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Shipping charges.... WOOF!

Brantel

Well Known Member
This being my second plane build I was aware of how the seemingly minor cost start to add up. Kinda like death by a million paper cuts. The sheer number of incidentals is staggering. That's nothing new.

What is shocking however is how much shipping cost have risen in the last 10 years.

Folks like me that have to control their budgets need to be aware of this up front before taking on a plane build!

So far I have spent about $600 in shipping charges for my RV-10 and I am just getting started on the grand scheme of things. I would expect that by the time I am flying, this could get way up there!

What are some of the techniques people use to control incidental shipping cost?
 
So far I have spent about $600 in shipping charges

Bahahahahahahahahah! A measly $600 in shipping ... you must still be in the first section of the manual :p

(overnight from Oregon to Alabama gets pricey)

It's easy in the beginning to keep the shipping down because you can shift to do something else while waiting on parts ... however, towards the end having to ship parts can delay the project 3-4 days so overnight becomes an unexpected expense if you don't want to drag out your build.
 
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Try Shipping Ground to Alaska or Hawaii

As a salesperson, everyday have to quote shipping charges. It hurts to see the charges you pay for the 48 states. Ground goes by air to Alaska figure on $30 + normal rates for just 1lb.

Try not to do business with companies that only ship UPS or FedEx, the USPS is a far better deal.

Why do you think Amazon is flying their own deliveries?

Wish more companies would use different shipping methods.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Well, you could drive out there and pick it up. Once you price that, the shipping charges seem a lot more reasonable! (Not that I like paying them anymore than you!)
 
Bahahahahahahahahah! A measly $600 in shipping ... you must still be in the first section of the manual :p

(overnight from Oregon to Alabama gets pricey)

It's easy in the beginning to keep the shipping down because you can shift to do something else while waiting on parts ... however, towards the end having to ship parts can delay the project 3-4 days so overnight becomes an unexpected expense if you don't want to drag out your build.

Bahhahaha, what is overnight? Nothing faster than a week out from Oregon unless I go get it myself.
 
Nothing worse that holding an order for parts, then finally pulling the trigger only to realize a day later that you missed 1 component. Spending $12-$20 in shipping for a $2 part hurts.
You can manage it to a degree, but overall $600 in shipping isn't horrible. I'm fully expecting to exceed that on one of the kits (and I'm sure others have even higher shipping numbers just for the base kits).

It's never a good idea to start adding up number like this. I'm trying to conveniently ignore my tool and consumable costs completely and absolutely don't want to include shipping for any of my purchases. (Don't even get me started on how much I have spent going to Sun N Fun or my upcoming trip to OSH!)
 
So far, the shipping is running just under 4% of the total.

I've got the airframe and finishing kits, after-market canopy, engine, and a number of the smaller things, including some of the electronics, switches, etc. I estimate that I've about 20% of the total cost left to go, maybe less.

I've saved on shipping by luck. Luck and good timing are important, and well worth cultivating.

The empennage, wing and tail kits arrived on the same truck, same time as a buddy's - that saved about half the delivery cost. Another friend found a heck of a deal on a pair of engines. Would I like one? He picked up both and dropped mine off, no extra charge.

With in a couple hour drive, someone bailed out of his project. I bought much of the EFIS-related boxes there and brought them home. Savings on the hardware and shipping from that.

Like I said, luck and good timing.....

Dave
 
$2800+ to get the QB Fuse and Wings to my door. Which is a great deal because shipping them separately crated would've added another $1000 almost. ~10% of the money spent so far on shipping.... Should've picked a job and home closer to Oregon eh?
 
Now think how much shipping is from the USA to South Africa. I have had a padded envelope couriered to me. Inside was a $5 part and the UPS costs $55.
 
Brian,
I have a big dry eraser board in the hangar. It has a running list of things to order from ACS, Vans, B&C etc.... It takes discipline to not order as soon as it?s written on the board. During my builds I just moved on the something else until parts were ordered and received.



Priority Mail is almost always the least expensive way to ship.
 
We have lots of UPS and FedEx pilots on this board. I'm sure they all thank you very much.

You'll feel better if you think of it as donating a few bucks toward another RV project ;)
 
We have lots of UPS and FedEx pilots on this board. I'm sure they all thank you very much.

You'll feel better if you think of it as donating a few bucks toward another RV project ;)

Ok that helps as long as everyone goes out and buys a few cases of Bush?s beautiful beans! :p
 
Shipping a kit to Hawaii isn't cheap. Then shipping a container back to the mainland is even not-cheaper. About 10-15% of my airplane is shipping costs.
 
it will make you feel better if you compare that shipping to your time and gas running around chasing parts.
 
I wonder how uShip would work out price wise compared to the usual shippers used by Van's. Might be worth looking into on your next kit order that comes in large wooden crates. Vans can give you the crate dimensions and weight and you can put it on uShip for bidding. We had a uShip shipper pick up a danish modern coffee table at our house last week in Howell MI going to a buyer in Georgia. I don't know what the cost was to the buyer but obviously the buyer considered that before buying it. The uShip guy was very professional.
 
I am with Brian on this, shipping charges have gone up very much in the past few years.
This is what I did with my recent build, kept a note pad of items that I knew I was going to have, one for Spruce, one for VANs and one for others. Once the list got to the point that I really needed them, I order the entire thing.

I always find USPS much cheaper and more reliable, so UPS or FedEx is my last choice. Amazon is great as nearly all of it is free shipping since we are a prime user.

As for the kit, I rented a U-Haul truck and carried my kit home. This time I ordered the finishing kit at the same time and saved some $$$ on shipping and crating on that item.
 
It?s a shame Amazon Prime doesn?t ship Vans parts and kits or ACS. If so two day shipping would be free but our bank accounts empty!
 
Shipping

Look at it differently. When you buy those high dollar parts like that new Lycoming and full IFR panel, the shipping percentage will drop like a rock.
 
I've been fortunate.
I have property not far from the factory, so when I stopped by for a factory tour and demo flight, I bought the empennage kit on the spot.

Thinking it was soon time to hook up the flatbed trailer to go get wings & fuselage, a nice gentleman who lives only a few minutes from my hangar put his kit up for sale. Wings not quite to quick-build stage, fuselage not started.
Shipping cost was 29.95 for an enclosed U-Haul for one day.

Being near Aurora several times a year sure makes getting parts handy.
Everybody working at Van's seems to really enjoy working there. Great atmosphere. Excellent customer service.
 
Brian, you don't even want to know what shipping the Subsonex QB kit cost from Wisconsin to Nevada!

On the other hand the best deal for one or two nuts, bolts or AN fittings (and other little stuff) is ACS and First Class postage. They drop the small parts in a padded envelope , and usually for less than two bucks I have it in two days.

Paul
 
Brian, you don't even want to know what shipping the Subsonex QB kit cost from Wisconsin to Nevada!

On the other hand the best deal for one or two nuts, bolts or AN fittings (and other little stuff) is ACS and First Class postage. They drop the small parts in a padded envelope , and usually for less than two bucks I have it in two days.

Paul

Me TOO!! 1st class has been very reliable for me. Not too long ago you had to ask for it at ACS, but no longer.

BTW - I sent a suggestion to the EAA membership benefits group to negotiate a deal with UPS for a group discount for all EAA members.
 
I know the pain Peter!
I did however have a win last year with a fedex delivery from the US. There was a number you could call, and potentially get a discounted rate. I bought a dual screen AFS3500 system off of a seller in the US off this forum. The original price for shipping with Fedex was approx $650 usd, and the discounted price was approx $160 usd. It was a significant saving.
 
My op was really speaking to odds and ends, not necessarily subkit shipping. I have found the slow build kits ship somewhat reasonably to East TN since I can have em delivered to my work.

There are a couple great suggestions here so far:

* grouping items as much as possible
* using USPS Priority and First Class mail. Good to here that ACS is embracing that option. Was not so good in the past.

Question: in the Past Van’s has kinda frowned on USPS shipping. They even state “use at your own risk” and “allow 6 weeks for delivery” on their web store. Have they changed their tune as well?

I am not on any timeline with this build so the express shipping options are not required for me most of the time.
 
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I believe Vans has shipped smaller parts to me using USPS but I may be mistaken, however I know for sure that they shipped a 6' J channel to me via USPS Priority mail.
 
I track everything I buy including shipping, I'm up to 2365.92 in shipping for my project. Only avionics and a few odds and ends left though.
 
I do not track costs. I am really enjoying building the 3B. Building is Zen. I do not throw money away but watching my project come alive is priceless.


Bob Grigsby
3B. Close
J3 flying
2019 member
 
I too am fortunate- Mothership is 30ish minutes away, Advanced is about the same. I went with the composite from Hartzell because I figured the lighter weight/shipping charges would make up for the additional cost of the prop:D
 
My op was really speaking to odds and ends, not necessarily subkit shipping. I have found the slow build kits ship somewhat reasonably to East TN since I can have em delivered to my work.

There are a couple great suggestions here so far:

* grouping items as much as possible
* using USPS Priority and First Class mail. Good to here that ACS is embracing that option. Was not so good in the past.

Question: in the Past Van?s has kinda frowned on USPS shipping. They even state ?use at your own risk? and ?allow 6 weeks for delivery? on their web store. Have they changed their tune as well?

I am not on any timeline with this build so the express shipping options are not required for me most of the time.


I used USPS Priority Mail from Van's all the time for many years. In Ohio, UPS from Van's is at least a week. USPS Priority is three days and less expensive. The only caveat is that you probably don't want to send a wing skin via usps. :D
 
My op was really speaking to odds and ends, not necessarily subkit shipping. I have found the slow build kits ship somewhat reasonably to East TN since I can have em delivered to my work.

There are a couple great suggestions here so far:

* grouping items as much as possible
* using USPS Priority and First Class mail. Good to here that ACS is embracing that option. Was not so good in the past.

Question: in the Past Van?s has kinda frowned on USPS shipping. They even state ?use at your own risk? and ?allow 6 weeks for delivery? on their web store. Have they changed their tune as well?

I am not on any timeline with this build so the express shipping options are not required for me most of the time.

Unlike others I NEVER use USPS if I can avoid it. The packages always take longer to arrive and many of them are damaged. I just find UPS to be more reliable and that's what counts to me.

YMMV
 
I have found Wicks Aircraft has a pretty good presence on Amazon. In many cases overall cost is cheaper than Wicks direct.
 
Hey Brian,
I found towards the end of the build circa 2013 that all the small items were costing a ton to ship.
At the time ACS was running a deal that if you had a special Visa and the order was over $100 it shipped for free.
Don't know if it is still available but you should give that a try.
Saved me a ton.
 
Hey Brian,
I found towards the end of the build circa 2013 that all the small items were costing a ton to ship.
At the time ACS was running a deal that if you had a special Visa and the order was over $100 it shipped for free.
Don't know if it is still available but you should give that a try.
Saved me a ton.

Not sure the credit card thing is still in existence. They are up to $350 for free shipping on regular stuff.
 
Hey Brian,
I found towards the end of the build circa 2013 that all the small items were costing a ton to ship.
At the time ACS was running a deal that if you had a special Visa and the order was over $100 it shipped for free.
Don't know if it is still available but you should give that a try.
Saved me a ton.

I have one of those magical credit cards right here in my desk and still use it periodically. These days it does require a "note" on the order to remind them of the golden goose. Although, I haven't used it in a while. I assume it still works. And we must have been on an earlier version where ALL shipping was free.
 
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Shipping costs

?.and I worry about paying for 4 gallons of av fuel to fly 15 minutes to Van's back door.
 
I order everything small enough to be shipped via USPS to be shipped first class. It is cheaper than priority fixed rate packages and just as fast. UPS or FedEx from ACS is 5 days, USPS is typically 2 days and a fraction of the cost. Small items like forgotten hardware is typically about $2 shipping.
 
Not sure the credit card thing is still in existence. They are up to $350 for free shipping on regular stuff.

Brian,
Did you ever check to see if the card still works?

Scott,
Halfway through my build finish they changed the rules and I think required a $100 order and must mention in the notes section.

Still saved me a ton on freight.
 
Brian,
Did you ever check to see if the card still works?

Scott,
Halfway through my build finish they changed the rules and I think required a $100 order and must mention in the notes section.

Still saved me a ton on freight.

I don?t have a magic card and could not find how to get one.

Last Friday I ordered some stuff from Vans and from ACS and selected USPS as the shipping method. Vans order showed up on Monday. The ACS order is showing being delivered today. Almost 4 days slower than Vans even though they are basically in my back yard compared to Vans.
 
Way back when I ordered

It's been a while, but when I bought my subkits for my -4, I had them shipped to the transfer station where things go from semi truck, to delivery truck and I picked them up on the dock about 50 miles from home. That last 50 mile trip was almost as expensive as the cross country trip if I had it delivered to the door. I don't even remember who the carrier was, but I did it 3 times for the big stuff.
 
Years ago I had to ship a race car engine from Memphis to Colorado. And then another engine back to me. I used Old Dominion and was surprised at how reasonable the shipping costs were. Delivery was not to my door but the short drive to their facility to pick up the returned engine was well worth the savings. They loaded it in my truck for me and we?re very careful not to damage anything. Just my .02
 
Australia :-(

As someone else said, try being in Australia.

Govt slogs us 10% on any parts then for my RV-10, I spent approx $25,000 in shipping for the project. Even with bulk shipping options...

And that was 5-8 years ago... If it has increased, wow...

I would hate to know what it was now..
 
Shipping

I had the QB fuselage, wings and finish kit all shipped at once to my home in Florida. I used Partain was $3392.00. Tried shipping as much as I could to save some $$$.
 
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