I placed one order for 5 boxes of assorted bullets from Cabela's (because I had a coupon for $20 off).

Today I received two boxes shipped UPS ground and here are the total contents of the two boxes:


What a waste! (I paid flat shipping so it was no extra cost to me)

The worst part? There are only four boxes here. The fifth box is on back order and will be shipped seperately!

one persons laziness gave you 2 boxes for xmas presents instead of one

Maybe the warehouse was out of smaller boxes, and wanted to get that to you ASAP.

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
Maybe the warehouse was out of smaller boxes, and wanted to get that to you ASAP.

All four of those boxes of bullets could have fit in the smaller of the the two boxes with room to spare.

Both boxes were from the same order, shipped from Cabela's on the same day and arrived at my office together.

Yes I agree it's a dam shame, I have been buying the Nosler seconds brass and bullets.. After the shipping being so high fuel cost and all, there is not much savings. The only thing you can do is buy in bulk and who has the cash for that?

All the big guys (and others) have discovered how much extra $ can be made on shipping. Add that to whatever profit there is on the merchandise and you have additional profit with little or no investment.

I have called Cabelas a few times to suggest they hold orders so they can be shipped complete or for them to use the Flat Rate USPS boxes on heavy items.
There answer was that most items ship from difference warehouses. Not sure how much of that is true but they are certaintly losing money on shipping because they only ship UPS up here to Alaska.
They simply do not seem to care so I quit bugging them about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
Maybe the warehouse was out of smaller boxes, and wanted to get that to you ASAP.

All four of those boxes of bullets could have fit in the smaller of the the two boxes with room to spare.


Both boxes were from the same order, shipped from Cabela's on the same day and arrived at my office together.

Frank,

I think there was some valid reason for you getting two boxes, as opposed to one box.

Don

With gas costing $3 per gal a trip to my local reloading store (180 miles round trip) cost $36. and I pay 8% tax on top of that. It is far cheaper for me to order my things from Lock,Stock or Midsouth, Natches ect. I just orderd from Natches yesterday I got $180 of stuff shipping was $12. sound high? well no sales tax translates into saveings.... $36....NO GAS!!!!

Also looks like Cabelas gave you another $20 coupon to use later on you next order looks to me like Cabelas are paying for your shipping via a coupon.

I have bought from over 100 gun related mail order dealers on the internet or in Shotgun News.

They are almost all ok, but I prefer to do biz with Brownells, AIM surplus, Graf and Sons, Lock Stock and Barrel, and MidSouth.

If I am after some specific reloading things, Graf and Sons does everything right.

If your time is worth $200/hour and you save you save $1 on the cost of the bullets, but they screw you $2 extra on shipping and it pisses you off, then you have not optimized your life.

For getting the bullets on my doorstep fast, Lock Stock and barrel is the champ, with some arrivals the next day with no extra shipping charge.

For shipping rip offs, the all time champ has got to be MidwayUSA.

My brother still buys from Midway, because they send him flyers all the time. That is as dumb as voting for Hillary becuase she will give you free health care. Nothing is free.

quote:

For shipping rip offs, the all time champ has got to be MidwayUSA

Plus I live in the same state as Midway so the price they shoot me must be 8% cheaper to pay my sales tax. They seldom get any of my $$$ but sometimes they do offer a great deal....sometimes.

what makes it even more foolish is that all of them could have fit in a Flat Rate USPS Priority box and cost less than $10. You can ship up to 70# for the same rate, and a lot lot of bullets will fit into a box that measures 11 7/8 x 3 3/8 x 13 5/8.!

I can help answer your question on why it costs so much to ship. Ther trucking buisness is one of the few bastions of decent pay for blue color workers.
Drivers dock workers office people saftey bosses mechanics, all get paid.
I work for a great big shipping company.
We just built a 130 door freight terminal here in portland.
Big big bucks there. Beetwwn my wages bennies retierment 401 K. and probably other things I forget , my company spends about 85,000
A year on me, and we have around 4000 drivers and I think 7000 employees.
Thanks for ordering on line !
...tj3006

Gentlemen, my points were:

They sent the partial order in two seperate boxes from the same place and delivered to the same location.

The boxes were big enough to hold at least 5 times what I ordered (and 20 times more in the big box.)

A third box will be required to ship one more box of 22 caliber bullets.

The 3rd box likly will require aditional shipping charges. But as far as the 1st 2 the factors that go into shipping charges generaly include weight distance and classifacation.
The #ofcts in the shipment likly will not make a difference.
If they go by air it may make a small difference , but as long as the 2 ctns are on the same invoice there will no aditional charge except the weight of the second box itself.
the 3rd ctn requiring a seperate invoice will add to your cost...tj3006

You didn't say how much you paid for shipping did you?

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
You didn't say how much you paid for shipping did you?

$12.95 but I don't think that it's unreasonable it's just the wasteful packaging.

It is on par to everyone's charges it seems.

I agree with you..it seems such a waste.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
You didn't say how much you paid for shipping did you?

$12.95 but I don't think that it's unreasonable it's just the wasteful packaging.

I got ya! Working for a distribution company myself, I cringe when I see things inefficiently packaged like that. I've got to believe there was a reason for that (at least I hope so). Sure it doesn't cost any more right now, but eventually, those additional costs will come down the line and raise the price of shipping for everyone.

Frank, it sucks, but what ya gonna do? I'd get my ass chewed at work if my boss caught me doing that....

quote:

Originally posted by Curtiss:
what makes it even more foolish is that all of them could have fit in a Flat Rate USPS Priority box and cost less than $10. You can ship up to 70# for the same rate, and a lot lot of bullets will fit into a box that measures 11 7/8 x 3 3/8 x 13 5/8.!

No way to rip anyone off in the transaction, except the taxpayer.


To screw a buyer directly, UPS wholesale/retail shipping rate marks are needed.

Why doesn't Midway get a big stack of US post office boxes?

Again, no way to rip anyone off with that deal.

Why is it going on?
Because the profit margins on bullets is lower than the mark up margins on the shipping.

Like popcorn at the theater, shipping is where the money is made.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Gentlemen, my points were:

They sent the partial order in two seperate boxes from the same place and delivered to the same location.

The boxes were big enough to hold at least 5 times what I ordered (and 20 times more in the big box.)

A third box will be required to ship one more box of 22 caliber bullets.

Well after scanning the posts on this, what I don't think anyone understands very well is the shipping/warehouse market very well...

I spent 12 years working with it, and also worked as a consultant to set up warehouse/order processing etc...

Cabelas is a HUGE operation...
Even tho the items may have been "shipped from the same location and address"... the items in each box could have come from totally different peripheral places from within the warehouse or warehouse complex...Order Pulling...

Secondly, there can be multiple shipping points where orders are processed within 'one shipping location'.. in instances like that, considering man power, labor rates, transporting etc.. it is entirely possible that, it is cheaper for Cabelas to ship an order like that in 2 separate boxes.. than their time and expense to bring one order together to ship in one box...

Boxes also have a certain test strength that they are required to meet.. bullets etc are heavy... I can fit 3 horseshoes within a big padded envelope, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the envelope is probably not the best container to ship horseshoes in....

Cabelas also doesn't ship things at actual cost of shipping... they base their shipping rates on how much you spend with them.. some items have a weight surcharge, but not all do...

Therefore, shipping costs are buried in their actual costs.. and are spread over the entire catalog merchandizing dept... If they ship an order to Maine, or Florida, or Calif or Washington.. they charge the same shipping costs, as they would if the order just was shipped to Omaha or Lincoln.. which would definitely have a lower actual cost to Cabelas, but each customer would be charged the same thing, if each purchased say $200.00 worth of merchandize, while the shipping weight on those orders and the distance, could vary dramatically...

Companies like Cabelas, or say Harry&David, or LL Bean, their shipping warehouses have trailers that are left there by UPS, FEDEX, USPS etc... as soon as the trailer is full, another one is brought out, that one is picked up and then they send the trailer to their distribution centers where it is then broken down...

Take something like Fed Ex...
Frank, you may decide to ship something to some one down in say San Diego...
you may not know it, but with Fed Ex, the package first goes from Bakersfield, to Memphis Tennessee first ( their distribution center).. there it is sorted for going to San Diego...

So then the package leaves Memphis and then it goes to San Diego and then out to the local delivery address....

A lot of people also may not know this, but USPS's biggest customer is FED EX... and Fed Ex's biggest customer is the postal service...

Each will actually load a container full of mail and packages on each other's aircrafts to be transported from one distribution center to another distribution center...

then the Fed Ex Truck comes to the postal distribution center or the airport to pick it up.. and same thing with Fed Ex, to a postal distribution center...

There is a lot of ins and outs of the industry that many people don't understand...and would actually be surprised at...

And as far as shipping costs on your order seeming stupid.. remember, shipping costs are a business expense for Cabelas, like anyone else...therefore every penny they spend on it, minus what they actually charge you.. is all tax deductible as the cost of doing business at the end of the year anyway...

and their bean counters have that scenario and every other package they shipped last year figured into their cost that they charge the customer for the product you ordered to begin with...

Cabelas isn't getting screwed, and you aren't getting screwed...

you can't take the model of a mom and pop business operating out of their garage.. and apply their shipping needs and processes, with some company like Cabelas, or any other big time shipper...

the only really funny thing about Cabelas, is for as big as an operation as they are.. you ought to see the little rinky dink place and town for that matter, that all of their returns are processed at...

Cabelas has warehouses spread all over western Nebraska, just to add to employing people in places where jobs are scarce...just because it gives a shipping address, doesn't mean it was actually shipped from that address... one address could be used by UPS as a billing address or contact address to simplify bookkeeping on their end...that could just be the drop ship address...or part of the order could have come in LTL by private carrier before being shipped out from the address listed...there are a lot of variables customers never really know about...

Want to see what I am talking about, just log onto the carriers web site where they will show the active tracking of the package.. even after it is delivered, it will show you the entire path it took...

hope that explains it a little better, since it seemed that it bothered you enough to post it...

cheers
seafire

quote:

Like popcorn at the theater, shipping is where the money is made.

Clark,

not really...

I will use the example of my business.. I had a customer freak recently because I invoiced them $32.50 for 'shipping and handling' to have 2 medical pagers sent back to Missouri for repair...

However, here is the real world costs...
1. I have to drive 90 miles round trip to pick up the pagers, after trying to see if they were actually in need of repair at the customer's site.. they were..
2. I have to package the items up, call the repair center for an RMA number.. then type up an explanation of why they are being sent in for repair.
3. After boxing them up, I have to drive round trip to the local UPS station in town, that is a 20 mile round trip...
4. Shipping rates for that GROUND is like $8.00 from Oregon to Missouri.. plus insurance on the items.. and UPS Fuel Surcharge.. that all totals like $10.50 to $11.00...
5. Follow up with tracking to make sure it got there, plus contact the repair center to discuss what repairs are needed, if it is reparable
6. They ship it back to me... charge me the $11.00 that it costs them to ship it back to me here in Oregon...
7. Once again another 20 mile round trip to the UPS station
8. I have to generate an invoice for the charges to the customer...
9. I deliver the items back to the customer, and make sure they are working properly and that the customer is happy with the work...another 90 mile round trip...

So for something this simple..
1. I have put 220 miles on my vehicle for the transporation of these items to where they need to go...
2. Paid $22.00 in shipping costs for the two items to be sent to the repair center and then returned.
3. The items were hand picked up, tested on site by me and then hand delivered back..plus retested on their site, in front of them to make sure the repairs needed were completed to their satisfaction...

So I am charging a customer the $22.00 in shipping charges that I was charged... for the the other $10.50 of the $32.50.. I have put 220 miles on my vehicle.. lets don't even consider my time and being paid for it for doing all of this... plus the time to process the paper work for the RMA, the invoice to the customer, the postage to mail it to their accounts payable dept....

And they thought $32.50 was excessive for shipping two broken pagers.. after I pointed out what they got for the real $10.50 extra that UPS didn't get out of that figure, they shut up pretty quickly.....

The only reason I break even on this little end of our business, is that I charge the customer more for the repairs than the repair center charges me.. otherwise my little company would briefly be a welfare center just before it went out of business.......

I can see it coming from different warehouses at the same address.

But, shipping one 2"x2"x2" box of 100 .22 caliber bullets that weighed maybe 12 ounces inside a box that measured 16"x16"x6" is a complete waste.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I can see it coming from different warehouses at the same address.

But, shipping one 2"x2"x2" box of 100 .22 caliber bullets that weighed maybe 12 ounces inside a box that measured 16"x16"x6" is a complete waste.

Frank
at times volume shippers also pay either a flat rate for a certain size box.. like some of the deals USPS offers to the public...

other times, for a certain Smaller box, like that would hold one box of bullets, they might even ADD a SURCHARGE for those, because they can get lost or end up requiring special handling.. so it would be cheaper to use the larger box...

there are a lot of variables when you get into the shipping market....

and also companies like Cabelas.. I can definitely assure you, that they are not paying the same shipping rates you and I would when we take it down to UPS counter....

That is why for returns when they screw up, Companies like Cabelas will send out a call tag, when the return shipment is on their UPS account, costing you nothing....

Don't get me wrong, shipping clerks are not rocket scientists and really can do some real bonehead screw ups... but normally the systems are set up that are computerized and automated to cut down on their stupidity costing companies the big bucks that they once did...

Cabelas hasn't gotten to be as big as it is, by being stupid, or not watching their pennies very carefully...

Shipping can kill good companies.. like it did to the original Gander Mountain back in the late 1980s...

Just got my order from Natchez
520 bullets
200 brass
shipping $12.76

Ted: Now thats a beautiful thing.

I am a HUGE Cabelas shopper and as of late (the past few months) I've noticed this big time...Last week I ordered two boxes of Nosler Rifle bullets and some other small items...The first package I got was a HUGE box with one box of bullets...The next day I got another box with the other box of bullets and the rest of my items...I would think this costs Cabelas a fortune...My order this week has been arriving in pieces...Two boxes half filled so far with another on backorder. I don't get it.

Just thought that I'd update and end this post. Here's the third box that Cabela's shipped my order of 450 bullets in. I ordered from Cabela's on Dec 14, 2007.

Cabelas isn't the only offender. We ordered a pair of batting gloves for my granddaughter. We got a box that was 4"x4"x36" a couple of weeks later. Thought someone had ordered a bat for her. It was the gloves, and only the gloves in the box. They should have been mailed in a padded envelope.

I was speaking with someone I know in shipping industry still back in the Midwest.. they were saying companies like Cabelas size have contacts with UPS that they are charged not per package, but a flat rate per entire Truck Load...

So they are paying the same fee for each truck, regardless on how full or how heavy....

So there volume is high enough they can afford to be what looks pretty stupid to the rest of us...

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Just got my order from Natchez
520 bullets
200 brass
shipping $12.76

toys toys toys...

Ted, We like your style!

Are those Varmint Grenades for the Condors ? To open that box must have been anti-climatic .