Shipping Costs: What's Worryingly Low or Absurdly High

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by FloydVivino, Feb 5, 2020.

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  1. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Would you vinyl record and CD sellers tell the SHF community what constitute reasonable shipping costs from your country to the main regions you ship to?

    The issue is, some shipping costs we see are so low that we wonder whether that vinyl record or CD will come wrapped in tin foil if anything at all; on the other hand, some are so high we wonder whether the vinyl record or CD comes wrapped in gold dust or the seller might be playing games.

    We want to avoid "it depends". So, how do we do this? Your choice, but I'd suggest something along the lines of:

    From [state your domestic country]:
    • Domestic: within [domestic country]: x (without tracking)/ y (with tracking*)
    • Regional: within [trade bloc/region/continent e.g., EU/Europe]: x (without tracking)/ y (with tracking*)
    • International: to all other destinations, x (without tracking)/ y (with tracking*)
    * or whatever risk-minimizing, buyer-comfort-affording pricier mailing system of choice

    State "x" and "y" above as indicative reference so that anything significantly below buyers should enquire seller how exactly does he plan to send your purchase, while anything significantly above buyers should enquire the reason why it shipping costs so much (and signal that they're aware of shipping market prices). These should be all-in costs including sensible and adequate packaging (no pizza boxes for vinyl or plain letter envelopes for CDs).

    Do you think this is workable? Please adjust for your country and you might copy some of your fellow countryman's suggestions.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2020
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    No, way too many factors involved.

    You want to know? Simple. Go onto the post office website for the country and put in the size and weight of the item along with the appropriate addresses. Boom : you have your answer.

    Most Discogs sellers have flat rates which are shown in their Sellers Terms.
     
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  3. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Are you suggesting I'm going to each country and check what the shipping costs are domestically and internationally? Sorry, but my question must be terribly unclear.
     
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm stating that if you're thinking of buying an album from someone in, say, Australia, and you're wondering what costs you should roughly expect, you can navigate to the Australia post office's website and key in the info yourself. Since the seller can be anywhere within that country, expect some give in the resulting shipping price versus the quote you'll get from the seller but at least, you'll have some idea.

    Size, weight, declared value, insurance, tracking, shipping carrier (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, etc) are all factors which will greatly influence the price.

    You seem outraged and on a crusade in exposing a massive shipping fraud of some sort but there isn't a big mystery here. Each seller can opt to do whatever he wants. Some will have reasonable rates (i.e. quote the exact shipping amount) while others will have much higher rates. Many international sellers even state every package *must* be sent with insurance past a certain weight.

    So you're wasting your time, effort, and energy in pouring so much into these shipping rates threads. You'll just have to get over the fact that shipping internationally costs a lot. I know from experience in both selling and buying that there is no way around it. In fact, in Canada, shipping prices have gone up dramatically in the last 3 years. I'd say a good 20-25%! No way will I eat the cost to please a buyer.

    It's just the cost of doing business as a buyer.
     
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  5. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Thank you for explaining why shipping costs are high - something that has never occurred to me - and for drawing attention to my outrage by a massive shipping fraud. Spot on. Thanks for your help.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2020
  6. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    USPS International - average lp cost is $23 for most overseas countries (I'm in US)

    Within US - $3.99 flat for lps (I combine and can send up to 4 lps for $3.99)

    $2.99 flat for 45s - I combine and can send up to 4/5 for $2.99

    Works for me for the past 21 years
     
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  7. chazz101s

    chazz101s Forum Resident

    But does this shipping also include the key coverage that PayPal demands of US of A sellers: tracking, proof of delivery/signature confirmation?
     
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  8. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    yes
     
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  9. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    Only in certain countries do you get a delivery confirmation number, and if you want a signature, you're gonna be forking over extra for registered mail.

    You can see the list here:

    252 Eligibility | Postal Explorer
     
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  10. chazz101s

    chazz101s Forum Resident


    It's my understanding that insurance is a no-go with the Intern'l shipping service mentioned by Mr. Hill.

    Also, $400 is the max valuation - probably not often a concern but just another thing to remember as not covered via the USPS and their First-Class Package International Service.
     
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  11. Combination

    Combination Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans
    Correct, there would be no insurance. But if you sent it registered, you would be covered.

    Think of it this way - a postal person once told me, "If we lost a parcel sent registered, that is something where we'd lose our job over it."
     
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  12. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Great contributions the community will value. Thank you to all concerned.

    Other countries please do feel encouraged to come forward with what are the ballpark shipping costs for your typical destinations, and please state what's included (not necessarily your prices, especially you believe you price your shipping costs below, well, standard costs).
     
  13. Vast variation to Australia from US.While Importscd and Amazon do it for about $4 for a CD there are some retailers charging $16 for 1 CD which is ridiculous.Rough Trade have recently taken away there cheapest shipping option which now means that shipping costs 20% more than the product being shipped.Again ridiculous.
    This is a real issue for Australia as more than a third of what I buy is never released here and I am not talking about obscure artists.For example after the first couple they stopped releasing The Rolling Stones From The Vault series here at least in the CD + DVD or Blu-ray format and the Springsteen Western Stars movie has no Blu-ray release in Australia.
     
    Ital Galore likes this.
  14. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Comparing postal charges of some companies to those of Amazon isn't necessarily fair. Not many companies can really deliver at Amazon/Importcds type rates.

    I think we've all become accustomed to certain aspect of retail which we now consider normal but are actually not the norm for a lot of sellers out there.
     
  15. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Depending upon what the item is that your shipping this could be a good value or maybe a little expensive. I wonder how I cost like this compares to other countries.
     
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