VintagePc said:
Although it is nice to voice one’s opinion, a wise person usually thinks (or researches) the topic before criticizing what someone else is doing. Your response to a direct question is absolutely irrelevant since neither one of the two items you mention has any similarity to the original topic.
If you want to implement change in a positive manner, please answer the question based on the following facts:
Fact 1: You want to ship a very large box (20”x20”x20”) from one end of the country to the other (possibly from Miami, Florida, to Seattle, Washington);
Fact 2: The box will weight at least 50 pounds;
Fact 3: You will need good quality packing materials (and box) to ensure safe shipping..
Using those facts, please tell us all how to ship the item for substantially less than $50.00 I am sure that we are all waiting with great anticipation for you learned explanation.
I don't necessarily consider myself to be a wise person, but I have been shipping computers from one end of the country to another (and even overseas), on a daily basis, for about 14 years, which I think qualifies as research. As to relevance, I was not attempting to be relevant, just, as you say, voicing my opinion. It just bugs me when I see someone offer an item for a seemingly low price, then jack-up the shipping cost to make thier profit that way. The SLT-286s linked to above are virtually identical in size and weight to the SLT-386 that you are offering, albeit, without the docking station, which doesn't add that much weight or size to the package.
To address your "facts":
1. A 20 x 20 x 20 is a bit of overkill for the item you're shipping. I can pack a whole XT (system unit, monitor, keyboard) in a box of those dimensions, with plenty of room left for padding. I'm sure your customers appreciate the extra care you take in packing thier purchases, even if it means extra cost on thier part.
2. The item you're shipping shouldn't come anywhere near 50 lbs. Compaq would have been laughed out of the business had they ever tried to sell a laptop that weighed twice as much as thier original Compaq Portable (luggable) machine. The actual weight is closer to 15 lbs, + the dock, which isn't that heavy either.
3. I'm all too familliar with the cost of good packing materials. I pay $5.60 for a 20 x 20 x 20, and peanuts are $5.99 per cubic foot around here. To fill a box that size will require at least 2 cu. ft, including the item being shipped. So now we're at about $18.00 for packing materials alone, which renders your shipping cost a little more believable, although still slightly exagerated. My advice would be that if you're spending that much on packaging, your listing should reflect that fact, so that potential bidders won't conclude that you are jacking up the shipping cost unnecessarily.
--T
