Originally Posted by mar32428
I never could figure out why a company charges postage and handling fees. If you have a business that requires your product to be "handled" (packaged) and shipped, why isn't that included in your product cost. I think this is a gimmick that some smart "numbers cruncher" thot up years ago to increase profit. We are being blackmailed. How else are we to get their product, by mule train?
Ummmm... I suppose it's all in the way you view the numbers. If you view the shipping cost as being what the seller pays to USPS/Fedex/UPS... then the handling cost has to cover the box or envelope, bag, tape, and labels, bubble wrap, and any other packaging materials.
USPS provides free boxes for Priority Mail and Express Mail shipping. I think UPS and FedEx provide free boxes, but only for packages sent by air, not by ground (and shipping by air is very expensive with them, so they cover the cost of the "free" boxes in their rate structure). Unless it's a teeny box, it probably costs that business between 75 cents and a dollar to buy the box they're shipping their products in.
You are correct, though, in that the cost will either come through as "handling" or be built into the item cost. I can think of good reasons for doing it either way.