sales on Amazon I include the price in my advertised price, so the customer knows their actual cost. Some remote areas I get stung for surcharges, but I understand you can't drive to to a remote customer for nothing either. I wish more online sellers would do business that way. jim h NORSEWOODS Woodworking
Mebbe the company charges for the price of the box and packing peanuts? Bubble wrap and tape might cost something,but that'd be minimal over the long run? A postmaster told me that for every penny that fuel costs increase the price of USPS shipping increases $1 Million nation wide;or something like that? That would make a guy wonder when you pay half the value of an item to have it shipped.Weight has to come into play on this,not just the act of getting it there.
Don't get me going on the Ebay shipping, both getting hosed by sellers and by their calculator when I'm selling my stuff. Shipping ads up, but shipping costs in the US are cheap compared to eleswhere. I find shipping across Canada is 200% more than shipping across the US. If it crosses the boarder it's over 300% more. To give you an example, I wanted to ship a '50 Meteor grille shell to someone from Ontario to CA. UPS wanted $162. I threw it in my parents car a few weeks later since they were going FL on vacation. They shipped it for $19.00 from FL to CA and they charged another $10 to pack it in their box. The problem with many sellers is that they package it in huge boxes and want to ship it UPS or FedEx since they pick it up at their door. YOU pay for their conveniece. I've had two oil cap/breathers for a Nailhead shipped in a 12x9x9 box. When your shipping, size matters a lot more than weight. I ship almost weekly and I can tell you the cardboard cartons, bubble wrap, foam bits, labels, preparing the paperwork online and the trip to the FedEx depot are not free. It easily can take me an hour to do that when I ship one of my '55-56 Merc tips from wrapping to dropping it off. It's understandable some guys charge for that.
I feel your pain,Want to know where it hurts? J/K I ordered a set of intake sleeves for my 53 235 six banger, $5.00 for the sleeves, $9.00 for shipping. And then they took 9 days to process my order AFTER I called to ask why the delay.
MANY companies use shipping and handling as a separate profit center. There obviously is a cost to packing materials and paying the people doing the packing, but there is huge markup in "handling" fees. Our company, Shiny-Hiney.com, charges a flat rate of $6.50, going Priority Mail, and a little more for bigger items going UPS. We're small and are keeping our overhead low. UPS does charge extra for delivery to a residential address, whether it's on a regular route or not. We also recycle the packing peanuts and shipping paper to help keep the customer cost as low as possible.
A couple of months ago I bought a set of valve covers from a guy in Minnesota, the guy asked for $20 to ship which I thought was just about on the edge of reasonable......................when the box arrived the shipping total on the label was $35 bucks!!!!! Someone is getting rich, to bad it isnt me. I never heard from the seller again, I'll bet he doesnt quote anyone a flat rate for shipping next time.
EBay and stupid shipping charges... you said that right. I collect old baseball cards, and some guys want 5 bucks to ship ONE card! I've gotten to the point that I just p*** on stuff I really want or need, if the shipping is a joke.
Ive sold alot of stuff .Shipping is both horrible for the buyer and the seller.I dont try to make money on it. Half the time I guess. Im not going out and buying a scale.But good also comes with bad,Ive lost money on shipping.Postage price calculator can be off sometimes. All in all the whole picture works out . There is always a buyer unhappy about shipping charges.Including me. Shipping in general is overpriced.
I sell on eBay frequently. In my auctions I state that the shipping costs displayed by eBay are based on my best estimate of the weight and size of the item when its packed and ready for shipping. I also state that if the buyer wants to pay the exact shipping costs to please not use eBay checkout and wait for me to invoice them. The items I sell are "one-only's" so each has to be packaged and the zip code used to compute the real price. Ebay's shipping estimate is useless unless you are shipping duplicate items and even then the zip has to be factored in. I won't pre-package the items, not knowing if they will actually sell or not.
I boxed up a 49 Plymouth rear windshield for a Hamber and was letting him have it for $50.00. That was cool with him except the shipping cost was $342.00 He could buy another car for that much.....
I have bought and sold alot on ebay and I can tell you I don't make anything on shipping. But what is the solution to the problem.???? It is expensive to ship large items, look at what JEGS or SUMMIT charges for shipping...
Remember the best deals in town are the USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes. Connecticut to California for a starter or generator at $10.35, do the UPS or FedEx compairison.
I UPS'd a saginaw 4 spd from Ks to a buddy in Calif. I made a pallet out of a couple 2x4's and a small sheet of plywood the size of the trans and banded the trans to it. It weighed I think 98 lbs or so. It was about 35 bucks or so shipping. I told him it will be a little pallet with the trans on it. He says OK. He calls and tells me the trans was in a cardboard box when it got there and the throwout bearing collar is broke!!! WTH? Did someone need 2x4's that bad? It was a bigger box than the trans and pallet!!!!! Lippy
Until DHL left the market, at least there was some compe***ion. I sent quite a bit of stuff through them at oe point. Their rate was about 85 cents a lb, unless our box was over sized. Sent stuff from central NY to idaho. regular ground left here monday arrived Wed PM in Idaho. But that was then and they ain;t in teh biz anymore. Just got nailed shipping a trans through UPS. used the on line calculator, quoted the buyer the same, added 10 bucks for my time to build a pallet and buy a box to put it in. the took it to the UPS store where they charged my 1.5 times the online quote. His explaination, " Sorry Dude that thing is never right! "
I fedex'd a small and light part once and they charged me 8 bucks for a box + a couple of bucks for packing peanuts. it ended up being about 10-12 dollars to ship a 5 dollar part. it wanst even rush or anything, just regular ground delivery. if i wasnt in a hurry i woulda boxed it up myself.
Why do you think all that **** they sell on TV has the deal "buy one, get one free" (Pay only separate S&H)? Hell, they make more on the S&H than the **** is worth in the first place. Go Billy Mays, God I can't stand it!!
Okay, since I started this thread, I feel obligated to update it. First,the owner was very helpful and prompt with my initial inquiry and looking for some parts he ultimately didn't have. Then,once I complained about the shipping, he immediately wrote with an explanation. Ultimately, it came down to a three dollar part that was going to need to be shipped separately. Eliminating this one part made the shipping reasonably under $10 and I placed my order. I think this is excellent service-first searching for suitable parts when they didn't have what I needed and then quickly answering when I sent them an unhappy e-mail. I don't think we get much of that anymore-so I am now RECOMMENDING: Don Hall at www.hallspeedshop.com
Oh,yeah-I got my order in about 1 day-drop shipped from a "fulfillment center" about 80 miles from me-but perfect.
Shipping is a pain, it's why I don't sell more things online. I sold some bags on here, $5 a piece, shipping was twice that on some of them! This is the main reason I sell more stuff close to home, I just don't feel right charging that kind of money to people
I found the SS rod I am still looking for on-line-$2.45 for the rod and $10.90 to ship it. Still looking and hoping a fellow HAMBer will just put it in an envelope and mail it. I don't mid the shipping,too much, but "handling is another matter. I love the ads for "valuable coins" but places pretending to almost be the US Mint with a big come on price and "S&H" they don't quite quote in the ad.
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