Shipping Cost... Vent

Old 05-25-2010, 06:39 AM
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I know we all have things that we order online and those shipping cost always come into play. Sometimes they're so outrageous that I won't order. Other times, if it's something I need and can't find elsewhere I bite the bullet and order it anyways.
What gets me though is when you know that the one item you ordered is NOT going to cost say $2.00 to send and when you get the item, you see the postage and sure enough, you were overcharged at least $1.50. Why is it that shipping has to be so outrageous??
Don't they understand that if they lower their shipping to the actual cost of shipping then they'll sell more merchandise?

I've sold things here on the board and I have never charged more for shipping than it really is. I've even had to take out of the money I got for the item to pay sometimes for the overage of the shipping.

Albeit, I'm not a company, but I don't believe in ripping people off.. why can't companies who are in business because of us, the consumer do the same thing?

Thanks for listening.. I just get tired of being ripped off!!
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Old 05-25-2010, 06:43 AM
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I agree with you. However, when you prepare an item to mail you are doing it for free. If you had an employee do the preparing you would have to pay them. However there is no excuse for Way overcharging.
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Old 05-25-2010, 06:44 AM
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When companies ship it , they also take into consideration the cost of the packing materials ( boxes or envelopes ) , the payroll for the person to pack the product, etc... It does add up. Rent and utilties for the building.

I agree sometimes they are way out of line with the charges, but for a company there are other expenses to consider.
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Old 05-25-2010, 06:45 AM
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I agree with you and hate to pay inflated shipping prices.

We live in the country and far from retailers so sometimes buying online is my only outlet (other then spending a whole day driving and going to the "stores"). I've decided that, for me anyway, it's just the cost of doing business.
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Old 05-25-2010, 06:57 AM
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People/companies pay for mileage to the post office, packing supplies and time to box and ship the merchandise. All that costs money. That's reality. I don't enjoy paying for the shipping costs involved either, but it's a part of life.
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Old 05-25-2010, 07:48 AM
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Because there are additional costs involved (Packaging, Labor, etc.), most companies call it a Shipping & Handling charge and not just a Shipping charge. The Hanling portion is to cover these other costs.
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Old 05-25-2010, 07:59 AM
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I agree with all of the above and what I try to do is start a list of the things I want from a particular company, ie, thread, a book, needles, a template... then I order them all together. Sometimes this brings my invoice total so high that I get free shipping or at least I pay it only once and not 4 times. Many times the online stores don't charge sales tax, so add that into your savings. Also, I compare the prices to what I would pay locally. Sometimes even with shipping, the online stuff is cheaper so it's a no-brainer.
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:09 AM
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I sometimes feel guilty asking for the actual cost of sending something to someone. And there are times when I've undercharged for the actual cost.

Although being charged $20 for something that I know I could send for $5.00 - including packaging - really does irritate me.

Sometimes it does come down to - How much do I really want the item?

I agree that sometimes the costs do seem unreasonable. But as others have said, there is usually more involved than just the postage or basic shipping charge.

I prefer to have those costs "buried" in the cost of the merchandise, but it does seem kind of silly when I think about it.

$4.00 for the item + $6.00 for S&H versus $7.00 for the item + $3.00 for S&H
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:11 AM
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Here's something that I found at one website that rather pertains to this issue:

What's your minimum order? And why do you have a minimum anyway?
A. Our minimum is $10, with the option of ordering less and paying a $3 handling fee.

It costs us about $2 to charge your credit card, and it costs about $3 to print your order, pull your item(s) off the shelf, check your order, and pack it up. This doesn't count the cost of cutting fabrics. And of course, we had to buy the item you're buying, and pay postage for it to get to us. With that kind of overhead, orders under $10 just don't pull their own weight, and would cost us money to process. We want to stay in business. We hope you want us to stay in business, so please forgive us for imposing this minimum. Since everything we sell is at a discount, and since adding a small item or two usually does not increase your postage charges, we hope it's not too much of an inconvenience to add a spool of thread or pack of needles to your order if necessary.

If you do place an order under $10, you'll pay a $3 handling charge, plus shipping. You'll have the choice of shipping by First Class, which can cost as little as $.43 for one pattern. That way, if you really just want a $5 item, you can pay a total of $8 to $10 for the item, the handling, and the postage. We still don't think that's very economical, but it probably beats driving to the store to pick up the same item, especially if you don't live near a quilt shop.


This would be mostly true, I think, except for the part about costing $2 to charge a credit card. It's more like 35 cents plus 3% of the order total. Which, for a small order, like a half-yard of fabric, is a pretty significant percentage of a unprofitably small sale!
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:13 AM
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I do the same thing. That way it's just one order and one shipping and handling. It works.
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