Ugh. You can tell I don't order much online.
 

I'm in sticker shock from the shipping. Till now, I've lucked out in the shipping department, but today, when I finally ordered my trekking bar, mirror, and tape, the shipping cost more than the items I was ordering! :twitchy:

I was going to order less el-cheapo bar tape, and order those gel pads, but with the gawdawful shipping shocker shivering me timbers, and launching me past my discretionary spending budget allowance, I had to cut back to the cheapest of cheapy Avenir cork tape and no pads, and I did my search for deals that cut down my shipping to a mere 1/3 of the total cost, instead of over 1/2...

I just felt the need to rant about this:troll:, since it felt as if half my money evaporated unexpectedly! :deadhorse:

Of course I don't know exactly what you ordered, so my suggestions may not apply, but a couple of ways to avoid shipping charges is to order from Amazon if you (or a friend) are a Prime member and the items are available for Prime (free) shipping. If you have a Performance Bike nearby, you can get items sent to the store for free (you have to pick up and pay tax).

Performance Bike? 99% of the reviews I have read for them are terrible. Mediocre service, at BEST, along with a hard-sell approach in a "grocery store" environment. Not my kind of place. A simple Google search can tell you that.....

No prime for me, and I don't know of anyone who has this mystical movie-watching Sams-azon subscription. ;) The nearest Performance Bike shop is a 5 hour drive from here... I think I'll pass on that option... ;)

I did end up ordering the bar, el-cheapo avenir tape, and el-cheapo mirror through Amazon, but none of it fell under the Free Supersaver Shipping umbrella. When I ordered my bike rack, panniers, and topeak frame-fit pump from them, the rack and panniers both had supersaver shipping, and the pump shipping was reasonable. I guess that's why this time, it was such a shock to have shipping actually be more than the cost of the items themselves.

It's just a bit of a shock to run into this in the checkout phase! :injured:

So what's the sales tax where you live?

Amazon will be charging sales tax in Texas in the very near future.

I have found some vendors on ebay have free shipping built into their prices. I often do better on ebay than on Amazon even though I have Prime. Some of the bicycle gear isn't listed as "Prime" on Amazon.

Some other vendors sometimes have specials with free shipping and most offer it if you spend at least $100. In that case I wait until I need something else that brings the total up to the threshold.

I never pay shipping over here in the UK but that is probably because I buy so much now. Save the order till I have enough and a Money off voucher comes along.

My problem is--I get a £10 voucher- but it is only valid for orders over £100. My order list is around £50 but if I up the order I get £10 off. That is why I an still trying to learn the Duck walk to go with my new roadie shoes.

Amazon Prime has completely changed how I shop, free shipping (free movies too). So now I look online for everything but food. Saving on shipping is just the start, no money spent on gas for shopping trips, no time spent driving to stores.

My estimated taxes are all zero @ Amazon. If Illinois could muscle Amazon instead of Amazon muscling Illinois, then it would be 6.85 percent for non-food items.

Prime membership with Amazon is different than supersaver shipping. Prime offers free shipping, book lending and movies. Supersaver shipping usually requires you to spend a certain amt. before the savings kick in. Prime costs a flat $79 per year, but depending on how much business you do with them it might be worth it.

I've shopped in Performance Bike stores a couple of times. No high pressure, friendly service. Not my favorite bike store but they were okay.

Same here. No issues, no hard sell, nada. I have a set of wheels on-order so I reserve the right to change my mind.

My only experience was several years ago here in CO. The clerks seemed as if they didn't care whether or not I was in the store, and I was bothering them by being there. However, that was about 10 years ago, and, hopefully, they have changed for the better by now.

A simple visit to the store tells me otherwise.

As I said. That's by doing a Google search and finding what people have posted as reviews. A LOT of people do this when shopping to check out stores. If the reviews aren't good then they could reconsider stopping at a particular store. I am quite sure that there are exceptions as each store in various areas might be different.

For example, the Sports Authority store here absolutely SUCKS. I have been in there on a few occasions and have only seen THREE employees. All seemingly too busy to even give me a friendly greeting.

I'm gonna say rant all you want. I will join you. My family just laughs. Occaisionally, I will order from QVC. It totally blows my mind what I pay in shipping and handling when the warehouse it was shipped from is about 2 miles from my house. I finally wised up and try to buy only items that are on a "free shipping" only.

Obviously, shipping is part of the cost. I shop everything and the "free shipping" items are rarely the best deal.

I have also spent lots of time searching for the right item to get my Amazon order to the magical $25 order / free shipping zone. Its very hard to find something for 45 cents that meets all the requirements!

Even when searching for the "free shipping" items you can still get shafted. I try and look for those as well and often compare numerous items to see which is the "best deal". Often the closest to you isn't the best as I have found that, occasionally anyway, those that ship the farthest can be cheaper......go figure.....

I saw the "free shipping" silliness first hand, when comparing the handlebar tape from various sources. There were two ways, and two ways only of listing them. the $4 plus $4 method, or the $8 plus $0 method! It's glaringly obvious that you are paying shipping on the "free shipping" items, when you see the results like that. I may buy the "free shipping" items anyway, since at least they list up front what you are getting into! ;)

Virtually all sites nowadays will calculate shipping and tax before you close the deal. Simply avail yourself of that capability before you decide to buy.

As far a Performance Bike goes, I've conducted many transaction with them in their stores and on-line, including returning items, with nary an issue. If they have the best deal on something I want, I have no compunction to buy from them. Lately however, it's rare that the have the best overall deal.

Most sites let you load up the shopping cart and then check shipping. Worst case you can go through the order process until you get the shipping cost and then just remove items from cart if the price is not right. This can be very time consuming, but can be worth it in savings.

There's always a cost to ship whether ist's built into the price, added on, or used as an incentive to get you to buy more. You just need to balance it out against your time, gas, and sales tax to see what the best deal is.

I've pretty much limited things to Amazon (Prime) and BikeNashbar if I cannot get something from my LBS. Shipping can take the price up to where the LBS price (as noted above) is so it isn't worth the time or effort. Usually if I order from the LBS by Tuesday I will get the item by Friday, sometimes Thursday. Seen many tempting sales in the UK sites but shipping and customs, when it applies, kill the urge.

Bill

I ordered all of my bike stuff from u.k base on-line store: PBK . Wiggle . No shipping charge .

I agree that searching Google and using online reviews works great for you. For me, I prefer to use my own experience.