Ok, not meaning to dis anyone or business in General. And I get that yes, I live in Canada.

So here's the thing: I see this product for my car on evilbay and think, "Hey, that looks good - and at a reasonable price". Better yet; the seller is flogging it as 'Free Shipping'. Wow! Even better. Then you get to the shipping tab and open it. Oh! Only FREE to USA customers!!

So I send the company an email and ask, Now that seemed reasonable to me. I personally don't get how you can ship for free and still make money - but I've bought (electronic) stuff from Asia and (cabin air filters) from Korea and they shipped FREE to me in Canada. I LIKE those guys because the parts were EXACTLY the ones I needed.

So this morning I get a reply from this dude. Goes like this: So I sent him back a reply asking how he can ship for FREE in the USA if it costs him $$$ to send this thing ANYWHERE considering its SIZE and WEIGHT which he seemed pretty concerned about. I really doubt he'll respond. That's ok - I just won't buy from him. I'll buy AMERICAN or CANADIAN whenever possible to support the NA producers, but I sure as hell won't take any more of this blatant shipping crap anymore. I have run into sellers (most are incredibly fair) who ship for really decent value. I have also run into sellers who must obviously think it's reasonable to charge 128.00 for a 4lb small box parcel 10"X 12"X 6" (World wide Saver option - total BS) to ship from USA to Canada.

Can ANYONE shed info on how you lucky people in the USA can get FREE shipping on lots of things, but it costs an arm and a leg to ship up here? I want one of those magic wands that automatically grants 'get out of jail cards' and 'really - honest to God - really free shipping, just like the ad says'.

Sadly, I've become used to being raped by shipping costs, but it still pisses me off to see "FREE SHIPPING" anywhere in the USA, but not your northern neighbor.

Anyone who read this far? Yes I know I'm ranting. But sometimes I just need to let it out to see if there are others in the same boat, or who will actually listen, or be able to describe the 'fair process' so it's more understandable.

 

Hi Allan,

Imaging how it is when you're not even a close neighbour and live in Europe! A lot or even most sellers don't even want to ship outside the USA...
Lucky for me a have some friends living in the USA so they can buy for me. It normally takes some time but eventually arrives at my front door. Believe it or not - the stretch from the USA to The Netherlands is usually for free

Maybe other Olds fans can help you here...?

Louis

 

I think the biggest problem is the damn brokrage fee thats impossed! I work for an Farm Implement dealer and had to ship a set front fenders for a tractor, $180 for fed-up freight plus brokrage fee was terrible (can't remember exact figure)

You would think that UPS/Fed Up would already have a broker setup and have nominal fee spread out amoungst all shippers?

Pat

 

We get free shipping instead of free health care.

 

in this case, he would drop ship it from the manufacture to the US resident..

for you, it has to go to his business, then he has to ship it to you, and anything we ship to Canada is horrible for us...thats the truth...once it goes to Canada Post theres no tracking info for us, because Canada Post uses sub contractors...

Did you buy on Ebay? theres the rub...no tracking for us, so if it goes bad, he looses everything because ebay and paypal wont guarantee protection with no tracking...

PLUS import documents and fees..you know theres fees...for anything going into Canada, and those docs take time, and time is money...

Id say the whole prob for you is, and he didnt explain it right, is they drop ship...its just not that simple to go to Canada anymore.

I used to sell to Canada all the time, last 4 or 5 deals went ugly and its not worth the hassle anymore for me personally. Canada Post lost 4 big dollar items or the buyer got them and lied and said he didnt, so unfortunately, I cant or wont ship, id rather throw the parts in the trash, rather than ever go thru any of that again...Its a shame to, some of my best customers where in Canada, abnd they would spend a lot of money every 30 or 40 days...

I ship to Canadian buyers if they have a US adress, otherwise, im sorry cant do it.

 

Ask him what he pays in taxes and I think you might change your mind about that...

Allan, for small parcels in the U.S. we can ship USPS in priority mail boxes for a flat rate. The price depends on the box size, so if the item fits in the box, it ships for that price. The boxes range from a 12 1/2" X 9 1/2" envelope ($5.15) to a 23 5/8" X 11 3/4" X 3" box ($15.45). This is ONE way companies can ship for "free"...they just add the cost into the order probably.

For your carpet, I would think if in the U.S. they would ship direct from manufacturer...IDK.

 

From another forum - see if you've a company called Fastenal, a nut and bolt warehouse, anywhere near you!
In the lower 48, they offer reduced shipping costs to their warehouses, since they go there anyway, with partially filled trucks, and are more carefull than the regular shippers!
Example: Crankshaft from Florida to Joliet, Il. [SW of Chicago] $60!!
Don't know if they go to Canada, but may be well worth checking out!

 

I ship a lot of stuff but unless it will fit in a flat rate box anything to Canada costs me about 5-6 times as much to ship here. An 18 lb box would cost me about 15.00 to ship in the 48 states. The same box would be about $100.00 to ship to Canada. Trust me I assumed once and lost my *** on $50.00 extra freight it cost me to ship a $30.00 item.

I check evey time now.

 

I get great rates at my work as far as price goes , but then again we are basically fed ex freight's best customer , and close to being ups's best customer also ( we ship a lot of stuff ) from what you guys are saying I could ship stuff from my work for at least half the price , but It would have to be tied in with a company order and I'm sure my boss won't let me get away with that again .... I sold an almost complete 68 Toro interior including the dash to someone on here via ups from my work , and lets just say that it took a little longer to box all that stuff up then I thought it would I was getting funny looks by the time it was all over with .

 

Pat, the brokerage is a completely different aspect of shipping - I hate it too; but not related to original rant....FYI UPS and Fedex impose automatic minimum 15.00 brokerage fees, plus fuel surcharges etc. Lots of small parcels coming across the border from large companies like ILT or private sellers with small dollar value declaration don't even get a sniff at Canada Customs.

Last year I bought a posi carrier from Jim Mitschke (monzaz) and he shipped intl med box. It was slightly 'over' on weight so I had to pay about 12.00 for it at the post office. NOTHING for customs or brokerage. Plus Jim gave me totally fair postage valuation - the 35.00 he quoted was on the shipping label. Oh, as you might have guessed, the posi wasn't exactly cheap and it didn't seem to bother the customs people.

So what is drop shipping and why can't it be done to Canadian addresses direct?? Sorry to hear about the misfortunes of your shipping experiences. A mutal loss, IMO.

Yes sir, I'm aware of that too. In some cases it's a great deal/ but it's not a 'free shipping' item then is it? And yes, you're probably right; extra costs usually added to the product to 'offset' the 'free' shipping.

Which is why I won't buy anything cross border that costs more to ship than the value of the part - unless I'm mega desperate.


You guys have some great comments, but I think you're missing one of my points. Lets use Richard's example: 15.00 to ship to USA. Assume he builds that into the cost of the sale to start with and offers 'free' shipping to lower 48. I want to buy and ask him for a shipping quote to the frozen north. He quotes: $100.00 - straight from the USPS. So my question is: If he has already built 15.00 into free shipping, why can't he offer the 15.00 discount to the 100.00 shipping bill. Make it 85.00?? The way I see it, (and forgive me - maybe I've just got buyer blinders on) he gets full value from me for the price of the 'inflated part cost' + full shipping to me. THAT's what I don't get. It's totally unfair.

I have shipped lots of things to the USA. I never quote or charge more than the cost of the postage. Nothing for boxing or transportation or standing in line. Is it time for me to hop on the gravy train too? Sorry, as you can tell I still think this shipping issue is crap.

 

I agree with you Allen, you should get that same discount as USA customers somewhere in the deal. Totally free shipping is such a shady deal to begin with...take Summit Racing, they have the lowest price on most items AND have "free shipping"...but they charge a $12.95 'handling' fee, I wonder where it goes

 

Summit's "handling fee" should actually be labeled as a "packaging fee" as it does take labor and packing materials to ship anything whether the actual cost of shipping is absorbed or not, which of course it isn't in 99% of the cases because the shipping cost is figured into the selling price. Ain't no such thing as a free ride!

As for shipping out of the Lower 48, it does cost a heck of a lot more to ship to Hawaii or Alaska and out of country to even Canada may require customs declarations be filled out and shipments made through a customs broker. Shipping to Canada depends upon the item being shipped whether import duties may apply so it's just a lot easier for some merchants to just limit sales to the Lower 48.

 

While shipping is a PITA most of the time, I do want to emphasize that there are some really good people and companies that take the sting out. Like I mentioned with monzaz, Oldspackrat, 2blu442,jensenracing77 - all great and fair to deal with! I have also had very pleasant experience from large companies like In Line Tube.

Some unpleasant experiences re: shipping from BAP and Rockauto. BAP just sux, with RA you better get all the product from the same warehouse, but they also don't 'combine' shipping cost - they just keep adding it together as if they were sending single shipments at a time. I see that as loading the hog trough to overflowing.

ah64pilot - you have a PM.

 

Might i say free trade agreement??

BAHAHAHAHahahaahahaahahahah*breathe*bahahahahahaah ahaaaa

*tony is now rolling on the floor laughing*

 

Yeah, about as funny as a train wreck! Here's a bit of a summary for how NAFTA improved shipping from the U.S. into Canada.

Basically it accomplished little in terms of relieving Canadian Citizen's from ultimately paying taxes and duties on just about anything and everything not manufactured in the U.S. or Mexico. The last paragraph really explains why no one wants to ship into Canada.

 

Totally understood, and agreed, shipping is absolutely wild to canada. Thats why i love buying GM parts from general motors so it's made in the USA.

I'm actually in the USA right now picking up some parts i bought from Scott (oldspackrat). I have a shipping box that i rent yearly and it's great. I save huge amounts of money in shipping. And customs NEVER asks about Used car parts.

Plus oil is SO much cheaper at wal-mart, that's where i'm headed right now.

 

My friend tried to ship a 6 lb box, about 10" by 8", to Spain. He needed it insured for $50. Nothing major, just some nice, heavy coasters (for a drink on a table) that his relative wanted, a memory from his recently deceased mother.

It was only 6 lbs., in a box about the size of an old 1/25 scale plastic model box. Easy, right?

UPS wanted $198.00 to ship it, FedEx wanted $196.00.

Seriously?

USPS (Post Office) wanted $46.00, which included the insurance, and of course the delivery notification. He shipped it through USPS. And I thought $46.00 was ridiculous, until I heard the UPS and FedEx rates. I thought it would have been around $20.00. It was only 6 lbs, and a small box.

It's no wonder little guys can't survive in this world. If you're a major player, shipping thousands of items per month, the shipping companies give you HUGE breaks. But try to ship a pair of $10.00 bookends to Spain, and they want $200.00.

The New Amerika.

 

Drop ship is when it is actually shipped from the manufacturer to a customer...

in other words, i have a business...instead of me buying and stocking carpet i get your order, tell the manufacturer and they ship it straight from there....it looks like i have inventory but i dont....

i shipped to Hawaii several times, and i never noticed the price being any higher than shipping to the mainland...

 

That is how I do my EBAY out of country stuff. I list free shipping to lower 48 states and discount the amout I built in in an out of 48 state quote.

 

I get the idea of 'foreign import' to US for distribution and understand the concept of how that passes along the gouging and screwing. What I DONT get is when manufacturers proudly state (rightfully so) MADE IN USA. That's a production statement about quality and location of manufacture. We STILL get gouged and screwed on non luxury items coming across the border. Far as I'm concerned the NAFTA document shouldn't be in libraries, it should be in bathrooms to 'use' accordingly before you flush.......

Careful Tony. Check those boxes - lots of them aren't made in USA or even Mexico anymore!

That works for you mostly because of your proximity to the border. I envy you. Customs NEVER asks about used parts? Better share that with the idiots that process mail shipments

Well that just makes sense to do that. So why can't the seller tell the manufacturer to send it direct to Canada? I'm missing the logic here. Manufacturers do have shipping/distribution for their products and should get a healthy discount from carriers in favor of stimulating the economy! Mark, I'm not upset with you at all, I just don't see how the border changes the quality of people or the product in question. It's the system that sux royally.

Richard, I apologize for using you in the thread discussion. Your reply is exactly what I would have expected. You sell stuff on evilbay??? I gots to check that out.

 

Is that 18 Canadian pounds or US pounds?

 

Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Good one Trip. I needed that.

 

you bring up a great point that i never thought of Allen. about 3 weeks ago i got something from eBay that was free shipping. i knew that the shipping price would have been built into his opening bid but still liked the fact that what i bid was what i paid. i then decided to post some small parts with free shipping myself. i posted exactly what you are talking about. i stated that if the buyer is outside the USA to contact me before paying to get a ship quote. it looks like the free shipping thing worked well for a couple parts but have not ran into anyone outside the USA as a high bidder. i would have likely done the same thing as the others till now that you brought it up. i just posted the flat rate price into my opening bid. now i will rethink how i want to do it in the future for eBay. if this ever happens i will likely just explain this to them and deduct the flat rate price from there shipping. i am glad you brought it up.

 

Thx Eric. When I've bought from guys on this site, I've always been treated fairly with pricing of parts and shipping. I'm glad to know the ebay 'free shipping' thing works for you; if it drums up business it's money in the bank.
BTW, did you ever figure out how those shocks come out of that suspension? Still think they come out the bottom. Can't imagine a shock that would require bending the mount bracket to install/replace

 

they do come out the bottom but wont fit past the springs. i have not had time to work on it with all the overtime right now. that picture is the top of the shock looking down not the bottom looking up.

 

Just turn the brackets round and round as they go down through the spring? Kind of like working an coil spring compressor into place. Should work - the mount should twist on the shaft.

 

The guy could have given you a non-wise *** answer and just post a price of some kind. Maybe even split is with you.

The thing is, you asked. I've had people in Canada and Euorpe buy something from me and then get pissed about shipping being so high. I post on all my auctions "Shipping to AK, HI and Canada may be more, contact me for a quote"

I'll ship anywhere, but you have to pay

 

Yes, all I was looking for was a decent answer. A split on shipping cost would have worked for me. I wasn't looking for free shipping to Canada. I know it's more than the US. All I was looking for was a BIT of a break (maybe 15-20bucks?) on the price of shipping. Did my original question not come across that way?

I always ask for shipping quotes from the US. I know its a PITA for sellers to get all that, but I see it this way: They ask me to check for shipping cost before bidding for a good reason - the one you stated. Sometimes their shipping price is not negotiable and outlandish. I walk away - no matter what the part is. There's too much extra risk involved.

I will bid on an item and buy it if I think the overall $ and shipping is fair.. I love when sellers work with the buyer to meet in the middle.

 

Canada got sucked into a scheme with NAFTA that was really nothing but an idiot political idea that presumed illegal immigration into the U.S. From Mexico would be reduced if more products were manufactured in Mexico for duty free shipment to the U.S. and Canada thus employing more Mexican workers in Mexico. I guarantee that anyone who lives anywhere within 200 miles of the U.S. Border with Mexico can testify just how well that has worked considering the near border areas of the States of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas have become a virtual war zone from the drug and human trafficking that goes on daily. Here in Texas the DPS has multiple units on the border with all the current hi-tech military equipment both on the ground and in the air and those jokers still cross the Rio Grande almost at will and all the while Canadians still get screwed on imports.

 

Here's another angle on this shipping thing. I remember a loooong time ago when I first started ebaying. Bought a one time item from a seller who I will never forget. His shipping motto was "He who pays, says". I always admired that and it obviously hasn't been forgotten.

So when you buy an item on fleabay, Do you think it's reasonable to request the type of shipping, or do you have to go with what the seller says?

By now you probably know that I will pre-negotiate in good faith to find out whether I can get lower cost shipping. I've found from experience that 'Expedited" service is crap. It takes the same amount of time as regular econo shipping. Why pay more for that??? And there's no deals from UPS or Fedex although sometimes you have no choice when the item is way oversize.

Some sellers make it damn clear that you get no choice - you're going to pay top dollar for shipping - period. I get the package 3 weeks later (that's about the amount of time it takes to get here) and the postage is less than 1/3 what was quoted.

That's BS, especially when they packing is **** poor and the auction says that they only charge what the post office charges. I've reported those jerks to ebay AFTER they wouldn't respond to my request for a return on some of the shipping. Their excuse? They had to go to Walmart and get a box, tape, newspaper etc, then they had to waste their VALUABLE time putting it in the box and wrapping it. Next, it was a 59 mile 'special' round trip to the post office and they stood in line for 3 hours. I could give a crap. What they do by their actions is make the whole buying experience a nightmare. I don't need to hear their weak piddly *** lame excuses about how poor they are at conducting business. They should just crawl back under a stump and unplug their internet. Jeez, can you tell I've run into more than a few of these?? sorry...

So, should the buyer be allowed to choose the most economical means of shipping or not?

 

Yup! One of the big problems with buying on ebay is many sellers are just flat business ignorant. Another problem is many ebay sellers are retailers running a store, maybe for years, where people come in buy and leave with the merchandise they bought. Which is to say they are trying to capitalize on the internet but have no real provisions for handing out going shipments in volume and probably no understanding of basically running a mail order business.

 

So back to the original reason I started this rant. I just got a reply to my question about the request for reduced shipping cost related to his built in margin for free shipping (see first post of this thread).

His reply was "W O W". That's it nothing more. Like I was some kind of moron.

So I used some of the interesting info you guys have provided me and sent this back:
I seriously doubt that I'm even going to do business with someone who treats me like this. I do however want to make a point.

 

Just received my FedEx "bonus" charge for brokerage fees on parts I got from Tamraz. At least it wasn't as much as UPS this time. I agree with the previous posts re the whole shipping to Canada fiasco. At least I live reasonably close to the border and have started using CBIUSA as a receiving agent. US delivery address, a short trip across the border and a lot less costs. For most of the stuff I have received off evilbay the sellers were usually ok with USPS which have the lowest fees if it's a large item. Here's the burn though. Canadian Spectra gas tank, closest Spectra rep Mississauga, ON. Cost of tank $266. Same tank thru Tamraz $138. Hmmmm.

 

Hey Doc, welcome to the fracas.
Spectra?? Another rant coming on....nope, caught it in time. Oh crap, I was wrong...
Spectra manufactures in Canada and distributes to all over Canada and the USA. In fact most repro aftermarket stores 'brag' about the high quality of Spectra Premium "Canadian" built - not that cheesy offshore tin stuff from a place that ryhmes with My wan.

My gas tank (72 Cutlass S) is pooched. Not going to repair - it's been done once already. What a deal - like you say. Go online to rockauto or Tamraz and the price for a GM34R is actually about C$160.00. shipping? Only 202.00. WTH - Shipping costs more than the part?? Throw me a bone here!! They must have rocks in their head. (thread topic rears its ugly head). NOT going to pay that.

Brief call to SPECTRA later. They say they won't sell to me because I'm not a business. Brief call to local NAPA - yup they can get it for 333.34. You gotta be $hittin me? It's made in CANADA for Gods sake - a few provinces away!! A friggin Greyhound ride to the freight terminal can't cost THAT much. So I asked them how much using my old company account. Oh, that's different. Now 219.00 + GST. So I should just roll over and play dead. It's the equivalent of me getting the gas tank for free - just pay the cost of shippinng to the US and back to Canada. This is just wrong from so many angles. FWIW if you can buy your tank in ONT for 266? Do it. The price of ground shipping will make it cheaper to buy local.

Gotta move closer to the border or set up an offshore Cayman Island Bank account. Then I can go into the shipping business and get rich off all the suckers who need stuff shipped....

 

it's friggin crazy... i live in s.w. nodak and found a 302/aod that i'd like to buy for my old beater truck. the engine is 90 miles n.e. of minot, i suppose its a 5 hr drive from here, all instate and the shipping calculator says $900+ on the MME website... the feul surcharge was over $200!!! granted the thing probably weighs 750-800lbs but hell it's less than 500 miles!
things are getting ridiculous....

 

Minot? Isn't that the place that got flooded out last year?
Yeah, to save 900.00 I'd even rent a truck and go pick it up myself. Heeyyyyy, you thinkin what I'm thinkin???? Ask them to knock part of the cost off the engine so you can afford the fuel you're going to need....

 

That was quick. Got my reply and here's what he has to say:
So, not only is this poor stiff running a business that only makes 8.00 on a 150.00 carpet (that would be 5% clear margin) he doesn't even bother to reply with a requested shipping quote. Guys like this can eat my shorts, AFTER I fill them with something suitable. Lost sale and lousy customer service like he works for Parts Place or BAP.

 

yeah minot got flooded... hell of a mess! the engine and tranny are really reasonably priced so i can't complain about that...

i may just put an olds 350/350 in it instead... would be a super easy swap...

 

Very good one!
Al