Shipping Expense Is Killing Business

[SZR48207]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
I think it's actually cheaper for them to ship goods from China to the US than from one state to another. Some sort of international mail treaty. That's why a lot of the little guys in the US who used to sell to US customers got put out of business by business in China that include free shipping. Only drawback is that you have to wait about 2-3 weeks to get it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/stor...m=.cfad632b0f89


Yeah the eBay China sellers must be paying pennies for postage. I bought an item from a seller that cost about $1.10 shipped from Thailand. I have no idea if money was even made on the sale when you factor in the cost of the envelope, eBay fees, and the postage to send it halfway around the world.

 

[tenderloin]

A business partner and myself have a very popular sporting goods piece of equipment that over the years sold like hot cakes. It is heavy at 12 lbs. The past few years shipping costs have eaten all the profit. The only way around it that I have found is to deliver pallets to Amazon for them to sell, package and mail all at a much cheaper cost then I can do it myself. If they ship it out to other distribution centers across the nation for quicker service, I have to pay that price as well. Will see how it works out

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
We used to ship stuff on greyhound but you had to go to the bus station to pick it up.


Hound still does freight.

 

[bioburner]

Amazon is getting its own fleet and air. If they can ship a pallet of goods to a UPS central point then have it delivered via them it drops the shipping cost down. I worked palletizing products for a company to do just that. Cheap to have a trucking company to deliver to UPS a pallet then UPS does the rest or drop off at local post office

 

[friendly_jacek]

yup, hidden inflation alright. also easy to see in healthcare and college tuition.

 

[expat]

I'm glad this came up.

I stopped buying stuff from the US about 2 years ago because of the cost of shipping.

It seems for a package under 3 or 4 lbs it is less expensive get it shipped from just about ANYWHERE in the world other than the US.

It's crazy, I just bought bearings from Germany that I could have bought in the US for less money, but the cost of shipping was 3 times the price!

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: bioburner
Amazon is getting its own fleet and air. If they can ship a pallet of goods to a UPS central point then have it delivered via them it drops the shipping cost down. I worked palletizing products for a company to do just that. Cheap to have a trucking company to deliver to UPS a pallet then UPS does the rest or drop off at local post office


Harbor freight used to do this! I'd order some stuff, it would get put on a train (?) from CA to NJ, then get UPS'd the rest of the way. Took 29 days one time.

 

[Andrew1972]

I am guessing this is why smaller businesses keep stock at amazon's distribution and let amazon get their cut into a sale.

 

[aquariuscsm]

What's weird is I bought an lp (vinyl record) on Ebay from Puerto Rico. Seller only charged me $4 to ship it from there to Texas. Some sellers 100 miles away from where I live will try to get $10-$15 to ship the same kind of item. Sellers trying to profit and mark up shipping?

 

[4WD]

No doubt - was looking to bid (eBay) on identical items the other day and one was 3x the shipping (CA & NY) ...

 

[macarose]

The USPS charged $22.98 for my son to send a Playstation II console. It was five pounds.

The cheapest rate? $22.98.

Amazon gave us a whole $3.99 for shipping cost.

Yeah! I know your pain!

 

[JimPghPA]

Saved for future reference.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
What's weird is I bought an lp (vinyl record) on Ebay from Puerto Rico. Seller only charged me $4 to ship it from there to Texas. Some sellers 100 miles away from where I live will try to get $10-$15 to ship the same kind of item. Sellers trying to profit and mark up shipping?


Shipping is a hassle for a seller and people price accordingly. The rate only drops due to competition or motivation to sell.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
What's weird is I bought an lp (vinyl record) on Ebay from Puerto Rico. Seller only charged me $4 to ship it from there to Texas. Some sellers 100 miles away from where I live will try to get $10-$15 to ship the same kind of item. Sellers trying to profit and mark up shipping?


If you read that article I quoted, the postal service gives better rates to foreign countries and loses money on things sent to the US while they charge different rates to domestic users. US shippers can't get the same price as shippers in foreign countries. So it's not a level playing field, US shippers charge more because the postal service charges them more.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: tenderloin
A business partner and myself have a very popular sporting goods piece of equipment that over the years sold like hot cakes. It is heavy at 12 lbs. The past few years shipping costs have eaten all the profit. The only way around it that I have found is to deliver pallets to Amazon for them to sell, package and mail all at a much cheaper cost then I can do it myself. If they ship it out to other distribution centers across the nation for quicker service, I have to pay that price as well. Will see how it works out


I have heard this as well. Just curious, what is the piece of equipment, you can PM if you want.

 

[grampi]

I shipped a football in a box (about the size of a loaf of bread), UPS, and it was $25...and a football weighs nothing...I thought you gotta be kidding me...no wonder shipping costs are a business killer!

 

[JTK]

Not only has the expense gone up, but the quality has gone way down IMO. FedEx has been the worst for me. Most recent example is a small package that was on the truck for delivery to my home on Saturday 01/07. It never made it. I tracked it and found "delivery exception due to weather". "Delivery by the end of the day on the 10th". Not a snowflake fell all day. Roads in my area all clear down to pavement. Here it is Monday and still no package or change per the tracking info. What do they do, take it back off the truck and throw it on a shelf somewhere?

 

[aquariuscsm]

Why do clothes cost so much to ship? I'll see people selling one single shirt on eBay and wanting like fifteen bucks to ship it. Thing is so lightweight a gust of wind would blow it away!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: macarose
The USPS charged $22.98 for my son to send a Playstation II console. It was five pounds.

The cheapest rate? $22.98.

Amazon gave us a whole $3.99 for shipping cost.

Yeah! I know your pain!

Couldn't ship it flat rate?

 

[Ramblejam]

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