I order a vast majority of my MR items. But this shipping and handling thing has really got out of hand.Example, if i order $20.00 worth of couplers it could cost me $8.95 S/H.In reality, postage would be about $1.00, the envelope they put them in is about $.50, so what’s up with the left over $7.45. The company is already making a profit on the sale of the items.I can hear it now, they will blame it on “energy costs”. Price gouging at it’s finest!
Welcome to the club willy6… I’ve had to pay some outragious shipping charges myself in order to get what I wanted. I agree with you 100% that it really sucks, but in my situation, I have to drive 50 miles through some of the worst traffic in the southern US just to buy $35.00 worth of stuff, so rather than do that, I’m more than willing to pay $10.00 shipping just to save myself the trip.
TL
Shipping on computer parts is always fun, too. I once paid $5 shipping on a two dollar cable. It still beat paying $40+ dollars at a brick and mortar store.
Well all, try and live here in Hawaii. Most places that you order from don’t have “Ground” shipment because of “Remote” location. So I would give anyting to pay your shipping costs on the mainland. Some people on here have a LHS that offers many items. The one I go to only has a limited supply (only 2 shelfs dedicated to this hobby). So everything that I have has been ordered online. I have to wait a couple of months to build up a “wish list” so I don’t have to pay $17.00 on a $2.00 item.
my last order was 70$ S&H on ca 350$ order… that is the problem when living on the wrong side of the atlantic! most of it go really to USP, the shop charge less than 10$ for packaging and handlig , e…g. custom papers.
But is is still cheaper than (mail)ordering it from european shops specialised in US trains.
sebastiano
Too expensive when I order.
I am careful to bundle many orders into one if possible.
Not the cheapest for us in Canada, either. S&H from Trainworld and Micro Mark is US$24.95 per order (about $30.00 in Canadian money). The only time I order is if I have a big enough order to make it worthwhile, or when I combine my order with friends so we split the costs.
Some eBay sellers are getting real clever - they offer items at rock bottom prices and make their profit in inflated shipping costs. I ordered a teeny remote for my camera from LA, price was only $5.95; shipping was $7.95. Actual postage on the envelope? $1.10.
Looked at some camera memory cards from a seller in Hong Kong, prices were great. Only thing the shipping was around $50.00 and the mandatory insurance of $20.00! Thanks but no thanks!
Bob Boudreau
Same here. My Shipping costs are $7.95. I try to order 2 Locomotives instead of one. I figure that I can make the most of my order if I where to order two instead is just one because of the shipping costs. Allan.
I consider shipping as part of the price of what I’m buying. If a seller wants me to pay $10 for a brand new Atlas loco, but then charges $25 for shipping, it does not matter what the guy is charging for shipping – the bottom line cost is $35. Good deal.
So if a seller wants to charge $1 or $50 for shipping, it doesn’t matter to me so long as the total price is reasonable.
I keep a list of small stuff on my computer. Then, when the list gets big enough or I find something I need immediately, I order it all at once. That way, I don’t say, “D’oh!” the day after I place the order because of something I forgot.
That’s one nice thing about the bigger e-retailers. They all have trains, but a lot of places have DPM buildings, or Preiser figures, or WS ballast. Once you bit the bullet for the shipping, you save a lot on all the little stuff.
I’m in the same boat as a couple of you. The nearest hobby shop is about 50 miles from here. At $2.11/gallon for gas, I figure it costs me almost $14 to pick something up. They are a great shop and for a small item, it costs me $2.50 in S/H. You do the math. What I suggest is, build a relationship with a really good hobby shop. After some time shopping with them, they may give you a break on S/H. Aside from the rare occasion that I have to buy something online, the Show-Me Lines store in Grandview, MO gets ALL of my business. Check them out online (yes, they do mail-order) or give them a call. Talk to Charlie, Darren or George. Tell them Marlon sent ya!
http://www.showmelines.com/
800-826-6961 or 816-966-1534
Most dealers here charge £4 regardless of the items. That’s a pain if all you want is a pack of wheelsets but pretty good if you’re ordering a G scale loco. Fuel costs to my LHS are far more than £4 so I don’t baulk too much at paying. The one that puzzles me is a car parts dealer - orders over £50 are post free regardless of the size or weight, so I pay more to have 2kg of G scale loco delivered than I do for 6kg of highlift jack…
With this S/H thing, it has been going on for as long as I can remember. Now I don’t like it any more than the rest of you BUT, how many of you are on the other side of the fence and actually do shipping out of stuff?
Are you in the business of selling items on E-BAY? It costs you time and money to ship. I know and every time you ship, just how long does it take you to get the package ready to put into the mail or have UPS or what ever pick it up?
And I know that you all get the little bubble filled envelopes FREE as well as the boxes. And all of the bubble wrap and foam is FREE and the strapping tape is FREE and then your time to package the item so it does not get broke is FREE time you do not charge for (which all of the above comes out of your PROFIT) ! So in actually you are losing money each time you send out anything. Now multiply this by hundreds of mailings everyday.
Eventually you go broke, WHY?
Just some thoughts from the other side
BOB H – Clarion, PA
Shock for me is when looking on the Bay for Digital Cameras, Security camera, well anything electrical really. The boxes are real small and light but the shipping charges are crazy. I seen a digital camera I was surely interested in till I saw that the shipping was $24.99. $24.99!!! Then as I look closer they all are high like that. I will not bid on an item with shipping that is too high. Inflated shipping cost are such a pain.
Anywhere from $4.00 to $7.95.
Victor
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
I agree S/H is way out of control. One of the criteria for me ordering from someone is to check the S/H charge. I have found several that only charge 4 bucks flat rate no matter what you buy. So I use them whenever I can. I hate it when they don’t tell you the charge until it is shipped. I try to stay away from those sites.
Terry[8D]
This is the primary reason I limit mail order to just the items I can’t get at shows. What really frosts me is when there is a backorder and I get two s&h charges.
I am sure someone will come along to explain why this has to be done and why the charges are so high, but frankly I just avoid it as much as possible and, like others, do large orders to minimize it.
Paul
The fees can be expensive. But if you look at the rates UPS and USPS charges for packages, it’s not cheap. For instance a 4 pound package shipped within your own zone is $7.32, US Mail flate rate priority mail is $8.10.
I haven’t read thru all of the posts …but one thing most people don’t take in consideration is TIME …what is a person’s time worth?..time to place the ad…time to package the item …time to run to bank & post office(if individual)…or if it’s a business…employees’ salaries & benefits…fees to e-bay …fee’s to paypal…fees to credit card companies…rent, utilities, …overhead costs in general
just a thought …if an individual feels their time is worth $10 an hour & it takes a combined total of 30 mins to process your order from start to finish…than that is worth $5 in “handling” charges
I agree 100%.
People see the S/H on something is $10 and they flip out cause they can go down to the US Post office and mail it out for $5 or what have you.
Yet these are the same people that after they’ve won an auction, will email and want to make sure you put item X in bubblewrap, foam peanuts and a big box to protect it. I can understand that they want their item protected but this stuff isn’t free. I don’t have a bubblewrap tree in my backyard. I have to buy the supplies, find an appropiate sized box and then drive to either the post office or the closes UPS store to pay usually a minimum of $7.50 to mail the box out. They may be saving gas by not driving to the LHS etc by ordering it but I still have to use gas to get the supplies and to drop the package off for shipping.
I do agree that the trend on ebay is to start the bidding out low on an item and charg