Shipping charges

[Grey Bearded One]

None of us like to pay shipping charges. They tell us "Oh, we have to pay someone to pull it and box it and then have to pay shipping." Yeah but if I walked into your store, you'd still be paying someone to pull it and put it into a bag for me.

Recently, I bought a gun on GunBroker. The ad got confusing. What I noticed first was "buyer pays actual shipping charges for Priority Mail." Okay, that's fair. Then I get the invoice and he wants $30 for shipping. Huh? So I go back and look at the ad see at the bottom he lists $30 flat rate for shipping.

A little bit of number crunching and I figure that the most "actual shipping" could be is $16 with insurance and signature required. That's even figuring a heavier box than it probably is.

So I contact the guy and say, "Hey, what's up?" Oh, I charge everyone $30 blah, blah lose money blah but I'll ship yours for only $16." Thanks.

Today, I was looking at some guns online and one place would charge me $27 for shipping a pistol. A friend owns a fairly good sized retail business and ships all over the world. He told me that he pays 20% of retail for shipping because he ships so much. So if we figure $5 for the actual shipping charge and a couple bucks for the box and the wee bit of labor to tape the box shut, they're making an extra $20 off that order.

I know, I know. You have to look at the cost of shipping as part of the price. That doesn't make it any less irksome. Like when your car's in the shop and the guy says, "Do you want us to top of your washer reservoir?" Say NO or you'll be paying $15 for $2 bottle of blue water.

[S&WOwner]

Yuppa - noticed that as well. I bought two items on GunBroker with the same bull and did the same thing but BEFORE I bid - both times I got they would drop the shipping charge if I won. EBay was really getting out of hand to the point that I would just ignore those that charged a million dollars for shipping. Happy they dropped the shipping for ya GBO.

[TaePo]

I think that seller needs to change his default shipping charges message to "see item description for shipping information / cost". Otherwise, he is operating unfairly. Maybe someone just needs to point out the URL to the help file that covers that.

[McSull]

If I see " shipping calculated after auction end", I send them my zip and ask for exact pricing on shipping before I bid.

[bogey1]

One seller on gb was charging 50.00 to ship a stripped lower. The shipping cost dictates the purchase for me.

[ScotsGuards]

I charge a flat $25.00 for shipping a firearm. Usually USPS, Priority Mail, insured. With proper container, postage, insurance and signature receipt, which is sometimes extra depending on the insured value; my actual cost is usually VERY close to my charge rate. The priority shipping rate isn't bad but the insurance fee REALLY adds to the overall cost.

[phillyd2]

Almost every business I know, including mine, considers shipping a profit center which means an adder is added. Ours on average is 10-15%.

[ForeverPA]

Shipping charges, transfer fees, pics/nics and whatever else fee pretty much kills any online deal for me. Every gun I have bough has been local.

[Emptymag]

Have you ever mailed a long gun (or anything else for that matter) via USPS?
It ain't cheap. (at least not for individuals) Add in the hassle of acquiring a box (I had to pay $12 for a friggin BOX once), packing materials, packing it up, travel, overall hassle...

If someone wants $30 to ship me a rifle, I'm good with that. It's fair.

I don't feel the same way concerning online retailers though as I know they deal with shipping differently that the average Joe.

[Remington788]

If I recall correctly (been a while since I sold stuff on eBay), they charged the commission on the product sales price but not on the shipping charge. Sellers figured out that they could sell a $25 item for $15, charge $10 shipping, and save some commission fees.

I always just look at the combined total cost to get it to my door.