jensenracing77

In the past i have used USPS for much of my shipping. I always used them for my heavy stuff because they were cheaper. Well, USPS has raised there prices to where i can't hardly use them any more. That leaves me with a bigger problem. UPS and FedEx are 20 miles away from me and with where i live they will not come to pick up packages without a fee. I can set up an account with UPS and they will pick my stuff up from where i work for free if they happen to be stopping by but that is unpredictable. As much as i hate to say it, I will likely have to raise my shipping charges. I have always only charged the exact shipping but just to let everyone know, shipping charges are going up. I am already seeing people not wanting parts because of shipping charges.

I am now over $100 that i have lost from quoting shipping to low and also gas from having to drive to FedEx. This is just one month.

J-(Chicago)

I hear you. AND usps disallowed parcel post option through ebay over the last few months. I got quoted 32 dollars to ship an olds power steering pump with brackets and pulley to California priority. It only sold for 40 bucks.

I called and complained about it and they knocked it down to $25. What a deal. I ended up dismantling the damn thing and sticking it in a flat rate box.

LI Olds

I just got a quote to ship a part for my jeep that was 2x the price of the part..

tru-blue 442

Funny you should mention this.
Three weeks ago I went to UPS
to get a quote for shipping some wheels.
It took the fellow about that long to get
his funds in order. Long story short, I went
back to send them and it was $54 higher
to get them out. Go figure. You can bet if
Fed-ex gets wind of it, they will follow suite.

J-(Chicago)

If your package is 2 ounces over what you state it is, they will ding you for the extra 20 cents or dollar or whatever it may be. BUT if you're just looking to be a quick honest Joe and round up to the nearest pound every time, you will receive no credits.

Al Graaf

Sorry abut the situation, My wifes grooming business-they raise shipping cost on shampoos and stuff every month. The bitch is if you raise your price to reflect this the customer goes ape ****. But They'll buy gas that up 33 cents over night . And the shipping cost to canada that is the worlds greates rip for those guys.

joe_padavano

Sorry, but the biggest part of shipping cost is fuel cost. Kinda hard not to pass that along to the customers.

marxjunk

I shipped 2 carbs in the last week..i passed it to the customer, but id balk if it where for me..$25 bux..16.95 for the flate rate box and the rest was insurance on $250, it used to be around $1 per hundred now its almost 2 bux for the first 50..and gets worse as the value goes up......i used to be able to ship one for 16 or 17 bux

have you seen the discount for USPS or FEDEX if you use it from ebay?

I have used FEDEX for some time..if you have an acct they give a deep discount, but sometimes i question their book keeping on my acct, and finally got tired of arguing and i just ship and pay at the counter and no money surprises at the end of the month..its done when i walk away..

i used to be able to quote a price off the top of my head with in a dollar..now im ususally 10 bux off..its not too bad on one package ya live ya learn, but when ya dump 10 or 11 and you are off on all of them,,,it gets scarey...

and...USPS uses Fedex....i watch the Fedex truck pick up and drop off every day at my local post office...

I use USPS all the time on little bitty things, still the cheapest..but i mean small stuff..ive changed how i do business...if it wont fit in a couple different boxes i have for shipping..i sell it locally on craigsmess...

Allan R

The sad part of all this (and I know I ranted all about it last year) is that it really hurts both ends of the car hobby market. Sellers and buyers are paying prices that make the purchase of car parts akin to saving for a college fund.

I have had a hard time choking back the frustration of shipping costs for many years now. It used to be that cross border shipping was higher, then a lot higher, and finally prohibitively insane. Now I'm hearing the local market in the US is getting fleeced the same way.

Fuel costs are indeed part of the problem, but now that the US is becoming more self sufficient on local oil, why the heck aren't gas prices coming down? You can bet your sweet bippy (anyone who remembers Rowan & Martin?) that the fuel charge will NEVER come down even if the cost of fuel does. It's like taxes, when did you ever see them come down to help anyone out?

To all the folks who have shipped cross border to us here in Canada over the past number of years, I thank you for the great parts and affordable shipping you were able to provide. I know that economics dictate what you have to do now to make your businesses work.

JerseyHarold

Another aspect of higher shipping costs is that eBay charges commission on the total, so if you sell a $10.00 item on eBay with $10.00 shipping, you're basically paying a double commission to them.

Allan R

Well that's dumb! They charge a commission on a service they don't even provide or broker? Is that even legal? Seems to me that USPS and couriers already build the tax and surcharges into the shipping in overly sufficient amounts.

Sorry, I'm not an ebay seller so I didn't realize all this. I thought the ebay charge was on the total amount the item sold for, not including shipping and handling.

jensenracing77

This is why i call it FeeBay. They charge a list fee, sell fee, fee on your shipping charges, fee on to many pictures, reserve price fee, and you are required to have PayPal that also has a fee. after it is all said and done you will only get around 68-73% of what it sold for. This is part of why you see some shipping fees so high, they are trying to cover some of the expenses. FeeBay is a joke but there are time it is a necessary evil.

droptopron

One helpful hint - if you use the USPS flat rate boxed the postage is discounted if you buy on their web site in advance or thru the PayPal web site.

JerseyHarold

It has been that way for the past year or two. The commission on Buy-It-Now is 12% of the total, and for auction-style listings it's 9%. Then you add another 4% to PayPal. I've sold $10.00-$12.00 items on eBay and when the smoke settled I netted about $7.00 for the sale. It almost doesn't pay to sell inexpensive items on eBay anymore, but where else can you get the exposure to sell some of the more obscure stuff?

z11375ss

I think you guys are missing the point here. Everybody is bitching about the rates going higher and not putting the blame where it belongs which is on the Federal Reserve. They are printing 85 billion dollars a month. That's why gas is so damn high. If there are more dollars in the system it makes each one worth less. Inflation is rearing its' ugly head and not just in shipping and gas, but in everything. Meanwhile, our BLS says there is no inflation. In a word, bullsh*t.

11971four4two

Almost a hundo to send a 4pounder to chicago land WTF

OLD SKL 69

I've saved some $$$ by doing that too. Every little bit definitely helps!

Allan R

I learned something from a seller in the US. He tried to send me some parts and the PO told him a $$$ amount which was pretty ridiculous. So he went to another PO for a second opinion. They told him to repackage the box so it was plain brown cardboard and he could get intl small parcel rate, which was about 18.00 less. Apparently the USPS labling on the box automatically changes it to Priority Mail!!

z11375ss

And now, coming to a bank near you...............a 10% tax on all deposits? I know this is in Cyprus. But it could happen here to all our 401ks and deposits.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=218812

Eightupman

Jensen... find a guy like me, headed through your direction and see if they are willing to pick something up and carry it for the cost of gas. I'm hoping to have my gas paid for for my upcoming 2500 mile trip the beginning of April (see my post about my road trip) Even though I'll have a car on a trailer, so far the bed of the truck is empty and the car has a trunk, and there is a little extra space on my 18 foot trailer to strap down some larger parts.

I've dont it several times in the past, but this is the first I've posted it on this site to help you all out.

John

2blu442

I've read a couple articles where some members of Congress have suggested they could "take" our 401K money and replace it with IOU's just like Social Security. All that money just sitting on the sidelines while our National debt continues to climb. I don't think the American people would stand for it... unless there was a crisis that scared them into accepting it vs. something worse. A manufactured crisis maybe?

66-3X2 442

I use FedEx and couldn't be more happy with them. You can set up an account online backed with a credit card and you're all set. You can print the shipping label,get a receipt and have them pickup the package @ your house. I live in a rural area and I think it's $3 for a pickup and I can't drive to the post office for $3. The extra insurance is much cheaper than the USPS. I never send anything of value through the USPS,yeah I know you have never had a problem but just wait till you do. It's worse than fighting a war and they never lose. I've never had a package lost or damaged with FedEx and I wish I could say the same about UPS but I can't.

Run to Rund

I recently had to ship a helmet and the FedEx website said $17 for the dimensions I put into the formula. When I got to the store, it was $42+ but the counter man cut down the box to half size and it went for $16. Lesson learned is that box dimensions are critical to the bottom line. Similarly, I sent a piece of sheet metal, and the quote was something like $180, but cutting it down to save bulk and weight, but still including the section that was needed, it cost $48.

66-3X2 442

All shipping companies use what's called dimensional weight. In other words,you can't have a refrigerator box with an egg in it and have a cheap price. If you have an account with FedEx,it's a cheaper rate than if you just walk in. Setting up an account with FedEx was the easiest best thing I've ever done.

z11375ss

I wonder if the Cypriot people will stand for it. If they just take it, what are you going to do? Can you say, "Bank Run!"

2blu442

I know this is getting off topic, but I just read two more articles describing what's happening and hope our European brothers are watching this closely.

Octania

"I just got a quote to ship a part for my jeep that was 2x the price of the part..'
==========================

Well, let's stop a moment here. Shipping and part cost are entirely 100% UNRELATED things. If you buy a refrigerator for $1 from Alaska, and a diamond ring for $100,000 from across town, the shipping to item price ratios can be expected to differ accordingly.

As for the 10% tax on deposits, that sounds like the old joke
The [insert group here] started up a bank, for his friends...
His friend deposited some of his pay each week in order to buy [inset item here].

A year later, he goes to get the money, and is told, "Hell, man, the interest done ate that money up long ago!"

It was supposed to be A JOKE, not the way things are run in real life. Pretty cool scam... if you are on the rich man side. You take a percentage EVERY TIME money changes hands. You get money [wages], and well, you know, you actually end up with SOME of it. Then when you spend what is left, ahhh we tack on a little more charges there. Buying gasoline? Tack on a little more for road fixin'. Damn, cars are smaller and use less fuel now? Better raise that fuel tax so we still get more money! You buy a car- tack on some sales tax, and $100's in fees for the paperwork. Maybe $1000's. For paperwork. Sell the car later... collect more sales tax. Future owner sells it again... collect MORE sales tax... every time it sells even as scrap metal at the end of its life... Then when that money gets spent, the sales tax man still gets another cut. I am surprised they don't have a fee-collecting fee yet. Or do they?

rroth01

FedEx FedEx FedEx .Open up an account they treat you like Royalty..UPS has an 8 foot acceptable drop Clause.
I have had 1 FedEX Mishap out of maybe 80 IPs delivered ..and they honored the claim almost immediatly.As for the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE..
It is now March 17th.I am recieving Christmas Cards and Checks that are Post Marked January 23rd.
My Mailman doesnt even speak English.

Eightupman

Fed Ex huh? I had a Fed Ex account. HAD. I used to be like you, and exclusively used them. You should double check your statements. I finally caught on to thier shenanigans (in light of St Paddy's day) when I scruitinized one of my bills.

$10 fee for incorrect weight (a half pound off of what I input into the laptop) and another $20 fee for an incorrect address, that wasn't incorrect... I selected "Ground" and they auto corrected to Fed Ex Home Delivery and "redelivered" (adding the ZIP last 4. So because of that I got hit with that "fee" and a few extra bucks for whatever gas they used to "redeliver"

So no... I'm not using them any more. I hardly sell anything anymore, not worth it to ship, and if I do, I try my damndest to put it in a flat rate box.

John