Buy an item for $3 bucks, they charge $9 bucks to ship. Receive item and actual cost of shipping was only $3 bucks???!!!
You do the Math!!!
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The math is the fact that an employee has to fill those orders and manage inventory.
That cost will either be in a handling fee or seen as an increase in part pricing.
Personally, I wouldn't have much of an issue with that. I know rom when I have sold items online,, when you consider packaging, running to the Shipping location (i.e. UPS, USPS, FedEx, et al), it all costs money. I for one never made much monies after all is said and done.
Popi posted:Buy an item for $3 bucks, they charge $9 bucks to ship. Receive item and actual cost of shipping was only $3 bucks???!!!
OK...I'll give it a shot.
Cost of packaging. Cost of the employee who packs the items. Cost for the infrastructure to support the shipping operation - boxes, packing materials, tables, tools, cutters, etc. Cost of the heat and light for the shipping area. And it goes on...
The actual shipping costs are only a small part of the true cost of shipping something.
I always look ta the whole picture, If the item was $3.00 and shipping was $9.00 is the item worth $12.00 or more, if not move on and look elsewhere.
That is why it is called "Shipping AND Handling."
It's the small stuff that will get you LP on shipping everytime. I recently needed just one bag of insulated track pins... ended up buying a car and the pins to make the shipping seem reasonable.
Fair enough on all the extra costs, but based on the reasons some have shared, shouldn't we pay a handling fee everytime we buy an item in person?
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abbrail posted:Fair enough on all the extra costs, but based on the reasons some have shared, shouldn't we pay a handling fee everytime we buy an item in person?
We do, but it is hidden inside the price. The extra S&H fess are what it costs to do MORE than what is done by putting the item ont he shelf in the store.
The high cost of shipping should be a bonus for the revival of TRAIN SHOWS! Remember them?
I think the point that POPI was alluding to was the apparent huge disparity between a quoted shipping charge and what you actually see on the package postage charge or courier bill. Judging by the absolutely crappy packaging effort by some shippers: i.e. cheap or minimal packing to ensure safe passage, their shipping quotes amount to nothing more than old-fashioned greed.
Freight Train Jim posted:The high cost of shipping should be a bonus for the revival of TRAIN SHOWS! Remember them?
Hi Jim you are correct! Train shows are a najor part of this hobby (wish there were more during the summer months).
I usually add the price of admission to the items bought, So if the Show entrance fee was $6.00 and I purchase 3 items at $4.00 each I add $2.00 to each of the items. Just the way I roll and I find myself careful on what I buy and not to overspend. I basically applied this to a Montvale train show where a person had a #58 post war goose neck lamp in great condition/no box. He wanted $12.00 for it so I asked if he would take $10.00 and he did. Just be careful on what you buy and do not get caught up in the sale as a good 90% of Lionel are not rare items as people list.
As long as I know the cost of shipping going in, I have a choice, simply accept it or not, it really is that simple but alot of folks don't understand that.
When buying on a popular auction site we all know, I always check feedback before buying. I am always amazed at how much negative feedback is left because of a buck or two extra cost in shipping, when the original buyer hit the buy it now button or knew the shipping costs going in. The part I don't understand is why on earth would a buyer buy something with a listed shipping price and then disagree with that later?
When I am selling, I don't pad the shipping costs, simply because where someone might get carried away and overpay for an item, they seem offended at sellers who might charge a few cents more for shipping. In fact if I feel the need to charge more for shipping, I add that into the cost of the item itself. No one gets offended at that. I'd venture a guess most buyers don't stop and think a seller may have to pay the auction site for instance an extra 10%. (That's the part they should be offended at) or in the case of business owners having to pay an employee or for packing materials etc. We should all be so lucky alot of business owners are even willing to ship in the times we live in now! Or in my case, problems with online shipping create a scenario for me I have to take items to the post office. 17 mile trip one way plus the time, it adds up.
Something else I run into often, when selling a very heavy or very large item online, where the shipping price clearly will cost more than the item itself. Small example, I have an old farmhouse table I'm asking a couple hundred for. I put at the bottom I much prefer local pickup, but am willing to palletize and ship. Clearly the cost of materials and shipping will be higher because of motor freight shipping, and I can't tell you how many times folks have emailed, and chewed me out telling me it's just foolish that my shipping costs (which at this point are a guess) far exceed the cost of the table itself. Yet when I list it as "local pickup only" all I get is emails asking me if I'll ship it :-)
Almost seems like we live in a day and age where folks would rather waste your time arguing about things like this than just hitting that little red "X" in the upper right corner.
Merry Christmas everyone!
To my American neighbors .........from North of the 49 th
I would happy to pay your shipping charges and some on top of that !
The majority of what I need comes from the US. You would be amazed at the cost to ship out of country. It runs easily up to four times what it would cost to ship the same item within US borders.
I'm not complaining...........just letting you know.......might make you feel a little better about your costs.
Something else I run into often, when selling a very heavy or very large item online, where the shipping price clearly will cost more than the item itself. Small example, I have an old farmhouse table I'm asking a couple hundred for. I put at the bottom I much prefer local pickup, but am willing to palletize and ship. Clearly the cost of materials and shipping will be higher because of motor freight shipping, and I can't tell you how many times folks have emailed, and chewed me out telling me it's just foolish that my shipping costs (which at this point are a guess) far exceed the cost of the table itself. Yet when I list it as "local pickup only" all I get is emails asking me if I'll ship it :-)
That's a condition termed "selective comprehension", 
This is a thread that reappears from time to time.
A search will provide you many other threads to view this subject. May find them interesting...
OGR Webmaster posted:Popi posted:Buy an item for $3 bucks, they charge $9 bucks to ship. Receive item and actual cost of shipping was only $3 bucks???!!!
OK...I'll give it a shot.
Cost of packaging. Cost of the employee who packs the items. Cost for the infrastructure to support the shipping operation - boxes, packing materials, tables, tools, cutters, etc. Cost of the heat and light for the shipping area. And it goes on...
The actual shipping costs are only a small part of the true cost of shipping something.
point taken
initagain posted:I think the point that POPI was alluding to was the apparent huge disparity between a quoted shipping charge and what you actually see on the package postage charge or courier bill. Judging by the absolutely crappy packaging effort by some shippers: i.e. cheap or minimal packing to ensure safe passage, their shipping quotes amount to nothing more than old-fashioned greed.
extra point taken,
received two parcels within the last month, one priority shipping from USPS was crushed when I got it, tinplate train was bent.
2nd, kline plastic airport hanger was placed in bottom of box and buried with Styrofoam peanuts. airport hanger had no protection on the bottom of building
Regards to fruitcake... have you tried a Costco fruitcake? My grandmother and one aunt, both deceased, made fantastic fruitcakes. Costco's are much cheaper than a lot of specialty ones and equal those. We stock up on Costco's, in quantity. Fruit cakes have a bad name from some of the awful ones sold by large grocery chains, that are dry and barren of fruit or nuts. Not so with these, AND NOT Rolls-Royce priced!
My grandmother and one aunt, both deceased, made fantastic fruitcakes.
Sort of like Soylent Green?
