Shipping Aggrivation and Overkill

Early last week I ordered one lonesome 5/32" 6" long drill bit from McMaster-Carr. I wasn't in a rush, so I didn't think anything about it when it had not arrived after several days. Well, early this week I received a post card from UPS which stated that they could not deliver because the address was incomplete. I thought it strange that the post card found me, but the UPS driver could not. (I have had many UPS deliveries with no problems.) I spoke with the supervisor at our UPS center here and she was able to determine the problem. The package was addressed 1234 Georgia Av, and it should have been 1234 Georgia Ave. Boy, I sure am glad I got that corrected! Actually, the supervisor agreed that the driver should have been able to find my house despite the discrepancy. I got the package the next day. Now the curious thing about the packaging... This item slightly smaller than a pencil and certainly not fragile was packed in a carton about one cubic foot in size filled with bubble packing. It just seemed like overkill in the size of carton used. Just sharing my curious experience.

I ordered twenty threaded inserts for TC stops (each insert is about the size of a 5/16" nut) from McMaster-Carr and they were shipped in a box a little bigger than half the size of a shoe box. They would have easily fit inside a padded envelope and shipped cheaper.

Why not go to NAPA for the drill bit. If not in stock they would have it the next day.

As to the address problem, it may have never gotten to the local driver. A lot of their sorting is done by machines at the big depots. The address is scanned and it goes down the line to the truck coming to your area. If the computer does not see a correct address it sends it to a storage area where it sets till someone has time to check it.

Regarding the packaging, most large outfits like that send items down an assembly type line where the shippers have certain size boxes ready. It frequently costs them more to stop and get a non standard size container than the cost of using what they have at hand.

I ordered some supplies form Northern Tool a few years ago, and among the things were 2 tire irons 24 inches long. When the box arrived everything was there except the tire irons, but there was a hole in the box just big enough for them to come out through. I called Northern Toll, and 2 days later I received 2 more tire irons. When I compared the tire irons to the original box they were slightly longer than the box was diagonally, and apparently someone had stuffed them in the box so tight that in handling the flat end had probably punched through and they worked their way out. Wonder if that jammed up a conveyor system somewhere?

From a business standpoint, "Time is money" so taking the time to find the perfect fitting box might be their issue. Plus the way delivery carriers toss things around nowdays, a smaller package could fall between the other boxes and get lost. Everything nowdays is geared around "SPEED", grab the first available box or type in the address and go. Around here UPS and FedEx visit the local post office and exchange packages to save time and money, so the box has to be big enough to handle all the shipping labels. Being in business changes a way one thinks, IF you plan to make any kind of profit. I encourage everyone to try it at least once

Rick

Small packages are easily lost in shipping. I'd rather have an "overkill" box, than a missing box. Ed

I order from McMaster Carr fairly often and have noticed lately that they're not using the smaller boxes that they used to use. I've also noticed that I'm the one paying the difference. A couple weeks ago, I ordered a 2 ft. piece of Delrin bushing stock, which arrived in a rather large box. They used to send stuff like that in a smallish shipping tube. I like ordering from them, but the shipping cost is getting a bit out there.

YT Mag will sure get you on shipping. They charged me $12.00 total for two carb kits. When I got them they were both stuffed into one $5.35 USPS priority box.

Most businesses charge both for shipping and handling. So much to the shipper, and so much for the packaging material and somebodies time to package it. They simply lump it together under shipping, or the more open ones do say shipping and handling. that being said though, pay close attention to many of the Ebay sellers. It is not unusual to see the shipping charge equal to or exceeding the selling price. I used to have a PDA that was so small it would plug into the PCM slot on the side of a laptop to download information into it. It was really handy since i was on the road all the time and needed to carry a lot of phone numbers and update it frequently, and it fit in my shirt pocket with room left over. They were getting old and being replaced by the fancier smartphones, which I had no use for, and I found a new one on Ebat for $25. However the seller wanted $30 for shipping.

Most businesses charge both for shipping and handling. So much to the shipper, and so much for the packaging material and somebodies time to package it. They simply lump it together under shipping, or the more open ones do say shipping and handling. that being said though, pay close attention to many of the Ebay sellers. It is not unusual to see the shipping charge equal to or exceeding the selling price. I used to have a PDA that was so small it would plug into the PCM slot on the side of a laptop to download information into it. It was really handy since i was on the road all the time and needed to carry a lot of phone numbers and update it frequently, and it fit in my shirt pocket with room left over. They were getting old and being replaced by the fancier smartphones, which I had no use for, and I found a new one on Ebat for $25. However the seller wanted $30 for shipping.

E-bay charges a commission on the sell price, not shipping and handling, so some sellers inflate the shipping, and keep the sell price low! Ed

E-bay charges a commission on the sell price, not shipping and handling, so some sellers inflate the shipping, and keep the sell price low! Ed

and if you return the item they refund price but not the inflated shipping.

Just got a replacement cooling fan, for my welder. Shipping choices were multiple, overnight, 2 day,, ground, etc. I was not in a rush. I checked UPS, and it was $ 14.75. Fedex was $13.75, Priority mail, NA, for this item. I chose Fedex (cheaper) It arrived by UPS,not Fedex, in a 7x7x6 box, that would have cost $5.95 by Priority mail. Package weighed 2 pounds! I smell a ripoff! Ed