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Post subject: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 12:06 am
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A few days ago I heard one of my favourite songs by Klaatu (the fabulous 3 piece Canadian group from the '70s and '80s) and realized that I should really get CD copies of my vinyl.I went on Amazon and found 2 double CDs(Sir Army Suit/Endangered Species & Klaatu/Hope) for about $12 each so I ordered them when I saw the total I promptly cancelled my order.They wanted full postage cost of over $15 for each CD even though they would be posted in the same package so my total became almost $60 for 2 $12 CDs. I have ordered a lot of things from the US and when 2 very similar items such as CDs are ordered I only get charged just slightly above the cost of a single only for the slight weight difference and some companies such as Strings and Beyond have free postage to Canada for items over what I believe is $25.Even CD Universe sends a form with each delivered item to get a postage rebate.Companies that charge exorbitant rates aren't doing themselves any favours by socking it to on-line shoppers from Canada,because there is a large number of potential customers for businesses that don't chisel money from people by charging more for postage than the item ordered is worth.Any other Canuck cross border on-line shoppers have similar experiences?

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:33 am
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Sorry to hear about your experience, I work for a mail order business and we ship all over the world, International postage rates are awful, even to Canada. The type of shipping makes a difference, we charge $17.00 US for international, but that is per order, not per item. If the postage goes over what we charge we just eat the additional cost. However we are shipping books, not CD’s. I remember Klaatu, I had one of their albums on 8 track, it had “Calling Occupants” on it, and the cover had a big smiling sun. I also remember the rumor that they we secretly the Beatles. I hope you can find your item some were else at a more acceptable cost.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:53 am
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Find a Canadian vendor who has those albums in stock.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:06 am
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+1 Arjay.

The cost per CD is more but there is free shipping so the total cost comes to something around $40 (plus tax?).

http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?u ... rds=Klaatu
  • Klaatu/Hope by Klaatu (Jul 17 2008) - Original recording remastered $24.34
  • Sir Army Suit (Rm) by Klaatu (Aug 24 2010) - Original recording remastered $16.14

HTH

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:49 am
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On a somewhat related note, with eBay charging final value fee on shipping charges (most likely to even out the sellers that sell for .99 and ship for $50) - it can be a deal breaker.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:33 am
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They get their money one way on another.... Nobody charges actual rates..

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:51 am
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bill948 wrote:
They get their money one way on another.... Nobody charges actual rates..

I agree. I put together an order a couple days ago and the shipping was outrageous. I went to another site and the cost per item was higher, so even with reasonable shipping rates the total came out higher. I ended up going back to the original site and sucking it up. The main thing is to pay attention so you don't get ripped off too bad.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:12 am
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Drew365 wrote:
bill948 wrote:
They get their money one way on another.... Nobody charges actual rates..

I agree. I put together an order a couple days ago and the shipping was outrageous. I went to another site and the cost per item was higher, so even with reasonable shipping rates the total came out higher. I ended up going back to the original site and sucking it up. The main thing is to pay attention so you don't get ripped off too bad.


+1, both to Bill and Drew.

And be wary of "free shipping". There is no free lunch -- sellers who intend to remain in business always get their money.

One way or the other.

Caveat Emptor

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:25 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
... And be wary of "free shipping". There is no free lunch -- sellers who intend to remain in business always get their money. ...
Arjay
The same for "FREE DELIVERY" on everything from appliances to pizza. Shipping costs money and one way or another this cost must be part of the total cost to the end user. Having said this I must admit to being irritated when the cost of shipping is greater than the amount charged for the merchandise.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:51 am
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
Having said this I must admit to being irritated when the cost of shipping is greater than the amount charged for the merchandise.


+1

I've blown off many purchases for that very reason.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:52 pm
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Ummm, you know you can just download it for about one tenth the cost, right? I haven't bought an actual CD in so long I can't count ...

http://www.iomoio.com/artist/74432_klaatump3download.html

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:07 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Find a Canadian vendor who has those albums in stock.

Arjay


Or one that can order them in for you, it may take a couple weeks to cycle through but the shipping would most likely be free.

That, or have you seen what it would cost to download them from I-tunes?

I just looked and the 2013 remaster version of Sir Army suit is 9.90 us.
The EST/Hope double one is 9.99.

Sounds like you should download them, and burn your own CD.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:30 pm
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The iTunes store would be an inexpensive way to cherry-pick only the tracks you want. Of course many enjoy an album's cover art and liner notes......

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:06 pm
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I went to Klaatu's own online store and they didn't stock the double CDs and to buy the 4 CDs separately the costs would have been about $80 with their "free" shipping.Anyway I finally found a Canadian site that was marginally cheaper than the U.S. site.I don't download music from "pirate sites" because it's stiffing the artists out of their royalties,plus I like to have the liner notes,cover art etc.

Re free shipping not being free as such,I order all my strings from Strings and Beyond and they cost me less than $5 a set when I buy a dozen sets and I do get free shipping.I find getting top quality strings such as Reverend Willie's Mexican Lottery .007 strings for less than $5 a package a real bargain especially since buying them here in Canada from Long and McQuade-if I could get them-would cost me over $8 a set plus shipping.

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Post subject: Re: Prices low-postage costs are deal breakers.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:46 pm
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The iTunes store is most assuredly not a "pirate site".

Arjay

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