Shipping and hazmat

[Blackpowder77]

Just to clarify, fedex charges me 44 for hazmat, 5 for resedential delivery, 5 for signature, 5 to 7 for the box and labels, 5 for pickup. A fuel surcharge oh, i almost forgot then freight. So i eat some of the shipping. I am only charging a portion of what i get charged, i have argued with fedex and ups for 2 years for better pricing.

 

[1BadDart]

Do larger retailers get a break on hazmat fees? I just received 10# of Schutzen 3F from Grafs, $12.95 shipping and $23.50 hazmat.

I need percussion caps for a new build but in the end it may be cheaper to convert it to a flintlock.

 

[Tumbledown]

Just to clarify, fedex charges me 44 for hazmat, 5 for resedential delivery, 5 for signature, 5 to 7 for the box and labels, 5 for pickup. A fuel surcharge oh, i almost forgot then freight. So i eat some of the shipping. I am only charging a portion of what i get charged, i have argued with fedex and ups for 2 years for better pricing.

Selling powder and caps anywhere here is against the forum rules. Just to clarify.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I think @Blackpowder77 , the original poster, is a dealer who is explaining the high costs. From the avatar photo, the OP might be representing Traveler's Antiques? Maybe?

I'm not reading this as an ad... Just an explanation. Maybe the original poster will return and identify himself.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[painter]

Selling powder and caps anywhere here is against the forum rules. Just to clarify.

He's not offering them for sale here.

Notchy Bob has it right!

 

[Tumbledown]

I think @Blackpowder77 , the original poster, is a dealer who is explaining the high costs. From the avatar photo, the OP might be representing Traveler's Antiques? Maybe?

I'm not reading this as an ad... Just an explanation. Maybe the original poster will return and identify himself.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

He's promoting his business all over the forums, not just the classifieds. Check his posts.

 

[doubleset]

Do larger retailers get a break on hazmat fees? I just received 10# of Schutzen 3F from Grafs, $12.95 shipping and $23.50 hazmat.

Same for me, and my order was just 4 lbs. I can understand the difference in shipping fees that different companies (particularly companies doing different volumes of business) charge. But it's hard to understand the really significant differences in the "hazmat fee" charged by different companies. It sometimes looks as though it may depend heavily on what shipping company is used (e.g., FedEx vs UPS).

It also appears that quite a bit can be buried in the description "hazmat fee", and so different shipping companies can include different fees in their "hazmat charges" to shippers. And then a retailer/shipper will decide how much HE wants to charge you for HIS "hazmat fee" -- often covering a part of what HE is charged by the shipping company as IT's hazmat fee. So different retailers may cover different portions of the fees being charged by the shipper -- and that MAY depend on the volume of business and other expenses that particular retailer has. A sometimes informative discussion of this can be found in Why a hazmat fee? on The Highroad forum.

But simply from the buyer's perspective -- when one vendor seems to be charging almost twice the "hazmat fee" of another vendor -- it would be nice to have more transparency about this from the vendors instead of basically "Well, that's the way it is." Otherwise it looks like Vendor 1 is charging me twice as much as Vendor 2 for the same fee -- and no one likes that look. In the end, I guess that may not matter since what matters is a comparison of what your final cost is for a particular amount of a particular product, and who cares how the vendor does his bookkeeping on that? That's HIS business (literally). But it is a bit frustrating when vendors use the hazmat fee to justify difference in the end cost to you, and you can see that someone else is charging much less for (what appears to be) the same fee.

 

[FishDFly]

He's promoting his business all over the forums, not just the classifieds. Check his posts.

Does that mean all the other BP powder sellers can do the same?

Why is he not in the Muzzle Loading Sponsor Market section?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Since this is a discussion about service provided by shippers, it's going to "Vendors" section.

LD

 

[Blackpowder77]

Selling powder and caps anywhere here is against the forum rules. Just to clarify.

I am only trying to explain why the b8g box stores have a better shipping rate, I apologize if my posts camecoff as sales pitch.

 

[Blackpowder77]

Since this is a discussion about service provided by shippers, it's going to "Vendors" section.

LD

Ld, i apologoze, i will remove post if it violates the rules of the forum

 

[Blackpowder77]

I think @Blackpowder77 , the original poster, is a dealer who is explaining the high costs. From the avatar photo, the OP might be representing Traveler's Antiques? Maybe?

I'm not reading this as an ad... Just an explanation. Maybe the original poster will return and identify himself.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Thank ypu Bob. You are correct

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Ld, i apologoze, i will remove post if it violates the rules of the forum

No, the post is an evaluation of the service that you are getting from a shipper..., not necessarily BP, since members will not only ship BP muzzleloading stuff, but raw materials to make into BP muzzleloading stuff... and since it addresses a specific company, it merely goes into a different portion of the Forum.
Beeswax (for lots of applications) Lead (for bullets) Leather (for lots of stuff) Fabric (for lots of stuff) all get shipped, but in their condition they aren't really BP muzzleloading stuff yet, eh?

LD

 

[Whughett]

Touchy bunch here sometimes, eh.

The classifieds section are full of users who are selling for profit, numerous times, that could be construed as vendors, retailers or manufacturers or just resellers. Color me dumb but I fail to see the difference.
Thanks to the OP for a clarification of how FEDEX shipping works. It’s all part of present day multi trillion dollar internet trade. I wonder how Amazon does it sometimes.

 

[user 48702]

The OP is charging the 2022 published rate for HAZMAT items as charged to a shipper by either FEDEX or UPS, which have the same rates per shipment $44.00. Other large companies are able to reduce shipping charges, including HAZMAT in order to make it more appealing to their customers. They are able to do this because of the large volume of all products which they sell. In the end, it's similar to a grocery or retailer selling items for actually less than what they paid for it, and its called a "Loss Leader" product, including "Buy One, Get One Free". More than likely, Grafs sells way more smokeless powder and primers than they do black powder and caps, as well as thousands of other products.

FEDEX 2022 Rates
UPS 2022 Rates

Grafs' charges a HAZMAT fee of $23.50 (4 pound minimum on powder), while on the other hand, Midway USA charges only a $15.99 HAZMAT fee. Based on Midway's lower HAZMAT, is Grafs gouging the customer on HAZMAT? Midway USA routinely offers "Free Shipping" on items other than HAZMAT, including bullets and lead ingots, therefore, should all others offer "Free Shipping"? Small "Mom and Pop" shops can't afford to absorb these cost, I know that our shop can't, we hear complaints all the time about our shipping charges being too high. Other than an extra $1 or so, to cover the cost of boxes or packing material, we charge exactly what the USPS, UPS, or FEDEX charges us. We can't afford to charge any less for S&H; however, I guess we could raise the price on all products in order to give the appearance of a lesser shipping charge. It's impossible for a small business to compete with those who generate millions in sales. Every time I order glues or chemicals that is in a quantity over 1 quart, I have to pay the $44 HAZMAT, so I factor that into the product and pass it on to the consumer.

I for one, am glad that the OP is out there providing his service and stocking powder. When folks were out there going nuts looking for powder and couldn't find it, at least the OP had it in stock and at a lower price than what I could buy it for locally prior to the crisis.

Blackpowder77, THANK YOU!

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Primers and caps are Ord-D, not even hazmat unless you ship a huge amount.
Just another scam for your hard earned money

 

[painter]

Primers and caps are Ord-D, not even hazmat unless you ship a huge amount.
Just another scam for your hard earned money

Could you provide a source for that? Everything I see says that primers are not Orm-D, which is now an obsolete classification, or regulated by limited quantity classification.

 

[Henry Miles]

The shipper sets their own rate for hazmat. They cover the liability with this charge. Their is no requirement to charge for hazmat. The requirement is for proper paperwork and permits to haul and placards on the transporters. Some vendors have refused to pay hazmat and only pay for shipping charges. Back Creek is one of these vendors. No hazmat charges, only shipping charges. The shipper can discount or even forgo the hazmat fee charged at their own discretion. Gov regulations only require drivers to be certified and trucks placarded.

 

[APG]

I would rather pay a few dollars more for any product to keep a small American company in business. Did just that yesterday when I put an order in for 10 lbs. of the Holy Black from Travelers Antiques and Trading. Italso great when you call the store and the owner picks up the phone. .

 

[springfield art]

Just to clarify, fedex charges me 44 for hazmat, 5 for resedential delivery, 5 for signature, 5 to 7 for the box and labels, 5 for pickup. A fuel surcharge oh, i almost forgot then freight. So i eat some of the shipping. I am only charging a portion of what i get charged, i have argued with fedex and ups for 2 years for better pricing.

Many do tend to forget the costs that retailers have to pay, which we don't see. Every time a store turns around, some entity is hitting them up for taxes, fees, permits, IRS, state, local, etc. Let's not forget that as we buy from our favorite shops, mail-order or internet suppliers.