shipping costs getting crazy
 

Holy cow.

I ordered a part (a seal) for the dishwasher. It was a $50 part. Shipping & handling from the vendor was about $11.

Stupidly, I ordered the wrong part, which I realized when it arrived. So I contacted customer service about a return, which they authorized. Obviously they want me to return the incorrectly ordered part in new condition with the manufacturer packaging. Effectively it came as a box within a box. Light (less than a pound?), but large in size: 40" x 9" x 9".

Looking online at their respective websites, to send the package back is ridiculously expensive. USPS wants $68. UPS wants $73. Fed Ex > $100. For a box that, granted, is slightly large but weighs almost nothing!

How is it that vendors can ship stuff for so little compared to what the public has to pay?

I'm almost tempted to lie to the postal service and send it media rate ($5--likely reflective of the package's light weight) and claim it's a poster or manuscript that was ordered incorrectly.

try pirateship.com - very clever name and business model, they get great rates and allow you to use their buying power. same great service, same tracking info, easy to compare rates with USPS and UPS

Yeah I bought 4 18” rims from California (to Mass). Cost the seller 400. He didn’t realize it would cost that much. I sent five wheel studs to California last week, no rush. $18. USPS lady said gas prices.

I use shippo.com. I can ship a 41 x 35 x 5 box to from Boston to CA for well under $100. UPS is always the cheapest solution offered by the site across UPS, FedEx and USPS.

USPS Small flat rate box would have been perfect for those. $9.55 online price, print your own label or $11 at the post office, they should have the boxes on a wall.

The range of USPS flat rate boxes and pad paks are fantastic value for dollar shipping relatively small but heavy things.

Try living in Hawaii. No free shipping here, unless you have Amazon Prime. At least Pelican will ship USPS. I think they charged me $9 shipping for a couple of washer nozzles.

Just sold a motorcycle exhaust to a guy in FL.....Box weighed 47 lbs 60x24x20.....Sent USPS for $160....UPS wanted over $400.....Took 26 days by truck.

I just bought a super rare factory 69-73 AC vent system in Santa Barbara. I'm cutting bike box down to 54 x 18 x 9 and sending it full of packing materials for the seller to pack it up safelyh and then attach a supplied return label to send it back. Will be about $75 each way. He was quoted $198 from CA to MA. Other than the minor cost savings, I am more sure it will survive the trip across country with my box. If I could fly out and buy a seat for it back, I actually would.

Shipping has gotten so expensive for even small items which should be relatively inexpensive. I find myself saying "I guess I really don't need that after all" and elect not to make a purchase.

Ultimately that's bad for business.

Amazon prime covers 95% of everything I get delivered now. For exactly this reason.

USPS Flat Rate Shipping Boxes are your friend.

hah, I shipped 4 full sized brake rotors for $25 and the box was 70 pounds.


then there was the DHL pallet with 1200 pounds of crate and 911 SC engine/Tranny that shipped from Seattle to Georgia..........that was fun to load on my trailer. took two kubotas to lift and backed the trailer under it!

I ordered new springs from Trailex and shipping to my house was $25. Trailex didn’t pay for return, so I had to ship them back. I put them in a smallest tightest box I could and it was $115. The weight was about 45 pounds.

New springs from someone else cost about $25 to ship.

I need to look into these other companies, especially to ship bigger or heavier items.