Whinge Regarding Shipping Costs

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I recently went online to a well-known and regarded airsoft retailer I have used many times in the past without issue to stock up on some BBs, only to find I was quoted a shocking £12.99 in shipping (more than the cost of the BBs themselves). Previously it was half this for non-RIF packages like BBs, gun addon tat, clothing etc.

 

I know the cost pressures everyone is facing - my wife has a business and has had to change couriers due to exorbitant costs (mainly due to the out of control price of fuel). I can understand courier charges for RIFs, need for insurance, secure transit/delivery etc. However to charge more for shipping than the price of an item definitely ventures into the arena of taking the piss. With Royal Mail the size of said package would cost no more than a fiver...

 

I went instead to EBay and bought there, for the same total price the well-known retailer quoted and got double the amount of BBs. Shipping was included in the price too.

 

Said well-known retailer has now lost my business forever. Sad really.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Ebeneezer Goode
Spelling goofs fixed

[ak2m4]

Airsoft companies have been over charging for years sadly.  Some do it to try to get the customer to order more items in the attempt to justify the shipping etc.  I actually subsidise 90% of the shipping fees in order to retain customers.  £12.99 is very high for some BB's, what was the total weight?

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Literally a 1kg bag, i.e. sod all. A joke considering a RIF from the same supplier is £20 for delivery (still excessive IMO but at least understandable).

 

As I say, they've fucked themselves with their own cock as far as I'm concerned.

[sjhirst]

You should see some of the charges for northern Ireland, and thats before the new cost hikes!

I remember going to get an £8.00 accessory and it was £20 postage. 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

10 hours ago, sjhirst said:

You should see some of the charges for northern Ireland, and thats before the new cost hikes!

I remember going to get an £8.00 accessory and it was £20 postage. 

Preaching to the converted my friend. Scottish Highlands, we get sodomised mercilessly by courier charges as we are "not part of the mainland" despite the map saying otherwise and that A9 going all the way from Stirling to Thurso. 😡

[ak2m4]

11 hours ago, Ebeneezer Goode said:

Literally a 1kg bag

 

Only 1kg, would only be £3.95 via Royal Mail 24 Tracked service.  

 

My guess is in order to simplify their website backend shipping function they just use a single shipping weight.  It's a pretty lazy way doing shipping but very tempting as it can cut a huge amount of confusion.  Took me a few hours to get my head around how the shipping worked and I had to "fudge" the system in order to get it working as I wanted.  So many work-arounds.

[Enid_Puceflange]

Personally, I’d have used the Mk1 human mouth via telephone 

(do you remember them 😂)

A quick chat with a store member might have sorted that out

The human touch goes long way in this faceless virtual “click to cart” world that the instagram / TikTok generation are growing up in

Edited November 17, 2022 by Enid_Puceflange

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

A quick chat with a store member might have sorted that out

 

It might not though, then that time is sunk. And it could have gone into finding that you can get much better value elsewhere even if they shipped free and gratis.

 

Similarly with used sales (gnus, cars): crazy asking prices on the assumption that you'll do the dance, mate, haggle them down, mate, everyone knows that, that's just the game, mate.

 

I know some people do enjoy the thrill of bargaining down to what you can just click on elsewhere, but I suspect that's going to become an increasingly niche selling strategy in an era of easy comparison shopping.

[Enid_Puceflange]

30 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

 

It might not though, then that time is sunk. And it could have gone into finding that you can get much better value elsewhere even if they shipped free and gratis.

 

Similarly with used sales (gnus, cars): crazy asking prices on the assumption that you'll do the dance, mate, haggle them down, mate, everyone knows that, that's just the game, mate.

 

I know some people do enjoy the thrill of bargaining down to what you can just click on elsewhere, but I suspect that's going to become an increasingly niche selling strategy in an era of easy comparison shopping.

I’ve spent (spunked) 25 years in the motor trade, negotiating my life away

Its just a way of life for me

Im not scared to speak to peeples 😂

 

[Cr0-Magnon]

1 hour ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

 

Im not scared to speak to peeples 😂

 

I agree that this is an issue, particularly with many Gen.Z'ers. It always puzzles me when people will start threads on this forum, along the lines of "Does anyone know how long it usually takes >insert retailer here< to send items?"

 

However I don't think that applies in this case. If I've already gone out of my way to be loyal to them (ie going to their website first), why should I go to the further inconvenience of calling and "negotiating" the postage cost. Especially when the times I actually get a moment to shop for this kind of stuff are usually during my lunch break at work, or in the evening when they're closed.

[Ebeneezer Goode]

4 hours ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

Personally, I’d have used the Mk1 human mouth via telephone 

(do you remember them 😂)

A quick chat with a store member might have sorted that out

The human touch goes long way in this faceless virtual “click to cart” world that the instagram / TikTok generation are growing up in

Good point and one I'm not averse to - although I am rather more old school and take people at their word. So if something is advertised at price x, that's the price, no nudge nudge wink wink ere ahhs abaaht a deal then me old mucka. Can't be arsed. If it's advertised on your site at x that's what I pay, or decide to go elsewhere if x is too dear.

 

As for InstaSpam and ShitTok, pah, a pox on their houses.

[EvilMonkee]

Its all down to COVID I am afraid.  It raped shipping companies and a lot of the containers are still sat on Chinese dockyards.  I spoke to a well known owner of an Airsoft Shop near me and he said his shipping cost for a pallet of goods had increased from £3000 pre COVID to £12000 post.

[ak2m4]

11 hours ago, EvilMonkee said:

Its all down to COVID I am afraid.  It raped shipping companies and a lot of the containers are still sat on Chinese dockyards.  I spoke to a well known owner of an Airsoft Shop near me and he said his shipping cost for a pallet of goods had increased from £3000 pre COVID to £12000 post.

 

I don't think that's quite right, before covid a pallet from China cost around £450, then went to around £600 and now back down to around the same as before.   Are you sure it was for a pallet and not a 20ft container?  Every day I get messages from Chinese freight agents all fighting each other for business and dropping their prices on a weekly basis.   

 

There's a clear difference though between the pricing of sea freight and domestic (Royal Mail) shipping.  In fact in the past 6 months RM have reduced the price of small parcels.  Currently £3.95 for Tracked 24 (1st class) for 2kg parcel, fully tracked, email and text message with photo.  

[Cr0-Magnon]

What @ak2m4 said. 
 

I work in shipping and can confirm that import rates from China have returned to their normal levels after going as high as 10x more.

[ak2m4]

The real problem with our sport and shipping, in regards to China, is that the majority of Airsoft products can only be shipped out of HK.  Some products can be flown out via FedEx or UPS but anything remotely gun shaped or gun related must be shipped via a boat.  The smallest size you can get from HK port is a pallet (1cbm).  So if you just wanted a few boxes of parts you have to pay for a full pallet.  In general it's an absolute nightmare.  

Edited November 18, 2022 by ak2m4

[Hotweeweejef]

I agree with the OP, from what I’ve seen, it seems the majority of airsoft retailers want to charge over the odds for P&P when it comes to smaller items.
As was mentioned earlier, I feel like it’s partly for simplicity and just charging a flat rate for shipping, but it just feels a bit crap paying more for postage than the actual cost of them item you’re looking to buy. 

[sjhirst]

On 17/11/2022 at 08:02, Ebeneezer Goode said:

Preaching to the converted my friend. Scottish Highlands, we get sodomised mercilessly by courier charges as we are "not part of the mainland" despite the map saying otherwise and that A9 going all the way from Stirling to Thurso. 😡

 

Lol, yep the not part of the mainland story! I used to get on the phone and query the pricing, but just gave up as it was the same story all the time. Not mainland and extra insurance. lol

[EvilMonkee]

On 18/11/2022 at 08:48, ak2m4 said:

 

I don't think that's quite right, before covid a pallet from China cost around £450, then went to around £600 and now back down to around the same as before.   Are you sure it was for a pallet and not a 20ft container?  Every day I get messages from Chinese freight agents all fighting each other for business and dropping their prices on a weekly basis.   

 

There's a clear difference though between the pricing of sea freight and domestic (Royal Mail) shipping.  In fact in the past 6 months RM have reduced the price of small parcels.  Currently £3.95 for Tracked 24 (1st class) for 2kg parcel, fully tracked, email and text message with photo.  

I am just quoting what I was told

[Colin Allen]

On 18/11/2022 at 08:48, ak2m4 said:

 

I don't think that's quite right, before covid a pallet from China cost around £450, then went to around £600 and now back down to around the same as before.   Are you sure it was for a pallet and not a 20ft container?  Every day I get messages from Chinese freight agents all fighting each other for business and dropping their prices on a weekly basis.   

 

There's a clear difference though between the pricing of sea freight and domestic (Royal Mail) shipping.  In fact in the past 6 months RM have reduced the price of small parcels.  Currently £3.95 for Tracked 24 (1st class) for 2kg parcel, fully tracked, email and text message with photo.  

Freight shipping costs from China are indeed back to where they were before Covid or even below.  Shipping companies (as in the people who run the ships rather than shipping agents) are reducing the number of voyages in an attempt to prevent their income collapsing completely by.  With many factories in China closed because of the constant lockdowns and a slump in demand, there is more shipping capacity than is needed.

However, with Winnie the Pooh now secure in his third term in office, it seems that the lockdown policy in China is easing, so more product might be available soon.

[Madhouse]

Definitely sympathising with the OP right now. I need a gas extension to fill my mags - first pistol ownership is a steep learning curve - obviously if I'd have known I'd have got it at the time, but now, on it's own, retailers want upwards of £5 postage for a £2 part that'll go in an envelope with a regular stamp.

 

Oh well I thought, I want another mag and a spare battery, may as well get all three .... or so I thought, trying to find all three in stock in the same place got very tedious very quickly. Ended up getting two extensions from Amazon in the end as it worked out cheaper.

[Rogerborg]

It is rather irksome and yet another reason to recommend https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/ who charges low rates.  He's probably making a loss on postage + packaging + time.

[ak2m4]

@Rogerborg Thanks, and yes making a loss.  However my postage fees are due to rise in the new year when I switch to more of a fully tracked system.  I might still keep the cheaper large letter sub £20 sub 100g rates, not made up my mind yet.  

[Madhouse]

Totally using @ak2m4 when I need bits for the pews 👍

 

Bit late to request you stock the gas bottle extension tubes though.

[ak2m4]

4 hours ago, Madhouse said:

Bit late to request you stock the gas bottle extension tubes though.

 

I think the problem is GBB makes up such a small % of sales so most are reluctant to stock parts which is a shame.  Back in the day when I was into GBB everything had to come from Hong Kong but at least you could get it all from 1 store 🙂

[Cannonfodder]

I was going to order a spare mag for my P99 from A2 supplies till I got to the checkout and found the only shipping option was a tenner for next day delivery which was adding almost 50% to the total cost. 2 minutes later I found another shop which had 2 day delivery at a lower price so went with them.