I'm running low on several sizes of scale lumber for my models.

I've checked 3 places that have what I want at relatively reasonable (or at least not egregiously unreasonable) prices.

Get to my cart and the cheapest one wants $18.75 to ship what amounts to about 6 ounces of product. At a minimum, that doubles the cost of my order.

I'm probably screwed but for right now I'm damned if I'm going to submit to highway robbery.

It is why I use the commie-Amazon.
Unfortunately, getting way too dependent on Amazon - kind of troubling.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
It is why I use the commie-Amazon.
Unfortunately, getting way too dependent on Amazon - kind of troubling.

Even with the known issues, Amazon is almost always the best deal for me. I'm 60+ miles from anything resembling a hobby shop.

Unfortunately, what I want is not available on Amazon. Or Ebay for that matter. Sigh.

Figure your time and gas to pick up the item then decide if the shipping cost is a deal breaker.
I work in distribution and ship packages daily via UPS. Standard ground rates for a pound or less is about $11. So at a straight no markup price for shipping you're paying a few bucks for the convenience.
Just my "glass half full" way of looking at it.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
Figure your time and gas to pick up the item then decide if the shipping cost is a deal breaker.
I work in distribution and ship packages daily via UPS. Standard ground rates for a pound or less is about $11. So at a straight no markup price for shipping you're paying a few bucks for the convenience.
Just my "glass half full" way of looking at it.

Oh, there's no doubt it's still cheaper to pay the shipping than go get it, even if it was available in stores.

Just bugs me to get ambushed at checkout. Plus I'm living in the 50's when it comes to spending money...

quote:

Plus I'm living in the 50's when it comes to spending money...

I hear that. I get flustered at the cost of things a lot too.

Don’t forget to thank the union for getting the UPS employees an astonishingly fat raise in the latest contract.

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
Don’t forget to thank the union for getting the UPS employees an astonishingly fat raise in the latest contract.

Don't even get me started on fucking unions...

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Don't even get me started on fucking unions...

I got asked to quote a huge job in San Francisco years ago and it turns out that if you're working a trade and you're not union, you essentially don't work in San Francisco.

Talking to the owner of the company I found out he wanted me to Project Manage his workers plus do Engineering and Programming. His workers were all IBEW.

I asked if there was going to be a problem telling Union workers what to do since I am not Union and never will be. He said no, they just join because they essentially have to in order to have a job. I said okay but the first time I have Union problems I'm walking out. I won't deal with that shit.

Pretty sad when Unions run (ruin) a town.

quote:

Get to my cart and the cheapest one wants $18.75 to ship what amounts to about 6 ounces of product. At a minimum, that doubles the cost of my order.

I needed a single fine-point tip for a soldering iron. $4 and change for the tip. Cheapest shipping almost $10. I still need a single fine-point tip.

What gets me in when they only ship one way, no common sense involved. I was going to order AR gas rings from BCM. They wanted almost $10 to ship because they only ship UPS. Drop them in a envelope with a stamp!

I was looking to reorder something I've ordered several time in the past. All options were two to three times normal price. WOW! Then I found one for $54, a little over normal price. Okay, that's the one, but at checkout I find that shipping is $106. I couldn't hit delete fast enough.
Rod

I was looking for a nice Apple Air Tag case to attach to my key chain. Found a cool leather one and was willing to over-pay the $20 price until I came to shipping: $6 to put the damn thing in an envelope and slap a first-class stamp on it. No thanks. Found something decent on Amazon.

Or the Etailers that advertises a low price to lure you in and then makes up for it on the shipping and handling charges.

I used to have to fight that when I was in the car and motorcycle parts business. I used to sell performance parts from an OEM automaker, price spread between cost and MSRP was 20% markup. One dealer used to advertise those particular parts at 3-5% over cost. When I was hit with “XXX Chevy sells that part for (insert low markup),,why are you so high?”

I’d ask them if you went to the order page and went all the way through including S&H, usually not was the answer. So I’d walk them through, by the time they got done it in many times would cost them as much or more that going to their local dealership.

My favorites (!) were the ones that I’d show or explain this to them over the phone and they’d argue “I’m only talking about the part price, not how much it’s going to take to ship it!”

Then I’d have to say “Look at the total price”

Motorcycle industry was just as bad. Hundred dollar part from an Etailer sold at 20% off. Add shipping and handling, that could eat up that savings plus three or four days to get the part k8nd of negates the “savings” but that 20% looks so good in their ads.

One way shipping does it for me.

When they say they only use Fuc*dEx, I know I'll never see it.

They are 0 for 3, so the odds are better for my package to land on the moon.

I've needed this for a year, but still haven't bought it for obvious reasons. Every now and then I look for a replacement option that matches the specific required specs, but so far no luck.

I think about calling and asking "Are you nuts?"

I worked in shipping for a small business for about two years cumulatively, on and off between 2014 and 2022. I can tell you this much: Nobody is making money on shipping. This is hurting businesses bad, and they don't get to choose what the carriers charge. I get the complaint, but it's entirely misguided.

Large shippers get some pretty sweet discounts. Ammo is heavy and yet there is often free shipping. Shipping is often an extra profit center. If the shipping is exorbitant I will source the product locally or just not buy it.

The discounts must be for HUGE shippers. Where I work, we run over a thousand a week in shipping, and get very little discount. Lately, we've been using USPS because Fedex and UPS changed their policies, and all guns have to go overnight now. Two day is not longer acceptable to them.

I do not know, but I have friends that work for UPS. Shipping a heavy transmission for example is not cost prohibitive. UPS has an energetic marketing department similar to Pharma reps. Rates depend upon size of package, distance and the nature of your relationship with the shipper.
Guns are light and require special handling.

Target Sports USA offers free shipping on cases of ammo. It is heavy but comes in a box that does not require special handling and fits nicely onto a truck. A shotgun is lighter but has an odd shape.