Why do almost all online hockey stores charge a "handling" fee?

[santiclaws 0]

I can't think of any other merchandise for which online customers routinely get charged "handling" - the "handling" is built into the price of the crap you buy. Yet almost all online hockey stores get away with this hidden price bump, while I can think of no other online retailers which charge for "handling." In addition, their shipping fees are clearly padded. Who started it, and more importantly, why is this nonsense still around?

[Bravada 442 0]

First of all, I've bought numerous things for myself and for my company online, almost all of them have handling fees as well. I can think of tires and gps tracking devices I just bought from two different dealers that each charged me a handling fee. The tires I understand, the tracking devices which are about half the size of a deck of cards and the same thickness, that I don't.

The reason its still around is because it is what the market will bear. If the market wouldn't adapt and deal with the shipping, then people would stop buying from them and they'd eventually do enough research to realize its the shipping doing the damage to them.

But since people are dealing with it and continuing to buy from them, the handling charge is not going anywhere.

Lastly, shipping isn't necessarily inflated. Remember shipping prices need to include the box, tape, packaging, and labor to put these things together and get them to the shipper. Some of that money might be included in a "handling" cost, but if not that's part of shipping something out.

[shotty 7]

the profit margins are set low on the internet so they can steal business from local retailers. to make up for the low margin they charge a handling fee to increase revenue at the point of purchase.

NOW YOU KNOW!

[monoclub 5]

To expand on Shotty's point, it enables them to list "in lights" online a very low price and then steal another few bucks when you've already cliked! The "over size" charge on sticks that is another trick that is annoying!

[Jakedajewler 1]

the profit margins are set low on the internet so they can steal business from local retailers. to make up for the low margin they charge a handling fee to increase revenue at the point of purchase.

NOW YOU KNOW

This is true, i've also heard of them inflating shippping costs for this same reason

[shotty 7]

they inflate shipping costs to cover shipping materials (tape, labels, boxes, etc). its not beneficial for an online retailer to overcharge for shipping, since its business expense, the company wouldn't want any profit showing from that category at tax time.

profit margins at retail are low enough as it is, to earn the business by beating in-store prices the only way for an online store to be sustainable is to add charges for things like handling and re-stocking returns, unless they're doing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bookings from each vendor and getting amazing discounts because of it.

[DarkStar50 679]

Learn about UPS fees for shipping and their different rates based on volume of business shipping, etc. UPS charges a gas tax fee. The days of cheap shipping fees are long gone. Also, consider the distance from the warehouse of origin to final destination, that is also part of the final equation. I guess those LHS prices aren't so bad after all. :lol:

[shotty 7]

and those LHS' are on tge hook for those hefty UPS fees, too!

[dabeechman 0]

UPS has dropped their shipping prices. They are quiet reasonable again. I just shipped a 40lb quad chassis that was an inch under their freight limit for 33 bucks from California to Pennsylvania.

[IceBuckeye88 0]

I would say handling includes box, tape, and the person putting your order together. Oversize shipping probably refers to the size of the box the product comes in. To check if they're inflating the actual 'shipping cost', weigh and measure your order, go online and get a shipping quote from UPS or FedX. It's not in their interest to inflate shipping as a sneaky way of increasing their profit on an order. Also keep in mind the big online retailers are operating out of huge warehouses, which adds to their overhead. I've been to Hockey Monkey's and Hockey Giants - they have impressive facilities. Last, if you are not in the state the retailer is located, you're probably not paying sales tax, so it probably cancels out most, or in some cases, all of the shipping cost.

[Slugworth 0]

You see this alot on E-bay now...Everybody has a "handling" charge..Just more ways to grab more money......I baught stuff and paid $20.00 for shipping and when i get the item the sticker say's $5.00

[Too Old 1]

I see the same thing with some of the larger racing parts warehouses. It's thankfully just another way that smaller race parts dealers like myself can pull customers away from the big-box retailers like Jeg's and Summit. People don't realize often that smaller dealers offer better pricing and service.

[JCM_G8GT 0]

Handling fees are not unique to online hockey shops, they are common. And, it's all a game anyways. labor is not free and whether the handling charge is itemized or buried, someone has to package it. Bottom line is only a fool shops online by item price, you shop based on the price you pay delivered to your door.

[notquitedeadyet 13]

You see this alot on E-bay now...Everybody has a "handling" charge..Just more ways to grab more money......I baught stuff and paid $20.00 for shipping and when i get the item the sticker say's $5.00

Also be aware that sellers do that to minimize the fees they pay to ebay. The biggest charge is the "final value" fee. By pricing the item low & inflating the shipping, they pay only a fraction to ebay because it is calculated on the item price alone.

[santiclaws 0]

I would say handling includes box, tape, and the person putting your order together. Oversize shipping probably refers to the size of the box the product comes in. To check if they're inflating the actual 'shipping cost', weigh and measure your order, go online and get a shipping quote from UPS or FedX. It's not in their interest to inflate shipping as a sneaky way of increasing their profit on an order. Also keep in mind the big online retailers are operating out of huge warehouses, which adds to their overhead. I've been to Hockey Monkey's and Hockey Giants - they have impressive facilities. Last, if you are not in the state the retailer is located, you're probably not paying sales tax, so it probably cancels out most, or in some cases, all of the shipping cost.

I realize what the charge includes - it is all part of the internet business model, which means it should be part of the price of the item. You don't get charged for "handling" at your local LHS, but they have to pay for more labor per customer and likely a higher per square foot charge and other overhead an internet retailer does not have to pay. Yet you don't get to the register and find out suddenly that because you bought $300 worth of merchandise, there's a "handling" fee. As far as shipping, I know what it costs because I ship all the time and I know that I pay less than what these guys charge me, and I don't get near the discounts they do. Hell, I've shipped the stuff back in the same box to the same HG or HM and paid less than what I got charged.

Really, it is no the $4-$5 they charge, what pisses me off is that this is a practice clearly intended to deceive the consumer. Really, when you get technical, it is illegal. If HG or HM sends me an ad advertising a pair of gloves for $100, I should reasonably expect to pay a shipping fee, but the reality is that I cannot get that glove for $100 without paying an additional "handling" charge they pulled out of their butt. That's false advertising.

[jimmy 194]

Most consumers only look at the item price to make their decision, that's why all the fees, etc are not rolled into the price. A nice sales trick. We deal with it everyday when people want us to match online prices, and we say sure, but it has to be the actual delivered price, not the listed one. Only after they do the true math do they realize the big difference. In many cases, our regular price is lower than the actual online price.

Not only do a lot of the online stores inflate shipping costs, but a lot of them use "Fulfillment Services", which are basically a middle man who ships items from a different location than the actual business. For example, one Californian online dealer uses a fulfillment service whose warehouse is literally 300 yards from my store in New England. So lets say you live in Boston and order something from the California onliner, you may pay shipping costs from California, yet the package is shipped just 30 miles from your house. So how it likely works is, they get big shipping volume discounts from UPS, then charge you the regular shipping costs from Calif. I personally think this is unethical. I do however not have a problem with handling fees. We do a lot of online business, and let me tell you, it's a lot of extra labor to ship vs. an item sold in the store. Packaging, printing labels, downloading orders, etc. I'm just a small guy and I go through a printer ribbon every three days, a toner cartridge a month and need a new printer every six months. There are other supplies needed as well. We don't charge a handling fee, but we should. Handling does take more work and $$$.

[Ivan 1]

Let me guess...the "one Californian online dealer" is Hockey Giant.

[IceBuckeye88 0]

Jimmy, you are correct about the 'fullfillment services'. Many online retailers are selling items they haven't purchased and are not physically at their place of business. You're also correct that the big retailers get discounts on shipping. Some of them may overcharge over what they pay, others may not.

I own a small business and make a hockey accessory product (I'm not going to say what it is, as I don't want to be accused of using Mod Squad to promote my product). The product I make is relatively heavy and shipping costs are an issue to me. I'm constantly trying to find the most cost effective shipping method when shipping to my dealers. it's not about saving them money. It's about keeping all costs as low as possible, so the retail price at the store can be as low as possible. I do not charge for handling, packaging, tape, etc. I charge them the actual shipping cost - no more, no less. Maybe I should have a handling charge, but since my business is very young, I absorb those costs as a way to keep my product as price competitive as possible.

The bottom line is when purchasing online, consider all costs before making that final click. Also consider the service provided when buying certain items. For example, skate fitting. The most common complaint I hear is of people coming into a hockey shop, trying on skates for an hour, then going online and buying the skate. More and more dealers will begin charging a fitting fee. Of course, if you buy the skate there, they will then wave it.

[jimmy 194]

It's not just hockey online shops, recently I purchased an item from a renewable energy online equipment dealer. They are located 5 miles from me. I was charged $10 shipping. I plugged the same info into my UPS acct, actual shipping was $4.62. And I don't get a volume discount.

[raganblink 82]

jim, they probably have a flat rate though, regardless of where they are shipping to. For all of the people who go to a big site and get charged the same for shipping, I don't think they realize sometimes they are gaining money, and sometimes they are losing money. I just did a quick thing from HM to the east coast, they lose money each time (not a lot, but still a couple bucks). I think some of you don't understand that with flat rates you sometimes gain and sometimes lose, but in the end, should be even or slightly ahead.

Now handling charges (which this whole thing is about) to me is bullshit. Granted if you had to pay taxes like you normally would at a LHS you still save a couple bucks, but the principal of it is outrageous. However it works still so well because there are so many people who go to HM or HG or TH and buy from them, because well, "but there thing has it 5 dollars cheaper" but they don't realize that includes handling and shipping, so if you just payed our price (which isn't outrageous and 95% of our customers don't even second guess because our prices are +/- 5-10 bucks) you would have got the item immediately, have a place to go if you have questions/concerns/etc, and it would have costed after tax (depending on value of item) either the same or a couple bucks more to get it from us. Sometimes it less if its a really cheap item so the taxes aren't that high (like under 150) then its cheaper to go thru your LHS most of the time even if their prices are 5-10 higher than the net.

[DarkStar50 679]

If you don't like handling fees, don't shop online. If you don't have an LHS in your area and have to shop online, plan on handling fees as part of your purchase.