Watch out for shipping charges!

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:09 pm

I ordered 4 of the 1/72 tanks from Voyager Toys @ $8.95 per tank. Great price! However, be aware of shipping charges. I had cancelled my order of the same tanks at Diecast Direct. They had them for $10.95. Their shipping charge was $6.95. Voyager's is over $12.00. So my total at Diecast Direct would have been ca. $51.00. At Voyager it is $48.00. I only know of one place that has a flat ground shipping anywhere in the U.S. and that is Stratton's Toys. Their price is $6.95, no matter how many items you order. They do not have as extensive selection as Onsite, but they still have a good number of military vehicles. It seems to me that every major website is going to be "close" in price,when shipping is added, so, I guess it all comes out in the wash. What is everyone's experience with this?

Mr. Football · Post by **Mr. Football** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:14 pm

Hopefully that means they're made of heavy diecast METAL!!!

I pick mine up locally so I have to pay an 8.25% sales tax...though no shipping.

krieglok · Post by **krieglok** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:06 am

Shipping is a consideration that is taken lightly until the bill comes through. It is amazing how much shipping can vary between different sellers. This is usually the experience with Ebay. Sellers will often hide the fees they have to pay, like Paypal, selling fees ect, in the shipping. When you consider you can get shipping boxes for free from the USPS, the additional cost of packing material and tape should be fairly minimal. That coupled with the time and gas to go to the post office should be consider part of the cost of doing business. I collect German railroad lanterns and I passed a nice one up on Ebay since the seller was overcharging on postage, required insurance(also overpriced) and finally had a "handling" fee tacked on. The lantern would have sold for much more, but the seller gave off the appearance of a difficult dealer and the auction was avoided.

TJ

Jorg · Post by **Jorg** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:59 am

krieglok wrote:When you consider you can get shipping boxes for free from the USPS, the additional cost of packing material and tape should be fairly minimal.

That only applies to dealers that use Priority Mail. I can't tell you the last time I got something from a dealer through USPS. The price of the box and shipping materials need to passed on somewhere, either in the shipping cost or the price of the item.

When shopping, one should always consider the final shipped cost. Some dealers cover the shipping expenses in the price of the items. These tend to have slightly higher prices, but lower (or flat rate) shipping. Others mark the items down to the lowest price they can, and then hit you with higher shipping fees (sometimes with handling added in).

The bottom line is that the bottom line should always be considered as the price. Cheap prices and high shipping are no better than high prices and low shipping. It's about finding the right balance, along with a dealer you can trust to have good and speedy service.