The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I've just been quoted the best part of 8 quid by a supplier for 'transport / postal costs' on a package containing nothing more than 6 x small nylon bore brushes.
On top of that, it appears that I'll have to wait anything from 7 -14 days for delivery of same. wtfwtf

This equipment is not coming from the dark side of the moon but here in UK. Are these people taking the proverbial p*ss or what? I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for postage and I fully understand the need to cover costs but ........ (well, I'm not going to say it).

Rant complete!

Mezzer

Agree: I recently abandoned an online purchase of a scope mounted bubble level from a UK seller when the postage cost was stated at £8.99. This for an item with a sale value of £30 which would fit in a small padded envelope, and still with 7-14 day advisory delivery time.

Fair enough if I'd wanted it Special Delivery guaranteed by 9am on a Saturday morning, but at least give me the option of a reasonable postage cost commensurate to the size/value of the item!

Yes, transport costs can be a little high but one thing buyers forget that delivery is more than the cost of a stamp.

If you are a business, how much is your time worth ?

How much do you pay yourself per hour ?

So, the order comes in. You pack it ( in the bubble wrap envelope that cost you at least 30p ) and then you take it to the local post office ( burning expensive petrol on the way ) where you have to pay to park ( min 80p for an hour here ) before waiting in a queue at the counter. You then drive home burning more expensive petrol.

Entire process will take at least 30 mins. Now, even if you pay yourself MINIMUM WAGE - and add in the cost of fuel, envelope, parking charge, sellotape etc you are looking at £4 on top of the postage stamp !

Postage is a real problem, despite the UK being relatively cheap in comparison to some other countries it can still add a significant lump to the final price of an item. Regardless of weight the moment an item goes over 25,0mm thick it is GBP3.00 to ship regardless of how light it is. In many cases shipping with a courier is cheaper because we can claim the VAT back whereas we cannot when using Royal Mail.

I can appreciate the fixed fee, especially if someone is shipping our multiple packages on a daily basis as it is always going to be easier to have everything picked up by a courier. We try to keep our shipping fees as low as possible and accept that we will loose on some items.

The thing that annoys me is how much some people charge for RFD transfers.

breacher wrote:Yes, transport costs can be a little high but one thing buyers forget that delivery is more than the cost of a stamp.

If you are a business, how much is your time worth ?

How much do you pay yourself per hour ?

So, the order comes in. You pack it ( in the bubble wrap envelope that cost you at least 30p ) and then you take it to the local post office ( burning expensive petrol on the way ) where you have to pay to park ( min 80p for an hour here ) before waiting in a queue at the counter. You then drive home burning more expensive petrol.

Entire process will take at least 30 mins. Now, even if you pay yourself MINIMUM WAGE - and add in the cost of fuel, envelope, parking charge, sellotape etc you are looking at £4 on top of the postage stamp !

For a one of fine ... but most of these Internet businesses are selling large numbers every day so a lot of the costs and travel costs will be split across them.

I'm now starting to go more toward couriers for my items, after yet another display of prime muppetry from the tubs of lard at Post Office counters....

As an example, I know that with ParcelMonkey I can send an item up to 30kg in weight for £9.
With MyHermes I can send an item under 2kg for £4.20
....in both cases, these prices are for a TRACKED service, COLLECTED from my door....

For some reason some posters are under the impression that businesses actually TAKE their packages to the Post Office.
My experience is that they'll be collected by Royal Mail....plus their contract will also allow them to have more competitive rates than joe public would experience.

It'd not be too big a job to do some shopping around & find a better supplier for the bore brushes both in terms of P&P & waiting time!
I kwow that one of the firms that supplies me charges a flat rate of £7 P&P and I will have what I order from them the next working day...so the firm you have dealt with quoting 14 days is more than likely a firm that does not even have the goods you want on the shelf yet....

My Hermes say up to 5 working days which is of no use to us. No Idea about Parcel Monkey. We use ParcelForce amongst others plus the Viking takes smaller packages to the Post Office most days, she hops on her bicycle with a basket on the front and off she goes.

True about MyHermes NOT being superfast...but for a package that'd cost £5.20 for 2nd-class with Royal Snail - for which I have a ten mile round trip & a fight for parking & questionable service/pressure selling of "add-ons", for now I'll go with the couriers as they cost £1 less and collect/track as per of the standard service.

The gradual dumbing down of the Royal Mail & the continued excessive prices will see many others shop with their feet (or keyboards) & go elsewhere.
My recent experiences have been of the adequate to poor level - and for identical packages it is now cheaper to mail said good to the foreign country than within the UK

Even worse is that a standard parcel with RM is only compensated up to £20.

breacher wrote:Yes, transport costs can be a little high but one thing buyers forget that delivery is more than the cost of a stamp.

If you are a business, how much is your time worth ?

How much do you pay yourself per hour ?

So, the order comes in. You pack it ( in the bubble wrap envelope that cost you at least 30p ) and then you take it to the local post office ( burning expensive petrol on the way ) where you have to pay to park ( min 80p for an hour here ) before waiting in a queue at the counter. You then drive home burning more expensive petrol.

Entire process will take at least 30 mins. Now, even if you pay yourself MINIMUM WAGE - and add in the cost of fuel, envelope, parking charge, sellotape etc you are looking at £4 on top of the postage stamp !

Breacher;

4 quid plus stamp I can live with

But double that and a 7 - 14 day wait into the bargain! I don't think so. If that's their idea of good business then they can shove it where the sun don't shine (with my very best wishes of course) :lol:

Mezzer