OPPRESSIVE Freight Charges

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
This morning I ordered 5 plastic ammo boxes from a company in California. They probably don't weigh more then 4 or 5 ounces each. UPS freight was nearly $13. on them or about a third of the total cost! USPS isn't a heck of a lot better. I am betting freight costs will slow down purchasing the way we freely have done it in the past. How can they justify the whopping increases we have been given over the past couple of years?
 
Pete, things to blame: Insurance, Fuel, Maintenance, Federal/state Taxes, Unions, Healthcare. And lastly everyones favorite GREED.
I was looking for a particular air regulator just recently as mine blew out. I was amazed at the audacity of the sellers on rip off bay $150 item $45 shipping and handling ( this fits in the post office flate rate box that is $14) The great rip off is the hazmat fee on our goodies, doesn't go anywhere except in the carriers pocket.
 
Bad planning. Either accept the fact that shipping stuff is more expensive nowadays or wait till you have a big order.
 
Business mark up freight....

Pete,

Couple of things may have happened, the low weight would have gone at the UPS minimum, figure a cost of anywhere between $3-6 to the shipper. If your invoice reads shipping and handling charges, it usually means they did not pass on their cost of freight, but marked it up as an additional profit stream.

If it reads freight only, from what I know they legally can not mark it up, but must pass on their cost, of course not all business are aware of this, but some have learned due to past law suits from large customers who regained the differential between the cost of freight vs. the mark-up. That is why most lines for shipping costs read shipping and handling.

One of my criteria for who I buy from is how much they charge for freight, a good indicator of the margins being generated elsewhere.

From the shippers perspective, pulling, packing, shipping, and processing your order of several small and likely low cost boxes would cost the same for a much higher ticket item, so that is why some shipping and handling costs are assessed. Been there did that...

Generally the better customer focused business will have a US Postal option for the small light stuff, and that is usually much cheaper then UPS or FedEx, also indicative of their business mentality towards customers, as this is more work for them.

Doubt if this makes you feel any better, but some food for thought hopefully ;)
 
I always request USPS whenever I have the chance. It is UPS who brought Hazmat to us. Nothing changed except they got to collets another $20. I boycot them and have for years. In my case the final page on the web page showed the UPS logo where the price was. I bought the same boxes several years ago and the freight was something like 3 or 4 dollars. We haven't had any Consumer inflation in how many years now :)
 
Thanks Ray, if I were a retailer that could work but I only wanted to supliment the boxes I had.
 
I just got an order of items from Midsouth totaling about $30. Shipping was $8.95. The "shipping calculator" feature rated my purchase at "3 pounds." This is absurd. The items didn't weight half of that.

I would have cancelled the order, but no local sporting goods retailers sell one of the items that I needed.

I go along with the guy above who suggested waiting until you have a large order.

Midsouth used to have good prices, but these hold-up shipping fees have a crummy look, to me anyway.
 
With all due respect Ray

items for the Benchrest Sports can't be had like they were shoes, butter, milk or most other items to be purchased. The makers and suppliers are far-flung. I don't consider myself a whiner when I lash against unfair practices. Call it what you want but I resent your attitude here. I think you are being unfair. I am not looking for Welfare, just fairness.
 
Shipping and Handling

Pete,
Many times what you are actually looking at is Handling Charges which is just another way for the company to make a little bit more on the sale. I agree with you it is an irritating way to handle things but this allows them to show a lower price for their goods and make up a little more on the sale. You always have the option to vote with your feet and simply walk away from the sale.

Dick
 
Ask first - it saves complaining later.
I don't buy from companies who charge ridiculous shipping fees.

Buy from someone closer to you.

Look for free shipping deals.

Place bigger orders.
 
$13 to ship a 2-3lb package from California to Maine doesn't seem all that expensive to me. And my guess is, you probably don't live in the middle of the biggest town in the state. I ship small packages nearly ever day all over the south as well as almost all parts of the US from time to time. Most of my packages weigh from 4-6 lbs. If I ship a package that size to the west coast (from TN) it's usually cheaper to use FedEx than the USPS.

Think about it fellas. Like I tell my customers, you can't drive across town for what I can ship it to you for. At the price of gasoline and vehicle upkeep, postage and shipping is a helluvadeal.

Rick
 
Ray

You are my hero. When you said, and i quote, "Maybe you should lash out at the Government who has imposed so many regulations and restrictions on businesses that they are forced to charge their customers higher prices in order to stay in business." That statement is right on and is why our country is no longer competetive in the world market. Also most of the rest of your post was well taken.

If anyone doesn't like the charges of shipping, ect. and thinks the companies are charging way to much, why don't they jump right in there and get into that business. There must be a lot of profit and a chance to make a killing.

Later
Dave
 
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In this case you're paying for VOLUME not weight. It's the amount of space your package is taking up within the carriers selected mode of transportation. :(
 
Cheechako said:
Pete

What is your definition of "fair" and "unfair"? Those are typical liberal/progressive whiner words IMHO. Watch MSNBC any evening and that's all you'll hear from the likes of Chris Mathews and Mr Ed Shultz.

Maybe you should lash out at the Government who has imposed so many regulations and restrictions on businesses that they are forced to charge their customers higher prices in order to stay in business. How much of UPS operating expense is fuel? Much of their fuel costs can be traced directly to government taxes and indirectly to the unending regulations? When gas and deisel was $1 a gallon UPS shipping was around $5 per small package. Now fuel is three times that amount and so shipping is 3X also.

Many of the small businessmen who sell Benchrest equipment are guys just like you and me. The next time you see one at a match ask him what he sees as his biggest barrier. I'll bet he won't say it's UPS.

And you guys who will complain about things on the Forum - how many of you have called your supplier and told them the same thing?

JMHO

Ray
Click to expand...

Very well said Ray!!!
 
I don't know if any..........

:cool:
of you saw my post on this subject recently, but I have a friend who works for the freight division of FedEx. He told me they offer their customers a 60% DISCOUNT on their shipping. And hey, I feel the shippers pain on the hazmat & insurance; only problem is, UPS from what I understand, after a year or so of collecting hazmat, went out and bought a bunch of new airplanes!! Working w/banks, etc., they could probably say 'Well, we got XYZ this year, and project next year, based on the last two years...." Bingo! They get the credit to put together the deal. But Pete, I gotcha beat, I had to pay $9.50 for a barrel band screw, and $9.00 for handling from Jack First...and they put it in a little padded envelope that cost to ship, something like $1.65. I love capitalism, I just don't think they handled it enough to justify that price....Hell, the bluing on it wasn't even rubbed off!!! :eek:;)
 
Greyfox
If you ship via USPS with the flatrate boxes it doesn't matter were you send it in the U.S. its all one price.The boxes are free and they will deliver them to your door and pick them back up as well.

Cheechako
I complaimed to Amy Bruno about the price of a small item sent out other than USPS and she said you don't live in Phoenix.I talked with several co-workers who were sent to Phoenix just to work on the problems down there and they told me it was hopeless.It appears Amy was spot on correct.
Out here we don't wait in line we have a carrier deliver our boxes and pick-up our packages at the door.I don't have the full details on Phoenix but the guy telling me it was hopeless has 30 plus years of fixing these kinds of things under his belt.

Pete
Alot of businesses get a percentage of the shipping kicked back to them.The USPS doesn't offer this and they also can't have a carrier sitting at each business at eactly 4:59 PM each day.Those 2 things keep alot of businesses from
using the flatrate shipping.
Lynn aka Waterboy
 
try the usps ,if it fits it ships got 68 lbs of lead shipped for 14.95.
 
Lynn said:
Greyfox
If you ship via USPS with the flatrate boxes it doesn't matter were you send it in the U.S. its all one price.The boxes are free and they will deliver them to your door and pick them back up as well.

Lynn,
If I could use the USPS Flat rate boxes to ship my products, I certainly would. Unfortunately, the size vs. weight won't work. If I used the right size for the product the cost would be much more than the comparable FedEx. rate. I have no complaints at all about shipping charges in most cases.

Those of you who are complaining about "handling charges" seem to forget that it takes time to pull the item off the shelf, package it up and get it to the shipper, not to mention the cost of packaging materials. Sure, it doesn't seem like much, but it does add up. Hardly anyone works for minimum wage and I certainly don't. I'm in business to make a profit and time is money. And I still say that $13 for getting a package from CA to ME is a bargain.

Rick
Click to expand...
 
They MAKE $$$ on the S&H,

because they can. I was interested in a product on E-Bay. The shipping was more than the price of the unit. To make matters worse I found out the the product was was for sale in my hometown. I contacted the seller so I could just go there and but it. NO WAY. This was only sold through a mailing/shipping source. Needless to say, I did not make the purchase. It is not too much different than buying from ENCO. Their warehouse facility is only 20 miles away and they do NOT have a customer pick-up area. They in fact have the same physical address as MSC. I have bought products from MSC and paid via credit card and with relatives that live there, they can pick up my order and deliver it to me on their way to work the morning after I order it. Go figure!?:confused:..... Jan
 
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Hard for me to see that a comment about kited-up shipping charges from some internet retailers equates to extreme right-wing political rant.

I also suspect a few people could work a little bit on their good manners.
 
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