Hello, has any one ordered from The Hot Rod Company lately. I went to place a order of stromberg parts that could fit in a small mailing bag or Small Flate Rate Box.. The shipping cost would be $18.+ if I ordered the parts.....Way to much.. I email Mike and no answer.. Duane..
While I like the Hot ROd Company and all I have already talked to a number of people about their shipping prices. Almost makes it not worth ordering from them. I think I paid $7 or some **** on shipping for a magazine. Crazy!
I ordered a new stromberg and the shipping was going to be $53. I didn't mind. Then i got a refund on my paypal for $38 when the order got shipped. I thought that was cool, on top of my HAMB discount.
I think some companies will pad their profit margin by marking up the shipping. Today, it's so easy for people to price shop that the parts business has suffered and margins are a lot lower. I try to offset shipping costs by buying as much at one time as I can. The other day, I was going to order a brake switch from Speedway (they make one that's got a 3/8th flare end vs. 1/8th pipe that most places sell. $14 for the switch and $7 for shipping. 50% shipping cost is nuts. Speedway didn't sell some Lokar parts I needed, so I ordered everything from another place and saved on shipping.
I think a lot of ebay sellers make a killing on shipping. I questioned a seller from Ohio (about 200 miles from me) about his high shipping and he told me take it or leave it.Guess what i did? Ordered a similar item from California and got it shipped for about half the Ohio quote. Frank
every time they ship to me (and im in canada so trust me i know all about shipping costs) i pay almost to the cent of what is marked on the box at the post office. i wont deal with anyone else when i need new parts. personally ive been very happy with they way they ship, not only that but how well its pack and how quick it arrives. just my two cents
ups has gotten very pricey, depends on distance too , up to $5 extra just for residental, more if your rural , insurance $1.00+ so$18 is kind of fair if it came form the east to calif.
There's more to shipping costs than postage. There's packaging and labor (parts don't pack themselves). When I buy, I just figure the total cost including the shipping/handling charge, and decide whether or not the part(s) is worth the total amount. I used to sell on eBay. I found the parts, bought the parts, cleaned the parts, took pictures of the parts, listed the parts, answered bidders questions, invoiced winning bidders, carefully packaged parts, bought bubble wrap and other packaging material, shipped parts within 24 hours of payment (usually same day payment received), charged ONLY actual postage (no handling) and still had people complaining about shipping costs when the actual cost was ON THE PACKAGE. That's why I USED to sell on eBay. A catalog company has huge overhead to pay for. They stock pretty low volume parts so we can build our cars. Shipping charges that include actual shipping plus part of their overhead works for me. I'm glad to get the part. If it doesn't work for you, don't buy.
Not if you can do flat rate Priority Mail. I don't mind a bit of handling-somebody had to log in then pull the part, keep it in inventory, package it up. But fair is fair. Best deal I ever got was from Bratton's. Had to have some Model A door screws and was willing to pay the big shipping charge, but they put them in an envelope and charged me postage. That is GOOD for business.
The last order i placed with this company took forever to receive. Actually, that is because they didnt ship it. Initially, I was told the order would ship US Priority Mail. After a week and a half I wrote an email asking where my stuff was. They response I got was "you should be seeing it anyday now" Sure enough, two days later UPS walks into the shop with my parts. That being said, I do like the company and i think the prices are fair and the selection is good. I will order from them again. Hopefully what happened in my case was just a slip up.
I just got an order from them, couldn't be happier. poster, crank seal, universal spark plug wire set and separators...shipping was $18.70. reasonable since shipping prices have gone up. great service and a hamb discount too.
70Lb limit. i got a "york" style ford a/c pump wedged into a medium box once! 10.70 for one heavy chunk of iron!
hey - I can tell ya there is a reason they have been around for so many years - they have a loyal customer base. As for shipping - I have about 500 items on ebay that I sell. I typically sell stuff and add on $7-$8 for shipping Have you gone to the post office lately.............? not sure you realize they raised the rates on priority mail again at the first of the year......... it slid under the radar since the stamps remained the same price. Gotta pay the freight if you want to get it to your door. And that requires gas. You do realize gas has gone up a little bit lately right?
A medium flat rate box is $10.95. A 20# package as far as you can ship it is under $32. I guess a buyer needs to decide if the shipping fees you tack on are fair, or not. As long as you are up front about it, the customer can decide. Knowing shipping fees, I p*** on a lot of E-bay stuff when it looks like the seller is just being a jerk about shipping. But, that's my choice.
About 3-4 months ago you could have gotten free shipping if you were an Alliance Member......With the free shipping and an additional discount on top of that, I thought was an unbelievable deal. I can see people probably bought small orders of parts whenever they got money and it killed Hot Rod Company on shipping all of those small orders out for free. I was a little disappointed when they did away with the free shipping.
Bratton's has seemed to always be the best for me and Sacramento Vintage Ford has always been the worst.
A lot of people think that sellers are making a HUGE Markup on shipping. There are a few who are crazy on shipping I agree. Most are reasonable But Bubble pack, Boxes, Envelopes, Tape. and then Drive to the Post Office with one box. I can charge 3.99-4.99 to ship an item.The sticker on My box says 3.19 and they can get upset that I have ripping them off. Cost .99 for the box, plus tape and Bubble Wrap. Oh Yeah and then I put on Delivery Confirmation for them to track the item. People say that is your "cost of doing business". That may be true. But the Buyer is going to pay for this cost to get a part. We all know that. If you know the cost to get the part to you up front that seems fair. No matter what the sticker says. I really believe that a small mark up on the sticker, Maybe 25% is reasonable. Just my opinion on when I buy and sell
I just got an email from Ebay stating that they are gonna do away with insertion fees but charge final value fees on the total including shipping. Supposed to cut down on sellers overcharging on shipping. Yeah, right! This ****s for the honest sellers who will now have to pay more fees based on destination.
Living in Canada poses some shipping problems, especially brokerage fees. UPS, FED EX all get a kick at the cat. I have solved some of these problems by having stuff shipped to Seattle at the Victoria Clipper (I live on Vancouver Island) The clipper charges a nominal fee based on weight and calls me when it arrives I get my Customs paperwork, walk around the corner , pay my taxes to the Man and go pick up my part.A little leg work has saved me hundreds. This process helps out when a seller says they wont ship to Canada for whatever reason. I just ask them to ship it to my Seattle address.
I have a list that you (as a seller) can get on. If I talk with you and you seem unreasonable (taking into account your costs of boxes, bubble wrap, confirmation, cost of shipping, etc.) you get on the list! Once on the list, you have to perform unspeakable indignities to get back off... Kanter's was the only place I could find rings for my 406. I tried everybody, starting with Egge first. The salesman at Kanter's located the nearest warehouse to me, then apologized for a 1 day wait. He then discounted the price by 10%, and paid for shipping and handling! I was apprehensive, checked the rings when I received them. (they are unique in the thickness of the s****er, otherwise same as 428) They were the right stuff. (I had searched for months, so this was a bonanza!) Kanter's is at the head of my OTHER list. Try them.
I like the hot rod company. They have been good to me other than slow shipping which seems like alot of people here have also seen. I will only buy from them if I don't need the parts for a week and a half or two weeks. If I do need them soon, I go somewere else.
I just ordered some cloth coverd spark plug wire and boots and a mag from them. I didn't think the shipping was out of line and eveything came pretty quick. No complaints from me - happy to toss them more business in the future.
I've used this company a lot and have always been very happy with everything...price, shipping, service, etc. I don't really look at the shipping because I'm paying for convenience... It doesn't mean I like being ripped off. I don't know about where you live, but there is not a Hotrod parts store within a 100 mile radius of me and damn sure not one who carries any Traditional stuff.
I have bought from them on many occasions and the shipping price was fair. This last order that I want is way to much.. I like The Hot Rod Company but not the price of shipping.. Duane.
We ship all our products by USPO Priority mail in their flat rate boxes. Our products are stainless steel lighted bolts (Visibolts), one pair weighs about 6 oz.. The small flat rate box can be shipped anywhere in US for $5.00 and can be up to 70 pounds, the larger box for about $11. We charge $6.00 for that service, but we have no overhead. Shipping to Canada and overseas is a different story, it gets pricey. The best part about the Flat rate boxes is that you can order them online from the Post Office at no cost and have them delivered for free.
The Jalopy Journal
