Jump to content

Exorbitant Shipping?


Mr Tutt

Recommended Posts

This is a question, not a conclusion, so I am looking for opinion. Recently I have been looking at a lot of Conway Stewart pens on ebay. Most of them come from British sellers, and I would say that 75 percent of them carry what I consider exorbitant shipping costs. Fifteen to 20 dollars US seems to be near average. Every now and then, I see a British seller set a shipping price in the $7 to $10 range. Now that sounds reasonable. Are the sellers jacking up the cost without good reason?

 

I see some of that in the US with many sellers wanting to ship everything at expedited rates rather than standard USPS rates. Granted some folks may be in a hurry, but high shipping charges often turn me off even bidding on some pens. What say you all?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 36
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • KBeezie

    6

  • Inkysloth

    2

  • daintydimsum

    2

  • Cryptos

    2

Top Posters In This Topic

$15-$20 from the UK to the US does not seem excessive to me. As I understand it, Conway Stewart pens come in large boxes and these will cost more to ship. Additionally, shipping overseas requires more paperwork and hence sellers' time.

 

Edit: are you talking about used pens, which will likely be shipped in smaller containers? Well, then maybe $20 is on the high side. Would depend on the type of shipping and the quality of the packaging.

Edited by Koyote
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So 20 bucks is an exorbitant sum- really ??!

See how much i have to pay for shipping a 35 dollar pen from US to Romania:

 

http://i58.tinypic.com/ejgd9u.jpg

Edited by rochester21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also recognized the high UK to US shipping, so when I bid, I factor that in to how high I can afford to bid.

The problem is we are so used to domestic shipping that we forget the cost of international shipping.

 

The thing about USPS Priority Mail, is that it is easy. If it fits in the box, it ships for the price of that box. No hassles with weighing the box to figure out the postage. So both buyer and seller knows how much the shipping will be. The other thing is that Priority Mail box, provides protection that a padded envelope does not. However, you can ask the seller to ship different. I did that a few times, to try to get the shipping cost down.

 

If you want an item, you have to go where it is.

I've had to buy certain photo stuff from sellers in Europe, because that brand is VERY hard to find in the US.

Edited by ac12

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 usd was the smallest amount that I paid for a FP delivered from USA in Europe. Through UPS (ensured) the fee may be over 100 dollars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

International shipping in the UK is not cheap. Neither is international shipping from the US. So I'm not particularly surprised at $15-20, especially if insurance is involved. Shipping a light pen (in pawlonia box) from the UK to the US cost me about £13 with tracking. So... don't you think $15-20 sounds reasonable? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a question, not a conclusion, so I am looking for opinion. Recently I have been looking at a lot of Conway Stewart pens on ebay. Most of them come from British sellers, and I would say that 75 percent of them carry what I consider exorbitant shipping costs. Fifteen to 20 dollars US seems to be near average. Every now and then, I see a British seller set a shipping price in the $7 to $10 range. Now that sounds reasonable. Are the sellers jacking up the cost without good reason?

I rarely pay less for international shipping, especially from US to Europe it seems to be a standard amount.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shipment of a parcel less than 2kg from the Netherlands to the USA : €18,-- postage. Small objects, fitting in a standard envelope, will cost considerbly less.

 

This seller (no affiliation) asks for postage €360 from Italy to the netherlands:

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/ALT-PENNA-PARKER-STILOGRAFICA-CON-PENNINO-I-ORO-14K-ENGLAND-25-4-ANTICA-RARA-/301145185082?pt=Penne&hash=item461da6db3a#ht_44wt_1258 That is exorbitant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It works both ways as well, I see a lot of American sellers asking $35 to $45 to post a pen to the uk. Don't forget that if buying on EvilBay to get sellers protection you have to use a door to door fully online trackable service and that is getting more and more expensive.

 

Sometimes it's not the seller asking a too high price, sometimes it's the Postal Service.

 

But yes some sellers do go that extra yard in their charges.

 

Also don't forget that both eBay and PayPal take a cut from the fee charged for posting to the seller does not get the full amount so they might have upped their fees to compensate for those robbing soles running eBay/PayPal.

 

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have paid considerably less to get something from the US to NZ - from Amazon, a Leatherman multitool (so not very light) for $7 shipping! And I had an item sent as a smallish package from Italy that cost 9 Euros shipping.

 

However, what irks me on Ebay is their proprietal shipping program. This inflates all the shipping charges irrespective of the true cost of shipping and is seen, by me at least, as a form of profit-creaming by Ebay itself and not the the individual traders. Personally I think that traders on the 'Bay should not specifiy shipping on auction items because as soon as hte auction starts the shipping cost is locked in. Give the buyer the opportunity for communication regarding shipping.

 

Amazon's shipping policy is unfathomable, and it often pays to wait for the right promotion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two weeks ago I had to spring $46.05 for postage of a single pen from the USA to Ireland via USPS. I'm still waiting.

 

So yes, transatlantic shipping is outrageously expensive, and this will be my last foray across the pond for a long time.

✒️ :happyberet:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The eBay example given is an extreme case because of the use of the eBay Global Shipping Program. As Pitney Bowes saw their business in metered mail disappear to email they engaged in a new business enterprise with eBay. Sellers often get enrolled without knowing much about it. It seems like value especially when the seller isn't paying for it. The idea is that Pitney Bowes collects tax and duty for the buyer at the point of sale and collects a fee for this "improved service" that expedites the item through customs. It involves sending the package to a clearing house in the south east US before being relayed for shipping through a second party. In Canada-US transactions this has been problematic because there is no "problem" with USPS - Canada Post that needs to be fixed by Pitney Bowes in the first place. There are no delays in customs (in the order of hours to clear) and USPS - Canada Post has a shared tracking system whereby the seller can see the entire item movements on the USPS website and the buyer can see the same info on the Canada Post website. Furthermore, there are for all practical purposes no taxes or duty that needs to be collected. USPS shipped items worth $100 or more come right to my door with no taxes, duties, fees or anything else. The eBay GPS system SLOWS the item delivery because it is shipped back and forth across the US rather than directly to me. That is days worth of extra shipping to save an hour in customs. It is also VERY expensive because it involves collecting non-existing taxes and duties and charges to collect them.

 

I do not purchase items listed with GPS services. If I really want the item I ask the seller to ship by USPS with tracking. If the seller doesn't want to do that then I pass on the item.

 

Other courier services such as UPS do this as well and I never accept packages from them. I predicted UPS would go out of business and the eBay GPS system would be shut down within months because they could not compete with USPS but that has not happened yet. I do not work for USPS, Canada Post, or the US or Canada Customs Service. All I can say is that they provide the fastest, safest, and most reasonable shipping.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you think someone' shipping fees are over the top, you can check the costs of shipping from the UK to anywhere here: http://www.royalmail.com/price-finder

 

Ebay taking a 10% cut on postage charges *on top* of their listing & final sale fee takes the mickey IMO, and it annoys me that as a seller I either have to swallow that cost or charge an inflated postage charge to make up the difference.

Instagram @inkysloth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Domestically 6-10 is average from US to US for priority shipping. From China to US typically free or less than 5 USD. But from Japan to US almost always 15 to 25 (depending on first class of EMS/Priority).

 

Depending on from where to where, 20 USD may not be as high as you think. Though Ebay does charge a final value fee on the shipping cost as well, probably to try to encourage lower shipping cost (as opposed to starting listings low and having something like 30$ shipping).

 

The () I see often on Amazon though, like a bottle of ink from Japan for around $1 but has $35 shipping just so they can show up on the first page of a list sorted by price. (Saw some Pens in India do the same thing on ebay, $1 for pen buy-it-now, $15 for shipping).

 

Simply put I factor the shipping as the total cost of the item, so I look at that total and decide if it's still worth it from there.

Edited by KBeezie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TBH I've found shipping *from* the US ridiculously expensive for the time it takes. Not to mention the amount of shipping options they have, it's all very confusing (First Class with signature is cheaper than Priority without. In reality they take the same amount of time).

 

Shipping from Germany, Spain (Europe in general) has been a breeze. Same for UK. Delivery times are consistent to about 1.5 weeks.

 

The best has been Japan, $12-15 EMS with a 3-4 day delivery.

Edited by proton007

In a world where there are no eyes the sun would not be light, and in a world where there were no soft skins rocks would not be hard, nor in a world where there were no muscles would they be heavy. Existence is relationship and you're smack in the middle of it.

- Alan Watts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TBH I've found shipping *from* the US ridiculously expensive for the time it takes. Not to mention the amount of shipping options they have, it's all very confusing (First Class with signature is cheaper than Priority without. In reality they take the same amount of time).

 

Shipping from Germany, Spain (Europe in general) has been a breeze. Same for UK. Delivery times are consistent to about 1.5 weeks.

 

The best has been Japan, $12-15 EMS with a 3-4 day delivery.

 

Well 'first class' is basically the lowest class mail you can send other than like media mail for specific media. The Signature confirmation is just a delivery confirmation so doesn't affect the speed of delivery. With USPS (not counting UPS/Fedex, basically) you got (pricing being more or less like a single pen)

 

First Class (guess... 'economy' shipping etc) , on average domestically it's around 2-3$

Priority Mail, little faster than First Class, and includes tracking (and domestically includes I think $50 insurance) average starting at around 5.80 to 10 dollars

Express Mail the more expensive option aside from Express Overnight. easily 15-25 domestically

 

Those are the 3 base, the rest are just add-on features, which some of them already include, and so internationally won't be any less than those domestic average prices.

 

For Japan to US for me, it's been $15 average for 'economy' shipping and $25 for EMS.

 

Point being, some of the exorbitant prices aren't the seller's markups, when in doubt calculate it yourself at the respective website, when I did the same over at Japan Post's website, the $25 I spent for EMS was only about a dollar or so over the actual shipping cost for my weight guestimate.

Edited by KBeezie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Postal service with tracking to Australia from Germany US$8-12. From Japan US$10-15. Servicebfrom both countries pretty good.

Quoted from US ,US$35-49 . All purchases from o'seas under $1000 are tax free .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...