Mr Lang, Mr Chaffin and other suppliers. I have a question for you as a parts supplier which was asked some time back on a post on this forum, why do you and your fellow suppliers put the sold items in boxes 5 times bigger than the part that is being posted when it could come in a padded bag or a smaller container.
It may work for your local market but for over seas customers it push's the price over the top with the high air mail rate that there is in place.
The last part I purchased from a dealer would have fit in a small padded bag but came in a box that would have fit my side light. The postage was dearer than the part so could you please explain the reason behind it. Ray Green
Sometimes if I need a part and don't want to wait until I have a long shopping list, I'll order a few small items. For example if I'm getting something little from Lang's like a few oil plug washers or axle shaft disks, they invariably come in a little padded bag. I wonder if the larger packages you're getting have to do with some kind of international shipping requirement. If there's no requirement for larger packing, I'd mention when ordering that you want as small a package as possible.
Have had a similar situation to Ray, ordered small items ( needle and seat for carby from memory) and received a box the size of a large telephone book, in it was the order plus a catalogue from the dealer and about a gallon of packing peanuts and newspaper. If I had wanted a catalogue I would have asked for one and I'm sure if I had later ordered something else I would have had a second one posted.
I now have things sent to a friend in the USA, he opens the packets and reposts them in a padded bag.
The two postings work out far cheaper than the one big one from the dealers.
I wish you luck Ray.
I once ordered a set of triple gear pins from Snyder's. They came in a box a foot square and 6" deep. Unfortunately, the pins were in fact a steering column bracket. I sent it back to Snyder's in a padded bag which had already come across the Pacific from the US with a part from a friend. I asked that the pins be returned in the same packet.
You guessed it. Three triple gear pins in the same size box!!!!
I queried this and was told the goods may get damaged if not boxed. Go figure!
Overpackaging is my only gripe with Snyders. Service is exemplary, complaints/problems solved with all haste and speed of delivery amazing.
Allan from down under.
Has anyone ever considered becoming a Vintage Parts Supplier RDC ( Regional Distribution Center) for UK, or any other country across the seas? Looks like there's enough vintage market of American made early Fords over that way for someone to try to become a partner with Lang's, Snyders, and others part suppliers and maybe start up a business in one of those areas. Just a thought, I know I checked with a Brass Lamp Co. About trying become a U.S. vender for them a few years back, but they already have a couple set up in the states now.
If I was in a land of limited too no parts, I'd be looking at that as an opportunity. Quit the ole 9:00-5:00 job and become a parts supplier for the hobby you love.
I think Tackett Brothers in the UK stocks Model T Parts.
We call it an "over-kill". We want our shipments to arrive in one piece. Re-shipments due to breakage cost us double all the way around- so-- why risk it? We go to packaging extremes due to international shipping and shipping costs.
3 cheers for Ray....champion of the little Aussie Battler.
This has happened to me many times over the years, (not always with model T parts though) and I've always thought it was just the vendors way of ensuring "safe delivery" of the item/s. However, I remember some of them were just over the top with packing and added unnecessary (& expensive) weight.
A couple of hours ago I placed a large order with Chaffins that's going to cost me an arm and a leg in shipping fees. A much smaller one is on the way from Snyders too. It'll be interesting to see how they're packed when they arrive.
So what would you say if the item(s) you ordered were packed in a cheap smaller box, but when they arrived to you (after traveling thousands of miles and being handled by multiple people who could care less about your car parts) they arrived damaged and could not be used? Would you complain when you had to re-order them and wait for days or weeks to get a replacement? Would you blame the supplier and accuse them of packaging the items so cheaply?
Ron, in our business, we ship product by mail all over the world. I am the packer.At all times I strive to pack safely, but with an eye to reducing costs for the customer. With us it is an individual thing.
With Snyders, there is so much going on, I can see that the packer just grabs the box he thinks will do the job, packs the parts and then proceeds to stuff the box full of craft paper. It is quick and easy, but it is not economical for the consignee, especially for overseas customers.
In some thirty years of buying parts from overseas, I have had one damaged pair of hood shelves. It was impact damage that was most likely caused by the 747 running over the package!
In an ideal world, the packer would have the time to read the order, and decide if he needed to pack for fragility, or just get the parts into an appropriate container and get them on the way.
I enjoy packing things for postage. It's a perverse enjoyment, seeing how neatly I can do the job. But I have the time.
Allan from down under.
I do a lot of e-bay sales. I sell a lot to overseas buyers. "Customs" is the killer of many good parts. I have had pretty good luck, and I always try to make the package as small as possible, and still be safely packaged. Most shipping insurances "require" the packages to be "double boxed" and be able to withstand repeated drops from 15 foot high. Its in the fine print. So if you do not meet those standards they usually will not pay a claim. I had a bunch of original WW2 Posters for War Bonds and scrap drives. They were bringing over 200 to 300 dollars each. I shipped them in heavy wall PVC plastic pipe, that you probably could have driven a truck over. I had three destroyed. Customs said they were that way when they got them, and the shipper said they were not double boxed .??? Never did get paid for them. Its a good thing I paid very little for them as I could only ship another one to the buyer to replace his destroyed item. As a seller I understand wanting to over box something, but also as a buyer I want it shipped as cheaply as possible. Its a fine line to "walk"
I think Ray is addressing those shipments that we get from sellers that when you get the tiny part in a huge box you have to search around inside to actually find it!
Go Figure, I've had this happen when it was even free shipping.
It's not a standard or security issue maybe they just have one size fits all boxes. Don't know.
I have thought when you order a couple small gaskets why they can't just put them into a letter envelope and a postage stamp.
Well I would not mind some packing but it was a small dash resister the size of a pencil sharpener that cost about $18 but the dam postage cost $52 for a great big box with bubble wrap that I could have packed a side lamp in with packing. The item had a metal case so you would have to hit it with a hammer to break it, just plain waste of packing, my money for unwanted postage and just some one who grabbed the first box they saw and used it, another drain on the gene pool.
John Doolittle, why go to extreme's when you are wasting my money on postage to the point I will not buy off you again and as for international postage it is more looked after than internal mail, that's making the shipping sound like you do not want us as customers. I ship items all over the world and never have a problem with the correct size container and people come back to me as they know I have tired so save them money.
I have been on my soap box two times today and its wearing.
Allan, my friend in Michigan works on one order in two being right so it needs looking at.
Donnie, I had a water pump for my T bird shipped over in a box that just fitted with some foam around it and no problems and the postage was $122 from LA as I could not get one here, makes the single box with 20 feet of bubble wrap look stupid which cost $52 postage.
I am now buying military vehicle parts in the UK so I will see how they handle sales and packing.
You are right that custom's do more damage than the machines as they do not care but in saying that here in Australia the postal people open the box for customs and the last one I had damaged from Germany was done by the post so I charged them for it direct and they paid up so I was able to buy it again
If I'm ordering via puter I check the shipping charge, If I think it's too high for what it is, I'll skip the puter and call by phone and request USPS.