Do high shipping charges keep you from buying something that costs only a few more dollars than the shipping charge or do you look for other items that you really don’t need so you can get more for the same shipping charge? or example, I was going to purchase an item that cost $10.95 & weighed probably 2oz & had a SC of $7.00. Still debating if it’s worth $17.95. Also I’ve just about given up on ebay for the same reason. jerry
YES!
Since I live in Sweden I will avoid buying just a few items at a time. I will always buy a lot when I do it. I also ask a lot of “stupid” questions before doing it to be sure I know what I’m getting. Sometimes I will buy something I do not really need to make the shipping hurt less. For example, I bought a E6 A unit from BLI, the shipping was 60$ on it alone, but since I then also bought a PRR K-4 the combines shipping was something like 66 dollars. Also, customs fees get less per unit sort of speak. Now I didn’t need a K-4, but I’ve been wanting one, so I got both and that helps me justifying ordering the first item.
This is why I like to order from Walthers, besides a small initial fee they charge me a percentage of the value in shipping. That allows me to get just the things I want and NEED now.
Magnus
Magnus
The post office raised shipping charges last year. It’s getting more and more expensive to ship things these days. Often times if it’s a small item and can fit into a padded envelope the vendor should have a reduced rate. Of course this depends on the vendor. You might call and ask them.
I noticed late last year that most ebay sellers raised their shipping to about $9-10 on items that will fit into a standard, pre-printed, USPS priority mail box.
Some places I order from have free shipping after a certain $ amount (Squadron for example) and I’ll try to put together an order for that amount. It can be annoying to only need an item that costs a few buck and then have to pay for more in shipping than what the items’ price is.
You could also try and have you LHS order what you need…it may take longer but you’ll save on shipping.
-G-
Shipping and handling charges, if they truly reflect the cost of shipping, including the time and material needed to prepare the item for shipping, are legitimate charges from the seller.
From the buyer’s perspective, the cost of acquiring the product, including taxes, shipping, and any other cost, is the price of the object.
The price charged by your local hobby shop includes the costs they incurred having it shipped to them.
There are, of course, vendors who use excessive shipping charges to hide the true price of the product, or to impose restocking fees on returns by manipulating their refund and warranty policy to not include shipping charges.
I’m sure you have seen the TV ads that claim “Free refills for life, just pay shipping and handling”.
So, I guess I don’t understand what we are discussing here.
Always ask for a shipping recept when you deal on Ebay. That way, the sellers cant hose you on shipping costs.
David B
Cost of stuffing something in a box and adding some foam: 11cents, time: 2 minutes, going to post office:55 cents, stamps: $4.15, cost to buyer of shipping AND handling $17.95. The USPS has a list of costs to ship, they certainly don’t reflect the price the payer must pay. A lot of sellers are great, they will go to the P/O and ASK for the cheapest rates, A lot of sellers just go for the highest rate. The shipping rates are really killing this market.
For me S&H is part of the cost. I just ordered a boxcar for $15 and $5 S&H. There was no value in ordering more since each car was $5 S&H. So for me the cost is $20. Since the car was worth that to me I ordered it, and I really don’t care how the seller breaks the $20 down.
Since S&H effectively raises the cost, I find most of my best deals at train shows.
Enjoy
Paul
I always look at shipping first. You can tell who is charging high shipping. I really like the ones who will charge you to box it up. They say “I have to charge an extra $10.00 for boxing and my time” You pack it on your own time. I will pass by those auctions 100% of the time, and so will millions of other people.
Me too, when I bid on an item on E-Bay or order from an online store I figure the shipping as part of the cost of the item. I won’t bid higher on something that I can go down to the LHS and get cheaper. I also figure in the sales tax on locally bought items. 1stPlacehobbies lets you maintain a shopping cart for quite a while so I just add things to the cart until my savings exceed the shipping charge. I usually end up making an order once every couple of months.
I wonder if on E-Bay whether they calculate the charges to the sellor with the shipping charges as part of the selling price. If they don’t then maybe some of the sellors hide some of their income in the shipping charge.
While it is not cost effective to pay $8 shipping on one $10 item I buy most of my model rail products by mail or phone. It is 70 miles one way to the LHS and with gas at $3.30 a gallon the trip would cost me about $25. Once in a while I do drive but it is more cost effective to pay the shipping instead. I buy from Whistlestop Train in Portland most of the time but also from PF&S in Pasco and Online Trains in Lakewood. Just buy enough that the shipping dosen’t become excessive in relation to what you are buying.
The companies are geared for a certain price it takes to process that piece of paper and package, and this is were the big shipping rate comes in. And we have all seen the cost of our hobby and have to ask ourselves should I order more to justify shipping? And most of the time the answer is yes! We all go to the store and see something on sale like 2 for 5.00 and the price of 1 is 2.98 and we say to ourselves buy it its a good deal but least we forget we only needed 1 and who’s to say when we will use the other one. This is sometimes were we go to our LHS and support them, they are becoming a dying breed, and who knows you might find something else to spend some more money on[bow]
Just a note on ebay shipping:
I was watching a bid on a brass loco. Shipping started out at $12 (for a $100 starting bid), which wasn’t bad. As bidding progressed and the purchase price went up, so did the shipping [:O]
I emailed the seller to ask why and they replied they had no idea why. It must be ebay recalculating the shipping charges. The seller said they had to charge whatever ebay said the shipping was. Needless to say I said “no thanks” and went elswhere. This ‘automatic’ shipping calculator charge ebay has is BS. All it does is turn off a lot of prospective bidders. Now I know the seller can basically charge whatever they want for shipping but it also hurts them that ebay autmoatically jacks the shipping price up because the cost placing the auction to the seller is based on the total sell price which includes shipping.
No wonder more and more people call it ‘evilbay’
-G-
I usually compile a list of everything I need and then place the order. Although shipping can sometimes be pricy, I still save money compared to buying at our full priced LHSs, assuming they have what I want (fat chance). Sometimes when I factor in the cost of train fare (the only decent LHS is 25 miles from SF) and sales tax, it’s actually cheaper and more convenient for me to buy online.
If I can buy an article for a discount + shipping it may be worth it. But really can’t see paying list price + shipping. It probably costs A local hobby shop more to handle a product than a mail order house, someone has to order it, unpack it, put it on the shelf, hire someone to take it from the shelf & show you how it works & put it back on the shelf if you decide not to buy it. I can see charging postage, but I don’t think a large mail order house has to go to the UPS building with every package…in fact UPS goes to them & picks up.
That sounds like a big fat lie to me. I’ve seen the same items shipped from the same city with 2 drastically different S&H charges.
I try to wait till I have a larger order to put in rather than order 1-2 items at a time. I never order from places with outrageous S&H.
The sad thing is with the price of gas, even the ridiculous shipping is cheaper than driving 100 miles round trip to a hobby shop that charges MSRP.[xx(]
There are times when I only need one small item and the vendor has a flat shipping charge. In those cases I will order additional items that I don’t need right now but I know I will need later. For example - I was needing a couple of small detail parts. The flat shipping charge of 7.95 would double my order cost. In that case I just went ahead and ordered things such as paint (grimy black, rail brown etc), adhesive (texex), Xacto knife blades and ground foam. Don’t need the stuff right now, but I know I will use them in the near future. I’ve also gotten to the point where I’ll make a list of things I want to order and when the list gets to the point where it’s “worth” making an order I’ll put one in.
I think to ignore any seller, be it an internet dealer or ebay seller, based on shipping charges can sometimes cause one to pay more for an item. I’ve seen numerous instances of the total cost to obtain something from one that charges an “excessive” shipping and handling charge actually end up being cheaper than the seller offering “free shipping.” What is the better deal - paying $100 for a loco plus $5.00 shipping or paying $25.00 for the loco and $50.00 shipping? I bought a table on ebay in December where the shipper charged $60.00 S/H for $5.00. Other sellers were charging $20.00 S/H but it would have cost me $50.00 to win the auction. In that case I was more than happy to pay the “outrageous” S/H charge. How the seller slices and dices the cost doesn’t concern me - what is my concern is how much my bank balance will decrease after the purchase. For small items, it might even be ok to pay a high percentage in shipping - it all depends on how much it will cost to go elsewhere. $7.00 shipping/handling might not be a bad deal if to go to a “brick and mortar” store will cost the same in gas + time.
Absolutely! And not just for high shipping charges but regular ones too. I figure what I want to pay for an object, subtract the shipping, and then bid that amount. If the vendor has several items I want I ask if shipping is combined, if not I don’t bid as high.
I’ve never understood the auctions for items where the shipping alone doubles the price of the item. Why would anyone buy a single Tyco or Athearn BB box car when shipping is going to be $6 or more???!?
I’ve seen people drive 10 miles each way in a car that gets 15 mpg to save .02 per gallon.
Jerry,No…You see when I order from a on line shop my order is large enough to warrent the shipping charges plus savings(at discount prices) because most on line shops has a flat shipping rate of -let’s say- $8.50 up to a certain dollar amount-usually $99.00.
I once order 4 Athearn RTR cars @$10.71 ea and 2 packs of KD 148s @ $3.16ea plus $8.50 shipping for a total of $57.66 vs.$71.82 at my not so local hobby shop( a 53 mile round trip).A savings of $14.16.Now if one wishes to add around 3 gallons of gas @2.99 a gallon that you can see the additional savings.
Just be sure your order is large enough to cover the shipping plus savings and you will do well.
The most cost-efficient way to pay for shipping when buying online is to buy many items at once in one big order rather than several small orders.
Very often the cost to ship one item is almost exactly the same as shipping five of the same item together – especially when it comes to smaller items. (It all depends on dimensions and weight, of course.)
Heck, just to ship an empty box via UPS can run you between $6 - $8 depending on where you live!