User Name
Password
AppleNova Forums » Purchasing Advice »

Can shipping cost exceed product cost?


Register Members List Calendar Search FAQ Posting Guidelines
Can shipping cost exceed product cost?
Thread Tools
Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-11-27, 14:44

I have been looking for a nice bookcase for a long time. Now IKEA comes out with a perfect bookcase that's in my price range. The IKEA store is quite a drive away, so I called to find out how it'd cost to have it shipped to my home.

They say $170 dollars. The bookcase itself costs $120.... I went and checked UPS website, using a conservative estimate of the weight and dimensions, came up with $100 which I still think is a lot... When I shipped my personal belonging via USPS a total of 13 boxes from 20 lbs to 50 lbs cost me $400. So surely this should be maximum of $50.

I wonder if it's possible to get a carrier pick up a package from the store themselves and ship to me the way I want it, at lower cost? Or is there some riders attached to the $170/$100 figure I may not know about? (This is supposedly UPS ground).

Even if that wasn't possible, I'd think it ridiculous to pay more for a product's shipping than for itself. Kinda like buying a wrapper for your Big Mac at $5.99 when your Big Mac is only 99 cents, ya know?

If nothing else, I may as well find myself an excuse to drive all that way to this store to get this bookcase (which I estimate the gas and stuff would be under $50).
  quote
scrouds
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Orlando, FL
 
2005-11-27, 16:18

if shipping is higher then you thought, sometimes you need to ask them specifically if that is the cheapest way to ship it. They might be quoting you a price for air instead of ground.

That being said, it is very possible for something to cost more to ship then its worth. but that's part of the deal.
  quote
torifile
Less than Stellar Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
Send a message via AIM to torifile  
2005-11-27, 16:21

IKEA's shipping is very expensive. Part of that is because the items are so big and heavy. It's really cost prohibitive to ship something from there - any savings you'd get from shopping there get eaten up by shipping.

If it's not red and showing substantial musculature, you're wearing it wrong.
  quote
Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2005-11-27, 17:24

"We design profound and beautiful furniture for those with wealth and taste. Which is why IKEA makes us furious, livid and angry. Do their designs live, breathe and growl? Are they born from tears of pain? Do they gently touch the bottom of the human soul? Pah! Of course not, no more than weeds can attract a bee. The big blue place is odious, its affordable design is sickeningly shallow and we loathe it even more than we loathe football. Please join us in our unqualified hatred." Van den Puup

The 2004 viral marketing campaign, and other marketing initiatives such as this site (designed by Danish agency Robert/Boisen & Like Minded) didn't mention expensive shipping! Perhaps you could ask Philippe Starck if he would care to fund a pressure group?
  quote
Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-11-27, 20:02

^

Anyway, I guess I was just more shocked that they're asking for $170 after so many purchases I've made/seen usually have free shipping or does not exceed 20% of total cost. One'd think that the shipping companies has it down to a science so they could extract profit out of every package and still charge little money. Then comes along IKEA.

The fact that the person I spoke to wasn't even concerned or shared my bewilderment further reinforces my present belief that IKEA must be totally clueless. I seriously doubt that whoever's doing the shipping contracts really did their homework.

But that's largely moot as my relative will be passing thru the store so I'll get a bookcase with $0 shipping cost attached.

Take that, IKEA/UPS!
  quote
Bryson
Rocket Surgeon
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
 
2005-11-28, 07:30

Shipping can easily exceed the cost of a product. For example, think about buying bags of building sand.
  quote
spotcatbug
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Clayton, NC
 
2005-11-28, 07:48

Yeah, it probably wouldn't make any sense to buy your drinking water from Amazon.com.
  quote
Franz Josef
Passing by
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London, Europe
 
2005-11-28, 08:22

I've found the IKEA delivery service to be very poor in the UK and Germany so you have my sympathy Banana if you were looking to have them deliver.
  quote
Bryson
Rocket Surgeon
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
 
2005-11-28, 08:27

I think the thing is that delivery was never a part of Ikeas gameplan, so it's very much an overpriced, underperforming add-on. They don't want to deliver stuff, so they price it sky-high. Doesn't anyone you know have a car and would drive you for a couple of hours?
  quote
cyrusmekon
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Melbourne
Send a message via AIM to cyrusmekon Send a message via Yahoo to cyrusmekon  
2005-11-28, 08:48

A nice example of this is the invisible shield for the nano. Costs $20 and to ship would cost me $80, from U.S to Oz.

Now if i was to post it in an envolope U.S to Oz it would cost me less than $2 in regular mail.

Someones making money
  quote
arnoct
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2005-11-28, 12:16

That's very strange, considering they send the invisibleshield in a normal envelope
  quote
Posting Rules Navigation
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Post Reply

Forum Jump
Thread Tools
Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Amazon Product Ratings Moogs AppleOutsider 2 2004-09-29 13:27


« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:59.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2024, AppleNova