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Post by redjimmy1955 on Sept 5, 2024 16:47:39 GMT
I noticed the nutso shipping gouging has been going on for awhile...One of my best York stories is about dome passenger cars. Before my very first York, I searched evilBay and saw them going for nearly $ 275.00 EACH!! No way! Going to York, I saw three for $75.00 each. And saw others for nearly the same price..
Lesson here is while at York, to note where you see your wants; then keep searching. Almost always you'll see said item cheaper.
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Post by jackson1966 on Sept 8, 2024 1:03:05 GMT
I find that some of the shipping charges are grossly over inflated and just won't buy from those sellers. In fact when I complained about a certain auction house's (a favored advertiser on another RR forum) inflated shipping, packing, handling fees (above the buyer's premium) I was given my third lifetime ban there. I have been shipping trains and other odds and ends (old British car parts)for over 20 years now and have a pretty good idea on what current shipping charges are. My choice right now is Pirate Ship.com. Just enter the box size (L,W,& D), weight, and recipient's zip code and you will see a comparison of USPS and UPS rates for their services and Pirate Ship's rates for the same service. Make a choice, enter your credit card, and print a label. For USPS I leave small boxes for the postman, big ones I go 10 blocks to the Post Office and just hand them to the window clerk. For UPS if I see a driver in the neighborhood I just hand it to him and ask if he can scan it and take it. Otherwise I go 2.4 miles to the nearest UPS reseller, or 5 miles to the local UPS hub. All so simple and costs so much less. The only additional charge I add is rounding the shipping charge up to the nearest $.25 to defray the cost of packing tape (of which I use a lot of).
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Post by david1 on Sept 8, 2024 4:12:27 GMT
I bought and sold on eBay for 20+ years but I don't any longer. I rarely find anything for sale at a reasonable price. Dealers who think they are selling gold bars. Others that are morons who argue everything! I had one guy who wanted to set the price he was willing to pay!! He lost!!!! The fees of eBay have gotten way too expensive!!! Also even shipping has become a pita!
I know deal with a dealer I know when I want to sell some stuff. Its on consignment, he gets 20% I get the rest, I do nothing else.
When I buy something new or used I buy from him at a decent price. It helps him and myself.
No longer dealing with eBay and others has reduced my blood pressure!!
Dave
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Post by healey36 on Sept 10, 2024 18:48:59 GMT
Problem I have is that sellers a too lazy to get a small scale and weigh the item. News alert! The new USPS GROUND ADVANTAGE is 4 bucks lower than Priority Mail. Both choices generally arrive at the same time. Wish everyone would get up to speed instead of guessing and ripping folks off. Most 5lb MTH diesels are 14.50 - ish to ship, not 24 - 30 dollars.  Folks tend to ignore the cost of things other than postage; remember there's the cost of additional insurance (USPS Ground Advantage only comes with $100 of insurance), the cost of a box, if new, the cost of packing materials, and the cost of gas schlepping it to the P. O.
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Post by josef on Sept 11, 2024 13:14:05 GMT
Problem I have is that sellers a too lazy to get a small scale and weigh the item. News alert! The new USPS GROUND ADVANTAGE is 4 bucks lower than Priority Mail. Both choices generally arrive at the same time. Wish everyone would get up to speed instead of guessing and ripping folks off. Most 5lb MTH diesels are 14.50 - ish to ship, not 24 - 30 dollars. Folks tend to ignore the cost of things other than postage; remember there's the cost of additional insurance (USPS Ground Advantage only comes with $100 of insurance), the cost of a box, if new, the cost of packing materials, and the cost of gas schlepping it to the P. O. I have to agree 110%. I myself don't sell on E Bay the few items I have sold are through my neighbor who is very active and doesn't mind listing for me. Many times I have had to go and purchase boxes, bubble rolls, etc. to securely ship items. Add this to the shipping cost and added insurance, then what E Bay takes. There are times when a 70- 80 dollar item with 8.50 to 15.00 shipping and fees, and material have left me with 20 to 25.00 on items I may have paid originally over 100 to 150.00. Profit? No, just rather then throw out, hoping someone else may enjoy. But also agree that some do have ridiculous shipping prices and way, way over priced especially PS1 and 2 items and of course the Menard resellers.
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Post by frankmulligan on Sept 11, 2024 18:27:11 GMT
I work for the Post office as a carrier. We deliver last-mile packages for UPS and Amazon. Unbiased in my opinion, the UPS packages are most likely to be a little worse for the wear by the time I get it to deliver.
Also, a good packing job is becoming a lost art. For example, yesterday I delivered a box that obviously had a smaller box inside with no additional packing. The outer box had been crushed because of no interior support. Also, the box being used was a repurposed Amazon box. It was one of those flimsy ones that probably should only be used once.
I hate dropping off packages that are beat up.
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Post by frankmulligan on Sept 11, 2024 19:02:42 GMT
Also, if you go onto USPS.com before midnight you can schedule a pickup from your house free of charge.
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Post by healey36 on Sept 12, 2024 13:29:14 GMT
Aren't the boxes USPS will drop off at your place Priority-Mail? Do you ship everything Priority-Mail?
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Post by healey36 on Sept 13, 2024 0:23:49 GMT
Ground Advantage is much cheaper than Priority Mail in my experience.
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Post by healey36 on Sept 13, 2024 13:03:29 GMT
That's interesting. Here the USPS counter staff says "If it's in a Priority Mail box, it has to be shipped Priority Mail." A lot of inconsistency between offices perhaps.
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Post by josef on Sept 13, 2024 14:04:46 GMT
That's interesting. Here the USPS counter staff says "If it's in a Priority Mail box, it has to be shipped Priority Mail." A lot of inconsistency between offices perhaps. Same at the 2 Post Offices I use.
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Post by josef on Sept 14, 2024 15:58:23 GMT
Doing some scenery changes, I needed some scenery items so looked on Scenery Express. The 2 items came to 31.00 approx, but total (no tax shown) with shipping charges was 51.77. These could be put in small box and 2.75 to highest 3.75 shipping charges.
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