Sport Today

For those of you just joining this thread, it all started when Windsurfing
Express charged me $10.90 to ship 2 fins and then insisted they were
considered large items and that shipping costs have increased.

Now we all know that shipping and handle charges are a racket to boost
the old profit margin, but how much does it really cost to ship packages
across the country?

Well, I decided to take a little vist to our local UPS office.  Seeing
that Stillwater, America (that's in Okiehoma) is about the middle
of the country, shipping to either coast would represent the highest
cost.  So I asked the clerk about shipping several different size
packages from Stillwater to Miami, Florida, at the residential rate
(shipping to a comercial business is cheaper), by ground service.
And look what I found:

                1 lb.           3.03
                2 lb.           3.40
                5 lb.           4.01
               10 lb.           4.76     (in U.S. dollars)
               15 lb.           6.20
               20 lb.           7.67
               30 lb.          10.63

Well, what about size limits?
               length           <= 108"  ( 9 ft.)
               length + girth   <= 130"  ( a box 6 ft. x 2 ft. x 6 in.)
               weight           <= 70 lb.

How about insurance? Up to $100 - free, 30 cents for every $100 over that.

Later that day, with UPS rates in hand, I stopped by the post office with
the fin that came with my board.  I put the fin on the scales and read
12.1 ounces.  Thats under a pound, so UPS would charge me $3.03 to ship it
to Miami.  How about the U.S mail?  $1.67 for third class, $2.90 for
priority mail.

After seeing this revelation, and being the curious person I am, I
immediately said to myself:

        "How much would I cost to ship a brick to W.X."

So I ran back home; grab a normal, everday, red brick; came back to the
post office; placed it on the scales and low and behold this 6 lbs. 3.9 ounce
brick cost only $5.62 to ship to W.X. ( $4.01 - $4.76 by UPS).  Hell, it
cost less to ship the brick by priority mail through the U.S Postal
Service ($7.55) then W.X. is charging me to ship 2 itty, bitty, little fins
that don't even way 2 pounds when dripping wet.

By this time, I'm having way to much fun, so I came home and grabed a
sample of mailorder catalogs to compare shipping and handling charges
(results listed below).  Seems the only company in my little sample
that comes close to actual shipping costs is West Marine.

Needless to say the more I look into this, the more Ralph Nadar-ish I
become.  I've already wrote the president of W.X., next step fire off
letters to the Better Busines, Consumer Reports, Fight Back America and
anyone else I can think of.  I did here that several years ago there was
a movement to require mailorder business to be more realistic with
shipping and handling or face mail fraud charges (but this is probalily
just wishful thinking).  All this may not do any good, but it does give
me a great feeling of revenge.

Anyway past on the UPS information, and if anybody wants call a few
frieght companies and find out the true cost of shipping a broad
across the country.

Brad

Windsurfing Express      Sailboard Warehouse            Sailways
-------------------    -----------------------   ------------------------
Most Items     6.90    < 25.00            3.95    < 50.00            4.90
Large Items   10.90      25.01 -  50.00   4.95      50.01 - 100.00   6.90
                         50.01 -  75.00   6.95     101.00 - 200.00   9.90
                         75.01 - 100.00   7.95     201.00 - 300.00  13.90
                        100.01 - 150.00   8.95   > 300.00           16.90
                        150.01 - 300.00   9.95
                      > 300.00           10.95

Boards        79.00                      60.00                      79.00

 Victoria British Ltd.            Bike Nashbar              West Marine
-----------------------    -----------------------   -----------------------
 < 20.00            4.25   < 15.00            3.45      1 lb.           2.99
   20.01 -  50.00   6.25     15.01 -  50.00   4.45      2 lb.           3.70
   50.01 - 100.00   8.25   > 50.00            5.45      6 lb.           4.88
  100.01 - 150.00  11.25                               10 lb.           6.38
  150.01 - 250.00  17.25                               15 lb.           7.34
  250.01 - 500.00  19.25                               20 lb.          11.13

     Bass Pro Shops                 Cabelas               Gander Mountain
-----------------------    -----------------------   -----------------------
 < 15.00            3.75   < 15.00            3.75   < 15.00            3.75
   15.01 -  30.00   4.95     15.01 -  30.00   5.35     15.01 -  40.00   5.30
   30.01 -  45.00   5.75     30.01 -  50.00   6.35     40.01 -  75.00   6.45
   45.01 -  75.00   6.20     50.01 -  80.00   6.95     75.01 - 100.00   7.15
   75.01 - 100.00   6.95     80.01 - 110.00   7.55    100.01 - 200.00   8.15
  100.01 - 125.00   7.50    110.00 - 200.00   7.95  > 200.00            8.50
  125.01 - 150.00   8.00    200.01 - 500.00   8.25
  150.01 - 200.00   8.25  > 500.00            free
  200.01 - 300.00   8.95

 >
 >.........

Thanks for the information.  I guess we have to figure the Shipping &
Handling is part of the total cost.  When shopping locally, the sales
tax and car travel ($.25 - $.30 per mile) are part of the total cost.
I believe a fair S & H cost should be actual shipping cost plus handling.
If the clerk is paid $10 per hour, the handling should be $2.00 to $2.50.
No question, W. X. over charges the S & H.

Did they just put an address label on the fins and drop them in a mailbox?
You might want to consider the cost of packaging materials, space to
maintain an inventory of those materials, the weight of those materials,
etc.

The short answer is, compare the "landed cost" if you're shopping based
on price.  If the S&H add-on bugs you, find a vendor that quotes delivered
prices, but don't think the postage is all that's involved in getting your
parts to you.
_____________

                        Hewlett-Packard Disk Memory Division

Cost of doing business, should be reflected in the advertised price.

One fin weights 13 ounces.

Cardboard boxes and peanuts are cheap! Does the store you by your
clothes charge you every time it puts merchandise in a bag, NO, that
is the cost of doing business and is reflected in the price of the item.
Thus the grocery store charge your for every bag you get, NO, that's the
cost of going business.

Brad

|> ....  So I asked the clerk about shipping several different size
|> packages from Stillwater to Miami, Florida, at the residential rate
|> (shipping to a comercial business is cheaper), by ground service.
|> And look what I found:
|>
|>                 1 lb.           3.03
|>                 2 lb.           3.40
|>                 5 lb.           4.01
|>                10 lb.           4.76     (in U.S. dollars)
|>                15 lb.           6.20
|>                20 lb.           7.67
|>                30 lb.          10.63
|>
|> Well, what about size limits?
|>                length           <= 108"  ( 9 ft.)
|>                length + girth   <= 130"  ( a box 6 ft. x 2 ft. x 6 in.)
|>                weight           <= 70 lb.
|>
|> How about insurance? Up to $100 - free, 30 cents for every $100 over that.
|>
|> ..........stuff deleted.........
|>
|> Anyway past on the UPS information, and if anybody wants call a few
|> frieght companies and find out the true cost of shipping a broad
|> across the country.
|>

Interresting, especially when you consider that all of the mail order
places I called wanted to change me $79 or so for S&H for the Ecstacy
board (8'4'' around 17Lbs) or similar sizes boards. It seems it would
really cost around $10 given your figures...Hummm...

P.S. I ended up buying the board localy since the price was pretty much
the same (taking taxes versus S&H cost). I much prefer make a local shop
make a sale rather than some distant mail order place if the price is
right..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, only if you want to cut the board in half.  

I don't think the board will fit the lenght + grith <= 130 inches limit
for UPS shipping (grith = lenght around fatest part), so it would have to
go by truck.  But I did ask a friend who works in a shop that sells boards
about shipping by truck and he said it cost about $50 to ship a board
(haven't called any trucking companies).

Brad

: Cost of doing business, should be reflected in the advertised price.
:

You'll get no argument from me on that!  I was just pointing out
some other considerations that didn't seem to be accounted for by
the original poster.

Running a small business is a lot of work, and not very many people
get rich by it.

: Thus the grocery store charge your for every bag you get, NO, that's the
: cost of going business.

There's a local supermarket that encourages reuse of bags here in Boise.
They give a 6 cent credit for bags (paper or plastic) that you bring back
and use to bag your groceries.

It seems like a promotion at that price, and I imagine most people still
can't be bothered, but I think it's great.  (This isn't a funky little
hole in the wall, either, it's a large, employee-owned business.)
_____________

                        Hewlett-Packard Disk Memory Division

Lets try cost accounting on this problem:

Assume 15 minutes to take an order, pull from inventory, wrap, weigh,
label and drive to post office.  Also assume $4/hr for the worker doing
this.

Thus you get $1 per order for S&H direct labor.  Selling price is 4
times this to cover marketing and other costs of doing business (which
is typical in the computer industry).

Now we have $4 for Handling plus postage which I believe comes to what
you were charged.

Buying multiple items uses about the same amount of Handling time
which is why mailorder companies give better S&H rates for multiple
item orders (except to this CD club I belong to, but that is another
story for rec.audio).

Bottom line, I think $6 is fair for a fin and $10 is a rip-off.

Kirk out

BTW, if customer service sucks, then don't deal with them since that is
part of what you are paying for.

4 times, Are you sure the markups that low?

Payroll, Stuctures, Advertising are all cost of doing business and are
factored into the price of an item.

Why not just add $6 to the price of the fin don't charge extra for S&H?
Because Shipping and Handling charges are nothing but a racket to give lower  
advertised prices to fool you into thinking they sell their product for
less than someone else.

Brad

Sure it's a promotion, it's a way to try and play on your envirmental feelings
and get you to come to their story.

But if you walk up to the counter with 3 lbs of bananas and they said "Well,
we had to get those from South America so we have to charge you 50 cents
S&H, what would you think?

Brad

I just shipped a 12 ft. poly board to my father-in-law from Colorado to
Tampa and it cost $130.  Most companies that do a lot of shipping get
a 40-50% discount on truck shipping.