MixMizer Injector® 2 Cycle Oil Mixing Tool

[trailblazerpete]

My Money Saving Tip for the Day...

I was able to buy a MixMiser from Amazon for $6.21 U.S. with FREE SHIPPING, free shipping was through a deal I got into before Christmas for trying out Amazon Prime for one month free of charge, this likely won't apply to any one else for the free shipping unless you also tried the Amazon Prime for a month..

This is the Supplier and part number from my order..
Hopkins MFG 2 Cycle Oil Mixing Tool #10111/6
Price: $6.21 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime

My original deal here was for $5.49 for the MixMaster and $12.00 to ship by UPS? to Canada.....

[Pablo]

These idiots sell it for $5.49: MixMizer link - support motorbicycling.com sponsors!

(just realized - you are in Canada, that's why the $12 shipping cost)

[BarelyAWake]

Blame UPS for the shipping and Amazon is the online equivalent of Walmart - they'll take a loss on some products to be able to undercut all other vendors.

I manage an eCatalog for a family owned local hardware store, and both UPS and Amazon are the bane of my existence. UPS borders on complete randomness with what they charge to ship and how long they'll take to do it. Amazon borders on violating MAP (minimum advertised price), anything not limited by MAP and costs less than a hundred bucks ya might as well not even bother to sell as the profit margin is so narrow, usually about 7% = $3.50 "profit" for a $50 product to compete. This hardly even covers packaging let alone any other overhead... like customer service.

As the retailer searches for ways to restore profitability, sales competence and expert servicing of product are the first things to get cut out of the offering in an effort to retain a reasonable return on investment on a low price sale. This leads to improper sales advice to consumers, inadequate service and poor adjustment of complex products. All of this lowers the satisfaction of the end consumer with the product. Ultimately, if the dealer sees the market price as too low to sustain in a reasonable manner, the product will simply be dropped from his offering altogether and the product becomes difficult to find. Low price, initially a positive for the consumer, can become so low that the consumer ends up not getting what he bargained for.

So with a one time purchase of a cheap plastic part, you may wish to save a few dollars and buy from Amazon - know that the situation is far more complex than what appears to be just profit hunger. As a private business, we go really out of our way to ensure customer satisfaction with extensive support and friendly, knowledgeable staff (whom even speak english OMG), repair/replacement of even un-warrantied items is not uncommon. The more the Amazon/Walmarts dominate the market - the less the smaller, more customer-focused business can compete and will stop even offering the smaller items for online sales.

*shrug* So it's up to you whom you wish to support. I would recommend not making any online purchases that costs less than say fifty dollars or so as simple S&H will negate any savings found online - for something like the MixMizer I would have waited till I could add it in with other items purchased from a retailer that actually cares and stands behind their products - or just getting it from a local hardware store (which may be the same thing lol).

In any case, a business has no control over what UPS charges... or even a clear idea what they may charge as it fluctuates constantly. Using your MixMizer example - if the part costs $6 and S&H to Canada costs $12, do you really expect a small business to take a $6 loss per item sold just so you can get free S&H? Note this isn't $6 less profit - it's spending $6 to give your product away.

There's a LOT more to your money than just getting a shiny plastic thing, just as there's a lot more to "saving" a few dollars than just buying the cheapest thing you can find. Amazon depends on consumer ignorance - be smart and think what you're supporting before you buy.


/end rant

[trailblazerpete]

Not to undermine the small business mentality, I also had a small air filter I grouped with the first order I was going to purchase, that turned out to be a total of $17.00 U.S.to ship, Amazon also had the option of shipping the MixMiser by USPS, 3-5 day delivery for $3.95, UPS was never mentioned, last I heard were still in a recession, I still have workshare days and a reduced income, I have to shop for the best price, be it Walmart or Amazon, its about the bottom line, the more I save, the more cash I have available for other purchases, there's a reason I'm tinkering with Bicycles instead of Cars and Motorcycles...... I would suggest any Business to look into alternative shipping arrangements to be a little more competitive.....

The Single Working Person with a Morgage and Bills...

[Gareth]

(edited to add that I started typing before the last response, I type slow sometimes. I will leave the post as written regardless)

Since we have gotten to simple ranting....and I am bored...I will play devils advocate.

BTW...it seems the original poster did his thread more to "call out" a vendor and not to pass along a good deal. The information is great, the delivery is a more than a bit rude....if I misinterpreted I apologize.

I will also pay a premium to support good online vendors that offer good customer service, as well as reference people to them. Those are intangibles that every person needs to decide what the premium is worth for themselves.


However...


This country was built on free enterprise. If you cannot compete, someone else will be along who can and will. Like it or not, the internet has opened up access to people and options. Were it not for those options, our little cottage industry would not even exist. On the flip side, you now have to compete with the big boys.

On the mixing thing in this thread..

It was a good deal, and he was passing it along. Some people don't have easy access to a local establishment to buy from. When I lived in rural NC, almost all my purchases were mail ordered. It just made sense as driving 30 minutes to see if a retailer might have what I needed was impractical. Likewise, buying one small item such as this gets impractical when the cost of shipping gets factored in.

SBP, has fair prices....even better than the retailer that this gentleman found. If you had more items to order it would be wise to get this from them. However, it just cannot be seen as prudent to give loyalty at the cost of paying three times as much for the same item when it is available with free second day shipping on Amazon Prime.

Amazon prime is great. Free second day shipping on a LOT of items.

Look at the unemployed thread on this forum. A lot of us are not working for the first time in our lives. When you lose a good paying job paying $12 more to get a necessary item is a *BIG* deal...regardless of who you might wish to support in the end you have to eat. I see passing along a practical item at a good price as a nice gesture.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by trailblazerpete

"BTW...it seems the original poster did his thread more to "call out" a vendor and not to pass along a good deal. The information is great, the delivery is a more than a bit rude....if I misinterpreted I apologize."

My intention was to let people know where thay could make a purchase for a usefull item at a better price...no vendor mentioned... You should apologise....

I believe I did. I will again. I am sorry to have mis-interpreted the intent of your post. I did not wish to tarnish a reputation that was not in need of being impugned.

[BarelyAWake]

o_O

Geez guys, I was jus' sayin what I thought as was everyone else - no harm no foul.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by BarelyAWake

o_O

Geez guys, I was jus' sayin what I thought as was everyone else - no harm no foul.

Yep, you sometimes lose the tone of conversations on the web. For the record I love good civil debates. Life is far too long to be anything other than amused by Al Gores interwebz...

[Pablo]

First of all, please check the USPS Priority Mail cost to Canada. That's where the $12 comes from. I too think it's a rip-off for a small piece of plastic. I'm sure Amazon has some deal worked out in Canada to ship locally. But the OP doesn't point out that shipping for the same item in the USA is $2.50. While it's not FREE, it's competitive and not outrageous.

Now here's some interesting facts. The OP never contacted us directly, to see if he could question the shipping cost or even work something out. OR maybe our shipping rate table had an error. Why he uses the word "buddy", not sure - but he just edited that out of his post.

People who buy from us know we are not a shipping rip off company. We ship 15 pound shift kits full of extra parts for $27 to Canada. Go to UPS and see what a 15 pound package from 98019 USA to Kitchener, Ontario will cost. And in the rare cases when the shipping seems haywire - we either refund the difference OR arrange a direct payment with lower rate. Contacting us directly could have helped.

I did some checking searching for "$6.21 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime*" and didn't see it. And here is what Amazon says when I search for "MixMizer Injector": "$6.33 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25." (*Prime = $79 annual fee, although before Christmas they seem to have one month free membership.) Some of you USA guys see what you come up with. But to me this not the same as free shipping.

All this said, I went in and altered out table just a hair. Still not cheap, $3.50 in Canada for USPS. But better than $12 and certainly not a ripoff.

[Pablo]

Also $5.58 + $7.84 shipping from Farm and Home Center.