Over packaging = high $$ shipping??

Oldpath05 · Feb 26, 2019

Jstpssng said:
I wonder what the "protection plan" is. Are they going to make OldPath refund the buyer's money if the saw doesn't run? :laughing:

Yeah I see that plan on everything. The only guarantee I can give is most of the parts are in the box and the screws are metric, make a good hobby for someone who's mechanically inclined.............

Oldpath05 · Feb 26, 2019

Anytime I buy on ebay I always make sure US only unless what I'm looking for cant be found in the US, sofar that happen only once to me last fall. 2 year's ago I ordered something forgot to check location ti after I hit BUY, when I went back to check it was from China, had to wait 2 months to get the order.

Jstpssng · Feb 26, 2019

I sold my old 346XP with a bad crank years ago on Uncle Henry's, the guy who bought it gave me $40 and resold the parts on EBay.
At the time I had never really heard of Craigslist or EBay, and couldn't understand why so many people asked me if I would ship it.

thepumpguysc · Feb 27, 2019

Getting back to the original topic.. Basically shipping costs have gone way up..in general.. THATS WHY I tell people, "I don't sell parts"..
But I will readily give out part numbers.. & the end user can just buy it themselves..
If someone needs a gasket & their dealer doesn't know what their talking about & they come here looking for "said gasket"..
Sure I can get one BUT> the gasket costs $5.00 BUT by the time I order it & get it shipped to me, my dealer charges ME $25.00 NO MATTER WHAT I order.. So now the gasket is $30.00 and I have to turn around & repackage it & send it to the original customer, which means I have to get in my truck & drive it to the Post Office & send it out in a Priority Letter at $8.00.. lets make it $10.00 for my trouble..
SO NOW, that $5.00 gasket is 40.00 & the only people that made any money is the SHIPPING CARRIER.!!!

Motorboatin · Feb 27, 2019

Oldpath05 said:
I't kinda bugs me when ordering just a few small items online the shipping cost is or almost half the cost of the items I'm buying. At times it's like shipping charges get's on the One Size Fits All Road when it come's to packaging.

I just got these 6 Grandberg sharpening stones for chainsaw sharpening in 2 tiny bags and a small Cool Grind stick, and the box they came in I thought was over packaged and that makes me wonder if that doesn't have an affect on higher shipping charges. The total item cost was $15.75, Shipping was $7.65 flat rate, those few items could've easily fit into a small padded envelope.......

View attachment 593239 View attachment 593240

The cheapest flat rate box at the post office is $7.35

Turbys_1700 · Feb 27, 2019

Saturday I drove a hundred miles to purchase a nice little 6" wood jointer...
As luck would have it I left the two extra sets of knives...
The seller is mailing them to me in a mailer and told me the cost was $7.50...
So I assume it is in one of those flat rate boxes from the post office...

Diggin It · Feb 27, 2019

Motorboatin said:
The cheapest flat rate box at the post office is $7.35

But a small padded envelope sent First Class might have cost less.

thepumpguysc · Feb 27, 2019

7.90 for envelope?? round it to 8.00 & then round it to 10.00 if u don't have a printer{pick-up} & have to go to the PO to mail it..
The small BOX use ta cost 5.00 & some change.!!!
I JUST did both.. hold on..7.35 for the envelope & 7.90 for the box.. got the receipt infront of me.

dnw64 · Feb 27, 2019

Diggin It said:
But a small padded envelope sent First Class might have cost less.

Has to be less than 1/4" thick to go as an "envelope" (the lowest rate).

However, depending on the from/to Zone, it might be cheaper as "First Class Package Service". For instance, you can mail a 4 oz Package within the same zone for $3.65.

Tractor Seabee · Feb 27, 2019

thepumpguysc said:
Getting back to the original topic.. Basically shipping costs have gone way up..in general.. THATS WHY I tell people, "I don't sell parts"..
But I will readily give out part numbers.. & the end user can just buy it themselves..
If someone needs a gasket & their dealer doesn't know what their talking about & they come here looking for "said gasket"..
Sure I can get one BUT> the gasket costs $5.00 BUT by the time I order it & get it shipped to me, my dealer charges ME $25.00 NO MATTER WHAT I order.. So now the gasket is $30.00 and I have to turn around & repackage it & send it to the original customer, which means I have to get in my truck & drive it to the Post Office & send it out in a Priority Letter at $8.00.. lets make it $10.00 for my trouble..
SO NOW, that $5.00 gasket is 40.00 & the only people that made any money is the SHIPPING CARRIER.!!!

You gave an excellent synopsis of the problems of getting small parts. Don't blame you for getting out of the parts business. Will your suppliers drop ship to your customers direct? That would cut out some of that shipping especially if used the appropriate packaging.
and method for the item. I now always ask how they are shipping. Some cases sippers will listen and let me dictate that at the appropriate cost. Lot of cases I am told take it or leave it, guess what? My Kubota dealer parts guys are very good at picking lowest cost w/ no additional overhead. USPS usually works best. I have seen shipping costs exceed the cost of the product a lot.

Ron