Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just a heads-up with the hope of saving everybody a little money . . .

New (sky-high) UPS Ground rates went into effect for all businesses late last week. UPS has changed the way they calculate ground charges with a big emphasis on volume. The largest impact is on shipping big boxes that don't weigh very much (like XD case boxes) traveling a long distance. What used to cost us $22.00 to ship across the country a few days ago has suddenly changed to $34.00. What's the wholesale cost to ship a case of Avengers from California to Georgia?--$40.11

That's a lot of money.

In many cases it will be cheaper to send four separate TBMs, individually wrapped, rather putting them into one box.--How terribly wasteful and expensive!

Also involved are the shipping costs of sending merchandise from the manufacturer to the dealer which will go up the same amount on smaller orders not palletized. Because of the prohibitive cost of shipping XD case boxes through UPS Fedex or DHL Ground, East Coast 1:18 dealers will be forced to buy larger quantities (which increases interest and facilities expense) in order to sell 1:18 and 1:32 at economically viable prices. Very large orders are put on pallets and can be sent by independent trucking firms often sacrificing speed and reliability in return for lower fees.

It would seem the big three Ground companies are moving in tandem on this one in an effort to grab lots of money. We spoke with our UPS representative today and he said he is hoping management will rethink this gouge. He also said that Fedex plans on making the same big increase Feb 5th along with DHL.

For 2007, smaller items, such as an XD single, costs a dealer about $12 to ship to a customer coast to coast, with packaging and supplies $2-3 dollars more. Dealers charging less than this amount (ourselves included) are subsidizing part of this cost from product markup.

From a consumer's standpoint, a number of strategies may help. Small packages 2 lbs and under can be sent cheaply and quickly using USPS Priority Mail (Anyone ready for 1:72 scale?). Buying from a dealer only 1 or 2 zones away should translate into big savings (remember, box size and distance are now more costly). And I hate to admit it but that trip to the local Wally is looking better all the time.

Where did you hear that? I googled it and couldnt find anything. ups.com lists the last rate increase as on 1/1/07.
The 30 lb rule for oversized packages has been in effect for some time. That's why I use Fedex for larger stuff.

You have got to be S*#&ing me! Just in time for the massive cut in the cost of gas, too! Amazing. That is certainly bad news all around for everybody. Wow.....

Thanks for the unfortunate news. At least we all now know....

-Ski

gary1930 wrote:Where did you hear that? I googled it and couldnt find anything. ups.com lists the last rate increase as on 1/1/07.
The 30 lb rule for oversized packages has been in effect for some time. That's why I use Fedex for larger stuff.

They didn't increase the tables but changed the way packages are calculated. Gone are OS1 and OS2 etc.. The new calcs are similiar to the way overnight and 2nd-day boxes are rated. Avenger case boxes are now rated at 79 lbs, even though they actually only weigh about 30 lbs.

Google all you want. We've had meetings with senior UPS reps and have been staring at the staggering new numbers showing on our screens as we processed orders all this week. Our friends at 21C tell us they had the same meeting and are equally dismayed. If you're using Fedex, you've got a reprieve until 2/5.

wow can this last long? This is the chance for the US post office to drop rates and rack in millions.

wow no one will want to pay for a shipping charge that is the same as the actual plane.

You here that WM managers - Order more XD!!!

BadCatMatt wrote:

gary1930 wrote:Where did you hear that? I googled it and couldnt find anything. ups.com lists the last rate increase as on 1/1/07.
The 30 lb rule for oversized packages has been in effect for some time. That's why I use Fedex for larger stuff.

They didn't increase the tables but changed the way packages are calculated. Gone are OS1 and OS2 etc.. The new calcs are similiar to the way overnight and 2nd-day boxes are rated. Avenger case boxes are now rated at 79 lbs, even though they actually only weigh about 30 lbs.

Google all you want. We've had meetings with senior UPS reps and have been staring at the staggering new numbers showing on our screens as we processed orders all this week. Our friends at 21C tell us they had the same meeting and are equally dismayed. If you're using Fedex, you've got a reprieve until 2/5.

Hey Matt, good to hear from you again. Where I'm at USPS Priority has always been the preferred shipping, that's the main reason I no longer buy from Military Toy Shop since that is not an option with them, any sense how this might affect shipping Priority? I've still a "Bunker Hill" Avenger on preorder and am interested.

Thanks and Regards

i remember running into this problem with a large item i wanted to buy from Britain last year. UPS charged for a 100 pound item, even though it weighed about 25 pounds, purely because of the large box size the item came in. Looks like they've applied this international strategy to US shipping now. It's their business and i guess they know what they're doing but if one of the major couriers doesn't follow suit then they'll be the ones to get all the business.

Canada Post just had a bizarre rate hike too. 20% increase on shipping within Canada, this is after two huge rate increases in the last 16 months. Those were justified by high fuel costs, which don't exist any more......yet oddly enough the rates haven't dropped back down. Funny how that works, huh.

At any rate it is now MUCH cheaper to ship packages to locations outside of Canada than within Canada. In fact i can send a package to Australia for only $1 more than it costs to send it to a location 200 miles away from me, within Canada.

Sometimes i really have to wonder what people are thinking about when they make some of the decisions they do...

I always go through USPS, but this just blows chunks.....what are we going to do now.

I think this move from the shipping companies will backfire,,oh how this will hurt Ebay

Not enough profit for the bastards?

This could mean the end for some on-line stores, and Bad Cats' free shipping deals

Must be that big oil has taken partial ownership of the shipping companies. Since I know that UPS struggled so hard to make a buck last year

they are looking at the decisions - they can pocket the instant millions and throw it into investments - even when it may backfire in the future - they know they have the option to drop rates and all is forgiven ... right?

This whole thing reminds me of what the phone card folks pulled off recently. I depend on long distance cards. At 3 cents per minute for a 20 dollar card quite a deal. They recently changed that deal to $3.50/min within alaska!!

Everything is available online these days. More people bought online at Xmas than ever before, and that number will go up. No surprise at all they have raised their rates.
I always thought that in general USPS was the best game in town. ESPECIALLY for someone close. Priority is 2 days, and very reasonable.

Prices will stay high until there is a new game in town (see Jet Blue).

when ever I order from BCA i use USPS and it takes 3 days from them to me"South Dakota"

USPS - the cheapest rates get the items just as fast as higher rate shipping - except of course over night -

I have sent items 2-day priority and it arrives on day four.
used 1st class - 3 days

Use priority and 1st class unless you want something overnight.

My question is if mis-delivered packages are still free...or if they will start charging for them?!! (Yes, I am still smarting over my Tender Terror, which was a three party mess up, yes I screwed that pooch too! But me and 21st weren't the one's who ignored an address change request!!)

In all seriousness, UPS has really developed into a sloppy business model. They either go out of their way to hassle you when there is a "Signature Required" or, like in my mother's case, have just taken to putting the package on the doorstep and running (they don't even have time to ring the doorbell!!).

Bad Cat is one of my favorite catalog retailers. I really hope this does not spell bad news for them.

Ha - I have never heard the doorbell ring - my last UPS dropoff was soaking wet at the front door - and I was just in the other room - thank goodness it was only a box of sealed diapers.

Here's a comparsion of the new UPS Ground Calcs (Fedex and DHL, also in a couple of weeks). In this example, all packages are OS1 in size and 22 lbs but the dimensional weight varies and being sent from here to Ft. Lauderdale.

Old calcs from last week:

21x16x16 = 85" Cost $20.44
22x16x16 = 86" Cost $20.44
23x16x16 = 87" Cost $20.44
24x16x16 = 88" Cost $20.44
27x21x19 = 108" Cost $20.44 (1:18 XD case)

As you can see, under the old way of calculating shipping which ended last week, anything between 85- 108" cost the same amount to ship (flat rate) as long as the weight was less than 30 lbs.

___________

Here's where the new structure hits hardest:

21x16x16 = 85" Cost $20.44
22x16x16 = 86" Cost $21.66
23x16x16 = 87" Cost $21.77
24x16x16 = 88" Cost $22.36
27x21x19 = 108" Cost $33.83 (1:18 XD case)


No longer is the OS1 category a flat rate. This is significant to XD fans because it used to cost the same to ship 2, 3 , or 4 XD pieces outbound. Under this new structure, the price continues to escalate as the box gets marginally bigger even though the actual weight is held constant. These new Ground charges will apply to both inbound and outbound merchandise going to and coming from a dealer.

_______

USPS Priority for an XD Case to this same location is $41.95
USPS Parcel Post is $28.91 (but no insurance or tracking)

YIKES !!!!!

Terrible news,....... even worse for 1/6 guys. ALL our boxes are very big although usually on the light side. We have to pay for size. Alot of our boxes are too big for USPS, and yet too small to be palletized and truck shipped, so we're stuck with UPS or FedEx.

Bummer.

I've found delivery service by these guys to be super. The regular UPS and FedEx route guys know my house. If the box is huge and fairly light, it's for me (toys) and if it's small but verry heavy, it's for my daughter-in-law (vet supplies) and if it's just huge and very, very heavy, it's for my son (truck parts). We take care of them at Christmas and they always bring the box to the rear covered porch if it's raining and nobody is home.
We usualy get deliveries two to three times a week.

Service is great, now if only they could do something about these rate raises.

TTT

It blows alright, but with XD very HARD to find here, I still save money on gasoline and especially TIME by shopping Online. Hopefully the USPS will keep their rates lower and force the others to come back down...

Matt, so if I where to buy a 21st 1:18 FW190 and had it shiped to SD useing UPS what would it cost me?

Yea Matt, along the same lines as the question above, how can you get a total cost preview before you check out at your store?

Will this effect preorders also? Because I still have one on a Bunker Hill TBF.

toyktdlgh wrote:Yea Matt, along the same lines as the question above, how can you get a total cost preview before you check out at your store?

Easy.

Click an order button. Fill out the zip code and state fields. Choose UPS or USPS and click "Apply."


VMF--Should be $9.99 UPS.

Flak--Prices stay unchanged as quoted originally.