A 'Well done!' To ECS from across the pond...

[egovreau]

Found this on another forum I subscribe too...

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=172957

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Nice! #ecsnation is everywhere!

Jason

[mauromj]

Shipping is overpriced for US addresses. Imagine overseas pricing from them.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Shipping is overpriced for US addresses. Imagine overseas pricing from them.

All our shipping prices are a direct reflection of our costs from our shipping suppliers. This topic has been beaten to death. And yes some other vendors might have a lower shipping cost if they are closer to your address. Someone living on the west cost is obviously going to pay more to ship the same item as someone living on the east coast from our location in OH. Not sure why this is such a surprise. We also don't ship small items in padded envelopes. This is because in the past we had far too many customer complaints of damaged items. So rather than continuing to ship small items that could fit in a padded envelope and have a risk of them arriving damaged, we took the intuitive to come up with a solution. That solution is we only ship items in boxes. Does it cost more than a padded envelope - sure. But you also don't have to worry about something ending up damaged. The later has seemed to work out better in terms of damage prevention.

Jason

[imnuts]

While I'm sure it doesn't apply to international shipments, it is pretty easy to get most of your stuff shipped for free from ECS, not sure of any other vendor here that has the same offer.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Very true as well!

Most of our ECS items ship for free and we also implemented free shipping when you spend $200 or more on free ship eligible items.

Another great feature is our website allows you to get complete quotes with shipping without having to be logged into the site or signing up and creating a user name. So you have the ability to check what your total cost of items to your door is with ease.

Jason

[walky_talky20]

When I found an item that seemed to have a somewhat ridiculous shipping cost, I m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶r̶i̶p̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ called ECS to see what they could do for me. They were able to adjust the "back end" item details to reflect more accurate shipping requirements* (turns out plastic fender liners can actually fold just a little bit!). This helped with the shipping cost a good amount and I made the purchase.

*Results not typical. Your mileage may vary. ECS won't just make things cheaper 'cause you ask, but sometimes you might get lucky.

[mauromj]

All our shipping prices are a direct reflection of our costs from our shipping suppliers. This topic has been beaten to death. And yes some other vendors might have a lower shipping cost if they are closer to your address. Someone living on the west cost is obviously going to pay more to ship the same item as someone living on the east coast from our location in OH. Not sure why this is such a surprise. We also don't ship small items in padded envelopes. This is because in the past we had far too many customer complaints of damaged items. So rather than continuing to ship small items that could fit in a padded envelope and have a risk of them arriving damaged, we took the intuitive to come up with a solution. That solution is we only ship items in boxes. Does it cost more than a padded envelope - sure. But you also don't have to worry about something ending up damaged. The later has seemed to work out better in terms of damage prevention.

Jason

Jason,

I just went ahead and navigated to your site as an experiment. While its not an extreme case, I would just like to prove my point.

I added an o-ring to my cart. Shipping came out to $10. Even if you are to ship it in a box instead of an envelope (I understand that you like to protect the product as much as possible), a small flat rate priority box is ~$5.

[mauromj]

And when I choose an Ohio zip over a Washington State zip, sure, the price does go down.

But, this is for USPS Priority FLAT RATE. Do those words mean anything?

I could spend more time finding flaws in your argument, but its not worth either of our time.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Jason,

I just went ahead and navigated to your site as an experiment. While its not an extreme case, I would just like to prove my point.

I added an o-ring to my cart. Shipping came out to $10. Even if you are to ship it in a box instead of an envelope (I understand that you like to protect the product as much as possible), a small flat rate priority box is ~$5.

And this has been beaten to death as well, the age old lets add the least expensive item I can find and have it shipped. Again the smallest box we ship is 6X6X2.

It costs about 7-10 dollars shipped.

We don't ship with flat rate boxes.

We have our own ECS boxes that we ship with.

I will not waste anymore time on this topic.

Jason

[redline380]

And this has been beaten to death as well, the age old lets add the least expensive item I can find and have it shipped. Again the smallest box we ship is 6X6X2.

And therein lies the problem. You guys would get way more business if you had more sounds shipping practices. The topic is beaten to death because the problem hasn't been fixed.

And no gripes from me in particular. I order from ECS, but I can assure you ECS would get more of my business if you could ship me that one o-ring for $2 instead of $10. Instead, I'll find alternative means of acquiring a product like that.

I'm really not bitching, and I don't think others should either. The marketplace is open, people can order from anywhere. But ECS could do better, and more business would follow. Saying "these are our shipping policies, don't like it then go pound sand" sounds like a bad business strategy to me.

[bknewtype]

don't buy anything cheap from ecs. problem solved. everytime I buy from ECS, I spend hundreds, and usually shipping only costs me 15$ or less ( ordered 2 sets of spacers, wheel bolts, and dip stick ). I recently ordered a HUGE ass diffuser and shipping was only $12

buying anything on the internet that's only 2$ or less is not worth it imo. go find it on amazon prime, or buy it the next round when u do some serious modding.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

buying anything on the internet that's only 2$ or less is not worth it imo. go find it on amazon prime, or buy it the next round when u do some serious modding.

Cheers.

Jason

[redline380]

don't buy anything cheap from ecs. problem solved.

This is what is wrong with America. You think because you solve the symptom, the problem is solved. No! The problem still exists, ECS will still charge you $10 to ship a single o-ring. And that IS a problem.

Honestly, considering the amount of griping over the problem, I am wiling to bet ECS is in some sort of shipping agreement that they can't get out of. I mean, if I ran a parts website, and some dude wanted to buy an o-ring, I would put it in a fricken envelope and ship it. Common sense and whatnot. I have a feeling that "Again the smallest box we ship is 6X6X2" is some sort of excuse or coverup because there is zero common sense. In the office I work at, we have multiple sized envelops. Some regular sized letters, some medium sized, and some large size. We don't send out paychecks in huge ass envelops.

Either that, or they do not care about small orders. "screw your single o-ring order" That is also a bad business practice because if you turn that guy away for something as stupid as an o-ring, he is less likely to go back and make that $1000 purchase of Schwaben tools that the margin is astronomical on.

[bknewtype]

This is what is wrong with America. You think because you solve the symptom, the problem is solved. No! The problem still exists, ECS will still charge you $10 to ship a single o-ring. And that IS a problem.

Honestly, considering the amount of griping over the problem, I am wiling to bet ECS is in some sort of shipping agreement that they can't get out of. I mean, if I ran a parts website, and some dude wanted to buy an o-ring, I would put it in a fricken envelope and ship it. Common sense and whatnot. I have a feeling that "Again the smallest box we ship is 6X6X2" is some sort of excuse or coverup because there is zero common sense. In the office I work at, we have multiple sized envelops. Some regular sized letters, some medium sized, and some large size. We don't send out paychecks in huge ass envelops.

no, what's wrong with America is that customers think they are always right.

yea, common sense is to put it in an envelope and ship it for the least amount spent. but what if the person never gets it? what if it gets lost? what if its pouring out rain and the envelope gets soaked and the item is ruined?

i don't even believe you can put insurance on packages u send via envelopes. in a business perspective, you would want to have the LEAST amount of hassle when dealing with shipping. ECS chose to use a more expensive way to ship to ensure products gets to the customer in 100% condition.

i do agree, that it is expensive when shipping cost more than the product, esp if its tiny. i am not arguing about that. but it is not only ECS that does this. many companies do. other vendors quoted me 7$ shipping for an oil drain washer which cost me 20 cents. im not mad about it, i just went and bought it at the audi dealer for 3$ picked up. end of story.

[redline380]

no, what's wrong with America is that customers think they are always right.

yea, common sense is to put it in an envelope and ship it for the least amount spent. but what if the person never gets it? what if it gets lost? what if its pouring out rain and the envelope gets soaked and the item is ruined?

i don't even believe you can put insurance on packages u send via envelopes. in a business perspective, you would want to have the LEAST amount of hassle when dealing with shipping. ECS chose to use a more expensive way to ship to ensure products gets to the customer in 100% condition.

i do agree, that it is expensive when shipping cost more than the product, esp if its tiny. i am not arguing about that. but it is not only ECS that does this. many companies do. other vendors quoted me 7$ shipping for an oil drain washer which cost me 20 cents. im not mad about it, i just went and bought it at the audi dealer for 3$ picked up. end of story.

Pretty much already covered this.

I'm really not bitching, and I don't think others should either. The marketplace is open, people can order from anywhere. But ECS could do better, and more business would follow. Saying "these are our shipping policies, don't like it then go pound sand" sounds like a bad business strategy to me.

What I am saying is that I think this is poor way to run a business. Is their way more efficient? Yes, there is no question. Ordering a $2 o ring would most likely cost ECS money considering the labor to acquire it and package it. But charging $10 to ship it in order to actually make money is, what I believe, the wrong answer. They could always just have a policy of refusing certain orders.

I haven't actually ordered anything from ECS in a long time. If it is a genuine part, I just get it locally, like you. It usually comes to the same price anyways if it is small. If it costs a little more, at least 9/10 times GAP has it cheaper. If it is something else, I really like ordering from Rock Auto. As I just showed in the B5 section, Bilstein shocks are $30 a piece cheaper from Rock Auto than ECS.

I will, however, order the ECS billet dipstick. Like I said, it is a free marketplace, and I usually chose to bring my business elsewhere. I'm not too impressed with ECS overall, but I do love their website and I enjoy browsing the clearance items.

[Let it snow]

ECS has those hard to find parts for our cars. I had to order windshield wiper clips and had to pay the shipping. The only other place to get them was the dealership an hour away. In my case I didn't mind the shipping because it saved me a 2 hour round trip and they had the parts I needed delivered to my front door.

[imnuts]

If you can do better, go for it. It is a free marketplace, so there is nothing stopping you. Since it is such a huge problem and major missed business opportunity from ECS, you should have no problem making boatloads of money in no time at all.

[walky_talky20]

Refusing to ship a small order is obviously not a solution. Sometimes you just need that thing and care not about the cost.

I think a really elegant solution to this whole thing would be a sort of "in-checkout suggestion box". It would be all like

"Hey Dude, we noticed you're buying a $2 o-ring, and it's costing you like $10 for shipping. That totally sucks and we feel you, bro! Check out these 6 nifty/cheap/nifty-AND-cheap things that you might like to add to your order that will make it ship FOR FREE. Like...today. Aren't we awesome? Yeah...we know."

The suggestions could come from your recent ECS searches (cookies FTW!), popular items for your "saved vehicles", stuff you bailed on last time, etc.

ECS: If you guys use this idea, I will only require a 2% royalty for all the add-on items you sell.

[DenverA4]

Well Mr. ECS, here is a real example from last week. I price shopped for four rotors and pads from several places, including ECS. I preferred ECS because I wanted to buy something else the other places did not have. But I could not do it. You wanted $56 shipping. Pelican shipped them in three boxes for a total of $12. And the parts were less expensive at Pelican. So I saved around $100 bucks. I still bought the other thing from you, which weighs not even a pound, and paid $15 shipping - more than Pelican charged to ship 50 pounds of steel in three boxes. And your only justification for other places being cheaper is distance. You know full well that is not the case. How far would I have be from Pelican for their shipping to increase from $12 to $56? It really doesn't matter whether your shipping costs reflect the true costs of shipping, as you say. It's all just dollars to the consumer. You either have competitive pricing on the total transaction or you don't. Mostly you don't.