My little rant about shipping
08-31-2010, 06:31 PM
#71
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 1,495
I know what you mean about shipping costs to Canada. I buy alot of stuff from the US but I always check on the shipping. I too have not completed orders because of the high shipping costs. I buy my batiks from a company in California and they can get 9 yards of batiks in a flat rate Priority envelope so I always make sure I order 9 yards at a time. If I buy on Ebay I always confirm the shipping before I bid as I have seen many sellers who start with a low price but have high shipping costs to make their money. Keep looking as there are reputable sellers out there that won't gouge us on shipping just because we live in Canada.
08-31-2010, 07:00 PM
#72
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Orchard Park, NY (near Buffalo, which is near Niagara Falls)
Posts: 3,884
Originally Posted by wanderingcreek
If I buy on Ebay I always confirm the shipping before I bid as I have seen many sellers who start with a low price but have high shipping costs to make their money.
08-31-2010, 07:12 PM
#73
Super Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Orchard Park, NY (near Buffalo, which is near Niagara Falls)
Posts: 3,884
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?
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.
08-31-2010, 07:20 PM
#74
Super Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Orchard Park, NY (near Buffalo, which is near Niagara Falls)
Posts: 3,884
Originally Posted by Mad Gertie
Hello btiny36,
I feel like ranting with you!!!!
A couple of months ago I ordered some Jinny Beyer fabrics, which I can't buy in England. I ordered $63 worth because My shipping would only be $8 ( an offer for July only! ).
When eventually 4 weeks later I received a card from our local post office informing me they couln't deliver my parcel untill I had paid the customs charge of £15 , about $22 !!!! To cut a long story short, it turned out that half of it was VAT and the other half was Royal Mail charges!! Needless to say , I won't do that again. Mad Gertie from Kent
I feel like ranting with you!!!!
A couple of months ago I ordered some Jinny Beyer fabrics, which I can't buy in England. I ordered $63 worth because My shipping would only be $8 ( an offer for July only! ).
When eventually 4 weeks later I received a card from our local post office informing me they couln't deliver my parcel untill I had paid the customs charge of £15 , about $22 !!!! To cut a long story short, it turned out that half of it was VAT and the other half was Royal Mail charges!! Needless to say , I won't do that again. Mad Gertie from Kent
08-31-2010, 08:28 PM
#76
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Alberta
Posts: 308
Been there did that! I live in Canada too and the shipping from some shops to Canada is unbelievable. Sometimes they just have a blanket policy that the shipping rate is so much regardless of the size of the order. I did find a source for some nice tonal blender fat quarters. They send to me from HI for about $6. I find things on ebay but really watch the shipping charges.
08-31-2010, 08:28 PM
#77
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Posts: 388
Originally Posted by KonaLinda
Shipping to Hawaii is also ridiculous with some companies. Some even consider Hawaii as international. Seems many don't know that Flat-rate Priority Boxes from the PO cost the same no matter what state they are going to. Shipping is the first thing I look at when I go to a website.
09-01-2010, 12:59 AM
#78
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dennison Ohio
Posts: 401
ok so i just dont understand the whole shipping thing why can i order off say a fabric panel and one person can give me free shipping and the same panel from another seller can be less but the shipping makes it more than the one with free shipping like someone else said about priority mail why would you not ship that way when ever possible the boxes and envelopes are free i just love the ad for those "if it fits it ships" i worked at walmart and we had to send our wic vouchers out every week and at the beginnign of the month and the girls would weigh them out then put them in big envelopes and hope they didnt rip and put a bunch of stamps go to the post office and then pay for the priority till my post master told me about the priority envelopes i saved wm a ton of money after that because some weeks we could get away with one envelope where normally we would have had to send 2
09-01-2010, 01:04 AM
#79
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dennison Ohio
Posts: 401
Originally Posted by hobo2000
I have been selling books on the board and I can ship them anywhere in the Continental US for $2.77 media rate. I am shipping a book to Canada and it cost $10.88. Big difference.
09-01-2010, 02:27 AM
#80
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Southeast Georgia, USA
Posts: 9,091
i don't get it. six pages of anger and steam over something we can each control as it affects our own little corners of the universe.
1. check the shipping policies and prices. if they are not to your liking, leave the site and look elsewhere.
2. if they seem to be within your acceptable range, continue to shop.
3. don't commit to the order until you have calculated the final cost per yard. if it's within your acceptable range, place the order. if it isn't, cancel out and shop elsewhere.
4. if it's the only thing in the world that will make you feel better, then do drop them a polite note explaining that you lost interest once the total cost became clear. i have found from personal experience that calm, logically presented complaints or questions get answered more quickly and more often to my satisfaction than are those that are smokin' because i've sent in the heat of the moment and didn't stop to calm down first.
if we each do these things we will ensure for ourselves that we enjoy our shopping experiences.
it's all up to us. the choices are all ours. that's what matters most.
1. check the shipping policies and prices. if they are not to your liking, leave the site and look elsewhere.
2. if they seem to be within your acceptable range, continue to shop.
3. don't commit to the order until you have calculated the final cost per yard. if it's within your acceptable range, place the order. if it isn't, cancel out and shop elsewhere.
4. if it's the only thing in the world that will make you feel better, then do drop them a polite note explaining that you lost interest once the total cost became clear. i have found from personal experience that calm, logically presented complaints or questions get answered more quickly and more often to my satisfaction than are those that are smokin' because i've sent in the heat of the moment and didn't stop to calm down first.
if we each do these things we will ensure for ourselves that we enjoy our shopping experiences.
it's all up to us. the choices are all ours. that's what matters most.
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