I just made my first ever purchase from Scenic express. It was a modest $20 purchase of some sample products. They charged me $8 shipping. That's 40% of the purchase price for something that probably weighs under a pound. I wish one of my local hobby shops would or could carry Silflor and Noch, because even if you add in the 7.5% ca sales tax, you still have, for this purchase, what? $6.25 to spend on gas and on LHS price increase? It's one thing when you're being opportunistic and can purchase things during free shipping windows, but for stuff like this scenery material that you need right away, it's annoying.
Hmmmmm, there is one way to fix this .... better planning and consolidating as many items as possible to get from one source.
I agree, although in this case, I'm buying a handful of product to try them out. Further, given the price of these products, that's a fairly large chunk of change to drop in one sitting and a lot of product to store somewhere until used. If it were available for sale in a brick and mortar I could buy any amount I wanted any time I wanted period.
""How Much will My Shipping Cost be? Most orders up to $500.00 will be charged a ‘Flat-Rate’ of $8.98. " http://www.sceneryexpress.com/faq.asp
An $8 shipping charge is NOT unreasonable...........I have learned from selling on "Evil-Bay" that everybody wants their shipping cost to be as close to "free" as possible, and they want their items "yesterday"! Well..........the Post Office or UPS ain't free guys!! To mail a "small flat rate" box using "priority" mail (which is reasonable delivery time coast to coast), it costs almost $7 by the time insurance is added. These boxes are about big enough to fit one, maybe two "N" scale cars & a decent amount of padding to prevent damage. (not a lot of room, is there??). Then you add the cost of packing materials, etc., the cost goes up exponentially from there. Yes, it would be GREAT if all the stuff we need/want was available locally, but usually it's not, and even if it was............you still have gas & vehicle maintenance, or transportation costs if no car, to factor in. One way or another..........you are GOING to pay a "shipping charge".
You could always drive to your LHS and the item not be in stock. 8.98 seems to be about the going rate for shipping with just about every online retailer I've associated with recently. They didn't hide the price from you until you paid for the item.
THIS. You don't go to an ATM and pay $3 to get $20 out....you plan ahead and get $100 or $200 out. Same concept. If you had e-mailed them prior, they might have worked a deal since you are a new customer trying things out. After the fact, you might e-mail them, explain your situation, (new customer, should've planned better, etc.) and see if they'll give you a $5 credit toward a future purchase or something like that.
I need to clarify here. I'm not complaining that shipping isn't free, or even saying that $8.98 isn't a reasonable price. what I'm really complaining about is that online is my only option here. Sure, I might drive to my LHS and find them out of stock, but generally, with any credible brick and mortar, they don't charge shipping for ordering something from their normal sources. So, if I could get these products at any LHS, I could get them free of shipping at any quantity I want. ALso, some of these products, particularly Noch and Heki are sometimes available at LHS, just not mine. It's the Silflor really that is a kick in the pants. But again, I'm not asking for online retailers to go out of business providing me free shipping, just grousing about seeing a 40% increase in my order cost, because online is my only source.
I don't know how far away you are from a LHS, but for me it is 100+ miles one way, so for most item online is the only way for me to purchase. Even if I take my wife's hybrid I'm still using a minimum of 5 gallons of gas. The current price for gas here in the middle of nowhere KY is $3.45/gal. At that price the trip will cost me $17.25 just in gas (shipping). If I find what I want and it is "a modest $20 purchase" my purchase is now $37.25. Shipping just cost me 86.25% of the items I just purchased and is over 46% of the total purchase. $8.98 is a bargain. Furthermore packing material is not free. Even if they are using FREE boxes from the USPS, UPS, FedEx, or reusing boxes that they receive stuff in, there is the cost of tape, labels, packing material (yes some is reused) and the wages for employees to pick and pack your order and then add the cost of shipping ($5.35 for the smallest Flat Rate Box from the USPS). At $8.98 it is a good chance that they lost money on the cost of packing and shipping.
There is a hobby store that I buy from that has a simple policy. If your purchase is more than $100 your shipping is FREE!
I think this is exactly why I saw so many people at the Springfield MA show this past weekend. Not more than 20 years ago, the north east had plenty of hobby shops. Two out of five in the area where I grew up in NH were specific to HO and N scale. Concord NH has (as far as I know) just one hobby shop and he carries mainly RC cars and trucks. What train stuff he does carry would be of little use to us. With the demise of the local hobby shop, the increase in gas prices and the unknown availability of specific product, many do purchase on-line. Some also, like myself, make a list and check out the big train shows and bargain hunt. My local hobby shop is one of those franchise shops and they carry a minimum of train stuff. The next closest shop is at least an hour away in PA or NY. Since I needed so much scenery items for the layout, it was cheaper and easier for me to rent a small car that gets 40 miles per gallon, spend two days at the show, and price the items I needed. Many, like myself, were at the Scenic Express booth and we stocked up. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, it is a sign of the times.
I'm going to add my two cents worth of complaining about the cost of shipping. I have to agree that although $8.00 seems like a lot to pay for shipping, the shipper is probably losing money even charging that amount. The quickest way to find out how much is too much to charge for shipping/handling is to ship something to someone. This last week I sold an HO locomotive and four cars on eBay for $15.50. I charged $8.00 for shipping. The shipping via USPS alone cost me $8.65. Then I had add to my expenses the auction fee of $1.40, the PayPal charge of $.98, and the eBay per cent charged on the shipping of $.72. Fortunately, eBay didn't charge me for listing the auction (I thought they more than made up for it). I'm not including money spent on packing materials and tape, etc. I collected a total of $23.50 for the sale (including the shipping) and it cost me $11.75 in shipping and fees. This means that I lost $3.75 above what I charged for shipping. I netted $11.75 for the auction. Someone got a good deal. I'll let you all decide who it was.
If you look at the new Ebay ads, I think most sellers are starting to charge high shipping costs to over come the low sale prices. I went to buy 2 packages of decals, the seller wanted #28.65 for shipping. This was not from a company but a private individual, how much does an envelope and stamp cost?????????
For those who don't live near a lhs or have lost the ones they had, I sympathize on the one hand, but on the other, you don't have much of a choice either, it's in some sense one of the costs of where you live for better or worse. I have been blessed in that I went from Suburban Chicago to up and down the west coast always within remarkably close distance to multiple train only or train primarily hobby shops. This is one of the benefits of where I have lived ( I can't say I've always chosen where I live). As for ebay and shipping costs, i'd argue that prior to ebay any of the items you've sold would probably have gone for even less on a swap meet table or worse languished in a box until they became part of your estate sale. Sorry to be blunt. So, any money made is well, money made. Personally I refuse to use ebay as well unless it's an item that is truly rare.
Most knowledgeable people, like yourself, take the shipping costs into account when bidding and won't fall for that kind of padding. Now, eBay has countered this tactic by taking a percentage of the shipping cost as another of their fees; so this practice by sellers may change. This seller may not realize that eBay will share in his bounty.... On second thought, maybe he does and that is why his shipping cost is what it is.
I have also noticed that Ebay sellers are going crazy with shipping charges. I always check before bidding.
There's a hobby shop about 40 miles away from me. Almost all of what it sells is rail-related, in different scales and outlines (UK, US, European), but there are other bits as well. There are several rates for postage and packing, and if you're buying by mail order or over the internet, you choose which one you want. The price over the counter is the same whether you go to collect the item or have it delivered. It's the postage charge that varies according to what you choose. I ALWAYS go for the free P&P, though it may take a day or two longer. Pete Davies
You think your shipping costs are high? Try checking the cost of international shipping (by those who actually offer it - many sellers say "US MAINLAND only" or "Lower 48 states only") to the right hand side of the pond - and then figure in the cost of the customs charge (20% of the item TOGETHER WITH the shipping cost!), and the UK Postal service charge (about another $13 on top) for collecting the charge. Then add the cost of fuel to & from the Postal Sorting Office to pay and collect the parcel. $8 for shipping? - "Hell Yes! - I'll have some of that!"
