Whats wrong with this picture

[cscotthendry]

I live outside the US, but need to order things from American companies from time to time. Often the things I need are small parts. However almost without exception, these companies (and most are included in this complaint) ship their items in ludicrously large cartons and charge accordingly for the shipping. I have had situations where the shipping cost nearly 4 times what the items cost, all because of the crazy packaging size.

Here's a case in point. I bought some small electronic parts and this was the carton they sent it in. It is 12" x 15" x 3" for three little plastic bags that could have gone in a padded envelope. It cost $28.00US to ship something that could have been shipped for about $3.00. And it's not just this one company. Just about every company that is prepared to ship internationally does this.:x:x:x

BTW, I've fired off a very hot "please explain" to the company concerned.

[vpilot]

Looks like they took the notion of "think big" a bit too literally over at the shipping department.
The box also says "Extremely urgent"?
I can just see it now.. they hand the box over to a clerk "Here, take the company jet and get this delivered. It's Extremely Urgent. Don't worry, the guy's gonna pay for it."

On a more serious note though, you're right it IS rediculous.

Cheerio,

Sander

[cscotthendry]

Lately the $ here in Oz has been nearly on parity with the US$. So it's been attractive to get those things that are not available here or are prohibitively expensive here. Our Aussie merchants charge like wounded bulls. But the shipping antics of the American companies makes it tough.

Yeah it would nearly be cheaper to send the stuff by the corporate jet... ;-)

[Michael Carter]

It's no different shipping within the US. I ordered a PS/2 extention cable from NewEgg and it came in the size box you have there in your photo. They charged $12 bucks to get it here from California.

[cscotthendry]

I wondered about that. I think it must be some kind of cost shifting measure. Where the company has a "one size fits all" box so that the people in the shipping department don't have to do any thinking (Are there still people in the shipping department?) It doesn't matter that the box is ridiculously oversize as "the customer is paying".

Whenever I get this I always send a rocket back to the company. It never does any good as the people who make the policy, insulate themselves from the repercussions, but it makes me feel better. Too bad for the people who have to answer my letters, but they have the option (and the obligation) to pass that negative feedback up the chain of command.

I hope that if any of you get this kind of treatment by a mail order company, that you write the company and express your displeasure.

[Paul G]

... it must be some kind of cost shifting measure. Where the company has a "one size fits all" box so that the people in the shipping department don't have to do any thinking

I think you got it right. Irrespective of the size of the order, they probably assumed that it's cheaper to have one product regardless of order size, and it still takes the packaging dept similar time (not much saving because of small items).

I think the rate is a bit over the top but I would have found that out in advance as I have done so. Frequently ordering from the Good Ol' I've had to wait until having sufficient items before placing an order, or teaming up with other people locally to split the cost. At least Oz is a good long distance from the US. In Canada we get fleeced alive and it's right on our doorstep, well some of it is.

Why not find others in Australia to split the cost with and then you can distribute using local services. Should save you a bit and allow you to place orders more frequently, assuming you're using the US for cost savings in the first place.

[cscotthendry]

Why not find others in Australia to split the cost with and then you can distribute using local services. Should save you a bit and allow you to place orders more frequently, assuming you're using the US for cost savings in the first place.

This is an excellent suggestion except for the fact of how unorganized I am.;-) It's not unusual for me to press the "confirm order" button and then remember something else I wanted to buy. Still what you suggest is a workaround for what I consider a mean practice anyway. Problem solver that I am, I'd rather fix it at the source.

Also, there's not many people I'm in contact with that are interested in the sort of things I buy from the people I buy from. Things like 00-90 screws 1mm ball bearing units etc. Not many people have uses for those things.

Well, life goes on, I'll just keep kicking the system...;-)

[Michael Carter]

A problem with many companies is that your shipping cost is not calculated until after the order is placed and paid for. By then, they've already charged your card and you're screwed.

I do nearly every bit of my purchasing from the internet, but that's the worst screwing I ever got on shipping. I mean the damn cable was $3!!!:roll:

[cscotthendry]

The company in question did exactly that. I didn't know the total until the package arrived. There was only a few shipping options to choose from. I chose USPS as now that is generally the cheapest option. Little did I know they were going to ship the stuff in a 40' shipping container. Well not quite, but I'll bet a container wouldn't have cost much more.;-)

The transport companies used to be a LOT cheaper than the Post Office, but not any more. Now I don't even dare ship stuff by Fed Ex, UPS or TNT as they show up at the house with mortgage papers filled and ready to sign. Maybe this will change as the transport companies have been prosecuted for price fixing and they were all involved, apparently.

[Paul G]

I find USPS if offered is normally a deal-maker for me. I haven't yet been charged anything for packages from US with USPS in terms of duty or tax, which really surprises me. Others have claimed USPS just charges a fixed amount on entry to Canada but for some reason this has never applied in my experience.

I am going to suggest giving these guys a try http://www.goldmine-elec.com/
I have bought from them in the past and they quote shipping presumably based on weight (at least to Canada). I keep a wishlist updated and when I have sudden urgency or add enough to it, boom, an order goes in and I get it within a week or so. Prices are great as well.

Who are you using out of interest?

[Michael Carter]

Sometimes there is no choice of shippers. NewEgg shipped the cable UPS. when they could have put it in a padded envelope and mailed it for $2 max.

Idiots. :roll:

That really keeps the customers coming back.

[cscotthendry]

In this case the company was Jameco, but they're not the only ones that have done this to me. I once bought some small gears from SDP-SI and the freight cost more than the gears because a) they sent it in a huge box and b) they sent it by TNT. that in itself was a long story.

SDP-SI send by TNT so that the goods are delivered door-to-door by the carrier. They refuse to ship by mail. But I live on an island and TNT don't deliver here. So what did TNT do? Stick it in the mail, but not before they (wrongly) re-addressed it. So my package went missing because of TNT.

It took me two weeks of constant calls to TNT to get them to finally tell me that they had taken it upon themselves to repackage and re-address my shipment. Then I found out that it had been redirected by them twice and had gone to Canberra first (I'm in Queensland) then they re-addressed it to another guy with a similar name but on a neighbouring island. The infuriating part was that when I took off the TNT repackaging, the original package had the correct address on the label, clearly readable.

So I don't do business with SDP-SI anymore, either. I truly can relate to BSW's $3.00 cable and $12 shipping only in my case it was about $20 worth of gears and $70 shipping.

[AndyT]

I used to be the first guy in the boat to start it rocking but now.... I'm always leary of starting something that's not quite right. After all, I am a Minister now.

That being said, Has anyone thought of a class action suit against a few choice companies for excessive shipping charges? I need a $20 part to fix my notebook computer but the shipping on it is $30. Needless to say, I'm without my notebook.

If a class action suit were to win out over a few of the larger companies, then they and the rest would be forced to begin shipping reasonable sized and priced packages.

The great thing about Class action suits? Everyone chips in a small amount and very high priced lawyers can be had for small amounts by everyone. Lets see, 10,000 people join in on the suit. Any really good legal firm would be crazy to pass that one up. (Unless they represent the defendants...)

[zenandzen]

Scott,
I can relate to your woes.
I buy quite a bit on ebay & usually either U.S. or U.K. & I have been burned enough times on postage to NEVER press the BUY button until I have a firm quote on shipping/airmail costs, that I feel is reasonable.
Some sellers must think Australia is in the outer ozone layer by the way they charge.
I have seen many instances where an add on for fs2004/FSX is priced at $46 US postage & as we all know those come in a DVD case & yet if you look at DVD movie postage costs it's around$11-15 US.

I realise ebay is a little different with some sellers factoring a packaging fee into the postal charge but I have bought stuff directly from merchants' web shops & if I cannot get a price on shipping I'm off to find someone else that gives transport costs up front.

Andy has a nice idea about class action but in the meantime maybe vote with your mouse & go to another seller if they(the one your looking at) won't give transport costs up front.
Maybe they will get the message if you send them a note saying you will buy elsewhere until they give transport quotes.

Sorry if that was a rant!

Good luck
Cheers
Gerry

[cscotthendry]

Whoa! I wasn't thinking of anything as drastic as legal action, Andy.

But I have had an idea of creating a "name N Shame" Facebook page. Facebook seems to get a lot of media attention because of it's popularity. A lot of people seem to air grievances on it so it might get a reaction from some companies.

Gerry, don't apologize for a . This whole thread has been a rant from the start. :mad:;)

[AndyT]

I realize that legal action is a bit on the drastic side, but in todays world, it is quite often the only recourse for fairness. I pray it were otherwise.
The 'Name and Shame' is a good idea also.

[fweinrebe]

Would it not be an option to request the courier company to go and fetch the goods and you pay the courier, instead of letting the vendor package it and send it via courier? So you arrange it from your hometown/city courier office.

I wanted to buy EUR13-00 worth of stuff from Europe the other day, but they quoted me EUR80 for the courier charges. Maybe the guy from DHL or Fedex for example could go to the shop, buy the items package it for less and courier it. Then you pay the courier locally. I am wondering if this will be a viable option. Any ideas / comments?

And with componentsonline.com, they force international customers to buy $100 and then UPS charges $190 for the courier. Guess who didn't buy both times.

[cscotthendry]

When the courier and transport companies were trying to steal business from the post office, they used to undercut the post office's prices like anything. Now that they have a big slice of the business, they charge like wounded bulls.

As soon as you say courier or transport company, think two to three times the price no matter how you arrange it. And if you want the courier company to do anything like make payments or do purchases, ther would obviously be a hefty fee for that if they'd be willing to do it at all. My belief is that, these days if it required any effort at all on their part, they'd just refuse.

I may be showing my age, but I remember when profit was a result of doing business not the purpose, Then along came Milton Friedman.

[vpilot]

I may be showing my age, but I remember when profit was a result of doing business not the purpose, Then along came Milton Friedman.


Actually, I think most courier operations are now under the control of the Ferengi. :evil:

[skywatch]

A friend of mine bought a chip (IC) from the states to be delivered to the UK. I think the chip cost about £2.50 or so. When he got it it cost him over £80.00 since they packed it in a big box, threw in their thick catalogue for good measure and sent the whole lot as priority!

He was REALLY unhappy about it all!

Skywatch

[Tomlin]

Sometimes there is no choice of shippers. NewEgg shipped the cable UPS. when they could have put it in a padded envelope and mailed it for $2 max.

Idiots. :roll:

That really keeps the customers coming back.

Actually...I have been waiting since Sept 11th on 2 VGA cables that Amazon sent US Postal. It stinks, as these things still have shown up here yet. Im getting ready to make a complaint. I would have much preferred UPS, or 'specially FEDEX.

[JBaymore]

But I have had an idea of creating a "name N Shame" Facebook page. Facebook seems to get a lot of media attention because of it's popularity. A lot of people seem to air grievances on it so it might get a reaction from some companies.

Methinks an effective "Name n Shame" page might get some attention........ from the lawyers DEFENDING the companies so named. ;)

Then the suit would likely be on the other body, so to speak.

best,

...................john

[Padraig]

Methinks an effective "Name n Shame" page might get some attention........ from the lawyers DEFENDING the companies so named. ;)

Then the suit would likely be on the other body, so to speak.

best,

...................john

I think, Mycockpit are actually creating a feedback list for vendors very soon where they will be ranked on their price, customer service and product. I think matt, and trevor are working on it, but dont hold me to that, I just saw one of them explaining this in some other thread.

[JBaymore]

I think, Mycockpit are actually creating a feedback list for vendors very soon where they will be ranked on their price, customer service and product. I think matt, and trevor are working on it, but dont hold me to that, I just saw one of them explaining this in some other thread.

Dangerous ground if it is actually going to have any "teeth".

Wonder what the full time lawyer on staff is costing. ;)

best,

.............john

[cscotthendry]

A friend of mine bought a chip (IC) from the states to be delivered to the UK. I think the chip cost about £2.50 or so. When he got it it cost him over £80.00 since they packed it in a big box, threw in their thick catalogue for good measure and sent the whole lot as priority!

He was REALLY unhappy about it all!

Skywatch

This is beginning to look like a full on rort. The US government took on the carriers for collusion a while ago, but the problem now seems to be some kind of loose collusion between the sellers and the carriers re: "Put it in an oversize box". This is happening so much that it has created a cottage industry here in Australia. Check out Carolina Tillet's business on PriceUSA.

[skywatch]

Scott,

I think you might be right. I do know that here in the UK, until recently, it was always the weight of an item that counted to it's postage costs via the postal system. This meant that many companies just ordered in the larger boxes as it was easier for inventory and they just filled them with those plastic bubbles.

As the trains and vans started to overfill with large boxes with hardly anything in them, they introduced new charges which now calculate the weight and size of the item to be sent.

Maybe this should be introduced in other places? I do know that including a catalogue (un-solicited) had happened to me as well.

Skywatch

[paulj]

I worked in the Freight Forwarding industry for 30 years and I can tell you that this isn't new.
There has always been a formula for working out weight vs capacity.
Can't remember the formula now as it's been quite awhile, but we always measured the size of packages and compared them to their weight when working out the freight costs.
This was an IATA (International Air Transport Assiocation) requirement not something the Freight Forwarders thought up.

Paul

[cscotthendry]

I worked in the Freight Forwarding industry for 30 years and I can tell you that this isn't new.
There has always been a formula for working out weight vs capacity.
Can't remember the formula now as it's been quite awhile, but we always measured the size of packages and compared them to their weight when working out the freight costs.
This was an IATA (International Air Transport Assiocation) requirement not something the Freight Forwarders thought up.

Paul

Yes:
I too worked in the transport industry (a looooong time ago) and it was the same then re: calculation based on size/weight whichever was more. The real problem here is the suppliers. I think they've become lazy and grab the first box that will fit and just pass the cost on to the customer. I wouldn't mind betting that if the shipment even came close to filling a certain size box, they'd go for the next size up as it would be easier than re-packing if it didn't fit. Again, the customer pays so "no worries" for the shipping dept.