Outragous shipping charges

[DaveFromPA]

I bought from westcoastSHAVING.com today a

12 oz bottle of thayers
a small bottle of moisturizer
100 astras.

The total cost for the product was 40.00 on the dot. I go to checkout and the shipping is $9.42?!?! Thats 24% of the cost of the product im buying.

Am i the only one that thinks that a bit crazy? I can see maybe 5 dollars as reasonable but not 9.42. It might be that I live the entire way across the country in PA.

What shaving sites have the best shipping rates?

[tweedcab]

Not sure who westcoastcustoms.com is, but ultimately, unless it all fits in a flat rate box, the shipping is determined by weight and zone. Shipping has gone up a bit in the past 2 years. I'll say this, if you mean West Coast Shaving, then that's just the best price that John or anyone can do. He is well regarded as a fine vendor and one of the few who offer a VERY FAIR range of shipping costs. On items less than 13oz. he'll offer a first class rate which is not that common. Once you hit a certain weight, which in your case was easily surpassed by the liquid bottles, you are stuck with priority or parcel post and with him being in CA and you in PA it's gonna be the worst zone as far as costs go. I find that in this case it's worth it to stock up at periodic intervals to take advantage of free shipping promotions.

[proxymoron]

I bought from westcoastcustoms.com today.

To be fair, they are more known for their bodywork than their shipping policy.

I'm no fan of online stores that nickel and dime you on shipping, but based on my own experience as well as letterk's good name here, I doubt there's anything sinister going on. Liquids and creams are heavy.

Personally, I would have canceled my order if I thought the fee was too high but I can get Thayer's at the grocery.

[Alacrity59]

I tend to somewhat over order to try to minimize shipping. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised like the time I ordered 200 razor blades from NYC. The postage only cost between 2 and 3 bucks to get it to close to Toronto Canada. I think most vendors are picking USPS International Priority these days rather than first class which is probably 60% of the priority price as it is tracked and signed for.

[82R100]

From westcoastcustoms.com?

[biomesh]

I always try to save up my orders and make a larger purchase to get free shipping (if offered) or just to spread out the shipping costs.

I have a feeling part of the cost is that you are across country from the vendor.

[Mink]

See what the shipping charges would have been from BestGroomingTools.com to get an idea what the difference is in shipping costs to your neck of the woods.

[klm099]

shipping charges depend totally on USPS which base their charges on distance and weight (first class shipping), you can check your charges by weighing your items and adding a few ounces for the weight of the shipping container and packing material and look it up on USPS

I have always found west coast to charge exactly the charges they pay the post office

Remember that a 10 ounce bottle is 10 ounces of volume and not 10 0unces of weight, depending on density 10 ounces of volume could weigh a pound or more, ditto for the small bottle

ken

[40boy]

Shipping rates at most of the shaving vendors are at no profit.

Shipping costs have risen quite a bit in recent years. The private carriers (UPS & Fedex) all have fuel surcharges, charge more to deliver to a residence than a business, and even have up charges for more rural areas.
$9 from CA to a house in PA is not too bad, relatively speaking.

[Walt Whitman]

i always try to save up my orders and make a larger purchase to get free shipping (if offered) or just to spread out the shipping costs.

I have a feeling part of the cost is that you are across country from the vendor.

+1

[King of Kailua]

I was agonizing on how to get a bottle of Osage Rub without having to pay double the product cost for shipping. I ended up calling a wholesaler who works with my local barber. Now, any product I want to order I do through the barber and I don't pay any of the shipping cost! My bottle of Osage Rub cost me a total of $5.21 shipped to Hawai'i! Much better than the $14-16 I probably would have had to pay.

[RBE17]

Shipping in general has gone through the roof ever since the price of gas went hit $4/gal. It has never come back down either. Mostly everything I sell on the internet I sell for a shipped price. That means I eat the cost of the shipping. It's a gamble as sometimes I sell something to someone two states away and sometimes it goes clear across the country. Regardless, shipping is expensive.

[TravelingMan82]

John isn't in the business of ripping people off.

[tweedcab]

Shipping in general has gone through the roof ever since the price of gas went hit $4/gal. It has never come back down either. Mostly everything I sell on the internet I sell for a shipped price. That means I eat the cost of the shipping. It's a gamble as sometimes I sell something to someone two states away and sometimes it goes clear across the country. Regardless, shipping is expensive.

Why do you say you eat the shipping? Don't you price it in?

[BillC]

I haven't bought anything from West Coast Shaving (yet) so no opinion on their shipping costs. But in general, crazy shipping costs are a deal breaker for me. I've been trying to find a bottle of C&S cologne. One vendor in the US has it priced out of line, another has it priced OK but shipping for one 100 ml bottle from NY to GA was $15. Shipping from C&S direct was 25 pounds. Needless to say, I'm considering another fragrance purchase.

[SliceOfLife]

Shipping rates at most of the shaving vendors are at no profit.

Shipping costs have risen quite a bit in recent years. The private carriers (UPS & Fedex) all have fuel surcharges, charge more to deliver to a residence than a business, and even have up charges for more rural areas.
$9 from CA to a house in PA is not too bad, relatively speaking.

I scheduled a delivery to a day I would be home... to save them three pointless trips (and one for me, to their office to P/U), and they charged me $4.

[brian1g]

West coast shaving is my main shopping site. I have noticed that when checking out they have several shipping options.

The last order I placed with them shipping ranged from $25 to $4. Maybe there is a cheaper option you overlooked? If not maybe you could call to see if they have an error in the shipping calculator software?

[letterk]

Thought I'd chime in here. Yes, our shipping charges are pass though meaning we charge you what we are charged. The shopping cart calculates the rate based on weight. There are no markups for handling. There are no charges for packaging. In fact, we only receive about 80% of the shipping charges we pay, so we consistently loose money on it. You may see lower rates from other sites, but they usually mark up the individual products to make up for it. We choose to be more transparant. We do have some heavily discounted shipping rates through negotiations with FedEx. So while we completely understand people don't like to pay for shipping, and we try very hard to offer the absolute lowest rates possible, shipping does cost something.

[mmack66]

From westcoastcustoms.com?

http://www.westcoastcustoms.com/

No wonder the shipping was so high. They had to take time away from their car customizing to buy and ship shaving goods to the OP.

[Tha Baron]

Thought I'd chime in here. Yes, our shipping charges are pass though meaning we charge you what we are charged. The shopping cart calculates the rate based on weight. There are no markups for handling. There are no charges for packaging. In fact, we only receive about 80% of the shipping charges we pay, so we consistently loose money on it. You may see lower rates from other sites, but they usually mark up the individual products to make up for it. We choose to be more transparant. We do have some heavily discounted shipping rates through negotiations with FedEx. So while we completely understand people don't like to pay for shipping, and we try very hard to offer the absolute lowest rates possible, shipping does cost something.

Don't forget to take credit for the fact that you allow customers to CHOOSE their preferred shipping method AND see the actual cost for each method! I have always really appreciated that and thought it was a nice feature to the site...