I have a pet hate when it comes to shopping on the internet and that is companies who refuse to charge fair and reasonable shipping costs!
Living on an Island as I do, it blows my mind even more when shipping companies want to charge extra as well, despite the fact they all come over here anyway! The fact is that Royal mail do not charge extra so why do other companies??
For instance I went to a website yesterday to look at a product that had caught my eye and that I thought would be an extra edge in my own fishing this winter. However when I added the item to the basket and saw that the shipping was as much as the item I wanted to purchase I quickly emptied the basket again! This annoys me because I would really like to try the product but I am not prepared to pay through the nose for the privilege!
Now running my own online business as I do in the form of Silver Scales, I am fully aware of the costs of shipping items of a certain weight and value and believe me when I say there is no need to charge over the top shipping prices as many companies seem to do. If you only want a low cost item and the company wants to charge you an excessive price for posting it to you, I would think most of the time you will simply not buy it. You may try and find some other items of use to you to spread the cost which is fair enough if you are able to do this, but why should you be forced to spend more because you are being held to ransom over the postage??
That’s why when we were building the new Website for Silver Scales we went to extra effort to install a variable system of evaluating the shipping costs to make them fair and reasonable rather than charging one extortionate flat rate. There are one or two items that unfortunately we have had to charge more than I would like, for instance Threads and UV Torches, which are slightly too bulky to come within Royal mails Large letter category and have to be shipped as small parcels, however we only charge what Royal mail charge for orders containing these items, which is still a maximum cost of £3.40. which compared to some companies who want to charge double this price for similar items is still very reasonable. Our system will only charge you for the largest item in your order, this means our postage rates vary between 75p and £3.40 maximum with most orders shipping for just £1.25 which is very good value. We don’t make any money on postage, the charges simply cover the postage and packing and in some cases we absorb excess postage to keep it fair and viable for you the customer.
Pop along to the Website and have a look if you haven’t already and be safe in the knowledge that when making a purchase you will be receiving a first class service without any excess charges!