Shipping Fees = Prohibitive

[logdrum]

I shipped something recently to me from Illinois to New Mexico (the state not the country) via Fedex 2 day for 14.10. 2.50 was the residential fee. This was 9 lbs/500 declared value. This may piss people off but the discount that I get as a company employee is about 85%. This is a benefit from my work I am not a power shipper (5 to 10 a year) and don't intend to be because I do not want to lose this benefit. I use the post office for anything less than 15. I wonder what pirateship discount is. I sent a bass to Ohio also 2 day last year and cost me around 35.

BTW - to be clear, I do not go to my work shipping department to ship my bass. Everything is by me through me. I really do not know how I got the benefit. I have been here almost 24 years , so maybe one of those perks that just got grandfathered in. I had a personal Fedex account for like 15 years now.

 

[jTrolt]

Suggesting they deserve less? $125K was a lot of money in the 1990s.

No suggestion. Just a point to ponder. If wages just got bumped a significant amount, cost of the service would need to go up to support it.
Mistake#1: including a dollar figure.

Who is we?

Indeed, that was a gross error in selection of pronouns.
Mistake #2: Acting as a spokesperson for all TBer's, an offensive implication that any opinions that followed could be considered irrelevant, as I, in my omnipotence, have already closed the argument.

I get it.
I've learned my lessons.
I'll see myself out.

 

[JazznFunk]

Shipping rates and fees in general (especially eBay) curbed my buying and selling online as a private seller well over a decade ago. I used to flip basses all the time in the 2000s, but now it's simply too cost prohibitive to buy/sell anything that isn't small and easily packaged (small amp heads, effects pedals, etc). When you reasonably factor in shipping costs, taxes, and any other fees on top of it, plus how much people want to lowball, it's impossible to recoup expenses and break even in many cases.

 

[Grinderman]

No suggestion. Just a point to ponder. If wages just got bumped a significant amount, cost of the service would need to go up to support it.
Mistake#1: including a dollar figure.




Indeed, that was a gross error in selection of pronouns.
Mistake #2: Acting as a spokesperson for all TBer's, an offensive implication that any opinions that followed could be considered irrelevant, as I, in my omnipotence, have already closed the argument.

I get it.
I've learned my lessons.
I'll see myself out.

No need to sweat it.

 

[Matt-J2]

Except he quoted that price ($932) as an example of ground pricing, which it is not, then got snippy when the mistake was pointed out.

Yeah, kind of. Maybe it's my lack of funds but I took it to mean that the mention of Ground was about the low end of the costs listed. I can see how the original post might be confusing now, though.

And I made a slight mistake. FedEx Ground is a specific service name that delivers to businesses only. FedEx Home Delivery is residential. It's the same network, but different package restrictions and delivery days. That's why mine shifted when I selected a residential delivery option.

Guess I'm learning a bunch of stuff today.

 

[alex1fly]

I'm beginning to think that even here on a platform dedicated to bass guitars people find every imaginable excuse to turn everything into an argument

It just blows my mind how hostile snarky and aggressive people are on such an innocuous topic.

In the data world we say garbage in, garbage out lol

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Shipping fees are up, but check them out before you list something so you can price accordingly. Sweetwater can ship a Squier and still make a profit, but you can't. Pack it yourself, pack it well, and use PirateShip.

 

[newwavefrank]

I am in Utah. I entered the numbers shown in the previous fed ex overnight example and shipped to east coast with pirateship.com. This shows UPS rates.

 

[Grinderman]

Facts are snarky.

 

[JenderBazzFass]

I have always found FedEx to be much more expensive than UPS, and the insurance with either carrier is almost worthless. If the package is totally lost, which is very unlikely, you'll be covered but getting either one to pay out a claim on a damaged package is impossible. Those insurance policies are all profit for them.

 

[MattZilla]

No.

1) Plummeting buying power of most currencies reflected primarily in cost of groceries, services like shipping, and luxury goods like musical instruments and 2) stagnant wages are what’s inhibiting most people’s purchases.

See: almost every EBMM or MIA Fender thread. 1/20 posts ~”Geez they cost so much now!”

 

[BQFS]

For those who don't know, to reduce your shipping costs, check out a service called PirateShip.com. Jorg Schroeder, of Schroeder cabinets, turned me onto them, and they've saved me a TON of money. They are generally MUCH MUCH less expensive than even the discounts offered by Reverb and eBay. Even for lesser expensive items that ship via USPS, they are still less expensive. Generally, what I do is figure out what the label will cost through Reverb or eBay (or Gear Exchange, Marketplace, whatever) and then do the same on PirateShip. In the couple dozen shipments I have done recently, PirateShip was considerably less expensive in all but one case. Hope this helps! - Bud

 

[BQFS]

I sell a LOT on Reverb. Turns out Reverb actually has NO POLICY AT ALL against sellers charging exorbitant shipping prices. You'll love this story - I was looking for a set of strings and this one seller was selling them for $20 with $30 (flat rate) shipping. I questioned him about that and he said, incorrectly, that Reverb charges the same selling fees regardless of whether he charged $50 with free shipping or $20 with $30 shipping.

So I queried Reverb and got the vaguest answer imaginable. In essence, they SUGGEST sellers do not overcharge and that I should ask the seller to refund the difference between actual (in this case, about $7) and his shipping charges. I did, in order to comply with Reverb customer service, and got the answer I expected (No!).

So, I offered him $15 for the strings and he accepted (with the shipping still at $30).

So, I got back to Reverb, explained the situation (again) and they said I was eligible for a refund FROM REVERB, so I asked them for a refund, and believe it or not, they issued me a $23 refund credit (that I could use for anything I buy on Reverb). So, my $50 set of strings actually cost me just $22. Can't beat that.

Now, I normally don't like to gouge people, but just to see what would happen, I put up for sale a fairly expensive bass (well, expensive for me) at $1999 with $200 shipping. No one has complained so far. I will see what happens when the item sells.

Normally, I estimate shipping at around $90 (for the basses I sell), and refund the difference between actual and estimated shipping charges. I figure what goes around comes around, but maybe not in this case.

What happens is that the buyer can estimate actual shipping charges so he or she doesn't feel gouged, but then I go to PirateShip.com and pay the very much reduced price. Win-win.

I certainly have no love of Reverb's (or eBay's) relatively high sales fees.

BTW, eBay has allowed overcharging of shipping forever. I have seen items go for sale for under $50 with shipping charges inflated to sometimes 4x or more the selling price. Keeps eBay's selling fees down to a minimum and clearly they have no policy on that either.

I will leave it to your personal ethics to decide how you want to handle it. I choose to balance it by charging a bit more than actual shipping charges and lowering the asking price by the same amount. Keeps the total price fair to the buyer, and, I hope, doesn't flag me as a shipping price gouger.

Bud

 

[silky smoove]

Price the thing you’re selling to include the cost of shipping. This will result in one of two scenarios:

1. It sells and you get the price you wanted and don’t incur shipping costs.
2. It doesn’t sell and you can be thankful that you didn’t lose a bunch to shipping costs.

People might complain that your price is high, but you’ll complain if you have to pay for shipping. Someone has to pay for it. The only decision you have to make is whether or not the sale price after the incurred cost of shipping is worth it. If it’s not, keep the item, find a new use for it, or sell it locally. If it is, then be happy that you got an acceptable amount for it and move on.

You might not like the responses you’ve gotten, but there’s nothing anyone can do about shipping costs. These are the realities of the situation.

 

[moon-bass]

Yes we do. The air freight charges on airlines have skyrocketed in recent years because of carriers dealing with aging fleets of planes requiring more frequent maintenance. Aviation fuel costs have also risen dramatically over the last few years.

Driver salaries may have added a few dollars to the average cost of local deliveries. But that doesn’t account for the huge increase in shipping costs all by itself.

Sometimes we need to get beyond political rhetoric and talking points about hourly wages that we’re constantly being bombarded with and examine all the relevant factors innthe equation.

I always find it telling just how many people in this country feel everybody is being grossly overpaid - except for themselves.

Question…does that $125K figure also include overtime wages being averaged into the total. It would be interesting to know what the standard 40 hour week average wage was. Because it’s a common ploy during labor negotiations to include OT in “average salary” numbers to create the false impression that the standard hourly rate being paid is already too high.

And paying someone overtime is still a lot cheaper for most busy companies than hiring an additional employee would be. Because that way the company can avoid the additional 30%-36% of an average salary most employee benefit packages cost. After the first 40 hours the company just pays for time and a half when they need the extra help rather than being saddled with paying a full time employee.

From what I remember, that DOES include overtime. In addition, that also include the cost of benefits and "perks: - like discounts on uniforms. I've been privy to what counts as "benefits" and the ridiculous costs that some of these "benefits" are assigned - like $1,000 per employee "benefit" of having a central health portal, etc.

It ain't the salaries - it's the execs and the shareholders.

 

[sean_on_bass]

For goodness sake how much of a screen capture do you need? I showed you the high price and I told you the low price $200+, do you really need to see that too? feel free to run the numbers yourself if you don't believe me. Why on earth would I come here posting fake numbers just to have people argue with me?

I'm genuinely trying to get some information, if I wanted an argument I would go to Twitter.

Geeze...

I think they were just pointing out why the shipping was so high. No one is arguing with you. But honestly my first though with your OP was that you must be entering the shipping info incorrectly to get a price that high, or your box has some sort of irregular dimensions.

 

[40Hz]

It ain't the salaries - it's the execs and the shareholders.

So it all too often is.

And it pretty much has always been for that matter.

I’m always (I have a background in corporate accounting and finance) suspicious of numbers that are reported “in the aggregate” or “on average.”

It’s not so much the numbers themselves. Numbers are numbers and can always be checked for accuracy and completeness. So most businesses have learned to be very careful not to outright lie about them. Where the deceptive practice comes is in the “interpretation” those numbers are sometimes given, along with the inferences being made about what they show.

The best way to lie about something is to toss out a carefully chosen number or a statistic, then say nothing and allow the reader’s imagination to freely draw what (hopefully erroneous) conclusions it will. It‘s the classic “half lie + plausible deniability reserve strategy” in its simplest form.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I know the cost of everything is up, but I just (almost) sold a bass on Reverb and after entering the box info was given prices by FedEX and UPS ranging from $932 - $234.

This is for Ground Shipping! Not overnight, not priority, not pick up, just the same type of shipping I've used 100+ times in the past, where it used to range between $40 - $100 (on the high end with insurance on an expensive bass).

How do people sell stuff now and eat the shipping without going deep underwater on the sale?

Interested in some input

Like any other business, shipping cost are paid by the other side of the transaction.

 

[denton57]

Yes, shipping is insane. I think FedEx (air at least) will cease to exist because of the absurd shipping rates. I am a former FedEx employee.

Not to beat a dead horse, but that $900 was for not only Sat delivery, but FIRST OVERNIGHT. That’s the premium of premiums. When 12:00 pm just won’t do and you need it by 10:00 am. It’s absurd because it arrives at the station at the same time as the other freight IME. They just have the driver deliver it first or send another person out to get those delivered before there’s an exception. Total rip-off.

 

[FRoss6788]

Yes, shipping is insane. I think FedEx (air at least) will cease to exist because of the absurd shipping rates. I am a former FedEx employee.

Not to beat a dead horse, but that $900 was for not only Sat delivery, but FIRST OVERNIGHT. That’s the premium of premiums. When 12:00 pm just won’t do and you need it by 10:00 am. It’s absurd because it arrives at the station at the same time as the other freight IME. They just have the driver deliver it first or send another person out to get those delivered before there’s an exception. Total rip-off.

Oh come on!

Now you're just being snarky....