Another reason the hobby is dying out

[Vics Stuff]

Originally Posted by rbone

I believe that shipping should not be a profit source for folks. I have sold lots of things on ebay and only charge actual shipping costs. Last week I shipped a 44 pound box UPS ground from Dallas to Atlanta with additional insurance of $2000. The price was $27.05. I thought that was very reasonable, particularly with the insurance. Without the additional insurance, the price was $12 and change. I am fortunate that I get to take advantage of a discounted rate, but I still would never make a profit on shipping. Seems dishonest to do so to me.

I have to agree. I see that many business are gouging on shipping at a profit. When I think shipping is out of hand for a particular vendor, I shop elsewhere .
Some businesses do not even care about shipping gouging but have found some to work with me and they get my repeat business.
Vic

[Brian]

I didn't know the hobby was dying- I thought it was just us old codgers that were dying!!
It is apparent that the popularity of flatties is diminishing, indeed muscle cars etc seem to be right in vogue at present.
I think the cars we grew up with tend to be what we ultimately own, trying to recapture our youth or whatever, so it all becomes generational. Also, the passage of time has a very real effect on how vehicles last. Add the availability of nos and replacement parts....
The way us old codgers struggle with modern technology, everything's computerised in forever smaller and more powerful packages, the young fellas have no trouble with it, but the mechanicals of our old vehicles leaves them bewildered- far too complex! And it's TOO SLOW!!
It's always evolving. We [the owners of these old Ford vehicles], are the things that are dying, and as we die off, the interest in owning such antique vehicles also goes by the way....

[35fordtn]

Sorry to pitch in on the shipping rant..., but as a small vendor it can suck. Large volume shippers often get a large price break with fedex and ups if they meet the expected volume year after year. Ever wonder how amazon pulls off free shipping on nearly everything?. This makes it tough to compete on shipping as a small vendor. There are also vendors not willing to take the time to explore cheaper options, such as first class or ground shipping. I see no problem in mark up on shipping to cover the cost of supplies,etc. At my small business we mark up shipping $1.00!per shipment to cover such expenses. Regardless, as a consumer you have to right to purchase where you choose... the internet sure has changed things

[flatford8]

Originally Posted by 35fordtn

Sorry to pitch in on the shipping rant..., but as a small vendor it can suck. Large volume shippers often get a large price break with fedex and ups if they meet the expected volume year after year. Ever wonder how amazon pulls off free shipping on nearly everything?. This makes it tough to compete on shipping as a small vendor. There are also vendors not willing to take the time to explore cheaper options, such as first class or ground shipping. I see no problem in mark up on shipping to cover the cost of supplies,etc. At my small business we mark up shipping $1.00!per shipment to cover such expenses. Regardless, as a consumer you have to right to purchase where you choose... the internet sure has changed things

To me, what your doing is “actual shipping cost”. The box, the packaging, the time to wrap it and package it and send it off. That sounds fair.......Mark

[Karl]

Originally Posted by 35fordtn

Sorry to pitch in on the shipping rant..., but as a small vendor it can suck. Large volume shippers often get a large price break with fedex and ups if they meet the expected volume year after year. Ever wonder how amazon pulls off free shipping on nearly everything?. This makes it tough to compete on shipping as a small vendor. There are also vendors not willing to take the time to explore cheaper options, such as first class or ground shipping. I see no problem in mark up on shipping to cover the cost of supplies,etc. At my small business we mark up shipping $1.00!per shipment to cover such expenses. Regardless, as a consumer you have to right to purchase where you choose... the internet sure has changed things

Michael Your shipping rates are pretty good (and you are sending to New Zealand ) I have a US forwarding address and they get bulk shipping rates -On large items, like the clutch set up I just brought from you , there is some postage savings by using them but mostly they are not a lot cheaper than you (and definitely less convenient ) - Karl

[Phil Gillespie]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by Karl

Michael Your shipping rates are pretty good (and you are sending to New Zealand ) I have a US forwarding address and they get bulk shipping rates -On large items, like the clutch set up I just brought from you , there is some postage savings by using them but mostly they are not a lot cheaper than you (and definitely less convenient ) - Karl

Have also found his rates to be very good. Most times there is a refund as with items purchased through ebay. As quoted prices are estimates and its great to see the best prices offered via shipping.
Phil NZ

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by 35fordtn

Sorry to pitch in on the shipping rant..., but as a small vendor it can suck. Large volume shippers often get a large price break with fedex and ups if they meet the expected volume year after year. Ever wonder how amazon pulls off free shipping on nearly everything?. This makes it tough to compete on shipping as a small vendor. There are also vendors not willing to take the time to explore cheaper options, such as first class or ground shipping. I see no problem in mark up on shipping to cover the cost of supplies,etc. At my small business we mark up shipping $1.00!per shipment to cover such expenses. Regardless, as a consumer you have to right to purchase where you choose... the internet sure has changed things

Thats more than fair and expected as a consumer. What is frustrating as a consumer is when the "handling" is as much as the shipping.

[tubman]

I have posted this before, but I think it needs to said here. In a former life, I had a small computer company that specialized in custom software for small to medium sized distribution companies. Almost all of the software packages we supplied had a sophisticated shipping cost mark-up function. They also included modules to analyze the extra profits generated this way. Since it was over 25 years ago, I don't think it's talking out of school to tell you that, for some of my customers, more profit was generated by marking up shipping than by actual product sales. I never heard that any of their customers complained about it. I am sure that we never changed the software to reduce this practice. It's now 25 years down the road, and I can only imagine what's going on these days! Also, you may not know that UPS, at least, offers significant discounts to their larger customers based on volume. This explains to me why so many of these outfits use UPS rather than USPS flat rate packages that would probably provide substantial savings to their customers. Marking up a discounted cost can yield a lot of profit.

[Frank Miller]

There is the actual shipping price. Then there is the cost of boxes. Let's add in packing material. Now you need someone to make all this happen. The guy who lives three blocks away just has to drive there and get the part while you're clicking in your underwear with credit card in hand.
I recently stopped in at Joe's to pick up a few items. I had to give someone a ride and was halfway there but it cost me more than an hour driving time as well as waiting for a customer before me as well as having to see pictures of the car he acquired, then helping him try to make connections to hwlp him out as he is a new V8 owner so when you look at it that way the shipping is easy. But meeting people is priceless.

[RalphM]

Originally Posted by mrtexas

Anyone notice Macs now has $10/15 flat rate shipping?

Apparently they read the Fordbarn complaints.

MACS used to do that if you asked, for me it was the best way, then they quit.
But I have not ordered from them in awhile.

[Gary in La.]

Shipping car parts is an art form of sorts. Many car parts are not equal to common size boxes. you have to scrounge the dumpsters at dealers, body shops and wal mart to find boxes that are almost the right size. Then you cut them down to fit or use the cardboard and build your own. Shipping charges are dependent on size and weight so you minimize both. The cost of glue, packing tape, bubble wrap and styro p'nuts then become a new factor. Almost impossible to recoup your costs to ship parts and keep a satisfied customer. Then you have the actual shipping costs at ups,fed ex and usps. No charge for time spent or fuel to the shipper. Dealers have some leeway but we as individuals do not so we accept it. I've been doing it for almost 50 years so I guess some of us just like it.

[corvette8n]

Originally Posted by Brian

I didn't know the hobby was dying- I thought it was just us old codgers that were dying!!
It is apparent that the popularity of flatties is diminishing, indeed muscle cars etc seem to be right in vogue at present.
I think the cars we grew up with tend to be what we ultimately own, trying to recapture our youth or whatever, so it all becomes generational. Also, the passage of time has a very real effect on how vehicles last. Add the availability of nos and replacement parts....
The way us old codgers struggle with modern technology, everything's computerised in forever smaller and more powerful packages, the young fellas have no trouble with it, but the mechanicals of our old vehicles leaves them bewildered- far too complex! And it's TOO SLOW!!
It's always evolving. We [the owners of these old Ford vehicles], are the things that are dying, and as we die off, the interest in owning such antique vehicles also goes by the way....

That's why I'm trying to get the grandkids interested in old cars in general, gotta have someone to pass the stuff onto.

[Fred A]

Sometimes you sleep through a trend until something wakes us up. The changes at MACs when they went Eckler was sobering and changed my buying habits. Here in California we are on track to be the tax state, but for quick parts, C&G is a good in-state resource, however I could not ignore a small gasket ordered that could have been slipped into a birthday card cost $9 to ship. I tried to complain at the Big three but was met with rather blank stares. Mark it up to mark it down. Higher prices hide lower shipping. Good Luck: Fred A

[philipswanson]

Originally Posted by RalphM

Not sure where your at, but I live in Alaska and everything costs extra $ to ship. The price to pay for living here I guess. I always hold off on big ticket items and find someone driving up that’s willing to bring them for some gas money.

Ralph, I will be coming up there to North Pole, AK again this summer on June 1. Let me know if there is something I can bring up. I have free check in baggage on Alaska credit card. You are just 3 miles from my destination. I live in the San Diego area but you could drop ship here first to save $.

Phil Swanson

[51woodie]

I live in Ontario Canada, and was inquiring about buying a part that weighs about one pound, shipped from a US. The supplier quoted US$65.00, which converts to about C$90.00 (depending on exchange rate at the time). That is equal to one third the price of the part! I agree, as someone stated, there is a cost of packaging material and labour, as well as time involved to send the package. What irritates me most is comparing the "shipping cost" to the actual cost on the package when it arrives, that is sometimes half of what the supplier charged. Nice markup!

[Karl]

I once brought a part for my Model A from a supplier . A single condenser of all things and was charged about $40 postage and it took 3 weeks to get here . When I queried the postage I was informed they didn't set the rates US post did and it was implied that US post was superior to all other postal systems including our postal system here in New Zealand. To make a point I returned my used condenser to them with a rude letter included via New Zealand post . I tracked it and it took 5 days and cost me the equivalent of US$ 4 - Never heard anything -Never brought from them again .

[philipswanson]

Shipping costs has nothing to do with the hobby. Everybody pays it and it reasonable. Especially the pre-paid boxes at the USPS. Yes, UPS is too high. I do avoid them like the plague.

[rotorwrench]

Shipping can only be profitable if sales volume is very high. In the case of Eckler's, there are a multiple of business divisions to add up. Ralph Eckler would be very surprised with where his little Corvette parts business went if he was still kicking. Some businesses will only ship FedEx or UPS due to USPS problems but nothing is fool proof. I avoid ordering from places that I know are gouging on the price of packing & shipping. Those places have a lot of folks on the payroll that just do that all day long so it's added in. Mom & Pop businesses generally do all the work themselves. Eckler's Inc. has been slowly buying up all the Mom & Pop businesses.

[mrtexas]

Got a package today from C&G, a couple electrical items. They charged me $6.47 shipping.

[rbone]

Originally Posted by 35fordtn

Sorry to pitch in on the shipping rant..., but as a small vendor it can suck. Large volume shippers often get a large price break with fedex and ups if they meet the expected volume year after year. Ever wonder how amazon pulls off free shipping on nearly everything?. This makes it tough to compete on shipping as a small vendor. There are also vendors not willing to take the time to explore cheaper options, such as first class or ground shipping. I see no problem in mark up on shipping to cover the cost of supplies,etc. At my small business we mark up shipping $1.00!per shipment to cover such expenses. Regardless, as a consumer you have to right to purchase where you choose... the internet sure has changed things

To me, actual shipping costs include shipping materials, labor, etc. Including those in a shipping fee seems totally fair to me. What I think is misleading is to upcharge on total shipping costs as a means to drive profitability.

Also, no shipping is free. Many competitive websites will show total changes including shipping for an item. That allows for a simple comparison. I realize this is not necessarily true for buying car parts for old Fords, but it is true for most things that are available electronically from more than one vendor.