I just picked out 5 balls of sock yarn from one of the online vendors. The yarn came to $17.00 - good price. Then I got the shipping charges $9.45!!! No way will I pay that. How is it that KP can ship for $3.99 . That yarn could easily be shipped partial post for a whole lot less. The ironic thing is that the seller in is my state. :gah:
Must be “shipping and handling” !
There is no way the shipping should be that much:??
I hear ya. I just placed my first ever online sock yarn order from an online vendor. The reason I selected them is that their shipping from US to Canada was 5.46 or something like that. I got an email from them telling me that in the future it would be $20.00 to ship to Canada! Even on one ball of yarn!!
When it arrived I discovered that they shipped it Priority Post!! No wonder it was so much. You’d think it was made of gold them sending Priority Post.
I was just going to say, that sounds almost cheap compared what it is to ship to Canada. It’s not even worth it a lot of the time to buy anything online for the shipping. Small things can cost upwards of $20 or more to ship here. Even in the country it can be expensive. I was shipping a blanket for our Baby Blanket KAL and it was about $15. All that was in there was the blanket (about 1/2 skein of yarn’s worth of knitting), two balls of cotton yarn, the needles and some pages of instructions. $9.45 for 5 balls of yarn sounds about right…maybe it makes up for the awesome price you got them for?
Was it shipped UPS…?? I have had a big problem with UPS shipping from USA to Canada…Both times, with shipping and Brokerage fees…I have paid more in shipping then I did for the actual item…
I warn you all…DO NOT USE UPS!
Either way…IMO $10 is not too bad. Most things that I order, $10 is pretty standard…and the more you buy…the more the price evens out…so I tend to make purchases after I have found more than $20 worth of stuff I want…to make the shipping more worth my while!
I also suspect…with rising gas costs…shipping isn’t going to get any cheaper!
I haven’t had any problems with UPS. :shrug:
Some online vendors do charge a lot for shipping. It pays to compare because not all of them charge a lot and indeed a few don’t charge at all. This may change with rising gas prices, but who knows.
http://theknitter.com/
Unless they’ve had to start charging, yarnandfiber.com has no shipping fees, and their prices are reasonable.
I hate to pay too much for shipping. I will usually order something extra to make it high enough for free shipping if that’s an option. I figure that I’m at least getting something I can play with for it.
Shipping via UPS to Canada is very expensive. DS was charged $46 at his end last fall for a parcel (duty and brokerage fee) - very expensive cookies and misc. items.
I bought some sock yarn off of ebay from a lady in Germany. The yarn cost me $45 for 8 skeins ( different colors) and it cost $16.00 for shipping. It was priority mail. I should also state that I bid the seller down from $80.00. I have seen the same yarn for sale in catalogues and I did get a bargain. At the time I thought the shipping cost were excessive but the yarn is nice and turned out to be still cheaper when you add the cost to get it together.:cheering:
Yeah, I’ve noticed this too. I like to compare and get the best price I can and you always have to consider the shipping and handling. I also noticed that some vendors charge a lot for insurance if you take that as an option. One wanted over a dollar per skein, for the insurance. That’s crazy in my book. It doesn’t cost anything like that. They charge per package, not per item. Needless to say I didn’t get insurance.
I believe free shipping starts after $100
Ouch. I hate excessive shipping costs. Too bad some of these online yarn stores don’t subscribe to ebates or some online code site. Then you’d at least get a kickback or something.
I try to go in with a friend to get free shipping. We usually spend enough between the two of us.
Also, I have found out via the USPS, that if you ship in a box or a padded envelope it changes. I can send the same yarn in a padded envelope cheaper than a box. I do an int’l swap for a friend online, she sends me $ for items she wants here. If I send it in a padded envelope I can save up to $8.00~
Worth checking out depending on your item.
Yes, a box can add 8 ounces or more to the weight. You can save substantially on postage by using a large envelope.
Yeah…I don’t know…My last fiasco was with some nylon fishing cord. I am going to make some knitted chain mail for next years Halloween…the 6lbs of cord cost me $60. Not too bad…coming from San Fransisco to Toronto, but shipping was $30…seems reasonable for the weight…and brokerage was $40…
So…total…$70 shipping on a $60 item.
It hasn’t been the first time either…I have been slammed for a few things…and most have to do with the brokerage fees. They are astronomical!
I am tremendously happy you haven’t suffered the UPS infection…but I do urge anyone to ask about shipping if it is not otherwise stated. Getting burned on the brokerage charges sux!
Don’t be afraid to question the shipping. I ordered from a well-known online yarn store and received a ridiculous shipping quote. I emailed back and advised them, that, according to USPS.com, shipping should only be $x, including insurance, so, what else was I paying for? Yes, my shipping was adjusted. I also asked that it be put in a flat rate box and shipped that way. Why else is there a choice between USPS and UPS if I can’t get the benefit of a better rate?
I just mailed a small package to a town about 60 miles away and was charged $10. I nearly fainted. Our PO is going nuts. On the other hand, I just got a large order (as in 2 large boxes) from across the continent and was charged $17. There appears to be no rhyme nor reason to shipping these days.
It depends how it’s sent. Express or priority mail is more expensive especially if the item is heavy, 1st class (under 13 oz) and parcel post are much cheaper.
Generally, I have no problem buying enough stuff to reach the free shipping point, no matter how much that might be. Even if I’m only needing to buy 1 or 2 skeins, say $20 tops, I can too easily get to $50 or even more to get free shipping. Sometimes I think I’d be spending less if I’d only bought what I ‘needed’ that day and paid the shipping charges! But then, who doesn’t want to get a big box of goodies in the mail to fondle!