Local equipment rep is reporting the Amazon will stop selling equipment needing to be shipped by common carrier on 1 Jan, reason given is too much damage in shipping and loss of revenue.
Anybody hearing the same ?
Or higher fuel prices? I notice my new catalog has cut drastically into the free categories. Makes their prices pretty much the same as everyone else.
>
I suspect they will still ship by common carrier but the free shipping will end. The carrier is responsible for the damage.
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:57:10 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Leon" quickly quoth:
If half my products ended up in claims, I'd lose money and need a lot more production time just to keep up. Losses are expensive in more ways than one, Leon. If Amazon is, as I believe they are, experiencing a lot of loss, I'll bet they do discontinue sales of items large and bulky enough to require truck shipping. And I don't blame them at all. I've only lost 1 (uninsured) item so far this year and I'm not too happy about it, but I didn't lose too much money on the deal. It was one of my infamous t-shirts, so I'm sure the thief will advertise it for me. ;)
-------------------------------------- PESSIMIST: An optimist with experience --------------------------------------------
If I were losing half my shipments to damage claims, I'd either fix my packaging or find aonther carrier... :)
If they're experiencing a high rate of loss, something's wrong w/ what they're doing/who they're using. Product is shipped all over the country all the time w/o damage/complaint, so if a particular vendor is having a problem, either they're not packaging adequately or the carrier(s) they're using are incompetent. The former is easy to find the culprit, the latter won't be in business long in the present competitive environment.
I think the high cost of fuel is undoubtedly going to be the root cause of any shift in plans, if there is one. Up to this point they've been able to price things such that the cost of shipping was buried in the pricing. W/ $3 diesel, there's simply no room to continue that practice.
The other thing is they've had a "sweetheart" deal w/ UPS that UPS is probably not able to continue to support owing to the same problem of shrinking margins.
I can see dropping larger items than the UPS'es of the world will haul in the present environment because I suspect as a fraction of their total business they're a small portion and the markup isn't very high as competition for such equipment is pretty keen. That some of their prime competition comes from places like Grizzly who they can't resale anyway doesn't help their volume no doubt.
I looked at a couple of Jet items I've either ordered or had my eye one. The shipping section says "Special Shipping Information: This item normally requires a shipping charge of $49.00, but is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping today."
This seems a move toward shipping charges on larger items. I don't recall words like this in the past. YMMV.
D.G. Adams
That may actually be a good thing. Raising their prices or becoming more like everybody else before they have crushed the competition means that the other on-line retailers like Woodworker's Supply will remain viable sources of supply for those of us who don't want an on-line equivalent of the Borg.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+Mon, Oct 31, 2005, 5:53am sam_spam snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net (Sam=A0the=A0Cat) doth lament: Local equipment rep is reporting the Amazon will stop selling equipment needing to be shipped by common carrier on 1 Jan, reason given is too much damage in shipping and loss of revenue.
No prob, it ain't so.
Real life answer - How the Hell would I know? If I wanted to know, the first place I'd ask is Amazon.
JOAT If it ain't broke, don't lend it.
- Red Green
In the past it said "this item ships free." Or "free shipping on all orders over $XXX."
When the wording tries to make you thing you're getting a better deal - you're not. They're trying to make it sound like a cap.
My dad used to always ask for his "cap," when he purchased something. Said when he was a kid, his dad would bargain with the clothier, then demand a cap to seal the deal. Counted forty caps at dad's when we cleaned up his workshop after he passed away. Everything from Ford to Meeks Lumber.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.