Current shipping costs

[AnotherJohnson]

I mentioned the other day that I’d traded a pair of my Revel F228Bes and an ARC PH8 on some new speakers. One of my sons helped me get the speakers boxed up in the original double box packaging. Each box was 120 pounds, and measured 53” tall with 20”x24” cross section. The PH8 was easy to get back in its original factory packaging.

I shipped them by FedEx Ground to the commercial address 500 miles away today. Insured for $8100 (what I have in them).

The FedEx Ground bill (billed to my FedEx account with discount) was $741 and change.

They are covering the shipping of the new Sabrinas to me.

They should get a better discount since they are surely a higher volume shipper than I am. But my point is that, in this period of double fuel costs and labor shortages, shipping has an even bigger than usual impact on our transactions.

Meanwhile I still have one pair of F228Bes here, and the Sabrinas are going to have to be quite special if they’re going to win the comparo.

I hope I can get the LP275Ms sorted out before the Sabrinas arrive. The Sabrinas may like the extra power.

FWIW, once the LP275Ms are stabilized, they really are incredible amps. Their performance in a good installation is dead quiet, and they’ve got the inherent power to drive anything.

[admin]

The increased cost of shipping is crazy now. Luckily I have not to ship anything that large recently but it sure takes a bite out of that resale value.

[AnotherJohnson]

The UPS Ground quote through my UPS account was about $15 higher, but the same ballpark.

I look at most of this stuff as necessary costs. I’m glad I’m not in business.

I could have palletized, or I could have driven them up there, but the round trip or the palletization were not cheap options either, and both required a lot more effort on my part. The trip would have been two hotel nights, and clean safe hotel options add a lot of cost these days too.

[Wildcat]

I've noticed this with car parts--if I need a $15 sensor or a $12 drive belt, my usual source now charges $9.99 (minimum) to ship them. I hate using Amazon but to be honest, if their cost per part is a couple of dollars more, it's still cheaper than paying shipping for one or two parts, and I often get it sooner. For now, it makes sense to buy from my usual source only if I can save up enough items to buy them all at once, and make certain they all ship from the same location.

I've even started driving to a dealer 70+ miles away to pick up parts--they are one of the "discount" parts dealers online, so I get really good prices if I order there, then drive down (in the car that gets 40 MPG) to pick them up. I usually save up enough parts to order and in some cases, the parts/accessories are large (like floor mats) and would have an added fee for the excessive size of the package.

Even a year and a half ago when I bought a set of tires and wheels from Tire Rack, it was cheaper to make the three hour drive to Fort Wayne than to have them ship these. (Plus I avoided any shipping damage or loss.)

When I first started shipping back in 1982, it cost me $1.21 to ship one pound to Zone 2, by UPS. (There were no UPS air services back then--UPS only had the one service level.)

I also agree that the rate that shipping charges have inflated has far outpaced the rate of inflation as well as the cost of gas...and I noticed even a couple of decades ago that their "temporary" fuel surcharges never went away...

[admin]

This is my experience as well. I find going to Amazon for single or small purchases because the free shipping makes it cheaper than other online competitors as well as local (when driving time and cost is factored in). For larger purchases I am much more liking to go in person or eat the shipping cost.