NPD is just greedy. I wanted to purchase a pair of hood springs for my Mach1. I don't take issue with the price of the springs. Taking in consideration the manufacturing costs vs the limited number of buyers, they are quite reasonable. But the $32 shipping charge is ludicrous. This was quoted over the phone by Brad. (BTW the NPD website said $29.65?) I also take umbrage with the "offer" of spending more to reach a total $300 to get free shipping. If I had wanted to spend over $300 that would have been my choice. I’m not going to be coerced into adding to my order just to avoid their outrageous shipping fees.
Just for giggles, I looked up the cost to send a package, at retail rates, weighing a guesstimated 12#. (I’m fairly certain NPD gets a better rate than retail). From Canton, Michigan to West Chester, OH would cost $17.88
So, retail cost at UPS - $17+ NPD /UPS - $32.00+
Luckily, I don't need the springs that bad! But evidently NPD needs that extra $15 real bad. LOL
I am not a cheapskate but I do like to be judicious with the $$ I have to spend on my hobby. That includes not being “jabbed” with excessive shipping rates.
OK I've managed to waste time that should have been used to work on my car. But this kinda put a burr under my saddle.
Alright, now that I'm at my desk and have access to a keyboard and information....
Our shipping rates are calculated based upon a percentage of the value of your order. $12.95 is the minimum (which really doesn't cover our average cost across the various zones), and beyond that it's calculated at 16% of your order's value. Above $300, we foot the bill and absorb the shipping cost. And that is a REALLY big deal. Yes, I understand that you don't always have $300 in parts to order every time. But I'd wager that anyone who's done a restoration with NPD, over time, large orders and small, you are way ahead on shipping expenses big-picture.
And indeed, some of the free-shipping incentive is capitalized by us making some of that back on the smaller orders where shipping is charged. It has to, otherwise we could never hope to afford the $300 incentive. We'd have to either 1. Not offer it, or 2. Compensate for the enormous losses by inflating the prices of the parts. Either way, you pay, there's no such thing as "free", it's all a mirage.
So every company in this industry, including all of NPD's competitors, have developed their own recipe of "balance" between shipping costs, shipping rate structure, and parts pricing, that allows them to be viable and not fly into the side of the mountain financially. One company might look super cheap on shipping, but they're likely higher on the parts. Or they're sourcing cheaper/lesser quality parts. Or they're a mom/pop running on a shoe-string with hardly any inventory, overhead, no employee benefits, and no wiggle-room to offer you service after the sale if something's not right.
It's always going to be something, because competitive pressures force it to be so. There's no magic dust that would allow one single company to perpetually have the cheapest shipping, cheapest prices, best quality, strongest inventory, best service, adequate sales staff, and best service after the sale if there's a claim or issue. Heck, we (NPD) often allow returns/exchanges on parts that were purchased 5-10 years ago. That's the strength we have that affords us the ability to have your back.
And here's where I'll share proprietary financial information. We run on a July-June fiscal year. Thus-far, this year (since July 2022, 8 months on the books), we have absorbed a net-LOSS on shipping (i.e. what we charge for shipping versus what we pay-out for shipping) of $850,000... We'll have taken a loss of well over $1-million by the time June 30th arrives. Thank goodness we sell enough parts to cover that loss, or we'd be cooked. It's a cost of doing business these days.
Of course, no one complains when the prices are fair, the parts are in-stock and best-quality, the sales people answer the phones directly (no computerized hold-queue), the sales force is tenured and experienced due to low-turnover (because we pay them well), the orders are shipped complete within 24 hours, and any damages/defects/returns are accommodated with a smile. But a $29.65 shipping fee on a $185 pair of concours flat oval wire hood springs that we must have spent over 2 years getting the tooling done for and perfecting?? We're greedy, arrogant rapists? Hell, when we purchased the two NOS springs that we used for benchmarking, they were $450 EACH. That was the going market for them back then. So if we were greedy rapists, wouldn't we be charging more than $92.65/each? Especially given the fact that I was just on the phone with my Ford Product Manager, and we were half laughing half crying that "they seemed like a good idea (the springs) at the time, but now I'm wondering if we'll ever make our investment back, ever.."..
Yes, I'll agree with you, $29.65 is more than our actual cost for shipping the springs. But if we did it differently, it would completely blow-up a shipping algorithm that has worked and proven popular for decades. There is no way to charge "actual" on every sale, because there's no practical way to quote accurate shipping in advance, online, before the parts ever hit the shipping workstation. Even if you have the weights and dimensions tabled, there is no way for a website to anticipate "how to pack" an order of restoration parts. A hood molding and a brake drum cannot be packed in the same box. Compatibility and care are not something we can write a computer program for, and nor do our competitors, we all face the same realities.
I'm sorry I'm blathering and blabbering so long!! LOL... Just a few last details.
1. I don't know why Brad would have quoted $32, because it comes up $29.65 in our operating system, just like the web. Did you add another item or two to the order that would've increased things?
2. Everyone, be advised that UPS neglects to break-out online the following: Fuel Surcharge, Delivery Area Surcharge, Residential Surcharge.. These surcharges frequently layer another $7-$8 bucks onto our bill.
Last, this is my first time here in awhile, but I do want to thank EVERYONE for your past business, and for the words of support on this thread and others. I appreciate it. I hope this post explains some dynamics that might not be readily apparent from your side of the screen, and I hope that my tone and temperament are taken as I intended, and that I didn't come off too argumentative. But I've gotta tell ya, when someone starts calling me a greedy rapist, that gets my attention.
Rick Schmidt
NPD
