Personal shopping free shipping vs business shopping, holy cow....!

I just had to send out a pool robot to the manufacturer for warranty work.  It was a $1000 pool robot.  Shipping it UPS ground cost me $300!  I almost said fuck it.  There's no way the companies shipping to us pay that much or else there would be no profit margin left.

I had to ship some small equipment back to Florida for repairs, each item weighed about 30 pounds and required a box about 2x2x3.

The company I was shipping them to sent me the shipping labels under their UPS account, and just billed me for that cost. It was about $75 per unit for shipping (UPS ground).

When I took them to the UPS store so they could box them up for me ($28 each to pack/box), I asked them what it would cost if I was shipping them myself. He looked it up for a retail customer, the shipping would have been almost $200 each. 

So it pays to have a corporate "account" for much better rates. 

We get really spoiled using Amazon Prime for most things, free shipping and usually next day delivery. Can't beat that deal.

I needed a single sealing washer about the size of a dime that I could only find at Grainger, the washer was no more than a dollar or two but shipping was like $20. Then it took like 3 weeks to get it to me. If I need to order something I prefer Mcmaster Carr. Their shipping is faster than Amazon.

I wanna say it cost my mom about $60 to UPS a quilt she made to my Nephew clear across the country, WA to RI. I gasped.

Sidenote...my wife goes dumpster diving at her job at the food processing plant she works at and comes home with some nice ULine stuff that is slightly damaged.

You guys may have observed what I have: Covid screwed everything up!

When we were all staying home, the demand for delivery of virtually everything doubled or tripled overnight. All the logistics companies were hopelessly understaffed, overworked, and quite honestly, underperforming. It's no surprise to me that shipping rates went up back then. Now that it seems like they have a handle on the volume, why lower prices if we've grown accustomed to them? That plus rising fuel costs have definitely affected that business.

Grainger sucks. Their model is, "we have it, so fuck you". At least with a moderately overpriced place like McMaster, you'll get it fast and their customer service is tops. 

I wanted to get a rebuild kit - which is just a (very) few O'rings and the top cap rubber, and main shaft seals for my 1988 UNIC / Scott's Steering Damper.

It's been going strong for Decades now, with just regular re-oils. I just thought, give it a 'treat' for such stellar service, on So Many Bikes.

I can't find it all, here in OZ.

Well, what would fit in say, a cigarette pack sized box / small padded shipping bag, Scott's wanted around $240 postage! 

F*****rrrrrk!!!!

Can someo0ne we know bring it down to you...someone racing a race down there...etc? 

Let me know if I can assist on logistics AND send me the kit info via "Vital mail".

When you have a very large corporate account, yes you get a substantial discount from Grainger and overnight or two day shipping is free.

No way in H would I order anything from Grainger, McMaster-Carr, Fastenal, etc... without having it go through our procurement team and then just drawn out of my paycheck.

It’s terrible what the average person is charged for shipping- Granger doesn’t pay shit …they are making money on those shipping charges.

My company has unbelievable rates - I can ship shit next day early delivery from WI to Houston for like $6 …they would probably charge $100 for some guy who walks into a UPS store..

There are BIG differences in rates between a big company shipping 1000's of packages and a smaller  and then onto the personal level. 

There are some ways for smaller bossiness to get better rates . Ship station seemed reasonable , the last time I looked into it. But unless you have a steady volume its gonna cost you  a lot more than the bigger companies who fill up trucks everyday.   Last I looked, FedEx was the  least expensive  for shipments that  were picked up from your business. Out of Fedex , USPS and UPS . With a business account it costs less than going to the UPS or FedEx stores. Those stores are retailers  like your local dealer that sells Fox gear. They get discounted rates and then mark it up for the people walking into the store. 

It's been a while since I looked at  the programs they offer. But they had some for as few  a single one time pick up, then discounted rates for weekly and then more discounts for  the more packages you shipped and having multiple pick up days with multiple packages.  I have not  looked in a few years .  The single onetime pickup was still less than walking into a FedEx store and doing it all there.  I have a FedEx  hub a few miles away and locally they have been the best out of the main companies.

The catch for most business programs   is that You need to have a scale  so its not worth doing  unless your going to be doing it often enough . 

Is there a Grainger store nearby you can pick stuff up at? There's one about 15 minutes out of my way which isn't bad. Having a mcmaster warehouse 30 minutes away is pretty sweet too, stuff is shipped next day for not too much or you can run down there and pick it up yourself place is huge 570,000sqft. 

For personal stuff Amazons real strength is their shipping and returning, a lot of the stuff is China crap just like everybody else but it is convenient as heck.

McMaster is the first look, always. 

But I've only been at this for 40 years or so, so your results may vary.

https://www.dirtbike.com.au/scotts-steering-damper-dirtbike-australia-only-reb

https://www.shocktreatment.com.au/damper-rebuild-kit

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/164161455759

You don't necessarily have to send 1000's of packages to get a good discount rate.  You can negotiate up pretty far with the UPS business rep.  Tell them what you need, what your goals are and blend in some growth projections and they bend quit a bit.   I got up to 65% and 75% doing it that way.  The best way to get a large or the largest discount is to have a business in an industry and join a trades organization with a good manager that works and fights for perks.  There are usually a bunch of trade organizations in most industries.  Find one with perks.  Ask them their perks.  I've operated for years with UPS on an 85% discount.  I have my UPS account and then I run it through my discount account.  The trade organization costs $300 a year.  UPS alone makes it worth it 10 fold but there are probably 50 other discounts, hotels, rentals, office supplies, LTL shipping, ect.  

I did eventually get to sending a lot of packages I guess, 20 - 40 packages a day at $30 - $75 a piece. The 85% discount is the same discount that a UPS store operates on.  

Nothing to do with the trade organization but I also had big discounts with LTL carries in my industry.  I basically worked out of a contract warehouse that also worked with Ashley Furniture.   Ashley was sizing back and we basically worked into the same discounts and rates they had.  So I can tell you about some of the rates of big players.  I needed 5 boxes of product from NC warehouse to WV, large boxes, Loveseats.  I called up and they said we have a truck going to a large multi store furniture retailer that was just about 30 minutes from us leaving in the morning.  So I had them throw it on there and I picked it up the next evening when it arrived.  I didn't think much of it, the store they sent it to was a $40 million a year business.  I got the bill and it was $750.00.  I called the warehouse and was like WTF.  They said sorry we got billed on their rate because it was went to their store.  They made the correction and sent me my bill on my rate.  $65.00.  If that gives you an idea of how sporadic rates can be.   

Thanks LTS!

I'll see if Terry Actually has them.

Last time I talked to him ( a while back) he couldn't help. 

I remember when he started his 'journey' into  to Suspension, In the mid / late 90s. Firstly bringing in Moose Racing Clothing.

He's  come a long. Long way from that neophyte start. A Clever Bloke. One of the very few OZ Suspension people - He, Jan and his Son, all Good People (and their staff) -  that I have Any time for. I just use Suspension Companies  for parts, as I've 'done' suspension since the mid 70s. So many are 'Charlatan  Gurus' that just take people for a ride.

UPS retail stores are a rip off. When you calculate a rate at home on UPS site it never shows all the "gotcha" add ons for outside normal delivery area, Extra ZIP code fee, Extra fuel use charge, etc. that only show up at the retail counter.

UPS stores are exactly that, a store that matks up the price. If you go on the UPS website and do your own label, it'll be much cheaper. The store marks up the retail price of the UPS service. Organize your own shipping online direct with UPS and then just drop off at any UPS Store. But yes shipping rates are stupid high these days.

You're a Star, LTS !

I just ordered the kit - hope it will fit the 1988 Unic, I daresay it will.

But, I also found they have the Brass Cap and the Black Top adjuster cap.

I've been riding for a while without it, as I found a way to knock it and the top cap I'd made for it, off ,while I repositioned my bars, and the little blighter ran and hid under my machinery, to live with the bloody Funnel Webs!

By the way, there's more clearance between Everything and the travel of the bars ( I think they move around 3 / 4mm, to my dim recollection?)  with the PHDS!. Nothing hits! Those 'bar raisers', are 'things' I made to have the center line of the Unic, the exact same as the Steer Tube, No Matter what position I run the bars in. I got sick an tired of wearing out  the Pivot arms on the Damper, so made one ( that's now been used for years) and the whole mount set up. It was a tricky little batch of bits to do. The scariest thing, was having to machine a (fair) bit from the UNIC, to make it all work.  😰

that's the thing, I use the UPS site to get my estimates and print them out and go to the UPS store- then everything changes because all the add Ons don't appear using the website. I found this out way back around 2000. Never tried printing a label because it usually required an account or 3rd party SW account (and maybe a Pitney Bowes type machine?) - couldn't just print directly what I was seeing on website as a label. They're going to get extra $ out of me 1 way or the other 😒

I'm just a private party that rarely ships anything so none of the account-based discounts apply to me. USPS Flat Rate boxes were always my preferred way to go- but the whole "dimensional Weight" surcharge screws you on sending things like exhaust pipes, forks, etc. Had to do that and a motor weighing 51 lbs this year all the way to East Coast. Luckily the parts I sold are kinda rare and went to someone who knows what he wants and pays 100% of the shipping.

Thanks for the offer,  TeamGreen.

I was thinking about that option, for a while now. As, in asking for one of you 'locals' to get them for me. 

But LTS showed me that I should have checked locally, more recently. Last year was, I think, the last time I had a squizz for OZ sourcing. 

Mind you, I ordered it all on the 'puter, on a Saturday evening,  ( I'm so modern, and tech savvy, I Is ! )  so, they might not have it all - but, I've got the invoice sent to me, and Terry and Co have my money. And he's reliable, is Terry. 

PS : I bet the Bloody Funnel Webs kick the adjuster, out of their 'House', beneath the Lathe / Mill,  or  wherever they've had it, now that I've forked out for another set up!