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Gauche1968
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2006
Posts: 1518
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 Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:15 am Post subject: Shipping Charges? |
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I just got a notification email that an item I had my eye on is back in stock at one of our vendors. When I go to check out, I am slapped in the face by a shipping charge that is almost half the price of the (not oversized) item that caused me to think twice about buying it. I mean shipping charges are what they are today, but would you rather the vendors built the charges in to the price of the item somewhat so there is less shipping sticker shock or would you prefer transparency in the shipping cost? I guess its a psychological question, but for old timers used to $4.95 flat rate shipping with priority mail, some of the shipping costs today cause a lot of cognitive dissonance. 
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1984 Vanagon GL
1984 Vanagon Westy |
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Fracas
Samba Member
Joined: October 01, 2015
Posts: 55
Location: Calgary
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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Shipping prices are out of control these days its even worse shipping internationally.
I was seriously considering purchasing a new engine from an American vendor until I realized that shipping now costs are now 60% higher than last year. look like it will be a subie swap for my van after all.... |
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Wellington
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2004
Posts: 1884
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:22 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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There has to be a minimum cost for materials, packing and shipping.
Maybe adding more parts to your shipment, the shipping cost would likely not increase much.
At least you know exactly what the cost is.
I placed an order a while back with a vendor that was having a 2 day sale, 10% off. The shipping came to $20 (small items, vendor is pretty local), I actually thought the shipping was high.
A week later, i put the same items in my cart, (no sale) and the shipping was now $12 for the same items. Some sale !! |
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vanis13
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2010
Posts: 3088
Location: ABQ NM USA.... Except when not
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:32 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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Short reply...I wouldn't be surprised in the future to see the same item(s) to have double listings - one with free shipping one with shipping options separate.... Sometimes the separate/combined shipping makes sense if ordering more than one item.
How it's presented could be hiding something.
Example. I manufacture the Land Rover mirror brackets in the USA and partner with an ebay seller who get the mirrors from the UK. You know a little thing to contribute to the vanagon community, there is not alot of money in it to start of with. A big name vendor copied the idea and is saying in their ad that they offer this solution cheaper than those offered on ebay (among other misleading info)... Well it turns out this copycat misleading vendor price doesn't include shipping so the almost $20 in shipping on top of their price makes the solution more expensive from them since ours which has free (included) shipping. PS, in addition, the copycat vendor charges more for shipping than what it actually costs to ship the item.
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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace
www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make |
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Red Ryder
Samba Member
Joined: June 26, 2021
Posts: 951
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:49 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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Maybe some of our favorite vendors could offer free shipping with “Samba Prime” membership! 
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“Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland
“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition
Tornado Red |
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vanis13
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2010
Posts: 3088
Location: ABQ NM USA.... Except when not
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:56 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Wellington wrote: |
I placed an order a while back with a vendor that was having a 2 day sale, 10% off. The shipping came to $20 (small items, vendor is pretty local), I actually thought the shipping was high.
A week later, i put the same items in my cart, (no sale) and the shipping was now $12 for the same items. Some sale !! |
Don't you just HATE that!?!?!
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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace
www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7915
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 9:27 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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Higher fuel prices + higher employment costs + higher supplies/materials cost + inflation = higher and higher shipping prices, which vendors pass on to customers. A giant outfit like Amazon can offer free shipping, but small vendors cannot.
Even that $4.95 USPS flat rate someone mentioned isn't $4.95, and hasn't been for years. The last time I had to send a large envelope to Europe (a couple years ago) I nearly choked when I heard the total, and lost money on the product.
One van vendor is now adding on a "processing" type of fee in addition to the shipping charge.
If you want/have to buy online, unfortunately, paying for shipping is part of the game.😕
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~Kamz 
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:24 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| kamzcab86 wrote: |
| A giant outfit like Amazon can offer free shipping, but small vendors cannot. |
^ This is the problem. Amazon has set unrealistic consumer expectations that small businesses can't meet. We have to realize that most companies cannot afford to offer free 2-day shipping or even discounted shipping.
Along with inflation and gas prices, I would not be surprised if the deals USPS and UPS have struck with Amazon have inflated shipping prices for everyone else in the process. They have to make up for it somewhere.
If you are okay with devolving into a homogenous monoculture then please continue shopping at Amazon. For the rest of us that want to support small business and quality product diversity, please shop elsewhere and understand shipping costs are part of your responsibility.
End of rant 
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'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16850
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:35 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Vanuber wrote: |
| kamzcab86 wrote: |
| A giant outfit like Amazon can offer free shipping, but small vendors cannot. |
^ This is the problem. Amazon has set unrealistic consumer expectations that small businesses can't meet. We have to realize that most companies cannot afford to offer free 2-day shipping or even discounted shipping.
Along with inflation and gas prices, I would not be surprised if the deals USPS and UPS have struck with Amazon have inflated shipping prices for everyone else in the process. They have to make up for it somewhere.
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the bold section is the real issue. i mean you can literally ship a 10k sq ft garage from amazon for "free" but it will cost you 150 bux to ship a chunk of foam for a seat cushion from CA to CT
we end up paying for this.
i have told people for a long time when i get involved in a project that expect at least 1/3 of the total project cost to be eaten by shipping. depending on what you're shipping it is pretty true.
but... they got us by the short hairs.... either pay up or go without
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my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
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| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
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ImAddicted
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2012
Posts: 1195
Location: Unorganized Territory, Maine
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:37 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Vanuber wrote: |
I would not be surprised if the deals USPS and UPS have struck with Amazon have inflated shipping prices for everyone else in the process. They have to make up for it somewhere.
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It has, there was an article recently about that exact thing. Add to the games that is being played with the USPS, and this isn't going to get better in the short term. Now that they have market control, that Prime "2 day shipping" has pretty much gone out the window as well. They lost 50% of my last two orders before they even hit USPS. I'm done with AMZ.
One of the things I like about RockAuto is you can see pretty easy what the shipping costs are and be able to make selections of things (within reason on brand choices\needs) to combine shipping to save some $.
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1979 Transporter (sold)
KC1MUR
| strfish7 wrote: |
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dabaron
Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018
Posts: 2559
Location: Philly, mang
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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how much do you think it should cost to hand deliver an item to your house?
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
BiWerks Design, LLC |
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Paulbeard
Samba Member
Joined: July 10, 2015
Posts: 2604
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Gauche1968 wrote: |
| a shipping charge that is almost half the price of the (not oversized) item |
I bought two ignition switches from BusDepot and they were pennies less than the shipping cost. Still, about the same as one failure prone one from my FLAPS.
So what happens next? Everyone uses Amazon for warehousing/picking/shipping? Or does the USA do what France did and outlaw free shipping to remove that advantage?
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs
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Ahwahnee
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 9796
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:53 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Vanuber wrote: |
| ...I would not be surprised if the deals USPS and UPS have struck with Amazon have inflated shipping prices for everyone else in the process... |
I cannot recall the last time I got an Amazon order via USPS.
It's my understanding that after the prior administration tried to stick it to Amazon they moved most of their shipping to their own fleet. Perhaps it is just because of where I live but for most items the Amazon truck brings it to me.
They just make it so convenient - rather than get in the car and drive to the auto parts store (or hardware store or whatever) I can just have it delivered to me the next day.
Each new iteration (Woolworths, Sears, K-Mart, Wal*Mart, Amazon) looks like the end of retail as we know it - then we adapt and move on. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22633
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:37 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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These threads are thoroughly amusing
There is no such thing as free shipping.
Online sales comprise 14% of retail last quarter.
If the shipping cost is too high, get in your car and drive to East BFE and pick up your great deal 45 cents cheaper than the other guy.
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.ssS! |
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jimf909 
Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014
Posts: 7455
Location: WA/ID
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Gauche1968 wrote: |
| I guess its a psychological question, but for old timers used to $4.95 flat rate shipping with priority mail, some of the shipping costs today cause a lot of cognitive dissonance. |
The cheapest USPS flat rate box is $8 and the med and large ship for $15-$20 so a few stove knobs ship for $8 and a few parts ship for $15 - $20 or more.
| Abscate wrote: |
There is no such thing as free shipping.
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I've had a free-gift-with-purchase ship for free. The more I spent the more I saved!
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- Jim
| Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
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dabaron
Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018
Posts: 2559
Location: Philly, mang
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:57 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
There is no such thing as free shipping.
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the shipping container has changed the world, the per unit shipping cost is less than a cent on many many things. i was a project manager for a model train company and 10 ton containers from China were mind boggling cheap.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
BiWerks Design, LLC |
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snwbrdr435
Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2013
Posts: 337
Location: North Of Boston
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| Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| dabaron wrote: |
| Abscate wrote: |
There is no such thing as free shipping.
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company and 10 ton containers from China were mind boggling cheap. |
Not anymore that cost has sky rocketed recently |
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jimf909
Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014
Posts: 7455
Location: WA/ID
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:16 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| dabaron wrote: |
| Abscate wrote: |
There is no such thing as free shipping.
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the shipping container has changed the world, the per unit shipping cost is less than a cent on many many things. i was a project manager for a model train company and 10 ton containers from China were mind boggling cheap. |
It's true that the shipping container changed the world, but it's the last mile that adds the costs. All those pesky humans driving big vans to a street address. Amazon is addressing this through pick-up, lockers and soon we'll have PrimeAir autonomous drone delivery solving the OPs problems. Resist.
PrimeAir
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011
Link
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- Jim
| Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
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Chugach
Samba Member
Joined: November 22, 2012
Posts: 109
Location: Ak
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:08 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Complaining within the 48 contiguous United States.... unless it's USPS flat rate, shipping here is at least 3X your normal ; many places just won't even ship here. The most fun is trying to explain to somebody that Alaska or Hawaii is not a foreign country. I'm just happy to find the parts when I need them. |
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photogdave
Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2004
Posts: 3048
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:18 am Post subject: Re: Shipping Charges? |
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| Vanuber wrote: |
| kamzcab86 wrote: |
| A giant outfit like Amazon can offer free shipping, but small vendors cannot. |
^ This is the problem. Amazon has set unrealistic consumer expectations that small businesses can't meet. We have to realize that most companies cannot afford to offer free 2-day shipping or even discounted shipping.
Along with inflation and gas prices, I would not be surprised if the deals USPS and UPS have struck with Amazon have inflated shipping prices for everyone else in the process. They have to make up for it somewhere.
If you are okay with devolving into a homogenous monoculture then please continue shopping at Amazon. For the rest of us that want to support small business and quality product diversity, please shop elsewhere and understand shipping costs are part of your responsibility.
End of rant |
You totally nailed it.
Amazon has also conditioned consumers to expect free return shipping. The amount of resources wasted by Amazon is truly disgusting.
I process Amazon returns all day long at the post office and sometimes I'll say something to the customer like "we'll get that straight off to the landfill" and they just laugh and say "I know, right?!"
Customers also seem to want to equate the cost of shipping with the value of the item they are sending. They get all upset when you tell them it's going to cost $18 to send a $10 T-shirt all the way across the country. When you explain that the truck carrying their shirt and the the people processing the package are quite oblivious to what you paid for it and that it's the size, weight and distance that determine the shipping cost, they think you're being rude!
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89 Syncro GL Westfalia 2.1 WBX/WBXaustSS
My Westy Movies:
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