"Shipping Prices" Topic

Why is it that when you buy mini's the shipping says it cost this amount & when the item arrives its actually less? I dont mind if its .50-.75 off but $3.20 USD. That just ticks me off! Needless to say I popbably wont be buying anymore minis from that place no matter how cool they are. I just dont understand why they dont charge the actual price.

You are paying for the handling?

Shipping costs are more than postage.

You have to account for the packaging, the gas to get to the post office, the time an employee spent packing the box, getting it to the post office, and returning to work and so on.

If I make 10 an hour at my job, and it takes me 20 minutes round trip to get to the post office and back (assuming no line), the extra $3.20 USD covers my time but not the rest…

And the bottom line is, YOU made the order knowing what they were going to charge you, and you accepted that cost. If it was worth it to you at that point, what happened on your end that changed it?

Shipping costs are more than postage.

You have to account for the packaging, the gas to get to the post office, the time an employee spent packing the box, getting it to the post office, and returning to work and so on.

If I make 10 an hour at my job, and it takes me 20 minutes round trip to get to the post office and back (assuming no line), the extra $3.20 USD USD covers my time but not the rest…

And the bottom line is, YOU made the order knowing what they were going to charge you, and you accepted that cost. If it was worth it to you at that point, what happened on your end that changed it?

This. I think people often forget about incidentals. $3.20 USD seems like a perfectly reasonable amount to take care of everything.

Include packaging material and time to pack as well.

Yeah but…sounds like a bit of rationalization to me.

How many people re-use old boxes and supplies? I have a huge box stuffed with boxes to reuse. Cost: $0 USD

How about people re-use packing supplies? I have two lawn bags full of packing peanuts and bubble wrap to re-use. Cost: $0 USD

And the USPS will even pick up my packages at our door, especially since we prepay using paypal. Cost: $0 USD

It's no secret that many people on ebay use shipping to pad out the profits.

Our neighbor's full time job is selling on ebay. He does all the above, snatching up my excess materials to boot. He tries to keep shipping reasonable though.

This form of post happens fairly regularly and I agree that the OP knew the cost of shipping and accepted same.

Where I disagree is with some of the responses – that extra postage charge is net profit.

When we go to our FLGS and make a purchase, we would never accept being told that we are being charged $.10 USD for the plastic bag. Nor would we accept the individual behind the counter telling us that we were the only sale that hour and that we need to pay for the time he spent unproductively behind the register….or, the time he spent processing and bagging that order….

If you are a brick and mortar, the costs of the wages you will pay are known (for the most part) and are included in your pricing.

Likewise, if you are an internet business, you know you will have packaging costs and labor costs associated with that sale. Your staff may be more productive, in that they are not standing at the register all day. Those costs are legitimately your cost of sales and could/should be reflected in your items price – the same way you spread your rent, utilities, insurance…. over the cost of those items.

By charging a handling fee, you are able to lower the listed price of your items (potentially as a sales "draw") and then recoup it with your "handling fee".

Net impact – same total cost to the customer.

And, yes, I am one of those "financial" guys.

The postage charges are up front when we purchase. Remember, the postage charge used by a company often relates to more than just one mini being sent in the mail.

Now, lets say the individual ordered 20 mini's, and the postage cost on the box was more than they paid when they ordered, would that same person then send the difference?

Remember, when using the wording, "actually cost", none of us are willing to pay more than what was stated when ordering, even if the actual cost of postage is $3.20 USD more. We only complain when it is the other way around.

Thank you Fredjg. So often I get a package in a FREE Priority Mail box with some old newspaper at packing. Tacking on a disproportate "handling" fee is a sure way to ensure I won't buy from them again. We accept the listed postage cost because we assume it's somehow reasonable. When we find it's way off then we get annoyed. And yes, I've offered to send more when something came at a significantly higher postage than I paid. The seller politely thanked me and said it would all average out eventually. I pay close attention to postage costs and it clearly affects how much I'm willing to pay for the item(s).

$3 USD, £2.00 GBP I have no problem with, ultimately as a seller, I do not want to be caught short, if I am, I wear it and post the item without asking the buyer to cover the shortfall. In the rough and tumble scheme of things, it is difficult to be precise. $5 USD, £3.00 GBP is starting to push the friendship a bit. However, I have noticed that I have been hit for $10 USD+, £6.00 GBP+ at times, and in the days of Paypal, would not be difficult to refund.

When I buy I take the total cost including shipping and decide if I ind it reasonable – if so I do not give a rip how much is "handling" and how much is shipping. I had someone ask me to lower my own shipping charge on an ebay sale once, I politely told him that I listed the shipping charge up front and woyld not charge less. You don't like the shipping rate then don't buy it in the first place.

From my perspective, if a customer pays X for shipping, it includeds everything! Period.
Now, if a customer Pays X and the cost is X-n, then we, at Wargamers' Terrain, refund the difference if the buyer used paypal. And if the cost of shipping was more, then I suggest my customer spend the savings on a cold brew!!!
It is just our philosophy.

:-)

I understand that i made the purchase, no problem with that but items were to be shipped priority & came first class. Ive bought miniatures from other places & what they charged reflected the actual cost. There have been several times as an ebay that i've undercharged the buyer & didnt ask for them to pay for my mistake. I've also overcharged on occasion & have sent the difference. All im saying is that if Im paying for priority it should be sent priority & not first class, that was my actual complaint which i shouldve stated clearly.

Now this does make a difference. Yes, you were charged for one type of shipping and the package was sent another way, then there is a true grievance. The actual then is not getting what was promised and then paid for in the first place. That is some thing all can understand and agree to.

Likewise, if you are an internet business, you know you will have packaging costs and labor costs associated with that sale. Your staff may be more productive, in that they are not standing at the register all day. Those costs are legitimately your cost of sales and could/should be reflected in your items price – the same way you spread your rent, utilities, insurance…. over the cost of those items.

I disagree to a point.
All my items have a retail price.
The cost of labour and packing materials and boxes and paper for packing slips and do on is NOT reflected in the items retail price, these are reflected in the postage and packing charges.

If I increased the actual items price then people would see that my product X costs more then bobs same product X.
People at trade shows that do not pay to have things posted would complain that I am charging them postage when they are collecting.

As such it is more financially sound to charge customers the same retail price regardless.
If they want to collect which is no extra cost to me then they pay no extra, but if they want me to offer a postage service then they must pay for the postage service.

> I understand that i made the purchase, no problem with that but items were to be shipped priority & came first class

That is a different kettle of fish. They specify a certain method then they better ship using that method (or better)

All im saying is that if Im paying for priority it should be sent priority & not first class, that was my actual complaint which i shouldve stated clearly.

aaaaah yes, ask for a refund.

Postage is always a mongrel thing; when we sell we never charge handling and reuse old packing, but no matter what you charge you never cover it on smaller orders. As an example we were paying an average of 66% in postage on orders under 100 bucks but only charging an average of 20%.

However I fully agree that if you were to ask me for postage option A and I charged you for it but delivered it using the cheaper postage option B then I am 'fleecing' you.

bubble wrap costs money, boxes cost money, perhaps?

When we go to our FLGS and make a purchase, we would never accept being told that we are being charged $0.10 USD USD for the plastic bag.

You should go shopping in Wales: 5p mandatory charge by law for a bag, as I discovered at Penderyn whisky distillery. But they were very kind and gave me an old box, for which they didn't have to charge, so I could make off with my Welsh hooch all safely cosseted…

Actually, bubble wrap and packaging are incidental, the big outlay on posting is the amount of tape you go through.

arrrrgh brown tape!

To me it all comes down to transparency. If you tell me it will cost $10 USD to ship it to me I expect shipping to be close to that. If the charge includes $1 USD or less extra, then that's fine. If it's going to be much more than that, then you need to specifically say on your site that you charge a handling feel of X to cover your cost of materials, etc. At that point I do not think there can be any argument about what is charged.

What I do not accept is the argument that it's OK to hide your "cost of materials and other related charges" in a "shipping" fee when that starts to look like a way to make extra money while keeping the advertised price low.

Do you also charge extra for an order that someone takes over the phone since it takes more time to process than one sent electronically?

Do you charge less when you drive to the post office with multiple orders?

If you are charging me as if my order is the only one you are taking to the post office, can you honestly say you always take the orders there even when there is only one? Or do you sometimes wait until you are already going there and take a bunch?

Do you always give me a new box and packing materials if you charge me for them?

I really want everyone to make money in this business but be upfront about everything. I only have issues when I feel someone is trying to pull a fast one.

I am somewhere in between.I agree that labour, packaging material and even trips to the PO need to be covered by the cost of S&H. So I do not expect the stamps to give the exact same amount and I am fine with it.

On the other hand I find that some companies / retailers overcharge on those. It is often those youmcharge you a percentage of the retail price or even a base cost plus a percentage of the retail price. There is one company in the UK I have been meaning to buy from for 2 1/2 years now, but I am simply not willing to pay 10GB£ to Europe for 24 28mm minis!

But honestly, I do not think that it is actually evil intend with those who overcharge. My feeling is that they either are overwhelmed by by the system for postage (I know Royal Mail is quiet complicated for example). Others are sculptors first and retailers second (=they have no idea of their actual running costs) and are afraid to loose out and would rahter not chance charging too little.

But as others have siad… if I know beforehand what I will pay and feel it is too much, then I simply do not buy. Period!

My two cents,

Burkhard