> Rolf said: > Let me relate a little of my past... I did a temp job when I > was studying (about a decade ago in South Africa) at a > "warehouse". What Digikey is to people in the electronics > field, this warehouse was to people who run pharmacies. They > bought bulk merchandise of everything you would expect in a > pharmacy (from Coke (the pop) to chocolate, to shampoo, to > tweezers to OTC drugs and prescription drugs). That was a very interesting and well written example of one business model. Let me relate how I set prices on the few small items that I resell in the USA for PIClisters who have chosen to use me as a distributor for their homemade items. E.g. Roman Black's Linistepper, Ashley Rolls RS232-TTL converter in a DB 9 backshell, and Jan Eric's LCD control panel. In any internet sale, there are different shipping options based on distance, speed and security. I set a base price for the item that excludes all the costs associated with shipping, but includes profit, shipping cost TO me from the supplier, storage, repackaging, documentation, etc... This base price is what I would charge to sell one to my next door neighbor, where there is effectively no delivery cost. Then I add options for each shipping method. For the USA, which is the bulk of my business, I simply offer USPS priority mail and a couple of bucks for my time in printing the labels, sticking them on the box, stuffing it and folding it up. My mail carrier picks the boxes up from the front porch and all is well. US customers get excellent, fast, and very low cost service. For international shipping (which I try to avoid) I am required to take the packages to the post office if I want registered mail. I have found that with certain countries (which I shall not name here) this method is required unless I want the packages to get "lost" in customs. For some other countries, global priority mail seems to work just fine and does not require a trip to the post office. Obviously, the costs are very different, especially since my time in going to the post office has value and must be compensated. Now, I would love to have two different international rates. One for countries that I trust, and a higher rate for ones that I don't. But showing that on the web page would (has) lead to some very nasty confrontations. I've actually been threatened with legal action for "defaming" the proud name of a middle eastern country. So I could refuse to publish my shipping rate and only include it after the order is placed, but I don't think that would work well, and, in fact, PayPal specifically doesn't allow it. My solution? Right now, the "good" countries are paying extra to make up for the "bad" ones. On the average, it works out. One of these years, I need to install a shopping cart program that will allow me to quote shipping separately based on the country it is going to. So far, I haven't seen one that will A) run on a windows server B) provide that sort of function C) cost something I can afford, and I haven't had the time to write one myself and test it to the point where I am comfortable using it for money issues. But honestly, I don't do enough international shipping to make it worth the extra effort. Anyway, I just wanted to share another reason why s&h sometimes doesn't make sense. --- James Newton: PICList webmaster/Admin mailto:jamesnewton@piclist.com 1-619-652-0593 phone http://www.piclist.com/member/JMN-EFP-786 PIC/PICList FAQ: http://www.piclist.com -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist