Tell Someone Who Can Do Something About it.

Shipping is expensive. It makes sense... Fuel is expensive and shipping takes fuel... lots of fuel. I can't fix that. It is affecting eBay businesses worse than local stores because we HAVE TO SHIP every product. Because of the shipping expense, shrewd buyers are willing to pay us less for products and thus, our margins are lower. So before you start accusing me of freight gouging (eBay and 25% of the people buying on eBay) read about our CODBAG of the WEEK. We got this e-mail this morning:

Q: I am at 33418. [Palm Beach, FL] If you gave me the A/C for free it is too much for shipping. It would be worth your whail to find reasonabl shipping for your coustomers. Other people ship this in the $25 to $50 range. If you can do this I will bid.

I could tell by the spelling that this was a man of great intellect, so I chose not to speak below him by mincing words.

Our Response:

Great observation. Did you take into account that you are 3300 miles away from us in the opposite corner of the country?

Here’s a little Algebra for you and anyone else who wants to become a freight broker: 3300 miles at 6 MPG will take a carrier 550 gallons of fuel. At today’s market price that will cost him about $3000. This 200-lb unit will account for 0.6% of an average 30,000-lb load, thus it will directly cost $18 in fuel alone. Now the travel time is about 50 hours behind the wheel at $27 per hour extended cost is an additional $1350 for the load or $8.10 for this small unit. The carrier’s direct cost is now $26.00 before meals and lodging. Of coarse this will not magically go onto the rear of a 29,800-lb trailer. It will need to be cross-docked up to 5 times en route to you, so factor in labor and overhead at each location. Then there are admin expenses that must be considered. No carrier can operate without insurance, so we have to throw that in as well. Trust me, neither me or the trucking company is getting rich at the quoted price.

Here's an idea. Write your governor, Jeb, a letter and have him tell his piece of sh*t brother to do something about the rapist oil companies that are single-handedly killing our economy. In the meantime, go down to Wal*Mart and buy yourself a nice Chinese air conditioner. Tell them Tom sent you. I want Hu Jintao to know that I support the collective.

Congratulations sail4steve, you're our CODBAG of the WEEK!