Community Forums

Mr_D · 09-06-2017, 10:43 AM

Needed some plastic end pieces for my Girard window awnings. Girard has them for $3.50 each. I needed 2 but ordered 4. When they asked about shipping I said I was in no hurry, figuring they'd send them USPS. Nope, they sent them Fedex ground for $18.69 for $14.00 in parts!
So I paid $4.69 more shipping than the parts cost. My fault I guess as I should have specified USPS shipping.

MSHappyCampers · 09-06-2017, 02:24 PM

Some companies will price their products lower and make up the difference in shipping charges! I make it a point to find out exactly what the total will be before placing the order!

What's that they say about hindsight!

Mr_D · 09-06-2017, 03:15 PM

I did ask, but must have misunderstood, I certainly didn't want to pay $32.69 for $14.00 in parts!

Hgrace56 · 09-06-2017, 03:30 PM

Probably still less than time and gas

Bigd9 · 09-06-2017, 03:53 PM

Boy you are right MrD. That is a high shipping charge! Sounds a lot like Fleetwood shipping charges!

Fiesta48 · 09-06-2017, 06:32 PM

There is price and cost. The total cost is all that counts.
Then there is tax and shipping on top. Or neither.
Is it a want or need?
Then there is affordability, service, quality, availability, usabilty, shipping time and how many times it will last or be used.
I developed a personal spreadsheet program with all the above. It has talked me out of many purchases.
And filling up my garage with JUNK.

jacwjames · 09-06-2017, 07:41 PM

I will use Ebay and sort by lowest price including shipping or Froogle (Google shopping) which will also sort by total cost. It's saved me lots of money by knowing what the final cost will be.

96 Wideglide · 09-06-2017, 07:47 PM

Your lucky!
If you were in Canada, Fedex would have charged you about $75 to deliver those parts

!
I'll never order ANYTHING, that the seller will only ship Fedex!!!

RRR · 09-06-2017, 07:52 PM

Gotta love the sites that don't give the shipping charges till after you fill out all your information. I don't mind the places that you can enter s zip code and get a price before hand, at least you haven't given them everything.

One other gotch ya is the package count. Just a short time ago I was looking at a 2-pack of something for $19.95. The 3-pack was $34.95. Was in the checkout procedure when I caught it. Bought a competor product instead.

OLYLEN · 09-07-2017, 08:53 AM

I use prime, we order more than enough on line all kinds of things for ourselves and family gifts across the country to be on the good side of shipping. I look for a competitive price at sites, then go to Amazon and most of the time I get THE price or better with free(I am paying for it) shipping. I find a savings also in fuel not running even a few short miles to get things that I don't need RIGHT NOW.

LEN

rlchv70 · 09-07-2017, 12:55 PM

Total Value RV charged me $20 to ship a $2 part!

**CountryFit** · 09-07-2017, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRR

Gotta love the sites that don't give the shipping charges till after you fill out all your information. I don't mind the places that you can enter s zip code and get a price before hand, at least you haven't given them everything.

One other gotch ya is the package count. Just a short time ago I was looking at a 2-pack of something for $19.95. The 3-pack was $34.95. Was in the checkout procedure when I caught it. Bought a competor product instead.

have seen it all the time. some even ask to enter cc without telling shipping cost. i always quit right there.

last night while i was in the checkout process on walgreens website, i disovered smething strange - on the description page, it says you can choose shipping to a local store so no shipping fee, but on the checkout, it did not give me the local pickup option. i stopped and called their cs, placed the order on the phone, of course no shipping fee.

azpete · 09-08-2017, 02:16 PM

unfortunately, shipping charges have gone up. and yes, those charges are part of the cost. there is no shipping fairy. it the shipper doesnt charge for them, it cuts into his profit.
with that said, there is NO excuse to jack up shipping charges. there should be no handling charge. thats just a way to add to the bottom line.
you can call the shipping facility and find out how much it really cost to ship something. its always best to ask how much shipping charges are before buying the parts.
when i ship a part to a customer, i have already added the charge to have the part shipped to me from the factory. i then add the shipping charge to him from my location.
i know it adds up, but for most small businesses, there is no way to eat the shipping cost and still make a reasonable profit. unless you are already charging a higher price to begin with.
either way, its an unpleasant part of doing business.

dennis45 · 09-08-2017, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Your lucky!
If you were in Canada, Fedex would have charged you about $75 to deliver those parts

!
I'll never order ANYTHING, that the seller will only ship Fedex!!!

You got that right! But it maters not FedEx or UPS.

I just ordered a new jack from HWH and in a senior moment had them send it to my CDN address.
The jack was $460 US, plus shipping $70 US. And then, UPS charges another $120 for GST, PST and brokerage.

The worst part is that I live 5 minutes from the border. Could have saved $120 having it sent to Oroville, drive down and pick it up.