Handling Charge__Gimmick!

[oldhermit]

It's not pleasant after going through the routine of purchasing an item online only to find that something new, called a handling charge, has been added to the total.
Handling Charge? What's that? A slush fund for the employees party?
How long before they start advertising no shipping, no tax, and no handling charge just to lure people into purchasing a product, and then find there is now something called a TLC Packaging charge, and $20 added to the total price of the items.
Stick-it, online marketers. I'll not contribute to your gimmicks. I really don't need any of it.

[Nix]

Similarly those people who charge exorbitant postage costs on eBay items that clearly don't cost that much to mail because:

a. Other people have posted the same size item for half the price or less.
b. The postage stamps on said item total a fraction of the postage cost and padded bags don't cost that much that they would double or more the postage cost.

With most eBay items from OS that don't state a postage cost up front, I now send an email asking what the cost might be but also suggest a price based on past experience, most of the time the seller usually comes back with something like "yes that will be fine".

I had one item that I bought where the person had a little line right at the end of them description stating that the final cost would be 1.25Gbp on top of the winning bid + postage.

It was clear and up front from the start but no explanation as to what it was for.

Probably to cover eBay fees etc and if it had been included in postage costs they would have seem really expensive.

Maybe it was just a miscellaneous hadnling fee.

[oldhermit]

Hi Nix, I appreciate your comments.
A handling charge is a crooked business practice that is beginning to show up more frequently.
It is being used as a method of regaining a rather large percentage of revenue after advertising a product at a discounted price, usually lower than everyone else.
It does not take any special effort to place a CD into an envelope, and send it, yet on a $40 item, the handling charge alone can amount to an additional 12% of of the item cost.

The best way to send a message to these people is find the place that will not be undersold. It is not too late to back out of a purchase where a handling charge, or any other such bogus charge, is listed during check out.

At one time when the retailers were trying to gain a good reputation on the Internet, there were no such hidden charges. Now they are taking advantage of their clients, and since then I have cut way back on purchases from the Internet. It is particularly disappointing to see an outlet that previously gave good service, now must use such gimmicks that will ultimately only discourage further business with them.

[General Winters]

Whats worse is the companies that use expensive couriers to deliver items instead of the national carrier.

Ie a company based in England, offers a nice cheap SD card for a digital camera and advertises it as free postage.

However , as soon as I get to the checkout, my address being offshore, cancels the free postage , adding the base £3.50 . Plus since I am not on the mainland, the courier they use charges an extra fee of £15 .... All for a 2 ounce memory card.

Now in the UK , Royal Mail charges the same price regardless of location in UK, so the remotest hamlet to the major town all cost the same.

I asked could they not use Royal Mail to ship the card, costing maybe £0.31 + the cost of an envelope and was told , sorry , we only use couriers ...

Now that sucks !

[oldhermit]

I agree. It's a way to recoup the money lost by attracting more attention to an item with a reduced price. A contract made for hiring the services of a delivery company on an item basis is much different fom the price being charged to the customer.

[Steve R Jones]

If it'll make you feel any better. I just ordered a power supply from Dell this morning:

Sales Tax: $6.27
Shipping and/or Handling: $16.00
Product Sub Total : $59.95
Total Order Amount: $82.22



I personnaly look at the Grand Total when I compare shop. Don't really care how they come up with the total....

Places like Newegg do fun stuff all the time. I've seen a pc case for $50.00 + 12.00 shipping. The next week it's on sale for $62.99 w/free shipping. Oh Boy!

Have seen many local retailers have a "sale" item on an end cap isle for $10.00. Sitting right next to it is a similar or a larger size that isn't on sale. If you don't pay attention you grab the more expensive item...

[oldhermit]

Unfortunately the good deals on most new items is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
The benefits of purchasing online have disappeared, originally set up to save customers money because there were no overhead costs to deal with. After shipping, you could buy an item cheaper online instead of driving over to the nationally syndicated computer candy-store.
There was also a time when there were many overstocks, and they were being liquidated online. At that time, I had packages arriving on a daily basis. Strangely enough, there were no shipping charges, and the items were being purchased at a mere fraction of retail.
You won't see that anymore because they want to get full price on the overstocks they purchase a thousand (or two thousand) at a time.
They will always find buyers, or rather, buyers will always find them...

[DELTREE]

Shipping and handling:

Is based on the shipping cost: exp. when you buy your computer and they ship it by;some of the high end comp.you pay alot.

It use to be if something cost, say 12.00 you would pay handling 1.20 or you you payed 12.00 if it would cost you 120.00 If they use a high end comp.

COST and LABOR is WAAAYY up.

The more you make the more they take. Give me the good old days.

[oldhermit]

Amen, amen, AAAAAYMEN!

[lgbpop]

Steve Jones's remark about the "special" on the endcap brought back memories! In the 1970's I worked for A&P, a major grocery chain at the time (for the Britons, think Sainsbury's) and prices advertised in the weekly specials weren't always what they seemed. For example, Campbell's chicken noodle or cream of mushroom soups were regularly priced at 15 cents a can. Once a month they were advertised at
6/$1.00 and we'd sell three times as much for the week! Caveat emptor.....