Vectis shipping costs

olisuds

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I mentioned this as a comment in another thread but was keen to get others thoughts and experiences.

On the last Vectis auction I lucked out on a number of items I was after due to either bad timing with work and a couple of instances where bids froze.

I ended up with just a single loose figure for £60 which I overpaid on due to the screen freezing whilst submitting my bid. I got the invoice with a 30% (£18) fee added for bidding through invaluable. Was anyone else aware the fee had gone up to 30%? So already I've got my back up.

Then on top of this they charged £10.15 for postage! For a single loose figure!? When I queried this I was told that they could post untracked for £7.30. I'm very surprised how they can charge so much for shipping a single loose figure on top of the 30% fees. I mean you could post it tracked to Australia for that price. I looked into Royal Mail postage costs. They charge about £4.50 for a small parcel tracked and signed and about £3.50 untracked. I presume they buy packing materials in bulk so these postage charges are really unjustified in my opinion.

Despite the ridiculous postage charges it's been the best part of 2 weeks and it still hasn't arrived.

The lessons I've learnt from this are: (1) Don't bid on invaluable unless you have money to burn. (2) Don't bother bidding on single small items - the postage costs just aren't worth it.
 

theforceuk

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I've not had a shipping invoice yet, last time it was £10 I think for 1 MOC and was very well packed. Their fees are eye watering though. :shock:
 

olisuds

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theforceuk said:
I've not had a shipping invoice yet, last time it was £10 I think for 1 MOC and was very well packed. Their fees are eye watering though. :shock:

Yeah £10 on a MOC is ok, but on a loose figure it's crazy.

If you charge more than £5 postage for a loose figure on eBay you'd be accused of price gouging!
 

theforceuk

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olisuds said:
theforceuk said:
I've not had a shipping invoice yet, last time it was £10 I think for 1 MOC and was very well packed. Their fees are eye watering though. :shock:

Yeah £10 on a MOC is ok, but on a loose figure it's crazy.

If you charge more than £5 postage for a loose figure on eBay you'd be accused of price gouging!

I agree, they must have a minimum charge policy. They have to pack everything up, must be labour intesive. Why that's not included in the 25% though? They take a fee frpm the seller as well!
 

welshwookie

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My previous 2 carded figures were £12.00
Obviously different values adds to different costs for insurance , but I cant work out an average.
But as stated they do pack well thankfully
 

olisuds

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theforceuk said:
olisuds said:
theforceuk said:
I've not had a shipping invoice yet, last time it was £10 I think for 1 MOC and was very well packed. Their fees are eye watering though. :shock:

Yeah £10 on a MOC is ok, but on a loose figure it's crazy.

If you charge more than £5 postage for a loose figure on eBay you'd be accused of price gouging!

I agree, they must have a minimum charge policy. They have to pack everything up, must be labour intesive. Why that's not included in the 25% though? They take a fee frpm the seller as well!

Yeah but you'd imagine they are packing a large volume of packages and buy packing material in bulk.

Perhaps you're right that they have a minimal charge.
 

Vectisauctions

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Jan 22, 2015
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Hi All,

I just wanted to hopefully help with a few points raised. It is nice to hear the packaging received is good in the main.

Vectis have a minimum postage charge, this is made up of the courier charges plus packing materials and time. Being a large organisation we can not charge per item as would selling single lots perhaps on ebay. We have a contract with several couriers to try and select the best way for different sizes and weight of items (and destination) to achieve the best price for you. Postage is not charged per lot so if one lot is £10.50, 5 lots is NOT £52.50 but may be £20 or £22 as completed on weight. The first lot sent will always include the minimum charge so the more items you send the cheaper it gets. There are other options to explore which have been mentioned -
1. Collection in person from Head Office- free
2. Collection at Oxford Office - free, but this does have to be requested and depends upon the 'shuttle' van, generally weekly sometimes more.
3. Collection at an exhibition - generally free but might be a charge for a large quantity, again needs to be pre-arranged.
4. Collection by third party - pre-arranged.
5. Pick up by a courier arranged by buyer. Looking at this facility, I would say you will find Vectis prices VERY good value compared to almost all the pick up couriers.

We have a team of packers, who work constantly to shipping items all over the world, several thousand per week. We do not like to rest on our laurels and do listen to suggestions from customers with regard to packaging, particularly Star Wars and Action Figures and we have altered this to hopefully improve things. We are working on a new packing system to try and optimise the procedure but would still like to hear any other feedback or suggestions you may have. Please email me directly on [email protected]

:)
 

olisuds

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Jo, thanks for your response on this.

The problem is firstly that the minimum charge (particularly for small items like loose figures) is too high. I was charged more than twice the cost of shipping by Royal Mail. The result is that it's not worth bidding on single small items such as loose figures.

Secondly I agree that it is far cheaper to bid on the Vectis site but most people bid through invaluable due to the problems they experience bidding through the Vectis site.

Anyway I do appreciate you taking the time to reply and explain the situation.
 
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