Outrageous Shipping Charges 4
Found myself needing a specialty product for that XBMC computer recently. Spent a few days doing research, thinking about it, then finally ordered directly from the main US distributor after getting an email from their sales team explaining a particular add-on that was required.
The cost for the items was reasonable, perhaps even a good value, we shall see, but when the shipping charges were displayed, something was wrong. I’m used to free shipping for my online orders, so seeing a $70 shipping option seemed completely out of place. Here’s the exact shipping prices offered:
- Next Day Air – $69.47
- UPS 3 Day Select® – $24.20
- UPS2Day – $31.24
- UPSGR – $10.92
Toggle a switch to see other shippers, USPS in this case: - USPS Priority (Domestic) – $9.62
UPS is sticking it to the little guys, unless this company has a $5 base handling charge. Priority (if it fits, it ships) seemed like the best answer and arrived quickly across the country.
Do people really pay $70 for next day shipping of tiny objects? I still have this idea of a FedEx envelope costing $12 for overnight shipping. Maybe the prices have increased? These items would easily fit into a padded FedEx envelope.
What do you typically pay to get something that fits in a padded envelope shipped?
Last time I checked, UPS next day air shipping does in fact hit close to $70 for a Nexus 7 sized package. Had to check to figure out how much Google was losing in shipping ;)
Here in Germany many vendors offer express next-day-guaranteed-delivery-until-noon nationwide for (that’s the span I have seen so far) 13 .. 21 EUR (about 16 .. 26 US$), even for medium heavy goods. A few days ago I ordered a Brother multifunction printer with a gross weight of 19 kg, paid 13 EUR for delivery, and had it about 18 hours later at my doorstep.
Standard delivery charges are usually in the range 3 .. 15 EUR (about 4 .. 19 US$), depending on weight, with delivery usually in 1 .. 3 days. Up to 5 kg I’d consider 6 EUR (about 7.50 US$) typical.
Really bulky goods like plasma TVs are more expensive, and can get above 50 EUR.
Of course the average distances here in Germany are significantly shorter than in the US.
Where is it being shipped from? And, where are you?
If certain politicians get their way and put USPS out of business, this is the kind of price anyone who doesn’t live in a major metro will be paying.
Sorry it took so long to approve your comments. The blog was hit by blog-spammers pretty hard and there was a few pgs of blog-spam to delete.
We live near Atlanta, well within the metro area. Never need anything shipped overnight, but have received legal papers by 10am a few times. Atlanta is about the 10th largest metro area in the USA so things are available here and easily shipped in.
I have things shipped all the time, but usually use free shipping. It is very unusual to pay more than $5 for shipping except on a big TV. Buying a TV with free shipping is important and happens with a little effort.
The package came from Oakland, CA, so it was completely cross-country. It weighed about 2 lbs, not too heavy. Most items ordered from California are delivered in 3-4 days.
Distance isn’t as much an issue except for very heavy + bulky items that travel by truck. Smaller items fly. Atlanta is THE major hub for this stuff in the South East.
Packages seldom get lost until the last half-mile. About 1 of 20 is delivered to the wrong house … up the street, but our neighbors almost always bring it over that same evening. Cheaper items they can use might disappear, but a $500 item will not. I know that I’ve had a few packages delivered here for homes about 10 away. The driver simply didn’t read the house numbers, I guess. We live in a single-family, single-house with yard neighborhood. House numbers make sense even/odd sides of the street and ordered based on the direction of travel.
I should be thankful that we have logical street addresses and that packages arrive unopened. Many parts of the world do not have either. Just try to send a birthday card to India – it will be opened.