they use that extra money to buy a box, packing materials and pay someone to put it in the box. shipping and handling
Shipping is a profit center for Mac's. The next time you need parts check with Joe's Antique Auto. They are friendly, courteous, ,and knowledgeable and they don't bend you over for shipping.
Shipping costs are based on L X W X H of box the item is shipped out in... shipping is expensive... not sticking up for anyone here on that... I bought a windshield for my 60 Chevy SD, it was like $265.00 , plus $125.00 shipping.. and that was by normal LTL truck..
1-1/2 pounds, $24? Actually sounds reasonable. If it was $70, I could understand the post. Seriously...... $24 and you need to start a thread? How about a thread about installing the part you bought??? Allan........ having a cranky evening.
Wait until you have to regularly ship things internationally, it's a huge impost on us when we build a cars. For me it's still cheaper to source and buy from overseas than buying from a local supplier who has government charges, overheads and a profit margin to factor into the equation. Not to mention the foreign exchange rate where $AUD1.00 currently buys approximately $USD0.75. Years ago I bought some disc rotors (4) and hubs (4) for my car from Macs and the freight was so cheap I had to ask them before purchase if the shipping calculator was correct. When they confirmed the price was correct I bought them right away knowing that the price was way below what it should have been. Very happy. I bought other larger parts recently for a friends OT Corvette and I thought freight was reasonable. I suppose a small part is a PITA to ship when compared to a larger part? More handling involved with all those smaller parcels when compared to larger ones.
Hey Allan, if he’s ordered from Macs according to recent other threads on here we may end up waiting as long as a year to see that thread because it might take them that long to actually ship his order. I ordered a YBlock dipstick from them a month ago and it’s still back ordered Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll have one to ship to me soon.
Did you know they are on eBay too? Seems like they can't get away with "backordered" on Buy It Now, and maybe it's a different crew running that part of the operation. I needed a dipstick last year and it arrived quick in a heavy duty mailing tube.
I have ordered a part (not car parts) the size and weight of 4 loaves of bread, and got quoted Aust.$1300 for freight to Australia! It would have been cheaper to send me to the U.S, pick up the part, and bring it back with me(not counting all the car parts I would bring back!).
For overseas ( not U.S.A. ) buyers of parts on Ebay watch out for their ( Ebay,s ) latest money raking idea. Thats the Global Shipping Program with their own 1st class bullshit parcel centre. ( Pitney Bowes ) Idea being the seller sends his parts to them and they forward it to you. Sellers do lousy packaging thinking Ebay parcel centre will re-pack in a proper manner for the trip overseas. All they do is stick a customs label on !! Lesson learnt here. The postage rates that then apply are way, way more than if the seller went to U.S.P.S. and sent directly overseas himself. I,m not buying any more items where a seller uses the GSP option. Postage rate based on item price is just plain ridiculous. Over here postage rate is based on weight class, not size.
I think I may have a dipstick kicking around here. I’ll check and let you know. If I do you can have it. Allan
Get ready folks it's going to go up again in the new year according to ups [or one of them ,i forget now]on their conference call,something like 5%.
Same M&P with Howell's. Order a part from ebay=it's in stock and shipped to you within days. Order the same part through their catalog=waiting many months of waiting and pretty much zero customer service response via phone or email. They can't get away with the 'backorder' bit on ebay because they have that huge ebay feedback hammer hovering above their head and fear getting tossed as a seller.
Shipping costs are behind the control of many small business today. When a customer asks me to ship something over night I always tell them the cost in advance once I get the cost from FedEx because it's very expensive and on top of that they so not deliver to some areas everyday! With Amazon and Walmart starting their own delivery systems it might make FedEx and UPS even more expensive in the future. There are only so many many ways to ship things! Jimbo
Bob Drake does the same thing!!! Order 1 or 2 small items which could be shipped priority mail flat rate envelope for about $7. Bob Drake sends Fed Ex and charges about $16.00. I know from experience and shop carefully. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
THANK YOU! I've always wondered how a buyer felt about the eBay Global deal. I've always been happy selling and shipping man to man without and eBay middleman. Sold lots of stuff to Australia, New Zealand and Europe. As an overseas buyer what do you look for in an eBay listing? Should I post anything to help attract overseas buyers? Bob
Keep in mind, 'shipping' is a 'for profit' business, just like any other business. Some stick it to you more than others... Sometimes you have no choice but to bend over....as in the case of rare parts, etc.
...................................and don't forget to include (or mention if on phone) any discount codes that might exist, 'cause the sales rep sure as hell won't remind you!
Shipping is worth about $10 these days, for a small part. You got ripped off by about $15. In the grand scheme of playing with old cars, that is one of the least expensive lessons that one can learn! You got off light. The lesson is: ALWAYS check shipping prices (and for the item being in stock) FIRST before you buy parts from a vendor you are not totally familiar with.
That’s why I don’t buy from macs anymore, most of their stuff is cheap Chinese junk than on top of that they hammer you on shipping..., they def make a profit on thair shipping.
All this crying over shipping, don't y'all realize how expensive it is to run one of these? I hear they get really shitty fuel mileage too. Just sayin, carry on...
The lower price is always reflected in Packaging and Shipping costs . Not the seller it’s the shipper that costs you so much ! LOL Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I can tell you as a UPS customer service retiree that virtually all shippers pad their rates and use the excess money as a profit center. Most if not all medium to large shippers are receiving some level of discount off of what we called "published rates" , and rarely pass it back to their customers. The little guy pays full price for his FedEx and UPS shipping and he's got to get his money on his product, his shipping, or both.
Try buying 3 bucks worth of nuts and bolts from someplace like Fastenal and paying 12 for shipping. I guess it's all the order entry/parts picking/packing/.... added on to the shipping service cost. They can do 2 or 3 items as easy as 1. Some of these outfits that hose you on the small orders may also offer free shipping at a certain total amount of the order. I try to at least order another item or two that I may use later because the shipping bump for the extra items is probably pennies instead of dollars like the first item.
The Jalopy Journal
