Why is shipping so high? and keeps going up. Why can big corporations offer free shipping.

[bryo_3145]

Why is shipping so high? and keeps going up. Why can big corporations offer free shipping. 

Does it matter what gas prices are doing? Economy. Political. I just want to hear what the community thinks. I know it's not ebay. Ebay actually has discounts for sellers, buyers on shipping cost.  International shipping is outrageous. You would think we would try to minimize shipping cost to help our economy grow and prosper. 

[lakefor94]

Shipping has and will always go up in price over the course of several years. 

Larger companies get even better deals on shipping than eBay, PirateShip etc.

Large companies also work off volume so they can sell on lower margins and still make a profit. 

AMZ probably gets some of the lowest rates possible from carriers. 

I have items on AMZ for sale that Amazon sells for less than I can ship it for.  The only way I can get sales on certain items is selling 100 or 200 at a time through business pricing for quantities. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Shipping is so high because labor costs and benefit costs are up, interest rates are up meaning the cost of equipment is up, logistics related real estate prices are up, taxes are up - just about everything is up. That is what happens when there is inflation.

Bigger retailers pay less for their merchandise, no matter what the salesperson you deal with tells you. They get discounts and credits from invoice prices that you do not. If you buy a car for invoice price, the dealer is not breaking even - they are making a profit. Some of the extra money may be used by retailers to pay for "free shipping".

Amazon can offer free shipping because it runs its own trucking company with lower costs than USPS, UPS and FEDEX and it now is the largest package delivery operation in the US. It also is shipping in packaging that if you used it would result on damaged product.

Delivery companies can and do give big players a bigger discount than Ebay can get for you.

The big players always have and have had an advantage because they are big.

[whatmorefabric]

Shipping is so high because the Post Office Head feels that the post office should be making money and become more competitive and equal in cost as UPS and Fed Ex.

Regular letter mail  used to be the post office's bread and butter,  now they must  turn to packages.        There are fewer items to ship,  so they must charge more for those items.

The Post Office must prepay all of the postal workers pensions and benefits up front in full.      It has created a slush fund that the government than borrows from.       If the post office could charge like Medicare or SS,  it would cost considerable less.

Inflation has very little to do with his.    They do not buy much equipment.   They are decommissioning  post offices and consolidating distribution.      They are junking equipment.

They do not borrow money.

Labor costs are not rising anymore than they normally do.     Ask a postman and you would be surprised how little they make.

[bryo_3145]

Interesting. 

[bryo_3145]

I maybe going postal. You would think it wouldn't because of social security and benefit package. If a retired person just had social security which they pay into their whole life working. With no retirement how would they make it in this economy. Then if they happen to develop health problems I would hate to think.  They would actually need some of their benefits.  The government is involved USPS. Political. Mismanagement?  Then you have large companies and corporations that offer zero benefits for their work force.  Then again, there are safety nets to a point.  You would think that they would try more to minimize shipping cost as much as possible. International shipping is outrageous.  Is this a global, world issue. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Social Security was never designed for anyone to live on.

FDR proposed it to head off a political movement calling for a national old-age pension, funded by a fixed percentage of federal tax receipts which was growing in support.

FDR said it was not designed for anyone to live on.

[bryo_3145]

Social Security and benefits are very important; retirement also helps boost economic growth.  Just to think of all those individuals that pass prior to retirement.  Also, the ones that get sick everything that they work for goes toward health recovery. How do large corporations get away with less shipping cost?  Is because they don't have benefits for their employees.  More or less. Is it political? Is there restrictions or government involvement. 

[marnotom!]

Amazon’s dirty little secret is that it loses money on shipping.  What analysts can’t figure out is if this is a deliberate loss-leader type strategy or not.

[bryo_3145]

Jeff Bezos net worth around $196.40 billion in 2024. 

[bryo_3145]

-Both Medicare and Medicaid are government sponsored insurance plans. 

-Medicare is federally administered and cover older or disabled Americans, while Medicaid operates at the state level and covers low-income families and some single adults. 

-Funding for Medicare comes from payroll taxes and premiums paid by recipience. 

-Medicaid is funded by federal government and each state. 

[bryo_3145]

1.5 to 3.5 percent

Based on years of service, a postal worker earns 1.5 to 3.5 percent of their "high-3" average salary for each year. The maximum allowable yearly annuity cannot be more than 80 percent of the high 3 average, which generally happens for those retiring after 42 years of service. 

[campanaelia]

USPS rates have gone up and reliability has gone down, the current postmaster general should be replaced.

[bryo_3145]

Replaced by whom? Interesting. 

[bryo_3145]

Maybe a retiree. A lot of retirees now days can't afford to retire.