Rock Auto Response

[DavidC]

I sent an email to let them know about the shipping charges. After all if no one lets them know nothing can change and it went like this.



FYI,

I was going to purchase this part from you at around 30ish dollars I

believe. While doing the check out the shipping on this part was 92. 00.

That charge was around 3 times the price of the part which nixed the

deal and I bought one off ebay for 58. 00. I just want to let you know

this fact and it is probably a big reason for sales lacking at these

shipping rates.



Dave



And the response



Dear Dave,



Thank you for looking into us. Our shipping charges are based on live quotes from carriers and include absolutely no mark up (see http://www.rockauto.com/policy.html#Shipping for more information). They are always the best we can do for our customers.



Thank you,



Dave S.

RockAuto Customer Service



Now using carriers may be beyond their control but 92. 00 for a piece of plastic that weighs probably less than 5lbs. is plain ridiculous. Any way they know how they lost a sale.



Dave

 

[BigPapa]

What were you buying?

 

[DavidC]

The front Bumper Black top cover for the 99. I know it is the width of the truck but the one from ebay was 58. 00 plus free shipping and it is coming UPS.



Dave

 

[jray]

Wow, I've been using Rock Auto Parts for several years now and they've always been good to go. I've never had a problem with shipping being excessively high. Much of their stuff is shipped directly from the mfg.

 

[BigPapa]

I'm in the internet sales/mail order business myself. Shipping is outrageous. Until you go to ship something and see for yourself what it costs it's hard to believe. Here's a UPS quote on shipping the part you ordered. I measured mine and the minimum box dimensions are 77" x 21" x 6". See for yourself.



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I had a customer that wanted me to ship him a front fender for a Kawasaki ATV a couple of weeks ago. It was over $300 by UPS and almost $225 motor freight.

 

[DAWG-1]

WOW!!!!! Shipping is expensive. Sam

 

[MLee]

Large cartons as stated is by the cubic foot for both ways of transportation. And its always been a pemium price.



My son-in-law bought tune up parts for his Suburban from Rockauto and at first these parts was coming from 4 where houses, costing just short $30. 00. But when he complained about that they found a where house that they could combine a couple of the parts to reduce the charges some. Thats expensive for plugs cap and rotor and wires. But he did save money by doing the internet.

 

[drag racer]

Just went through the same thing with them recently - and their "customer service" is useless. Had several boxes of fuel hose in different sizes that weigh maybe 5-6 pounds each, and they wanted like $100+ for shipping. Had the same items in my Amazon cart for a few bucks more in total, but FREE shipping. I also had several small items in my Rock Auto cart and called them to give them a chance at the total sale, and was like talking to a wall. So i removed them and bought from Amazon and bought the small stuff from Rock with reasonable shipping cost.

 

[wcjp]

I typically reference RockAuto total price with Napa. If it's anywhere close I'll go with Napa. Unforeseen problems are always easier to deal with when local.

 

[tuffs93]

Shipping is so pricy. I hate to say this but I do alot of shopping on line. With the cost of diesel, its easier to point and click as long as its not oversized. When I buy tires, parts for cars or trucks I'm rebuilding, or just about anything oversized, I use the innernet for a price then check the local parts house/tire store. If it is within a few dollars, I'll shop locally. So much stuff is unavalable, on line only items though.

 

[mwilson]

I'm in the internet sales/mail order business myself. Shipping is outrageous. Until you go to ship something and see for yourself what it costs it's hard to believe. Here's a UPS quote on shipping the part you ordered. I measured mine and the minimum box dimensions are 77" x 21" x 6". See for yourself.



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I had a customer that wanted me to ship him a front fender for a Kawasaki ATV a couple of weeks ago. It was over $300 by UPS and almost $225 motor freight.

That is one of the reasons that you should give the local OEM's a shot for bulky parts. My freight inbound is paid on a stock order from NJ, doesn't matter how big the boxes are. You may pay a little more for the part but you save money in the end by not having to pay any freight.

If you need air freight the OEM's have negotiated fantastic rates with both UPS and Fed Ex. There is a maximum rate per part that is visible to me before I place the order so that I can quote the customer before ordering.

Now if I have to ship out of here my rates are very close to what Big Papa has illustrated.



Mike.