Suppliers

[Frank]

Hey All,

I guess this is my little rant for a lifetime....maybe! I know there was a discussion about Weaver's price hike when it came to shipping. Well, this happened to me from another good tool supplier. I fail to mention names as not to upset anyone associated with this business. I ordered a bunch of hand tools and was charged just over $20.00 for shipping.

When the package arrived not only was I missing 2 tools, one was on back-order and another one that was paid for and never made it in the box but they all came in a small flat rate box. If I'm not mistaken, the shipping for those boxes are under $5.00. What is going on here?

I fired off an email about the missing tool (because they were ordered as a full set) but never mentioned the excessive shipping charges. I received an email back that this matter would be taken care of and that was Tuesday of last week and I still have not heard back from the business or received my tool. Is customer service really going down the tubes?

What do you all consider excessive shipping charges?

I know I insure every package that goes out my door. No one pays any more than $1.00-$1.50 more than what the actual shipping charges are. I order free boxes from USPS and also recycle a lot of boxes. Those stupid little flyers that come in the mail twice a week end up being the packing material. Am I charging less than what I should? I highly doubt it. Why are people so dead set on making good money on shipping charges?

Thanks for letting me go off a bit. Of all things, this gets me going the most.

[TwinOaks]

I think a lot extra fees fall into the "shipping and handling" category. With the economy the way it is, companies are forced to shave prices a bit to stay competitive so they may tack on a little extra fee to try and recoup the costs. I'm in the lighting maint. business, and a few years ago, when the fuel prices went up suddenly, we had to add in a fuel surcharge to our contracts. Most, if not all, of the shipping companies did the same. There's additional costs above and beyond the actual shipping that needs to be accounted for. For example:

You send a package to a member on this forum. You calculate the shipping cost into the price to keep it fair and not have any 'hidden' fees. You and your customer are happy. But...did you calculate the fuel and maintenance cost for your vehicle to drop the box off at the shipping office? Did you calculate the cost to you in 'productivity time lost'?

For small businesses, such costs can be overlooked for the most part because you can toss them into other activities like, "Hmm, I need to run to the store, the bank, and the post office....I think I'll drop off that box on the way,".

Larger companies don't have the little luxuries we do. If employee #1 pulls the leather off a pallet and feeds it into the size calculator, then employee #2 takes it, rolls and ties it, then places it at the to-be-shipped counter, then employee #3 puts it in a box and sticks a shipping label on it, the company has to account for services on all three. Not quite as simple as that, but you get the idea.

I agree with you that it does get a bit ridiculous at times, but sometimes it's worth the slight additional fee to have a knowledgeable person pick a hide for you.

[8thsinner]

Shipping certainly is not cheap and it is in fact one of my biggest costing issues.

I cannot guarantee set prices because of material costs varying due to ecological disasters and what not and then shipping a product which has licensing issues is even worse with all the handling fees etc...

I am starting to think getting onto small postal companies based in the area i am buying from, and arranging a contract with them to do all my exporting as long as they can guarantee prices for me which beat the means I am currently using...

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

As a small business man you look at it from a different perspective. You recycle boxes etc, that doesn't work for large companies that streamline by conformity. New boxes of certain sizes, bubble wrap, etc Speaking of bubble wrap, have you priced a roll of that stuff !? They were paying something like $50 a roll where I used to work. New boxes can also be higher in cost than believed. Tape, etc, it all adds up. On the other hand I have seen exorbitant shipping costs. I was going to order a manual for a double convection oven I bought off Craigslist. Called Sears, yep they have it $4.95, OK--and $6.50 shipping! Slap a couple stamps on it and send it out for pete's sake. I researched it online, and got the info I needed.

Customer service is not dead, you just have to find it.

[Billy P]

Sometime back, Tandy had the Military stamp set on sale for $6.99. My wife saw it when I was looking at stuff in the newsletter/sale thing every Friday im my email. She told me to order it and she would buy it for me. I ordered it and the set that cost $6.99 cost almost $10.00 shipping and that was for only about 75 miles away. I say that is excessive charges. They also usually don't want to send anything thru the regular mail, which would be cheaper for most. Because of the shipping issues I have started mostly using Springfield Leather Co., usually cheaper on the cost and they send it the best cheapest way. I had personally rather spend money on something to use in the leather work and on shipping. Billy P

[dirtclod]

My thinking is that the places gougeing on shipping will pay for it in the long run because people will quit buying from them as soon as they find a place that treats them fairly. Plus word travels faster now that it ever has. Used to be you told maybe 2 or3 people now thousands can see who will treat you right and who won't.

When i called Weaver they said they had lost a contract with some shipper. Now i don't belive that one bit but if they did, i'm sure some other company would be glad to step in and be glad to have their shipping business.

Bigundoctor sounds to me like their might of been a kick back for somebody on that $50.00 a roll bubble wrap. I buy mine on ebay and yes it has went up but nothing like that.

Personally i use the post office and priority mail for all of my shipping with delivery conformation. Unless it's just a little item and then i send it first class. Orders that go outside the U. S. i use the post office and give them the choice of how they want it sent and if they want insurance. Plus i make sure they understand if they don't get insurance and it gets lost it's their baby. I scan the receipt from the post and email that to them to show that their package has been mailed along with a picture of the item and the box. Most of my orders that go out of the U.S. i make a triangle box for them. That really helps on size limits and weight.

[Ferg]

My thinking is that the places gougeing on shipping will pay for it in the long run because people will quit buying from them as soon as they find a place that treats them fairly. Plus word travels faster now that it ever has. Used to be you told maybe 2 or3 people now thousands can see who will treat you right and who won't.

When i called Weaver they said they had lost a contract with some shipper. Now i don't belive that one bit but if they did, i'm sure some other company would be glad to step in and be glad to have their shipping business.

Bigundoctor sounds to me like their might of been a kick back for somebody on that $50.00 a roll bubble wrap. I buy mine on ebay and yes it has went up but nothing like that.

Personally i use the post office and priority mail for all of my shipping with delivery conformation. Unless it's just a little item and then i send it first class. Orders that go outside the U. S. i use the post office and give them the choice of how they want it sent and if they want insurance. Plus i make sure they understand if they don't get insurance and it gets lost it's their baby. I scan the receipt from the post and email that to them to show that their package has been mailed along with a picture of the item and the box. Most of my orders that go out of the U.S. i make a triangle box for them. That really helps on size limits and weight.

Anyone had any recent dealings with Westchester Sewing Machine Company?

I ordered a 2 inch pulley from them, got 2 5/8".

That was for starters. Charged me $11.18 Shipping/handling. Sent in a USPS Priority Mail Box, they have commercial base pricing,

Told me the package weighed 2 pounds, in fact it weighed 1 pound. Retail rate would be $4.95 so their cost is better than that.

This crap really ticks me off. We ship 15,000 packages between September and Christmas. Our shipping charge is figured so close that if we are shipping to California from Ohio

we eat part of the cost, it levels out since we don't send more than 10 or 20 percent west of the Big Muddy. If these companies cannot figure out what their product costs them

they shouldn't be in business. OKAY, I know they make up their short fall with the shipping. You can bet money on the pulleys being made in China so they may have cost a buck.

I am so sick of being told we need to "SPREAD THE WEALTH". If the politicians would get off their dead rear ends and do something constructive for a change maybe we wouldn't have to put up with all this mess.

I'm sorry for the rant. It is Saturday, the day everything turns to crap.

ferg

[RMB Custom Leather]

I always check shipping price before ordering anything, if it is to high I just don't order it. Alot of companies use UPS and they usally are around $10.00 to mail a toothpick. I try to make alittle on shipping becuase if the customer is not happy with the item I refund them money to ship it back and cover the shipping back to them. When they are happy it works out good and it evens out when I come across people who are hard to please. You also have to consider paypal/CC costs...

Edited October 24, 2010 by wwwrmbbladescom

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Dirtclod, the bubblewrap rolls in question are the big commercial ones . They won't pass through a standard interior door. IIRC they were 36" wide, and about 30+" in diameter.

Hey Ferg,

I wouldn't say this is a political problem, it is the capitalistic system at work. If left alone it should correct itself. The company may go out of business, they may adjust rates, OR there may be enough people that don't care, and keep them in business. One thing I found out working at the Jelly Belly Candy Company was that I never charged enough. I was a graveyard shift mechanic there, and got talking with the purchasing agent one morning before clocking out. I mentioned that I used to have a machine shop, and he asked me to look at a part they they just ordered. It was a simple part, and I told him that I would have had a hard time charging him more than $100, and it would have probably been less than that. He told me that they just bought 20 of them at $300 each, and that was less than what the factory wanted. As long as there are people willing to pay the price, companies will charge whatever the market will bear. Personally I don't want the Gov't in my, or anyone else's business. As I see it they are far too powerful as it is, and have enacted policies that are detrimental to conducting business.

I always get the total before confirming the order. I didn't place an order for a pallet of Bren magazines, that I could have had at a great price, because the shipping would have pushed the unit price over what I could resell them for.

Edited October 24, 2010 by BIGGUNDOCTOR