Oooft! Pricey Delivery Charges

**Hirsty** · 2nd December 18, 06:38 PM

I was on the verge of buying a pair of reasonably priced buckle brogues from a piper's website. The one snag was the delivery charge - $30. I checked out another, very similar website, the shoes were $5 more but again the delivery charge was $30. I send a lot of things in the mail both for work and back home to Scotland, often in shoe boxes, and they are rarely anywhere near that price.
I understand that companies have costs but they shouldn't be that excessive.
Can any recommend a company that isn't so excessive in their extra charges?

**Father Bill** · 2nd December 18, 07:01 PM

Respectfully, what are the costs of the packing materials and the wages of the person who packs them?

**Bruce Scott** · 2nd December 18, 07:32 PM

Shipping charges can vary widely as shown here, ranging from zero (from the UK) to AU$66.39 (from Hong Kong) to Australia:

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...ogues&_sacat=0

**California Highlander** · 2nd December 18, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by Hirsty

I was on the verge of buying a pair of reasonably priced buckle brogues from a piper's website. The one snag was the delivery charge - $30. I checked out another, very similar website, the shoes were $5 more but again the delivery charge was $30. I send a lot of things in the mail both for work and back home to Scotland, often in shoe boxes, and they are rarely anywhere near that price.
I understand that companies have costs but they shouldn't be that excessive.
Can any recommend a company that isn't so excessive in their extra charges?

In my very limited experience, most of the partners and advertisers on XMarks charge a reasonable shipping charge, some very low indeed. IMHO $30 is pretty high, but if you are shipping a tweed jacket and waistcoat express, then that is heavy and express costs more, especially internationally. If it's "in country" and something like a sporran or sgian dbuh, then it's very expensive. Shipping is so variable today that you need to put things in perspective. Brogues shipping at $30 seems high compared to what it costs to actually ship the shoes.

**Hirsty** · 2nd December 18, 07:47 PM

The cost of shipping for the distance involved, UPS ground for example, is $14.94.

I understand that there is further expenses above delivery, however, it is highly unlikely that their cost - packaging materials, man hours, admin, etc - requires a 100% mark up.

**Hirsty** · 2nd December 18, 07:49 PM

Just to be straight - neither website is a sponsor of XMTS.

**Steve Ashton** · 2nd December 18, 08:17 PM

May I ask how you arrived at the $14.94 figure?

Where is the package originating and what is the destination.

Can you give us the weight and the dimensions of the box.

And what mode and level of delivery please.

**Hirsty** · 2nd December 18, 10:23 PM

All the information is available on their website or you can download their app.

The destinations are both within the CONUS. I didn't want to give locations as I wasn't planning on naming the companies, however I did use the furthest distance it could travel as this would be a fair and logical assumption for someone pricing internet orders.

The maximum weight for this delivery is 8lb (3.628kg) which is starting to knock on the door of the weight of ski boots. I was therefore comfortable in my assumption that the shoes wouldn't move up to the next price tier.

The dimensions I used are 7.5" x 5.125" x 14.125" which is the priority mail shoe box sizing as used by many carriers and is acceptable for this delivery tier.

I priced at ground delivery costs as this was the stated mode of delivery on both websites.

**Baeau** · 3rd December 18, 01:43 PM

Which company did the shipping? About 4-6 months back I received a larg box from England. Shipped via DHL, cost was less than $34. It was a pair of front wings for a Range Rover, miscellaneous lighting, clutch slave cylinder, et cetera. No really heavy, but more weight than an 8lb shoe box. Shipping time, from dispatch, was 4 days.