Guess the cost to ship two 19 cent washers... - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Shawnski · 08-16-2007, 11:10 PM

If you said $998,798... you would be correct.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20...g/ardg6dwccmfi

BlackArcher101 · 08-16-2007, 11:13 PM

They must have bought them off ebay.

I see two problems here... the shipping charges, and the fact that the defense department actually placed meaningless orders in those small quantities.

Who buys TWO washers then ships it overseas? Our purchaser would be shown the door pronto if that happened.

FireFly · 08-16-2007, 11:16 PM

Well no wonder the war is costing so much! Damn shipping companies anyway.

I-Hate-Hulse · 08-16-2007, 11:26 PM

That was just the UPS brokerage charge...

JohnnyB · 08-16-2007, 11:47 PM

How could they possibly think they could get off with that scam forever? And how could they not think to operate their company from outside the US if they were going to do that?

worth · 08-17-2007, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

That was just the UPS brokerage charge...

zing...

HOOT · 08-17-2007, 09:18 AM

Quote:

She faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on each count and will be sentenced in the near future, McDonald said in a telephone interview from Columbia.

She is claiming her sister died a while back, I wonder if that is true or if she is out hiding in some country.

Also nice "zing" on UPS, I hate them with a passion. I remember buying something from the states which was a $50 item and I had duty fees of $38.43(or something around there) and when I got home I realized $35.00 of that was a brokeage fee.

DementedReality · 08-17-2007, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

$35.00 of that was a brokeage fee.

why shouldnt you have to pay for the service of brokerage?

Tron_fdc · 08-17-2007, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

why shouldnt you have to pay for the service of brokerage?

Because it's a rip off, plain and simple. Paying for a brokerage service is not a problem; it's the amount UPS charges. When the same service with Canada Post costs less than $5, you know it's a scam. If I buy anything online I refuse to ship it via UPS. Not only do they lose shipments on a regular basis, they gouge you on brokerage.

To put this into perspective: I clear $50 000.00 shipments on a daily basis, and our brokerage fee is $25 per shipment......

HOOT · 08-17-2007, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

why shouldnt you have to pay for the service of brokerage?

Please see below.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Because it's a rip off, plain and simple. Paying for a brokerage service is not a problem; it's the amount UPS charges. When the same service with Canada Post costs less than $5, you know it's a scam. If I buy anything online I refuse to ship it via UPS. Not only do they lose shipments on a regular basis, they gouge you on brokerage.

To put this into perspective: I clear $50 000.00 shipments on a daily basis, and our brokerage fee is $25 per shipment......

Thank you!

cSpooge · 08-17-2007, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Because it's a rip off, plain and simple. Paying for a brokerage service is not a problem; it's the amount UPS charges. When the same service with Canada Post costs less than $5, you know it's a scam. If I buy anything online I refuse to ship it via UPS. Not only do they lose shipments on a regular basis, they gouge you on brokerage.

To put this into perspective: I clear $50 000.00 shipments on a daily basis, and our brokerage fee is $25 per shipment......

DHL charged me a brokerage fee for my shoes that I ordered... but it was only 7 bucks do I have no problem paying that (Shoes were $100+)

DementedReality · 08-17-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Because it's a rip off, plain and simple. Paying for a brokerage service is not a problem; it's the amount UPS charges. When the same service with Canada Post costs less than $5, you know it's a scam. If I buy anything online I refuse to ship it via UPS. Not only do they lose shipments on a regular basis, they gouge you on brokerage.

To put this into perspective: I clear $50 000.00 shipments on a daily basis, and our brokerage fee is $25 per shipment......

its not a scam, its what they charge. they arent subsidized by the taxpayer like Canada Post is.

you are in your right to choose another service provider, just as you are with any service. however the UPS rate is in market with all privatly held courier companies.

DementedReality · 08-17-2007, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

To put this into perspective: I clear $50 000.00 shipments on a daily basis, and our brokerage fee is $25 per shipment......

that is a fantastic rate. which broker do you use?

Tron_fdc · 08-17-2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

that is a fantastic rate. which broker do you use?

We use a company in towm called Menlo worldwide, but we've been with them for over 50 years. They're actually owned by UPS...but that's beside the point...or is it?

When it comes to peronal shipments I've found UPS to be terrible. Commercial is a whole different ballgame though; competition is pretty fierce, so we've been able to drive our rate down fairly hard.

Tron_fdc · 08-17-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

its not a scam, its what they charge. they arent subsidized by the taxpayer like Canada Post is.

you are in your right to choose another service provider, just as you are with any service. however the UPS rate is in market with all privatly held courier companies.

How about purolator? I'm not sure if they're owned by the guv'ment (they seem to share offices with Canada Post, so who knows), but their rates are a fraction of what UPS charges.

On a side note, you can also do all this yourself and self clear everything, which brings your cost down to almost $0.

HOOT · 08-17-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

its not a scam, its what they charge. they arent subsidized by the taxpayer like Canada Post is.

you are in your right to choose another service provider, just as you are with any service. however the UPS rate is in market with all privatly held courier companies.

I think someone works for UPS

We are know we can choose a different service provider but how can they justify a $35 charge on an item worth $50. They should work on maybe a percentage with small amounts like that.

I actually have successfully gotten my company to switch away from using UPS for anything because of their customer service and ridiculous broker fees.

Also you can't say that they are aligned when someone above posted DHL only charging $7 and the last item I got from Fedex they only charged me a $12 brokerage fee on a $900 item.

worth · 08-17-2007, 11:13 AM

a few years ago i was ordering parts off ebay for stereo equip. i had about 5 or 6 different components shipped to me...of course through ups and i got charged $35 x 6. so ended up paying a few hundred dollars in brokerage charges. why was i buying off the internet? because i could get things cheaper there...after the brokerage fees...not so much. should have just bought locally or tried to ship a different company. live and learn.

Tron_fdc · 08-17-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

Also you can't say that they are aligned when someone above posted DHL only charging $7 and the last item I got from Fedex they only charged me a $12 brokerage fee on a $900 item.

Oddly enough DHL owns UPS....figure that one out.

DementedReality · 08-17-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Oddly enough DHL owns UPS....figure that one out.

that is not true. The German Post Office (Duestch Post) owns DHL. UPS is a publicly traded company.

DementedReality · 08-17-2007, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

We use a company in towm called Menlo worldwide, but we've been with them for over 50 years. They're actually owned by UPS...but that's beside the point...or is it?

When it comes to peronal shipments I've found UPS to be terrible. Commercial is a whole different ballgame though; competition is pretty fierce, so we've been able to drive our rate down fairly hard.

Menlo doesnt exist anymore, its part of UPS Supply Chain Services, (UPS SCS).

And you are right, if you have commercial volume, any good company would use that to negotiate better rates.