Rant mode on -

Are the rest of you getting tired of finding an item at a good price then checking out only to find the shipping charges are so high that it's not worth it to buy? It makes it so hard to shop because you can't compare the prices directly you have to factor in the shipping.

Rant mode off-

I understand that it's not free to ship items but let's be honest a $3.50 item is not worth $11.75 when you factor in the shipping. Sure I like to wait to place a large order so I don't fee so bad about the shipping but sometimes you need a small ferro rod for a kit you’re putting together and find a good source for it but you just can't justify the cost of the shipping for such a small item.

Thanks for listening,
Adam

S/H is a lucrative side income for companies. I've given up on several companies just for this reason. A chronometer I looked at was $400 + $21.50 S/H from Sovietski.com A dedicated watch shop has the same item for $380 and $8.75- insured! Customers need to be aggressive. Write the company and tell them "I want to patronise your business, but I can't justify your S/H. This is my zipcode. Can you do better?"

Adam:

Several things that people forget when they purchase something is cost per mile of the vehicle they use to get to the store, and the value of their time.

It has been awhile since I checked on what the average cost per mile is for using a motor vehicle. The vehicle rental companies and Consumers Union which publishs Consumer Reports are two good sources for cost per mile to operate a motor vehicle. The last time I looked, which was several years ago, it was about $.42 per mile. So the next time you go to buy something "locally", multiply $.42 per mile times the miles you drive and add that to the cost of what you purchased, or find the current amount if you can find it at CR or from the auto rental companies.

The other thing to consider is the amount of money you make per hour on your job or hobby. Use that figure based on the amount of time it took you to go buy the item "locally" and add that to the cost of the item.

Chances are those two expenses will probably set you back more than S/H through the mail order route.

One other thing is that the time you save can be used to do something else constuctive and/or profitable and deduct the money you made from the cost of the item and you may have actually bought the item for free.

When I did private HVAC-R contracting, I charged $42.00 per hour for labor, and a $35.00 trip charge. Because most people wanted a bottom line price, I always fudged the estimate in case I ran into a problem which I would fix and eat the cost instead of telling people I needed more money for the job. In this manner I averaged about $60.00 per hour worked and kept my customers happy because I always did the job at the quoted price. This being the case, I had no problem giving a helper or friend $10.00 or $20.00 to pick up parts or do other errands for me. They were happy to get easy money for easy work and I smelled like a rose while being able to make more money by doing the work that paid me the high rate.

Bountyhunter

Well the bottom line is that I didn't buy the item. So who lost out? Time is money but I have to feel like it's a resonable cost for the item in question. To me the cost of shipping a less than 1/2 ounce item was not worth it.

Also I would gladly drive to a store localy and buy it. I would pay them double the price what it was offered at. The satisfaction of buying something and actually walking out of a store with it is something that can't be beat.

Retail is very different. I still feel like companies should want my business and they should do everything in there power to keep shipping cost down. Charge a few more dollars for the items and lower your handling costs. High shipping costs gives you an incentive to buy more, the sting isn't so bad if you purchase $100 worth of stuff and pay $8 to ship it but in this case all I wanted was one ferro rod, just not worth it.

Adam

oh man one of my favorite rants personally, but ill keep it brief this time (mostly because im tired).

some places really do gouge you on the shipping costs, people on ebay are a great example minimum shipping on the smallest thing is typically $5 ive seen them charge almost $10 to ship a video game or other small items.
its a way to ensure a certain amount of profit if their item doesnt sell as high as they hoped.
but like someone said email the company (or person on ebay) and ask them for a more cost efficient way to ship it, many times they will work with you to make the sales.

on the other hand ive bought a good deal of computer parts online and often got free shipping with them, probably due to how much i bought at once but still its nice get a good deal on parts and see "free shipping" on the label.