High Shipping Cost

chips&more said:
I do all the boxing and running to the PO for my wifes ebay sales. She charges only the cost of shipping. I don’t get a cent for my time, packing materials, gas for the car and all the other nonsense. And my wife will still get complaints for buyers about the cost of shipping! I say to them, get into car and drive all over town and buy it that way. And by the way, eBay charges their sellers fees on shipping costs as well!!! So if you sell on eBay you get charged a finial value fee for the item and the same percentage fee for the shipping costs!!!
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I had a mail order business for 22 years. I charged actual shipping costs for shipments, not including handling fees, driving a shipment into UPS or USPS or in some cases, the air freight terminal for overnight deliveries. It is a business expense and has to be accounted for in either the markup on the merchandise or direct costs to the customer (unless you wish to go pout of business). I don't think any of us would begrudge an fair charge for shipping. It's the vendors that use high costs for improving their profit margin.

The last company that I worked for, Fortune 500 company, cared not a whit about shipping charges. Whenever we had to ship items to the home office, they requested overnight shipment, even when the items were not critically needed. The response was "it doesn't come out of my account". Companies like MSC and McMaster market on the basis of next day delivery. Many of their large customers like the idea of having a "store next door" so they are their go-to vendors. These vendors can get away with high shipping costs.

So what can we do about it? Shop smarter. We routinely see specials where shipping is free. Start a wish list and wait for those sales. Order multiple items to combine shipping. Check on shipping costs before buying. Talk to the vendors, cut a deal, let them know when their shipping charges are out of line. My wife who was a sales consultant for many years always says "ask; if you don't ask, you won't get it (a special deal)". It is amazing how often this works for her.

There will be times when we need a particular tool or part and can't deal with a delay. In those cases, we just have to accept the costs as a part of doing business.
 
From the about us page they are in Hong Kong. That might be why the shipping is so high.

You can contact us at:
ctctools.online@gmail.com or by mail.

We are located at:
Rm13, 13F, World-Wide Ind. Centre, 43-47 Shan Mei Street, Fotan Shatin NT, Hong Kong
 
I can order 6 of those neat little "credit card" folding knives you see on TV for over $8.00 plus shipping. I get them for 99 cents each,and shipping is free! This is from Hong Kong. The package says "China Mail",and shipping was $1.00. I'm wondering if shipping isn't subsidized by the Chinese government. How they can send that package from China to Va. for $1.00,I don't know. And,somehow the seller makes money. I keep giving those knives to friends and ordering more.
 
I don't mind paying shipping as long as its honest. I prefer when sellers just sell the item at the actual price instead of trying to be the 'lowest' and then make it up in shipping.

If you are used to stateside shipping then you may get sticker shock when ordering internationally. When I sell on eBay it is basically a minimum of $25 to ship the slowest option to USA.

$46 from Hong Kong would be reasonable for <1 week delivery, but 6-8weeks is fishy as nothing takes that long to ship. They likely do not have it in stock or something like that.
 
I have ordered a bunch of stuff from Each Buyer. Great prices on all sorts of stuff and shipping is free to Canada if you don't mind waiting for around three weeks.

Haven't been dissapointed so far.

David
 
george wilson said:
I can order 6 of those neat little "credit card" folding knives you see on TV for over $8.00 plus shipping. I get them for 99 cents each,and shipping is free! This is from Hong Kong. The package says "China Mail",and shipping was $1.00. I'm wondering if shipping isn't subsidized by the Chinese government. How they can send that package from China to Va. for $1.00,I don't know. And,somehow the seller makes money. I keep giving those knives to friends and ordering more.
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I had recently ordered a 10 pk of mini USB sockets from a Chinese vendor. $.98 and free shipping. It took about 2 months to get them though. I can't send a greetings card to the UK for $.98.
 
When I send a birthday card to North Carolina,if it is a bit heavier than usual,it takes 2 42 cent stamps!
 
Travis7s said:
$46 from Hong Kong would be reasonable for <1 week delivery, but 6-8weeks is fishy as nothing takes that long to ship. They likely do not have it in stock or something like that.
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A good friend is making an around-the -world voyage via container ship. He is on the last leg of his journey back to the states from Southeast Asia and will be at sea for 8 weeks. Add to that waiting to get space in a container, going through customs, potential dockworker's strikes, and shipping to the final destination and 6-8 weeks sounds very reasonable.
 
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