I'm not defending any dealer here and can only speak from my personal experiences. I buy all the time from MB Klein. When they closed the retail store and went mail order only, I saw their shipping charges changed, and as far as I can see for the better. Now, I always get free shipping over $100. The USPS charges look fairly accurate, based on Priority mail charges. I always check the cart to make sure I get free shipping from them, or a least a reasonable fee based on what I buy. Decoders are light weight and if I buy a few, it's over $100. USPS gives the dealer up to a $50 insurance on their order and anything after that you have to pay. If the order is lost, the first $50 is on someone (never lost anything from them or anyone else for that matter).
Trainworld has a shipping charge and I think it's fairly high. I buy from them when they offer some deals on engines and freight cars, then the carges seem more in line.
I can't speak for the one the OP mentioned since I think their deals are not that great. Just my opinion.
Do your homework on what you want. The legwork is worth it...
Neal
High shipping charges only really grind my gears if I do not get what I paid for.
If you charge $14.00 for shipping, you better not drop it in a bubble mailer and send it First Class USPS for $4.00 and pocket the difference.
For $14.00 it should be packed carefully into a sturdy box with two layers of bubble wrap.
I deal with two places on a regular basis that charge pretty high for shipping, but do an amazing A+ job of packing, and always ship in a hurry.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
csxnsI need some #79 drill bits and Walthers want 11 dollars too ship them
Hence, why I NEVER purchase anything from them - unless it's through my LHS. I'd rather give them the business than pay Walthers for shipping.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Any company has the right to charge whatever they like for shipping.Any customer has the right to not pay it.Isn't that peachy?
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Lion
Same deal here. If someone wants me to ship them a woodcarving, I will find out what it will cost me to ship it and charge them that price, nothing more. wdcrvr
I need some #79 drill bits and Walthers want 11 dollars too ship them
Russell
MisterBeasleyI used to ask my LHS to order stuff for me from Walthers.
I do the same. There is a small old-time hobby shop I go to sometimes and I get him to order stuff in as well. I just phone him up with my order and he calls me when it is in. I pay retail but no shipping.
I have PWRS close to me as well but I would like to see this young guy stay in business so help him out often.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I agree that shipping charges are often pretty high. USPS has had another price increase and even their Flat Rate boxes are now very high. They have their FRB prices just a few pennies more than what they call Retail Ground which doesn't make sense to me. Media mail for bokks, mags & videos is still very rasonable.
I don't know about UPS because I'll never use them because of their poor service and refusal to pay damage claims and FedEx has been way too expensive when I wanted to ship.
It's up to the seller or business to charge what they want and many add in handling & picking charges which rightfully shouldn't be listed as shipping charges. Some list ACTUAL SHIPPING and others don't. The ones that don't feel it's ok to add in handling and anything else.
I painted for a hobby shop that charged the actual shipping charges from USPS plus added the time for an employee to drive the packages to the PO as well as packing materials. The employee drove very slow and took the scenic route judging by what he charged me even back then in the 1975-85 period.
Who knows? I'd say avoid those that charge more than you feel is right and find another shop. I avoid Klein's because of the long delay between when I order and when they BOTHER to actually fll my order. I've had them take 8 days to pick the stuff up off a shelf and put it in a box and that doesn't count the shipping time. just not acceptable to me especially since they closed the store and are soley an internet store. There are other places with better service.
Also remember that USPS is having delivery issues blamed on the pandemic. I don't know about that. I have a package shipped from Mineapolis on 9/7 that stll hasn't made it to me in NW Arkansas by 9/27. USPS states IN TRANSIT.
oldline1
Yes. Well, if you order soap from our website you will find that we charge for shipping exactly what the post office charges for us to those boxes, 8, 15, and 45 or whatever. It depends only on how many bars of soap you want.
Now then if you want wine, we only ship altar wine by the case, and only to the ND, SD area. The price for shipping is between $99 and $130 and it does not matter if you want one case or ten. 35 pounds or 500 pounds shipping is the same price. They charge by the hunderedweight, but I have never figured out how it works.
It is about $300 if we use Yellow freight.
But those be the fakts.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I used to ask my LHS to order stuff for me from Walthers. He always did a weekly order anyway, so I would just drive there on Thursday afternoon and get my shipping free. That was really great if I just needed some tiny item or detail part.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It should be pointed out that the 2 reminder emails you received were automated sent by the order system and NOT a real person. Your reply email probably didn't go to a person but to a noreply email address.
Peter
Mark P.
My thoughts exactly. I have bought other heavier and larger items from other vendors and paid a lot less shipping.
And in answer to another comment: yes I will be buying my items from some other vendor. I can't afford to buy a big lot of items at one time just to try to spread the shipping charges out over many items.
Trainman440If you dont like their shipping prices, look elsewhere. FDT may be making a few bucks from shipping, can you blame them?
It's flatly unethical to charge more than actual shipping for "shipping". If the vendor want to call it "handling and shipping" then they can charge whatever they want, but if it's more than a couple bucks over actual shipping I won't buy from them because handling is simply a cost of doing business. Pricing their products so low that they have to charge a "handling" fee to stay afloat is misleading the buyer, which is just another form of dishonesty. Post the actual cost of the product, and add on actual shipping cost. Period.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Thankfully places like Litchfield Station continue to offer reasonable shipping costs for lightweight items like decoders, wire, etc. $4 for regular shipping and $6 for expedited shipping. I only buy my decoders from them because everyone else's shipping costs are so high. And Debbie from LF almost always throws in a "thank you" mint in with the purchase, which I give to my dear wife for her to enjoy.
Tom
Shipping is more than what you expect unless you are a big company. Smallest box USPS over $8 for the size of an HO boxcar, next size up is over $15, add any packing materials and you get the picture.
shipping charges are flat rate based on how many items you buy.
When I order little brass parts from bowser, shipping is like $15.
When I order decoder from MB klein, shipping is like $20. That's why I usually also throw in some cheap items that I needed anyways that were large(like building kits or cheap freight cars) in to justify myself.
I believe these model train websites dont take into consideration the weight of your items, or the size of the boxes. It just knows how many items youre buying and where theyre shipping it to.
If you dont like their shipping prices, look elsewhere. FDT may be making a few bucks from shipping, can you blame them?
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
Your not alone, I do the same here except I empty the cart to eliminate the emails.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I tried to order two small, light weight plastic items from Factory Direct Hobbies. Their prices seemed to be pretty fair and they offered a discount of $10 for signing up with your email address. The two items came to about $18 and then with the $10 credit would have been about $8. Great. except that when I went to complete the transaction they offered two options for shipping. The CHEAPEST OPTION was $19.09!!! The other option was over $30. This is ridiculous. I feel that they are just trying to make additional money by overcharging for shipping. So I just shut down my order but did not bother to clear the shopping cart. Later in the day they sent me an email to remind me that I still had items pending and would I like to complete the order. How thoughtful. So I sent a reply explaining that I thought that the shipping charges were way too high for the little light weight items I was trying to buy. I thought I might get a reply with some sort of explanation. Nope. But I did get another email to let me know that my shopping cart was about to expire. Wow, that really helps. So, I guess I will add lack of customer service to my complaint. Hopefully other people are having better luck than I am. I know I will not be going back to them.
wdcrvr