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Shipping Price - How do you get cheaper quote?

R

RTR

Well-known Member
Sold a Farmall Super A nose piece/grille to a guy in California from Alabama (yeah it is a long haul), and the USPS wants $58.00 to ship it!!!! I had charged the guy $38.00 to ship it because it doesn't weigh anything.....even boxed up, probably 5 lbs at the most. The box is large at 28" x 19" x 14" so I know that is where most of the charge is going. Is there a trick or better method than just going to the place and trying to ship it with the cost they give you?? I see these things being advertised all the time for much less shipping than I charged him and sometimes free shipping. I checked online with UPS and FedEx and they both want around $90.00 to ship it. I just can't afford to ship it after the eBay fees for $58.00 plus.

Any help and advice is much appreciated.
 
Only thing is to find out how much it costs to ship before selling,when I have to ship something I usually put about 1/2 the cost of shipping into the purchase price since people as
a general rule hate to pay the real cost of shipping.
 
If the item would fit in a smaller box and get that one measurment of 28'' to under 24'' your cost will go way down with the USPS. By the way, Amazon is subsidized by the taxpayers but you won't get the same deal.
 
(quoted from post at 22:16:39 05/21/18) If the item would fit in a smaller box and get that one measurment of 28'' to under 24'' your cost will go way down with the USPS. By the way, Amazon is subsidized by the taxpayers but you won't get the same deal.
Click to expand...

That is a good tip. Didn't know that 24 inches was the tipping point. Can you ship through amazon??
 
Try Fastenal--have used them a few times and always have been the cheapest---down side is they only ship from store to store
 
That is a large box, it works out to a volume of about 32 gallons. Can you disassemble it to fit it into a smaller box, or make a (sturdy) box to fit around it? If your time is worth $20 per hour you probably won't find a much lower rate. Either cancel the transaction or honor the quoted shipping price.

When I sell on Ebay I fit the item into a box, measure it, weigh it and get the shipping costs when I post each item for sale. Ebay gives a discount (around 5 percent?) when you purchase USPS shipping through Ebay.
 
Well they certainly aren't getting USPS, UPS, or Fedex to ship the item for free!

The cost of shipping is figured into the price of the item. It's really that simple. If you only charged $20 for the grille, and $58 for the shipping, you are no different than the guy who wants $80 for the grille and offers free shipping!

They figure shipping to the farthest-flung location, then hope someone closer buys it so they can pocket the difference. THAT is how free shipping works.

What's wrong with the system is, the general public eats it up! Most people are not savvy enough to realize they're paying up front; they only see the word FREE, and think they're getting a deal.

If you can't afford to charge $38 while paying $58 for shipping, you never should have advertised the item that way. Odds are the only reason the person is buying it from you is because they realize you're eating the shipping and they're getting a GREAT deal. Honor the deal and consider it a lesson learned.
 
Not 100% sure but I think Fastenal won't take it unless it is strapped to a pallet.
And then your at their mercy as far as getting it to the final destination in a timely manner. As your item has the least priority.
 
All the shippers now charge by weight OR volume whichever is most expensive, you have a 5# item, but you're putting it in a box that would normally hold a say a 35# item, so they nail you. Try to get it in a much smaller box.
 
I ship items by USPS that I sell on EBAY. I use the online USPS site to create a label so its ready to ship. I get a 10 or 15% discount I can't remember the exact discount.
 
(quoted from post at 01:19:07 05/22/18) I ship items by USPS that I sell on EBAY. I use the online USPS site to create a label so its ready to ship. I get a 10 or 15% discount I can't remember the exact discount.
Click to expand...

Thank you all for the advice. I will do this online and just suck up the kiss. I'll know for next time. Shipping is just outrageous these days. No way to put in smaller box.
 
I doubt that many of us deplorables are so dense as to think the shipping is really free. I will
not even look at an item that has shipping added on. I don't like to do the math. I want to know
what's it gonna cost me right now. TDF
 
UPS, FED-EX, USPS,and much of the manufacturing costs are all on the rise, do to the rising amount of retirement pension benefits being paid out.

There is an associated cost for doing nothing and there seems to be no end to it.
 
El ..... let me guess, you're not retired yet or if you are, you don't have a company pension (and despise those that do)?
 
Just had to replace the radiator in my F350. Shipping from Rock Auto was $81.00. That was the cheapest way to ship.
 
I just shipped some grill parts a couple of months ago and used Fastenal. Worked great for me. Just took it to the nearest store and they strapped it to the pallet for me. I shipped a complete pedal tractor to San Francisco CA recently. Took a couple of weeks, but no problems.
 
I am merely stating a fact. There is a cost associated with doing nothing and receiving something.

bankruptcy has the same effect.
 
About all I can add, and I'm sure you did this, but my dealing with USPS is they will automatically hit you with a high rate unless you specifically tell them you want the lowest possible rate up front.
 
I know the nose piece/grill on my A weighs a lot more than 5 lbs. $58 from AL to CA sounds reasonable to me.
a268433.jpg
 
I agree $58 for a bulky piece like that is about right really.It costs companies and the PO a lot of money to move freight these days.Don't think people really consider how much service they are getting and how much is involved in a shipment like that.
 
When you are shipping something that is large in dimension but low in weight you can usually put a lot more smaller items in the same box without it changing the price.

Contact your buyer and let him know what else you have for his tractor that you can sell him with no additional charge for shipping.

Might be able to peddle another $50 worth of small miscellaneous into the same box and you will both come out ahead of the game.
 
(quoted from post at 15:46:02 05/21/18) El ..... let me guess, you're not retired yet or if you are, you don't have a company pension (and despise those that do)?
Click to expand...

That's what it sounds like to me...????

I just read a article today that the trucking industry is so short of drivers that the pay is being driven up. About time, a lot of guys got hosed after deregulation drove wages down. One trucking company manager said that they had increased wages 10% so far this year, and are planning on a further 15% increase. It's just gonna cost more....
 
(quoted from post at 15:46:02 05/21/18) El ..... let me guess, you're not retired yet or if you are, you don't have a company pension (and despise those that do)?
Click to expand...

That's what it sounds like to me...????

I just read a article today that the trucking industry is so short of drivers that the pay is being driven up. About time, a lot of guys got hosed after the 80's drove wages down. One trucking company manager said that they had increased wages 10% so far this year, and are planning on a further 15% increase. It's just gonna cost more....
 
I advise you to get all your items weight cost ahead of time. Taking a beating on shipping is no way to make money on eBay.
 
(quoted from post at 21:59:27 05/21/18) You guys that mentioned Fastenol. Are you talking the same Fastenal that has the bolts? I never new they did shipping.
Click to expand...

Yes, them.
But it is a "your stuff goes towards it's destination when we have room in a truck going that way".
So it will often times take longer.
As far as I know, you still have to email your agent to get tracking info.
You ship from store to store only. Most stores require you to secure it to a pallet or the crate has to have a forklift-able base.
Some stores, if board will help round up a pallet and strap it down for you, but not stores.
One trick to avoid damage.......get an appropriate size pallet then build a pup tent shaped crate over your goods on the pallet. The pup tent shape prevents other pallets of stuff to be stacked on top of yours.
https://www.fastenal.com/en/22/3pl-(third-party-logistics)
 
Yes, Fastenal the nuts and bolts company.

But it is a "your stuff goes towards it's destination when we have room in a truck going that way".
So it will often times take longer.
As far as I know, you still have to email your agent to get tracking info.
You ship from store to store only. Most stores require you to secure it to a pallet or the crate has to have a forklift-able base.
Some stores, if board will help round up a pallet and strap it down for you, but not stores.
One trick to avoid damage.......get an appropriate size pallet then build a pup tent shaped crate over your goods on the pallet. The pup tent shape prevents other pallets of stuff to be stacked on top of yours.
I tried to show a link but this forum would not allow it.
 
Fastenal has told me on multiple occasions over a 3 or 4 year period that they are not currently shipping items to California.

On the USPS website you can find a diagram showing how they measure boxes. Anything over a certain size they really nail you. Same for big box but light weight.

UPS is often a little cheaper but they are not good about paying insurance claims if they damage something....and they damage their share for sure!

FedEx is often the cheapest.

Don't know about UPS, but USPS and FedEx offer pretty good discounts if you have an account with them.

I collect gas pump globes. Shipping from the west coast to the midwest on a 24"x24x24 box runs $80-120 so I wouldn't be complaining about $58!
 
Well....:I got it shipped. $58 total and it's ok. I was just hoping for something cheaper and a way to do it that I didn't know about. I tried buying the label online through USPS but the online site didn't offer Ground Shipping. The cheapest they offered online was $92. I went ahead and went to the post office and just did ground shipping for $58. Thank you all for the help!!!!
 
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