$15 to ship a $30 pickguard

cromulent

Senior Member
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I prefer to buy from Warmoth but is there a simple way to avoid this 50% shipping cost?
 
Pickguards are lightweight, but relatively large, so the package would probably trigger dimensional weight pricing from UPS/FedEx.

Dimensional Weight is "the amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. For each shipment, you are charged based on the dimensional weight or actual weight of the package—whichever is greater." You're paying for the box capacity, whether you use it or not.
 
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Have you seen the price of fuel lately? That drives up the cost of shipping anything & everything (including the food you buy at the grocery store). Warmoth gets charged, so we get charged.
 
Lighter weigh, larger box = Higher NMFC classification, higher costs. Order some tuners or hardware and it’ll go in the same box, and you’ll get more value for your shipping dollar. I used to have to fill out loads of Bills of Lading by hand, then we got our NMFC codes listed per item so that it printed on the packing list, easy to carry over in the system.

Since I’ve been out of the shipping industry’s for about 15 years now, I could only guess that the classification for a pickguard in the box might be as high of a freight class as 156600-sub 7 or 8, like class 250 or 300, whereas a small box of heavy items like 5 or 10 sets of stacked pickguard s might be 15600-sub 2, lower rate.

 
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The big electronics distributers (Mouser, DigiKey) all have free shipping and customs to Canada.... if you buy more than $100.00 in parts. So I tend to batch my orders to be above that threshold.

It's the reality of shipping, although it does suck. There are things you can do however.
 
I have had great luck with this shop. The shipping takes a while but the quality of the "vintage" parchment-ish and tort is great
If shipping is so expensive, how do places like this get away without charging for it?

I ended up just ordering a whole new guitar build to justify the shipping costs. Nah jk I got something from Amazon.
 
If shipping is so expensive, how do places like this get away without charging for it?

I ended up just ordering a whole new guitar build to justify the shipping costs. Nah jk I got something from Amazon.
Warmoth chooses not to ship things via USPS which could reduce shipping costs on certain items like a single pickguard but even then it would still be $8-$10 on a $30 pickguard. IYou are paying for Warmoth's quality and fit guarantee so for something like a Strat or Tele guard it doenst quite make sense but on something like a Jazzmaster it definitely pays to get it from Warmoth.
 
There is no such thing as "free" anything. Don't fall for the marketing gimmick. The price of shipping is included in purchase price of what you buy from these places that offer "free shipping". No retailer is going to pay for the shipping to send your purchased items to you. They are in business to make a profit.
 
I only complain about shipping when my parcel is delayed or lost. When it is delivered on time and free from damage, then I’m ok with the charges. At least Warmoth pack the goods properly, unlike some guys selling Fender parts on ebay.
 
Warmoth chooses not to ship things via USPS which could reduce shipping costs on certain items like a single pickguard but even then it would still be $8-$10 on a $30 pickguard. IYou are paying for Warmoth's quality and fit guarantee so for something like a Strat or Tele guard it doenst quite make sense but on something like a Jazzmaster it definitely pays to get it from Warmoth.
Warmoth uses UPS and USPS as our shipping carriers. The customer is allowed to choose which ship method they want based on service (UPS=speed and most probability of successful delivery) or price (USPS=Cheap but slow and not as committed to excellent service as UPS). If you do not see USPS as a shipping option at checkout, then that means USPS does not have services for your area. 👍
 
I find the rates reasonable. I remember days before Amazon, before the internet, yeah, I was alive then. To think you're going to get anything for free, unless if it's from your mother, and even then ....
 
There is no such thing as "free" anything. Don't fall for the marketing gimmick. The price of shipping is included in purchase price of what you buy from these places that offer "free shipping". No retailer is going to pay for the shipping to send your purchased items to you. They are in business to make a profit.
Let me clarify: they don't charge for shipping/customs on orders over $100 :)
 
Large distributors pay a lower amount for gear as they purchase in bulk, they just include the shipping cost back in and balance out for marketing to a consumer. When I was endorsed by ADA Amplification back in the early 90’s, my endorsement afforded me to purchase gear at the same bracket as Guitar Center. I never got “Free Gear” from them. Most smaller music stores had a wholesale bracket of about 40-45% off of MSRP, whereas larger distributors like Guitar Center, American Musical, Sweetwater, and Musician’s Friend (before they were purchased by Guitar Center) might have a wholesale bracket of 50-55% off of MSRP.
To put this into a scenario that we can all understand, when I bought the ADA MP-2 which I was a beta tester on, (along with the Microcab, Amplulator, and the Rocket Series amps) it retailed for $1000.00. Most music stores would have purchased it for $500/$550, but the larger distributors as those named above would have bought it from ADA for about $400/$450. This is a significant difference per unit, and makes absorbing the shipping costs into the MSRP or even a sales price much more allowable.
 
If shipping is so expensive, how do places like this get away without charging for it?

I ended up just ordering a whole new guitar build to justify the shipping costs. Nah jk I got something from Amazon.
Having sold on Reverb, eBay, and elsewhere, you are being charged for shipping. It's just part of the final sale price. No way in hell would I sell something and then absorb the shipping cost myself unless I was recouping that price through what I just charged you.

"Free shipping!!!!" only looks attractive.
 
Having sold on Reverb, eBay, and elsewhere, you are being charged for shipping. It's just part of the final sale price. No way in hell would I sell something and then absorb the shipping cost myself unless I was recouping that price through what I just charged you.

"Free shipping!!!!" only looks attractive.
Right, but the total cost (product + shipping) from that linked store is $15 (some are under $10), and they ship all the way from China. The shipping cost alone is $15 from Warmoth, and that's domestic. Something doesn't add up. No biggie really, it's just curious.
 
Right, but the total cost (product + shipping) from that linked store is $15 (some are under $10), and they ship all the way from China. The shipping cost alone is $15 from Warmoth, and that's domestic. Something doesn't add up. No biggie really, it's just curious.
but they can pay their employees pennies and you have no customization options and they aren't running their own website and how long does the cheapest shipping from the Big C take to arrive anyway? a month? i dunno, man, i didn't have to think that hard about it
 
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