O.K I just won an auction for a 4-speed bellhousing on e-bay, not a bad deal 46 bucks. However they seller wants to charge me $25 to ship from Texas to Montana? thats more than 50% for shipping. does this seem high to the rest of you guys? the thing only weights like 11 lbs. Then again this could be filled in the mabey it's just me round bin.o No:
everyone gouges, i realized that long ago. UPS is VERY cheap compared to what we're used to paying for what we're told it will cost to ship. i won two recent auctions and had to pay $25 to have an aluminum ford intake shipped and $20 for a holley. frickin rediculous, both are more than $10 more than UPS would've actually charged.
The only justification I can see is if the seller had to go to a packaging store to have a box made for it, and bought packing materials there also. Then you add on the UPS charges, and you could find yourself at $20 pretty easily. I'm shipping a 68 console sometime this week, and will be having a box made up for it, plus buying packing materials at the same store. This expense will be $20-$25, I know, as I've shipped a console this past summer. Plus UPS and there's $30-$35. That's why I'm selling this console for the cost to ship it. I don't think a bellhousing needs a $25 box though... Heck, I've had 15" rims shipped to me UPS for about $12-$15 each. It burns me up too, when someone has to "pad" their bottom line with excessive shipping charges. :af:
Find out if the guy is shipping at a UPS reseller store. They mark up the rates horribly. I had a guy in Florida send me a vacuum gauge adn it cost $12.00. He went through a reseller. They are the stores that have a little counter and they say they ship UPS. Many times is small towns where the nearest UPS office is miles away. Larry
paddin the bill Thanks guys. I guess I just had to vent after all a 71 dollar total isn't bad for a bellhousing. Larry the guy is in Fort Worth-Dallas area so that knocks out the small town idea. I did e-mail the guy asking how he was shipping? If this doesn't work I guess I'll just get the part sent and after he posts feedback I'll post one with the note that any buyer from this guy should figure on adding a few extra padded bucks to the shipping.
He still could have used a reseller. My local Ace Hardware is a reseller and I have a UPS facility about 2 miles in the other direction. A convience issue. He may also be using shipping as a profit center. I just won a trunk mat with $22 quoted as the shipping charge. Strong I'm sure and I'll find out what it cost to ship once it gets here. I always ask about shipping unless it is stated. Larry
Shipping is getting more expensive! Now UPS measures every box for size and some of the charge is for the extra space bigger boxes take up on the trucks(=less packages in truck). Peace WildBill
It's always a good idea to ask the seller for the shipping costs before you bid. All you have to do is send them you zip code and they can figure shipping very easily on the UPS, FedEx or even the USPS websites. All they have to know is the zip code, weight and the dimmensons of the box they will be using. Sometimes they will list fixed shipping costs in there ads which are sometimes much higher then they should be. A friend of mine once sent me an auction to look at that he was interested in bidding on and at the very end of the description it said that shipping and handling was fixed at $500.00 on something that would have cost about $80-$100 to ship. Because of that I never bid unless I know the shipping charges ahead of time. Be careful. Ken
On the few things I have sold either here or on E-Bay, I try to estimate the shipping based on zip code and add for the cost of the box if I have to buy one. I tell the buyer shipping is $X, if its more I'll eat it, if its more than $1 less then I'll enclose a check. ________ Ford mt75 transmission
shipping costs, not shipping charges jake i just looked at the auction and it does say buyer pays all shipping costs, ( not the actual carrier's charge ). some people have very different ideas as to what this means. some think they should get gas to terminal, time to go there, listing fees, and if they're real greedy the cost of electricity to run the computer. i think thats all absurd myself, but i have seen people make that argument on ebay forums. having just spent over $100.00 on boxes, tape, and foam peanuts, i want to show the sellers perspective. when i sell, i see it as my job to get it to the shipper on my dime, no charging for my gas or time. small boxes cost about $1.00 - $2.00 each, tape, peanuts, and labels $1-4 per box, it does add up. i also never charge for the boxes and tape, although i do have to work it into the starting bid. as with any business, you have to cover overhead. if he had to pay a place like MBE to pack and ship, then i bet it did cost him $25.00. if he ships usps it would probably cost about $25.00 if he throws it in a box with some newspaper and takes it to a UPS terminal, then it would be closer to $15.00. if he can get free packing materials, that helps alot, some can, some cant. talk to the seller and see what he says about the charge. the fact that shipping is over fifty percent of the total is not the issue. communication is the key to good ebaying, when the shipping charges are not stated in the listing, you must ask before bidding or be at the sellers mercy. i have seen far worse shipping charges on ebay. if you get what you paid for in a reasonable time frame, i think the seller deserves a nice positive fb, not a neg or nuetral. remember, he is new to ebay just like you are. i didnt check the dates, just going by fb totals on that. if you get an item you arent happy with, try to work it out with the seller as ebay recommends. it beats exchanging negs with each other. i have done over 1000 deals on ebay with no negs or neutrals. all auto parts sales and a couple hundred buys, and yes i have been very lucky, but i also work real hard at it and communicate with buyers and sellers. wishing you the best of luck. henry white
Shipping is becoming more expensive! I'll second the opinion that shipping is becoming more expensive! I recently shipped an alternator bracket from MN to RI, I thought it would be $3-$4 to ship. Found out it was more like $6-$7 to ship and it was a small box that didn't even weigh 4 lbs! Same for a carb base to MI, $6 in the smallest box it would fit in! I'll also second looking at shipping costs beforehand. You can go to both UPS.com and USPS.com as long as you know both zip codes, box size, and total weight you can calculate shipping costs upfront. The size and weight are crucial to know, prices vary ALOT! Lastly, don't forget about Greyhound for shipping oversize stuff like bumpers and sheetmetal. A local guy here in northern MN was quoted $300 to ship a GTO trunk lid from CA. He checked with Greyhound and the price was $45!
Free Boxes - Shipping supplies Hi, Guys Just so you know - The US mail system will give you free, YES Free boxes, shipping labels, packaging tape, etc. Not only do they give it to you - it is shipped to your door for free of charge. But it is for priority shipping and up (express, overnight) It is the only way to ship Items in the 0-15 lb range that will fit in the many boxes they supply. after that the price difference starts to show up in shipping cost. Packaging material are not free these days - I buy surplus tape @2.50 a roll - and i use a lot of it - boxes come from multiple sources, but I still have to go get them. What i have found to work good is to round up to the nearest pound and then add 1 more - on heavy items 30 - 70 you better add at least 3 pounds or you will eat shipping everytime. I ship 10 - 20 items a month and find that I am usually within a 1.00 of qouted shipping price. And yes I have a digital scale - but what is qouted on the US mail website and what is charged at the post office is sometimes different in both directions. If insureing items call the post office first- it seems that it is considerly higher than the web site states. using the priority service also reduces the extra unwanted email - where's my item? when did you ship it? Is it here yet? Since using priority when i can (Cranks, heads, heavy parts go parcel post at about half the price of priority) I noticed that feedback is better because the buyer gets what he paid for earlier, can finish the transaction and move to the next item he looking for. On the flip side i have had buyers tell me how much they want to pay for shipping based upon that they have a part that weighs (xxx) pounds with out considering packing/boxing materials. Then there are the times you box things up twice bacause it was over the lenght/girth, too heavy - I can remember boxing up some chrome/convt. mouldings twice to make it shippable - spent about 1 1/2 hours doing that and i didn't get paid any extra for it. The postal service is good - the tracking is no where near UPS, but they have not ever lost a package for me yet. well it looks like the meter on my .02 has run out.
We get slammed up here in Alaska. UPS and FedEx give everybody great rates and take it out on us. I have had great luck with USPS and their rates (to here) are about half what Brown and Blue charge. The funny thing is that USPS packages come up with FedEx!!! And they have never lost anything on me. Before I bid on something from E-bay I normally ask about the shipping charges, if their not too bad I bid, if their high I have to think about it. If I don't get a response on shipping I just pass. There have been a few times the shipping ended up more and I will try to work it out with the seller. If I get ripped off on shipping I will not deal with them again (has not happened yet). I think the key is to get a good estimate from the seller before you bid.
Doug, How does one go about getting these FREE boxes, labels and tape from the US Mail system??? I'd really like to know?o No:
Kenny, Just go to www.usps.com and they should have a link for supplies. You'll have to register with them to do it, but Doug is right - it's free and delivered to your door! I used to (and probably will soon again) sell these "Hot Cars" folders. I would spend a lot of time going to liquor stores to get boxes that I could cut up to sandwich the paper folders for shipping. Then I'd buy envelopes to put them in. This went on for a long time until I saw the light and started ordering their priority boxes. I also ordered the paper priority sleeves. I'd get a couple of cases of each. The folder would go into the sealed sleeve. That in turn would go into the larger box, surrounded by newspaper crumpled up. This was really overkill, but I never had a complaint of damaged items in shipping. Of course priority is something like $3.80 these days, which was a lot if one of these sold for only $5.00. With these items, I would usually provide insurance for free if the item went for $50. These packages saved time and money. :TU:
Boxes can be very expensive, if you need something large and double-walled. I have needed double-walled 4' long boxes twice, 12" x 12", to safely ship console bodies. The last one cost about $20 from a local packaging company, plus the actual shipping cost to send it out.
Double-walled is nice! At work we get them when we get a shipment of Petroleum Ether. Very nice boxes!
Re: Free Boxes - Shipping supplies Priority Mail tape is also free. Luckily, my wife's company ships her their stuff using lots of styro peanuts, so those are free too. John
Supplies The surplus tape is for the miles of tape that is needed when shipping the Heavy Items - Heads, cranks that are going parcel post. I tend to over tape weather using USPS or my own (Bought tape is for parcel post Items)- but Items that i ship don't fall out, get broken, or lost. I still use alot of non-USPS boxes, tubes, double side boxes - there is always a need for a bigger, smaller, longer, heavier type of boxes - If I had to buy and charge for the boxes and packaging stuff, I might think about stop selling parts that required shipping. Sorry about not posting a link to USPS web site - What i have found is to order the supplies - I have to call them. The web page ordering system let you fill a shipping cart of items, but it does not EVER seem to process the order. I find that it is easier to look at the web page and then call the order in on the FREE Again number 1-800-610-7833 I don't know how to shorten the link like a lot of you do - so here it is. Suppy pages-http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/p...ipping+Supplies/Business+Use/2.+Priority+Mail While I'm here - another Freebie, when order the shipping labels - order label 228C - They will print your return address on it for you - YES Free. Now If I could just find all the Items that poeple want - that fit in USPS boxes - and with a endless supply. I'm sure all those 700.00 overflow tanks would do - Heck i'd be happy with the 200-250 repo's that fit nicely in the FREE 12" by 12" boxes. I would be "ebay on earth" Forgot to add to the meter, so I'm outta here
