Decided I wanted to get one of those small finger brakes for my shop........bout a foot long. It appears that no one who has a used one wants to sell it. While I was looking on Facebook Marketplace I saw an ad for a new Grizzly. They wanted $500 for it. Went to the Grizzly site and lo and behold, a brand new Grizzly was $285 BUT was marked down to $249. BUT..............they wanted $149 to ship it. I continued looking and went to Eastwood Tools. They have a virtually identical one that sells for $279 and is on sale for $265...........But THEY HAVE FREE SHIPPING. I think they weigh about 60 lbs. So if you are thinking about surprising yourself with a new toy (eerrr tool) for Christmas, spend a little time shopping around.
What is discounted off the product price is added to the shipping/handling cost. Old trick. Discount my ass..................
The highest shipping costs I've seen are generally from England. The rest of Europe, not too bad. The lowest by quite a bit? China. No matter from where, most of the load is on the USPS. What's wrong with this picture?
I think the point @ekimneirbo was trying to make, is the guy on FB trying to sell it for double what it costs new at the store....
Sad thing is there are people who would buy it. And Grizzly has been running free shipping on certain tools. I’ve been looking for one of those myself.
While it is true that shipping adds to the total cost of acquiring goods, in my mind, it is a separate item/issue. It puzzles me why so many people seem to think that shipping is way overpriced in general. No doubt, it seems disproportionate in some cases, but IMO, not in general. Considering the resources required by all the handlers of the goods between leaving the seller’s premises and arriving at our doorsteps, it actually seems like a bargain in many cases. There are buildings, materials handling equipment, trucks, airplanes, fuel and personnel, lots of personnel. It seems to me that the shipping costs are viewed as having ‘no added value’, and that is sort of true if you just automatically ‘attach’ it to the goods. But, thinking about it a little differently may add some perspective. So, you have found the ‘item’ you want….at a price you are willing to pay. Before you get really upset by the shipping costs, just imagine that you have to go get the item on your own. There is no shipping! How much is your time, vehicle, fuel costs and other related expenses going to amount to before you come home with the ‘bacon’? How does that amount and time consumed compare with the price of having it dropped at your door. I am not so naive as to think there won't be blow-back on the above comments, and I can probably guess what they will be…..but the point is contained in the broad view, not the fewer exceptions. Edit: “There is no such thing as a free lunch”……nor ‘free’ shipping….like the Prego sauce people used to say…”it’s in there”. Ray
I've seen way too many Ebay sellers who offer an item dirt cheap and then beat up on you on shipping charges. I agree that shipping isn't cheap a lot of the time but when you pay a guy 45 dollars shipping and it comes in a 16 dollar and change priority mail box you know that they got over on you. The most expensive has to be to or from Australia though. I bought a part for my intake for my 292 that will fit in your shirt pocket and while said part wasn't cheap the shipping was 38.00 even after they shipped it with a container full of parts they were sending to a place in the states. As for the jacked up price of the item on FB market place or Craigslist I still see that a lot and there used to be a local guy who would drive 80 miles to the then closest Harbor freight store and buy a load of stuff and bring it back and try to sell it at jacked up prices. Probably the same with That FB guy with the Grizzly.
You can go to A John Deer Dealership and buy a riding lawnmower. You can also go to Home Depot and buy a John Deer mower that is almost identical. But made way cheaper for a lower selling price. The same goes for Cub Cadet as well. The same but different.
Well said! I've been in truck transportation nearly 40 years, there are many more costs than just the truck and fuel. Taxes, permits, tires, maintenance and repair all take a bite out of shipping costs. Small guys like me aren't getting rich, we're always hanging on. The large companies spread it out over the fleet, if one truck breaks even or loses a bit, they make it up on the others. I read once the average profit margin is something like 5% after everyone else gets their piece of the pie.... Nothing is free!
Not if they're both not a grizzly, right? He is talking about two different brands of brakes. Were they both 24 inch? The 24 I see on grizzly is 330 and 149 to ship. The Eastwood I see at that price he lists is a 12 inch. The 24 Eastwood is $400... So the fb guy is asking more, but far from double, correct? No doubt the fb was a ripoff. But "essentially the same" doesn't mean the same tool... Unless I'm missing something.
here is the quote from the first post: While I was looking on Facebook Marketplace I saw an ad for a new Grizzly. They wanted $500 for it.
I think we are kinda spoiled by the ease & convenience of shipping/delivery in general. $20 to have this part I desperately need shipped from one end of the country to the other????... no way! That's outrageous!
Ye-ah mark. I read, lol. What I'm saying is, I don't see the deal he said on the grizzly site. Currently theirs is 330+149 shipping. 479. "I think the point @ekimneirbo was trying to make, is the guy on FB trying to sell it for double what it costs new at the store...." This is not true. He's asking 21 bucks more than new. Which one would still have to be stupid to do, unless the upside is you could have that one today? I don't know. But it's not double. It's almost double of a different brand that's half the size.... If you compare the two brands at the same size brake, look at the prices
Is it in stock. How long before it gets shipped. And how long will it take to get to you. This is the busiest time of year for shipping.
The aggravating thing is that they charge sales tax on the shipping. That's why I shop price and free shipping. Pat
Recently went to a store that advertises free delivery and pick up of your appliance. Ordered a new refrigerator and paid an additional $30 for removal of the old one. Paid in full and waited two days for the delivery that was promised. Never showed or called so I called them. This store now uses a third party contract delivery service and they couldn't find the town. I complained to the national office of this big nationwide chain and they said to take it up with the delivery service. I told them, "You contracted them and now they are dragging your store name through the mud". I cancelled the order and they eventually refunded my whole purchase price to my credit card. This is a nationwide problem and no one cares anymore.
There are very old international postal agreements between countries where each carries the others' mail free once it gets into the second country. The idea is that it all balances out. China has really figured this one out and uses it to the max. The USPS carries all those Chinese pieces to their US destinations, and China Post carries all those packages we send to China, to their ultimate destinations. As it turns out, there are a heck of a lot more packages mailed from China to everywhere else than foreign packages mailed to China so the USPS gets a bum deal out of it.
For a while, Grizzly had a showroom and warehouse in nearby Williamsport. You could see the machines and take them home-no shipping. They went belly up and now I'd have to ship halfway across the country. Not so nice. PA also charges sales tax on every aspect of an internet sale: goods, postage and handling. Not the fault of the vendors.
I don't mind paying shipping charges, what pi$$es me off are "handling" charges!! What the heck is the difference if I walk in their door and buy at the counter, or I order by phone/online? In both cases, someone has to "handle" the item, but I won't pay shipping charges 'in store'. Granted, it takes a few minutes to box and label the product for shipping, but ferchristsake, that's a cost of doing business! Charging me freight is fine, paying your labor (which you've already factored into your price)....is NOT fine!
The problem is deeper than that, and not up for discussion here. But there is a reason things can be sold out of China 'free shipping.'
Totally false and debunked old wives tale. The HD mower is exactly the same as the dealer mower. Both are low end homeowner mowers made in the same plant with the same parts. The difference is that the dealer also offers several series of progressively higher end mowers with more rugged designs and components. These higher end mowers aren’t available at HD.
Maybe you have not been on the Bay in a long time. eBay charges the same percentage fee on everything: item, shipping, and now the frigging sales tax it has to collect for the buyer's home state plus an extra 30 cents transaction fee.
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