From: Julian Burke (julian@knology.net)
Date: Wed Jan 29 2003 - 21:03:33 PST
Since UPS and FedEx have raised their shipping cost and will likely do it
again to cover rising fuel costs, I try to do the best I can as shipping in
many instances is a killer esp. for cross country. I just purchased a very
small fuel pump for the military 3KW genset from Ebay. $13 cost was OK and
it could have gone USPS in one of their FREE boxes for under 2 pounds. He
charged me $1 extra for packing claiming he has to purchase packing
supplies. Yes, I questioned him because it was a very small item (weighs
slightly over a pound itself) and the shipping was also $2 excessive for the
6 pound box plus the extra buck. What I received was fine but it arrived in
a used box and stuffed tightly with used newspaper. The packing alone
weighed over 3 pounds by itself and was done with discarded materials.
Packing was fine but was amateur and a waste of three pounds UPS which I
paid for, $2 over actual shipping cost and the extra buck for "materials".
Ad said "actual shipping" and nothing said about $1 packing material
upcharge. When I watch Ebay for military items and I catch this guy again,
I most likely will not buy from him again. This is not a hard to find part
but needed a spare. Yes, I sound cheap here but for some reason, you'll
always remember getting ripped for $1 than for $50! Why is that??
In my daily runnings around, I always come across boxes and packing
materials being thrown out and in new condition. They are always happy to
give them to you. There is a Tom's potato chip warehouse in my industrial
park and they always throw out the neatest, perfect right size boxes! I
always have packing boxes and supplies on hand and can pack on a moments
notice!! The best tool I ever invested in was a pneumatic carton stapler.
Staples are cheap, takes seconds only to make a tight secure package with
two hands and looks very professional. Also costs less than 2 cents to do
an average box. For larger items such as fuel tanks or bumpers, appliance
stores and body shops constantly toss out odd shaped double wall boxes.
Drier/washer cartons that can be cut down to size and for UPS/FedEx girth
limitations are also nice shippers.
Packing tape is always expensive, takes three or four hands to hold the
box and tape it and is a little harder to obtain when you run out. Cases of
it don't store well in a hot, humid or unheated warehouse. It performs
poorly in very cold or hot weather, can come loose in shipment and costs
about 15-25 cents for an average box weighing more than 10 pounds. The
better higher quality plastic tape is very hard to find and costs more than
what you find at Sam's or office supply stores. The reinforced paper tape
is best, by far outperforms the plastic tape and looks great but costs
almost three times as much. You also have to keep the water well refilled
and clean and the machine is never in a convenient position. Will also
freeze in an unheated warehouse. I have costed this out before! Try taping
a refrigerator carton with the plastic tape!!
I ship every day and for the "usual" size packing, I do not charge any
packing or handling. It's just part of doing business and helping your
customers, not to mention making them feel that you haven't chiseled them
for everything you could get away with. I find that in shipping, USPS has
the best deal for up to 2 pounds. (perhaps 3 if convenient) FedEx Ground
is good (they're getting better and have installed a new computer system)
and lower in price than UPS and easier to handle a claim. Although UPS is
better in performance, they are almost impossible to settle a claim. When
you call them after they picked up the damaged item, They WILL always tell
you that "claim denied" because of insufficient packing. You then have to
call a rep to come out and only then after you convinced him/her will they
settle. Also the UPS counter said they are only allowed 12 claims per year.
This I didn't understand as that seems to me an impossible dream! Packages
can and do get damaged on a daily basis. My personal 2 cents worth.
Julian Burke
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Wed Apr 23 2003 - 13:25:05 PDT