Save on Van's Shipping Costs

[gbrasch]

After I recently paid $24 in shipping for a small $25 item, I questioned Van's about the shipping. Long story short, ASK, when you place your order, for the items to be shipped the cheapest. In my case, I did a 3 day ship that went out UPS, but FedEx is almost always cheaper on 3 day, in my case by $10. The person who took the order specified UPS even though I didn't ask for them, and the shipping department will not question the order desk, even though they may know another company is cheaper....FYI.

[Scott Will]

I find that the best for me down here in Georgia in terms of cost/speed, is good ol USPS Priority. They can get it to me in 2 - 3 days for less than the other guys... and they don't count the weekend. Whereas if I do FedEx/UPS ground, it takes a minimum of 5 business days to go all the way across the USA.

But you're right, Van's shipping is a mystery at best. They charged me $90 something on a piece of AL tube because I hit the wrong shipping on the web form by accident.

[ptrotter]

One thing I have found with Van's is that if you place an order in the morning by phone and specify a fast ship method such as 1, 2 or 3 day, that they will get the items out that day. If you use the cheapest shipping it may also take Van's a day or 2 to ship the items.

I generally use FedEx as I like them, and have found that there is a big price difference between overnight and 2 day, and a big difference between 3 day and ground, but very little difference in price between 2 day and 3 day.

I'm in NY so anything other than expedited shipping takes ove a week to get here, so I use 2 or 3 day depending on what day I order, so that I get the stuff by the weekend.

[Davepar]

Shipping rates are getting as complicated as air fares. I've found that USPS Priority is sometimes cheaper than UPS Ground, especially for shipping stuff.

Vans needs to put a "cheapest shipping" option on their web form.

[rv8ch]

Originally Posted by ptrotter

I'm in NY so anything other than expedited shipping takes ove a week to get here,

Wow! I use USPS Airmail Parcel Post all the time, and it's 3-5 biz days to Switzerland! It's often difficult to get companies to send things airmail parcel post, since there is no tracking, but (knock on wood) I've never lost a package. I had some big things, like my exhaust system, take over a month, but most normal sized things (about a cubic foot or smaller) rarely take more than a week. I guess it's possible that the good service comes from the Swiss end, which is why many people in the US don't like using USPS.

Originally Posted by Davepar

Vans needs to put a "cheapest shipping" option on their web form.

Great idea!

[ptrotter]

Originally Posted by rv8ch

Wow! I use USPS Airmail Parcel Post all the time, and it's 3-5 biz days to Switzerland! It's often difficult to get companies to send things airmail parcel post, since there is no tracking, but (knock on wood) I've never lost a package. I had some big things, like my exhaust system, take over a month, but most normal sized things (about a cubic foot or smaller) rarely take more than a week. I guess it's possible that the good service comes from the Swiss end, which is why many people in the US don't like using USPS.

Great idea!

The USPS doesn't have airmail within the US anymore. I do like their Priority Mail though. It only take a couple of days and is quite reliable. Best for fairly small packages.

[Ironflight]

I like using the Post Office when I can, but the other day, I had to overnight a single-page document from here (Nassau Bay, a suburb of Houston, Texas), to Spring Branch, Texas - 170 nm away. Went up to the counter with the envelope filled out, and was told that the fastest they could get it there was two days! "Spring Branch must be way out in the country someplace" she said..."Hey, it's 17miles north of San Antonio International Airport!" I responded..."Well, for some reason, we can't deliver it tomorrow for you...."


FedEx, on the other hand, had no trouble at all with the request....

Paul