Allow me to rant for a moment. This issue first hit my radar via eBay a while ago where I quickly found that many sellers charged more for shipping to make up for a lower item price, since eBay assesses fees based on the items final price and not shipping costs. I quickly decided to avoid sellers who did this, and have avoided doing this in my own auctions. And then I started noticing sellers and companies who charged more for shipping no matter what the price of the actual item was. I first got a taste of this on eBay from a seller who offered only Priority Shipping for the item. When I received the item, I saw immediately that it had been shipped via First Class mail only and the seller had pocketed the extra I’d paid to have it shipped faster. Now, I didn’t lose a lot of money at all in this transaction, or in others where this also has happened to me, but it’s the principle of the thing that bothers me. I have left neutral feedback, at best, for all sellers who have done this to me on eBay (and always gave them a chance to respond before I left the feedback).
When it comes to manufacturers, I find this practice to be particularly deplorable since it’s almost always so obvious. You find something on a manufacturer’s site and then compare it to Amazon or another source and find that you can pay far less for shipping if you get it from somewhere else. I know Amazon is a bit of an anomaly here, but it still demonstrates that it’s not necessary to over-charge for shipping and still earn a profit. One company I’ve noticed who does this is Incase. Every time I’ve gone to order an Incase product for my iPhone or Mac, I’ve always turned to Amazon or another site to buy it. Entering my shipping information in Incase’s check-out page has always prompted a charge of $10 or more for the cheapest shipping option. $10 for an iPhone case? What the hell? My own experience in shipping iPhone cases when I’ve sold them on eBay or through a forum has been around $5.00 with Priority Shipping and delivery confirmation. The padded envelope costs me around $.50, if that much. Incase will remain on my sh*t list until they start charging actual costs for shipping their products, until which time I’ll keep buying them elsewhere (and often with a better price on the item itself anyway).
I recently came across another company that does this in researching a skin my husband wanted for his new iPhone. The specific design he wants is only available from one company, Digital Camo Skins. I was browsing their site when I noticed that their FAQ indicated that shipping for a single skin costs $10. Wait a minute. $10 to ship a single skin? What the hell? Comparatively, DecalGirl (review here) charges $2.00 and Gelaskins (review here) charges $3.95 to ship one skin. How on earth is $10 competitive in light of this?
I wrote to Digital Camo Skins asking about this and here’s the response I received:
Dear Marianne,We use Fed Ex as our main shipping provider. I understand that you may feel 10$ to ship 1 cell phone skin is too much. However, we have used cheaper shipping methods with undesirable results. For example, USPS is cheaper… much cheaper. But there is no means of tracking the package and even more so if the package is lost USPS does not reimburse us for the lost product. If we ship something to you USPS and it gets lost (due to USPS losing it or for some other unforeseeable problem) we have to re-produce your skin and send it to you again at our expense. When that scenario happens we end up losing money. Or, at the very best we break even. In addition all our skins are “made to order” due to their custom nature. Since, on our site, we give the customer the ability to add his or her name and/or choose specific colors, your skin is made specifically for you rather than pulled from a shelf (so to speak). Therefore we feel it necessary to use a more secure shipping method. When you compare our shipping costs to those of other skin companies, it is not a fair comparison. You are comparing shipping via regular postal service (envelope and stamp) offered other skin companies… to our shipping method (FedEX) which allows tracking ability, email notification to the customer, and is insured against a lost or undelivered packages. We hope this information is helpful and we hope you are happy with your skin no matter what company you choose to get it from.Best regards,Digital Camo Skins
Now, I can understand when a company wants to ensure their products reach customers reliably and safely. But I’d like to note a few things:
- An iPhone skin weighs less than 1/2 ounce. Tacking on another 1.5 ounces for an appropriately-sized stiff envelope to protect the skin brings the First Class Mail shipping cost to $1.05. Shipping it via Priority Mail would cost $4.95. Adding delivery confirmation and insurance for the price of the skin brings the total to $7.40. Still less than $10, non?
- DecalGirl and Gelaskins ship their skins in ultra-stiff envelopes, and both arrived in PERFECT shape. All for $2.00 and $3.95 in shipping, respectively.
- Digital Camo Skins offers skin customization, offering to add your name or other text to a skin for an additional $4.99. Yet even if you don’t choose a custom skin, you are still charged $10 for shipping.
- iPhone skins from Digital Camo Skins cost $9.99. Then you pay $10 to get it shipped to you. Just thinking about that makes my head hurt.
I’ve responded to Digital Camo Skins describing the points above. I doubt I’ll hear a response, but who knows? I just hate it when companies rip you off for shipping. At the very least, give customers a choice to get their item shipped more cheaply (and clearly stating the risks if a customer opts for no insurance and/or a method without tracking available). Until this is available, I won’t be buying anything from Digital Camo Skins and wouldn’t recommend anyone else buy from them either (unless you don’t mind being gouged for shipping).
