Shipping and Handling

[grandslammer]

You know what really torques my lug nuts? Shipping and handling charges. I went to several websites looking for a decent deal on a K63/400, and about 64mb 100mhz sdram. The price for the ram was 50 some dollars, a good buy. The processor was around 105, not bad considering the going rate. Now, this is just for ups ground, they wanted 22 bucks for shipping!

Anyone who has ever shipped ups ground knows that for a tiny package like that, a couple of bucks, three at the most would take it anywhere in the continental usa. Now this wasn't any kind of priority, just ups ground ship!

What in the h*ll is wrong with people? Is everyone in the world out to screw every one else? Or is it just my attitude? I could see if I were ordering a dozen of each, and a half dozen power supplies, but that's ridiculous. And besides, if I WERE spending that much money, you'd think they'd throw the shipping in gratis!

Okay, okay, okay...Maybe I sound like Joe Peschi in Lethal Weapon 2 through 17, they screw you at the drive in... they screw you with the cell phones, they screw you at the hospital, they screw you ............. .............. They screw you ....... They screw you!!!!!!

Okay, Okay. Okay... I quit for now

C 'ya,

Mike P.

[This message has been edited by grandslammer (edited 08-21-99).]

[IRED]

How do you think they make their money?
This is a problem that catolog sales has been dealing with for years.That an return policies.{A whole different nightmare}

[welsh wizard]

Hi
It's a rip off check out

http://ircalc.usps.gov/speed.asp

I can if the sender is fair get a 4lb parcel sent to New Zealand for between $9 and $34 depending on service ( the $9 service can get there in 3 to 5 days)

Yes sir shipping and handling can be used as a rip off.

[This message has been edited by welsh wizard (edited 08-21-99).]

[socalgal]

Yes, the USPS (United States Postal Service) is the BEST deal around. I just shipped a package for 2-day delivery to Nova Scotia and it arrived there via Purolator for $30 less than UPS would have charged for same!

Unfortunately, the USPS option doesn't seem to be a standard one with most of these online companies. Perhaps you could ask to have your parts shipped this way? I don't know, but I will ask next time!

[Mbarb]

Try Axion Technology for " no profit " shipping...

www.axiontech.com (http://www.axiontech.com)


Matt

[This message has been edited by Mbarb (edited 08-22-99).]

[lost1]

OK Grandslammer, don't EVEN get me spooled up on shipping & "handling" charges!!! Several months ago I ordered a K6-2 450 for $67 & paid 14 bucks UPS Ground! I almost fainted, but I paid it because even with the shipping, it was still cheaper than most other places. However, the worst occurrence was about a month ago, I needed a plain old ISA SoundBlaster 16 card for my kid's PII 300- found it at some online "discount" place for $16. Hmmm, not too bad, so I checked the shipping-- $29!!!!! UPS GROUND!!! IN STATE!!!!! So, being the smart shopper that I am, I jumped in the car, drove 35 miles to my favorite computer shop, & forked out 49 bucks for the card. The online place was cheaper (even with their ridiculous shipping charges,) but I flat-out refused to be screwed like that.
So you see- rape IS legal in some places...

Now, where's my Thorazine?... ;-)

[grandslammer]

It's good to let off a little steam once in a while, huh? I'm glad to see that at least I'm not the only one outraged by these BS practices! Like Lost1 said, I'd rather go out of my way and even pay a little more to someone who's at least honest with me about his/her pricing than to pay someone 20 bucks to put something that weighs on ounce in an envelope!

BUt how would we, even as a large group do anything to resolve this situation.

Thanks for the replies, it lets me know you all are watching anyway.

Good Luck In Everything You Do...

Mike P.

[Joel Kleppinger]

BTW, buy.com has a free shipping weekend this weekend, ending midnight PT on Sunday. I know I'm doing some shopping there. <g>

[welsh wizard]

To Grandslammer and all

Get even by not useing the rip off postal over chargers, there are plenty online that can replicate their prices without the over priced shipping and handling.
IF NO ONE BUYS FROM THEM THEY'L GET THE MESSAGE /forum/wink.gif /forum/smile.gif I Hope

[rockinwy]

You are exactly right dont use the high priced companies that charge more for shippng than the product. I recently bought a ricoh cdrw I thought I was getting a good deal ordered it from the cheapest place on pricewatch and then the problems started first the cdrw was backordered for 1 day I thought no big deal, then it was backordered for a week now I was upset I was even more upset when I went back and started looking around, I found a site pcbuyerclub.com that had the drive I wanted in stock for a higher price, but not much, so I decided to check out my options, c.o.d good didnt have to use the credit card, c.o.d paid by personal check that was even better so I checked on shipping weight 3lbs, thats funny the other place said 5lbs, price for shipping $16 2nday fedex, the other place wanted $35. Needless to say I canceled the order with the first place, De vine computer sales, and order from pcbuyerclub, they shipped my order immediately and I actually got it next day for 2nday price, paid with a check I didnt even have to go get a money order. I did some more comparisson shopping and some place charge less for shipping and then add handling charges, thats a bunch of **** too. So anyway I paid more for the recorder but less after shipping was added, plus I got two blank cdrw's to boot.

[magk9]

I recently ordered 3-64 mb sdrams....shipping was $12 for 1, so I "saved" money by getting 3 at once...that way it was only $32 to ship 3 in the same little box!! These places SUCK, and I AM done with 'em. I went thru' Pricewatch's best prices until I found the lowest shipping......THAT WAS IT!! $32 for 1 box!! And that was UPS GROUND!!! It took a week to get 'em!!!

[KP]

Try www.kdcomputers.com for no rip off shipping. Good people to deal with on-line.

[scourge]

I like www.virtual-world.com. No shipping charges at least not any that are tacked on to your final price. They are expensive on some things, but you'll also find plenty of good deals there especially when you factor in no additional charges. (i.e. they have retail boxed C/L banshee cards shipped to your door for $50.) And free shipping on all their monitors!!! No matter how big.

[Ed_S]

Those S&H charges are ridiculous! One local store here does mail-order under another name with cheaper prices, told me if I wanted that price I pay S&H even if I pick it up! Last time I crossed his door!

On the other hand, I've had good luck dealing with some by checking UPS rates at their site & quoting this at the time of order. Seems like they back down quick if you know that it should be $3.73 instead of $10. Just saying "I know it's less than $5" doesn't work, get the exact price if you can. All you need is weight & both zip codes. (yours & theirs)

magk9 -Don't stand still for that! Demand a refund of $24 & if they refuse threaten to report it to BBB and your credit card co. Also threaten to post your bad experience on every BBS around, that'll get their attention! We'll all give you plenty of BBS links if you need 'em!

[jeffgordon24]

I checked for shipping price on a cpu and it was 16.95 for ground and 69.65 for next day. It doesn't even cost them maybe 2 bucks to ship it too and that's on 2 day. I know this cause I had sent back a hard drive and it cost me 3.25 for 2 day.

[welsh wizard]

to jeffgordon24 CPU shipping how much?
that's stupid, I have shipped CPU from New Zealand to the State's for $7.50 NZD works out at about $3.75 USD that was airmail and tracked and only a couple of months back.
get your USPS price quote on postal before ordering and compare it takes under five minutes to write and address on an envelope put goods in with bubble wrap and seal, these companies don't make a special trip to mail one item they do it once a day with all the orders.

[Stan]

He heee... happy to be in the UK... lots of free of charge shipping...

Stan

[Stan]

He heee... happy to be in the UK... lots of free of charge shipping...

Stan

[Stan]

Huuh... happened again !!!
"Internal Server Error"

Sorry about the double post

Stan

[jeffgordon24]

Thing is they don't pay what I'd pay to ship it. They get a substantial discount considering the amount of products they ship out everyday. So if I paid $3.25, they'd pay about $2.00 to $2.50 then charge you $5 to $18. They sell stuff for alot less and even with shipping most stuff is still cheaper then if I bought where I live. It's still ridiculous to pay the amount of shipping they charge but you can't do nothing about it except not order from them or find someone with alot less shipping charges.

[This message has been edited by jeffgordon24 (edited 08-24-99).]

[welsh wizard]

Hi Stan
It might be cheeper in UK with free postal, but I see IE5 is just as buggy there as here double posting once landed me with 20 items when I was ordering only 10 Bill Gates should be liable for extra 10 but as luck would have it they were all sold before arrival

[IRED]

jeff,
Methinks you are repeating myself.

[Mosschop]

I think a few folks here are taking too much for granted. Margins in the mail order/internet shopping market are extremely thin - especially with regards to electronics equipment. If you see someone selling something a lot cheaper than the rest of the field has to either be 1) because they are selling with no/little margin or at a loss (hooray - we all save money but the retailer loses money and goes bankrupt) or 2) because they are making their money elsewhere on items such as shipping and packing.

As has been said elsewhere in this thread, if you don't like companies mailing charges, don't buy from them - write them a letter telling them exactly why you are not buying from them - it may change their pricing policy, but more likely they will send you back a letter pointing out that they are considerably cheaper, even after shipping charges, than any non-online / mail order source.

In summary - STOP WHINGING - prices for most computer goods bought online are ridiculously cheap - after all their prices are driven by the fact that the poor buggers who actually manufacture the chips and boards in Taiwan / China / Vietnam are paid less than your average Macdonalds acne farmer.

[This message has been edited by Mosschop (edited 08-25-99).]

[Mosschop]

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[This message has been edited by Mosschop (edited 08-25-99).]

[Mosschop]

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[This message has been edited by Mosschop (edited 08-25-99).]

[Mosschop]

Apologies for the duplicate posts folks

[jeffgordon24]

IRED,
I wasn't trying to repeat yourself but give figures as to how much they are really making off it.

[Zacko10000]

Support sites like outpost.com and other sites with free shipping, or non profit shipping. At buy.com I would pay only a dollar or two more in shipping costs if I ordered 20 ink cartrages and a graphics card instead of a single ink cartrage. And I don't think an ink cartrage costs 10 bucks to ship. It is a scam and I hope by choosing not to buy from these companies, it will send a message. Although the problem with this is getting a massive number of people to also do this but it must start somewhere.

[jeana]

I posted a message under the Resellerratings forum proposing an item in the scoring that allows users to grade resellers on fairness/honesty of shipping and handling charges. Whaddaya think? Combined with the vote on whether buyers think the overall price charged is fair, we could roughly distinguish between resellers who can only offer good prices if they cheat on shipping, those resellers whose higher prices are a result of their shipping honesty, and those resellers who are really capable of offering honest shipping fees and low prices.

Whether or not cheap hardware is possible without miserable working conditions for hapless laborers in third-world countries is another discussion entirely (one that would deserve its own thread). Paying higher prices does not guarantee better treatment for workers, I'll wager. If I _could_ find a way to ensure that I was buying exploitation-free merchandise, I _would_ pay a higher price, especially if there were a way to register the reasons why I was paying the higher price. Unfortunately, enlightened consumerism seems only a dream at the moment. One can try to buy only "Made in USA" goods, but even that is dubious (who else saw that 20/20 expose of wretched women imported from
poor Asian countries to work in sweatshops based on U.S. territories?)

If anyone wants to discuss this further, I suggest that you start a new thread and we'll join you there...

[jeffgordon24]

Well people aren't going to stop buying online. People can usually get stuff cheaper online, even with the outrageous shipping. I bought some stuff off buy.com and would've paid $140 to $160 more if I had bought it where I live. This computer store down the street from where I live sells the K6-3 450 for $249 and I can buy it online for $140. Only difference is I get a retail box here, but pay $109 more for it. I just throw the box out anyway. Also the K6-3 500 sells for $479 here and I can buy it online for about $208. That's $271 more just for the box. I could keep going on, especially with the Athlon. Here the prices are even more ridiculous. Plus I'd have to pay tax on top of that here.

[welsh wizard]

You are the buyer, it's up to you to weigh up the pro's and con's as to shipping cost,

Also we can sell cheap and post cheap without going under it depends on our supplier, I'd rather make $1 honistly than s@$#w some one on postal charges to make $10.