From time to time there are posts about shipping charges on purchased items to build a rod or supplies.
Often the complaint is that the actual postage is X but the charges are X+Y.

Now, lets turn the page to the point where you, the builder is now the shipper of your finished product. i.e. you have built a very nice rod and are ready to ship this rod to a location that is on the other side of the country.

So, starting from the time that you hand the finished rod off to your shipping department - likely yourself, how much time and money do you spend to prepare this rod for shipment,

This is time and money that is spent that is not involved with the actual postage.

Look at things like a shipping container, the time to go and pick up the shipping container. Plastic bags, or other protection that you might use to pack the rod.

etc. etc. etc.

Sure, when you quote a price for the rod, you have included this time, and $$ into the price of the delivered rod.

But, I suspect that if you are honest with your self, you will likely have as many labor and materials $$ tied up in the shipment of the rod, as the actual postage required to ship the rod.

I do know that from my personal view point, it is much more economic to both myself and my client to be able to ship 10-20 rods at the same time in the same container. i.e. the cost of container and shipping materials is not that much different for 20 rods, as it is for 1 rod. Also, because the actual weight of the rod is almost negligible, the actual postage cost for shipping a single rod is not that much different than shipping 20 rods, if all 20 rods are in the same container.

So, when you wonder about the shipping charges being charged by vendors today - put yourself in the shoes of the vendor - as you are when you ship a finished rod and see what you charge for your time and materials to make the shipment.

Good luck

Think of the folks that do the packing and shiping, they have famlys too, a little pay would be nise.

And
I herd that UPS is raising there shipping rates
Customer pays more ??LOL

Bill - willierods.com

I deal mainly with Utmost and Swampland mainly because they don't rip you off on the shipping like 1 other that was recently posted about. ......... Oh ..... and they do have families

Nobody is ripping you off if they plainly list their shipping charges up front so you know beforehand what you're going to be charged. To know what you're going to be charged, accept and pay it, and then complain that you got ripped off is absurd.

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Is this a topic we need to revisit every month? It seems like we do.

As someone that has shipped many packages of live tropical fish through USPS and FedEx, shipping cost and packaging keeps rising and it is very tough to be 100% exact on a shipping quote especially an online ordering system that many volume rod building supply companies have. Shipping cost can jump up drastically depending on weight ,volume and distance in transit.

Why not ask for a lower priced shipping option before hitting accept and paying online?

Not only that, but many don't realize that companies that ship a lot of parcels, often negotiate a better price with the shippers but with a caveat that the shippers will not cover any losses due to damage, loss, theft, etc. There are a lot of hidden charges incurred by the companies that do this. Funny that no one is on here blasting Cabelas, Orvis, LL Bean, Bass Pro Shops, etc., for using the same shipping charge system used by the larger rod building component supply houses.

No, we don't need to revisit this each month. If you don't like a company's shipping charges or policies, buy elsewhere. It makes no sense to gripe about something that is made plain to you upfront. No surprises. You know beforehand what it's going to cost.

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