Darn retailers

[mrblue]

So i need a few top punches and a sizing die. Well the problem i keep running into is I check multiple sites. And ive found all thee items i want to order, each at a different site. Problem being the stupid shipping costs for each item, and the fact that sites like Graf wont ship under 40 dollar orders. Stupid gun scare. Getting real tired of this.

[WILCO]

It's not a gun scare, it's a supply and demand thing. There's more new customers than before.

[kcinnick]

Shipping isn't cheap, processing an order isn't cheap.

[ku4hx]

Yeah, I hate shipping costs too, but I like casting, loading and shooting a lot more. I needed to buy a replacement split pin for one of my wife's guns. I could have bought a replacement pin locally, but I wanted a heavier duty SS coiled pin. I could buy 3 for $17.94 from a gun oriented website or go to McMsater-Carr and buy 25 for $14.18 deliver to my door. About $6 of that $14.18 was shipping. I bought from M-C.

The thing is, I know several people who wanted the pin too. So I advertised on our club's bulletin board to sell a few: 3 for $2. I'm making all of about 20¢ per sale. Many handed me a $5 bill and said just keep the change. Nawww ... even and old wheeler-dealer like me can't do that.

In 2000, I and two friends went Caribou hunting in Canada. The way we figured it, that meats cost us about $40-$50 per pound. But we had a great ten days. Fun costs money in most cases. Shooting is an inexpensive hobby to us and the few times we do have to pay what seems like high S&H just don't add up to any real cost in the final analysis.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

When I was a supervisor at the phone company and when we needed something from supply we ordered it by computer. It wasn't long before we received a request to stop ordering one or two items at a time because it cost the company sixty dollars to process each order. That was over twenty five years ago.

[GrizzLeeBear]

I hear you on the shipping. Like when you are looking for a mold, sizing die and gas checks. Its amazing how many times you can find only one of the items at three different places, but not all three at one. I refuse to pay that much shipping when it ends up being 25 - 50% of the price. I know its not their fault that its hard for them to keep inventory in the current buying climate, but sometimes the shipping is ridiculous. Especially places like Midway when they charge like $15 in shipping on something that would fit in a $4 envelope or $6 priority mail box.

[Shiloh]

It's not a gun scare, it's a supply and demand thing. There's more new customers than before.

What WILCO said. All the folks who ignored the signs are playing catch-up. I shoot centerfire handguns cheaper than .22's.
I have been able to replace powder and primers. lead supply had another bucketful of range scrap added to it.
I'm grateful to the folks who started me casting. Even while components were available and cheap.

SHiloh

[Mike W1]

I don't mind paying for shipping. IMHO though handling is what they are doing for a living. A retailer puts things on the shelf and doesn't charge extra for doing so. So if you're in a business where you put it in a box I cannot understand why I should pay you more for doing so. I'm relatively sure it's less expensive to box it than it is to pay the overhead on a store and it's shelves.

Rant off!

[Nickle]

So i need a few top punches and a sizing die. Well the problem i keep running into is I check multiple sites. And ive found all thee items i want to order, each at a different site. Problem being the stupid shipping costs for each item, and the fact that sites like Graf wont ship under 40 dollar orders. Stupid gun scare. Getting real tired of this.

This is nothing new. I think Graf's too has been doing it a while, though the threshold was well below $40. Midway does, and has done it many years now. Retail, it's been $20, wholesale accounts it's been $40.

Now, here's why. Shipping is what it costs to ship. Handling offsets the cost of getting it shipped. The small order threshold is to either to get you to offset the cost of getting the order together.

You can all cry it's unfair and not right, but do you really expect the warehouse workers to work for free? Would you work for free?

Of course you don't, and of course you wouldn't.

Now, the cost of running some of the business isn't "linear", so simply putting the cost as more of the mark up isn't right, because it ends up gouging on larger orders. So, they make minimums, and handling charges, which keep these costs in line with reality, and being paid by the orders that really incur them.

[armedmoose]

don't forget to check amazon... you might pay a few dollars more than grafs, but still under MSRP and spend over 25 bucks and you get free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Cast-Bullet-Sizing-0-452-Caliber/dp/B001GXHF2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373077873&sr=8-1&keywords=Lyman+Cast+Bullet+H+and+I+Sizing+Die

[EddieNFL]

A retailer puts things on the shelf and doesn't charge extra for doing so.

Sure he does. It just isn't listed as a separate charge.

[davegalesr]

Yet another aggravation is retailers that allow backorders and ship items one at a time from a multi-item order. Shipping is bad enough but some charge a special handling fee for shipping one item from the order.

[jonp]

don't forget to check amazon... you might pay a few dollars more than grafs, but still under MSRP and spend over 25 bucks and you get free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Cast-Bullet-Sizing-0-452-Caliber/dp/B001GXHF2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373077873&sr=8-1&keywords=Lyman+Cast+Bullet+H+and+I+Sizing+Die
for kicks I went to the link and added a .451 to my cart to see what the final price would be. It popped up a statement that said "usually ships in 2 - 4 MONTHS"

[ku4hx]

Sure he does. It just isn't listed as a separate charge.

Perzactly! They just list a higher price and call the difference "overhead". That's one reason local retailers are losing business to online sellers. Another thing I just love are the sites that brag about "free" shipping. Never happen ... the cost of S&H is just rolled into the posted price and you got no idea what it is. I'm the type person who will "shop around" for best bang for the buck and all that matters dollar-wise is total out the door cost. And sometimes that's with a higher posted price but a lower shipping cost. Gotta love those shipping cost estimators.

The bottom line for us is it's all a c-rap shoot when it comes to prices and quite often the dead lowest price is not the best deal. We'd rather pay a bit more and deal with an established, reputable, company.

[texassako]

don't forget to check amazon... you might pay a few dollars more than grafs, but still under MSRP and spend over 25 bucks and you get free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Cast-Bullet-Sizing-0-452-Caliber/dp/B001GXHF2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373077873&sr=8-1&keywords=Lyman+Cast+Bullet+H+and+I+Sizing+Die

If you are a Prime member, shipping is free on a lot of items. I never even thought to look on there until recently for anything firearms related except books.

[alamogunr]

I just ordered a couple of cleaning rods and a Lyman size die. All were in stock and shipping was free. When I tried Midway and Grafs the shipping was going to cost over $18. The cleaning rods were Tipton, just like Midway sells. My only reservation is how they will ship. Midway ships the rods in a very substantial fiber tube. We'll see.

[Lance Boyle]

exactly, it's all the same whether the merchant lists his "handling" seperately or not or rolls his shipping into the price.

Back before the lack of stock issues I would keep a list of things I wanted on a notepad and when I was ready to order, I'd open up 3 browsers, fill the order on all three; usually three of Midway, Wideners, Grafs, Natchez, Powder Valley, etc. Then I'd make a judgement call on who gets the order based on in stock availability and TOTAL COST DELIVERED.

It's your money, spend it wisely.

[jsteed]

Shipping in the past was usually based on weight. Now it is a part of the profit center. Midway is probably one of the worst but they usually have greater choices and more product to choose from so if I must buy from them, I try to be patient until I have enough items to off set it some. If I can, I buy from Cabela's only because they have $5.00 shipping for customers that have their CC. The 5.00 covers everything and anything.

[Silverboolit]

I just recieved an order from MidwayUSA and could not be more pleased. They had what I wanted at a fair price, and the order came in 3 days. Thier shipping/handling charges were not cheap, but The items were carefully packed, well boxed and in perfect shape when it arrived. I cannot drive to thier store from Texas and pick up an order for what they charge to deliver. I order lots of parts for my business, and Midway isn't so bad...

[EddieNFL]

I've always thought Midway was as reasonable as anyone else regarding shipping cost. Just for grins I looked at an identical like item on Midway and Cabela's. Sure enough, S&H was about $4.50 more from Midway...but the product was $9 higher at Cabela's.

Nothing is free. If you don't pay for it someone else does.

[44Vaquero]

So just a thought: How do you guys feel about paying $3.80+ a gallon for gas when ALMOST 1/2 of that is STATE AND FEDERAL HIDDEN TAXES?

[HiVelocity]

These companies are capitalizing on all we order. They know its in demand and can ask anything they want to a potential buyer. I recently sent an item back to Midway when I complained about the excessive shipping charges. The same package shipped through the post office was half the cost of their shipper. If placed into a smaller shipping container, the cost would have been even less.

I wouldn't mind paying a fair price to ship my items. ALL the suppliers abuse the practice and hide extra profits in "handling" charges. If WE did this to others we sell to, we all would be blackballed forever. Just saying.

HV

[dragon813gt]

The people that complain about handling charges are the ones that don't understand how a business runs. As stated above someone has to pack everything up and they don't work for free. On top of that you have all the shipping materials. Sure the bigger retailers and buy in bulk which brings prices down. But just go to Staple's and price out cardboard boxes, packaging tape and styrofoam peanuts. None of it is cheap. And along w/ the workers wages you can throw in benefits as well. Would you rather have all that figured into the price of the items or pay per order?

Now there is no excuse for shipping in a larger than needed box. That just makes the consumer angry.