Folks,

Just gotta sound off.....

Just started ordering some parts this past week to start rebuilding my rear suspension.

Needed everything to install a new rear end and rebuild the springs.

Check our sponsor and can't find what I need so I check a few catalogs that I've received lately.

Find one guy that everything I need. Big, fancy Ford truck specialist. But "Whoa Nellie"

While their prices are comparible to others, they aren't any bargin, they aren't any cheaper - but on top of their prices, on a good percentage of their items they tack on crating fees AND ON EVERYTHING they tack on a "shipping & handling fee" . The shipping & hndling fee alone is basically a straight 10% on top of the price of everything. Doesn't matter whether you're buying $200.00 worth of manuals or $200.00 worth of odd shaped parts - either shipment - they whack you for $20.00 for shipping and handling AND don't forget - if the items are bulky, they'll nail you for a "special packaging fee" on top of that. Imagine if you bought a MII front suspension from them. $2.2K for the unit, plus a crating fee plus $220.00 "shipping and hndling!!!

What B.S.!!!

Getting back to their prices -

Rear axle housing spring perches, four U bolts, nuts and washers and the plate that the U bolts go through - $95.00 USD plus 10% "shipping and handling" = $104.95 USD plus freight of aprox. $20.00 USD = $124.95 USD = aprox. $195.00 CDN !!!!!

Went to a local truck spring shop and had it all made up for $30.00 CDN. And these guys know what they're doing.

With prices like that, how do they justify all those extra charges?

B.S.!!!!!!

So on principle I bought as much as could from another shop that doesn't tack on the B.S. charges but has base prices the same or slightly lower than the big name Calif. Ford truck specialist.

Well, I blew off some steam. Why don't I feel any better? I know, because my cash outlay is justing starting, so I've got about 4 more years of this ahead of me...

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!

 

I get it twice as bad living in Alaska.... but I guess it comes with living here

 

you still have it better in Alaska,I just won a stainless fastner kit on ebay for my 460 it costs $8.50 anywhere in the lower 48 states for shipping $14.50 to Alaska and Hawaii but its $20.05 to Vancouver BC,I live 20 min from the boarder at Blaine Wash.seems to me you cant get to Alaska with out going over Canada and it probaly takes a wee bit more jet fuel too and if it comes UPS look out cause they charge you brokerage fees delivery taxes duty etc.I bought some bbc tin valve covers for my boat from New York for twenty dollors the seller charged me $25 for shipping and when UPS showed up on my door step they wanted another $40 CAN for all the BS I mentioned above,thats about $77 for shipping for junkyard dog valve covers,that imaginary line called the 49th is hard on the wallet.

 

I'm in Hawaii, so I can order an $8 dollar part and get it for "ONLY" $38 more. That's because the lazy suppliers won't go down and use the Postal Service, they will only ship UPS 2 day service. (which only takes two weeks.} You don't realize how good you have it.

 

>I'm in Hawaii, You don't
>realize how good you have it.

Its 13 degrees out, my truck takes forever to warm up, and the wife wont shovel snow.......

 

In response to the question "how do they justify all those extra charges?", it's simple. Today, people do not consider the value of what they are purchasing. Value is a direct relationship between usefulness or need, and cost. People look at something and decide if they want it. If so, they decide if they can afford it, not whether it is actually worth the money. The retailers know this. That's why it costs what it does. People will pay anything they have to to get what they want, and as long as they do, the rest of us are screwed. The only way to combat the ever rising (and unnecessary)cost of things is to stop buying, but that will NEVER happen. If you are doing a '56 Ford F100, and all of a suddden a $5.00 part goes to $25.00, you will buy it, period. Just look at the ridiculous prices on some parts advertised at Mid Fifties, Dennis Carpenters, etc. Totally uncalled for.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 06-Dec-02 AT 04:18 PM (EST)]Caveat Emptor. Afterall, it is a capitalist economy, is it not? Next time shop smarter and buy wiser.

No that was'nt budwiser. Buy wiser!

 

I fully agree with you all on the BS charges. The old saying goes. Bigger is not allways better! Remember how this country of ours all got started? It was by the little guy was it not? Allways shop around for the best price. I am finding out that a lot of times the little guy (Small parts house or what have you) will a lot of times go out of there way to help there customer and save you a dollar to win your bussiness.

 

 

I ship packages for a living. Heavy packages. And I will tell you this right now, if a company charges you freight based on the cost of an item, that is a sure sign they are RIPPING YOU OFF. There isn't a freight company on the planet that charges by declared value. It all goes by weight. So if you buy something that weighs a pound, and it costs $500, they are making alot of money off that "S&H" charge. It all goes by weight. So that pound package costs them less than $18 to ship UPS 2-Day (I know this for a fact) no matter where they ship it in the continenal US, and UPS absolutely RAPES Canadian customers. Sorry fellas.
Basically, what you have to do to these guys is shop around and find one that will charge you by weight. Another way to beat them is to call UPS and ask them how much a package that weighs X amount would cost to ship from their zip code to yours. They won't actually give you the price the company pays-they get a discount. Then you call the company with your order and tell them you won't pay more than that amount. If you order a substantial amount of merchandise, they shouldn't have a problem with that. If they do, call their competitor and tell them the same thing. It sucks to do all that, but you can save some coin doing it. Many companies will discount the freight if you order a bunch of stuff; the ones that don't do not deserve your business, and you should let them know that.
DON'T LET THEM RIP YOU OFF! That's all that S&H charge is, guys.
BDV

 

S/H charges cover the guys wage to pack or crate the piece up. He doesn't work for free. The truck that runs down the road getting 5-8 mpg has to get a piece of the pie. And if it goes air freight lets remember theres the handling of loading the box and unloading the box plus airplanes aren't real cheap to operate. I know these charges seem costly but your box touches many hands way before it gets to your door. All those folks like to earn a wage like you and I. I try to shop locally no matter what the price. Support your local economy. You're paying shipping charges on that stuff also but its built into the price and goes unnoticed. You wouldn't drive to wherever you bought the part for what they are charging you would you? Nobody ever said owning a truck is cheap and restoring old iron can really get costly.

 

People who only shop for the best price need to consider the value of service. If you don't believe me, walk into a Walmart and try to get knowledgeable help in the camera department. Or watch what happens to many Walmarts after 5-6 years. The lots become dumps, carts aren't gathered up, trash in the lots and some of the customers....

There is such thing as handling and though there are companies that make a lot from padded shipping most are honest companies that are truly charging the cost. Say I ship a package that costs $5.75 to ship. Additionally, the box costs a dollar, plus it takes someone 20 minutes to pack it, print out the shipping labels, etc.

As someone with knowledge of the restoration industry, these companies aren't ripping you off. There is a good and valid reason for the prices. Tooling costs aren't cheap (sometimes the tooling is enormous). Or you make 1500 pieces and have to sit on them for 3 years. Or, you have people contact you with 2500 NOS parts but you have to buy them all if you want them. So if you want the good stuff that sells well you end up 250 67-72 tie rods that no one wants. And if they don't sell you have to pay tax on your inventory year after year after year. Compare your 56 part to a 97 part ---- you'll find the pricing is often similar. Also, many suppliers have minimum buy-ins. So instead of setting up 20 accounts at $10,000 each you buy from 1-2 middlemen --- they have to make a profit too so the price goes up. Sometimes the margin on a part is great, sometimes its under 10% just so you can be competitive (it all balances out). If companies didn't make a decent profit selling the parts you'd be stuck with a truck that's not restorable because you couldn't find the parts you needed. Or think about this, yeah that **** costs $15 and you think it ought to cost $5, but how many people call up, ask 5,000 questions about ***** and then don't buy. They just kept someone you pay $15/hour on the phone for 30 minutes. Cha-ching $$$$. Or the guy who doesn't take 5 minutes to browse your store to find the part but instead calls your toll free number, asks the same question 5 times (slightly differently each time in the hopes that he'll get a different answer) and doesn't know the name of the part. You've got to provide this service with a smile, keep the customer happy and to do that you can't make fifty cents on a $15 part.

 

Ken: Well said. The value of service is often very difficult to measure until the buyer gets burned. I am in a service business. All I can do is provide a truck with a driver matched to a specfic shipment. So many people first ask the price. This is a red flag for me. I require alot of information before I can price a shipment.
Miss one critical aspect and the whole deal can go south. When the buyer fails to tell the dispatcher that a crane is set up to meet the truck to load, and the truck is late, then the crane company will be charging the buyer for expensive waiting time. If the buyer selected the truck based upon price alone, then the value of the savings is immediately eaten up by the cost of a waiting crane. As you said; cha ching$$$$$.

My customers all know me well, and know that we will provide the exact service they require for their specifications. Most never ask me price. They trust we will be fair in our billing. We are of course, otherwise we would'nt have these customers too long. They know the value of our service.

The old saying of "you get what you pay for" is very true. Like I said before, caveat emptor. Another put it well, "An educated consumer is the best customer".

 

Ya it sucks living in Alaska... our remote location makes the cost of everything considerably higher. Where I am living right now it costs about 4 bucks for a 2 qt carton of milk!!!!! And gas is about 2.20 a gal--
But oh well, I enjoy living here
Ray

 

I was speaking with knowledge of UPS shipping and the practices of my company, but I really do think that the fella that started this thread was getting gouged.
Of course you have to pay the guy shipping the product, and for packaging and all that stuff, but realistically, if you use a parcel service to ship your goods, you aren't worrying about transit costs and all that; it's already rolled into the standard shipping charge. So if you are a profitable company, you should only be passing along the cost of shipping the item to the customer. Of course it's reasonable to formulate an approximate charge based on weight, but when you start charging by price, that's when it gets absurd.
For example, I ship water well equipment. If a customer calls and orders something for delivery on UPS, and he spends a minimum dollar amount of like $500, we pay the shipping because it won't cost us more than 20 or 30 bucks. But if we pass the charge along to them, like if they only order piddly stuff, we charge them exactly what it costs to ship it. If you aren't profiting off of your product enough to payroll a shipping clerk, you shouldn't have a shipping clerk. So these companies are padding their profits by charging shipping based upon a price scale, and then paying substantially less than that to ship it UPS.
BDV