MPC 1000 End Caps. Shipping cost is unbelievable!

I broke off one of my end caps. I'd like to replace it. I found an online store called mpcstuff.com

The store is in the USA and I'm in Canada. The problem is that they are going to charge $20 for shipping. Seems a little steep, just to send a piece of plastic a couple miles across the border.

Does anybody know a cheaper alternative to mpcstuff.com? Or a Canadian distributor that won't charge as much for shipping or the part?

This is what I'm trying to get my hands on:

http://www.mpcstuff.com/mpc1000-end-cap ... black.html

I'd say get some black krylon spray paint at a hobby store and DIY. Although I'm as interested as you are in a cheap alternative to mpcstuff since one of my endcaps is cracked.

shipping rates from mpcstuff have been a deal-breaker for me as well in the past..... even within the USA they have a set shipping cost no matter how small the item is... so if all you wanna order is a tiny plastic knob or whatever, and shipping is gonna be more than the item itself, it's not worth it... why should they charge $8 shipping or whatever for a small part which could be placed in an envelope with a single 35 cent stamp and make it just the same... it's kinda ridiculous to say the least. shipping costs definitely need to be adjusted on that site...

Honestly if you have ever had to ship stuff in a business you'd know that the expensive part is not the packaging, it's the time to do it and get to the post office. I wouldn't get outta bed for less than $8 either, and it makes more sense if you order a bunch of things, if you only need one, then there you go. You can always try other sources.

I have no ties to MPCStuff besides being a very satisfied customer, even had a few small problems and dude was a stand up guy and handled it well.

crossings wrote:why should they charge $8 shipping or whatever for a small part which could be placed in an envelope with a single 35 cent stamp and make it just the same... it's kinda ridiculous to say the least. shipping costs definitely need to be adjusted on that site...

Sorry. We use flat rate shipping due to the amount of different items on our site, some large some small. We dont have the capibility to weigh every item and make exact pricing for shipping. In a lot of cases we lose money shipping and in some cases we make a few bucks.

Every year shipping rates go up with USPS, UPS and FED EX. We cannot ship the items with stamp because we have to have tracking confirmation numbers. If we dont have delivery confirmation and you dont get your item we are on the hook for it. So a 35 cent stamp (doesn't exist) wouldn't do the trick.

Honestly, $7.50 for shipping is NOT a lot compared to most NON free shipping websites. Afterall those websites that offer cheaper shipping just add the shipping cost they want into the item price and offer free or discounted shipping.

Our shipping rates are as good as they can be. They have been the same for the past 7 years despite the raise in prices on a yearly basis by UPS FED EX and USPS.

breakdizzle wrote:I broke off one of my end caps. I'd like to replace it. I found an online store called mpcstuff.com

The store is in the USA and I'm in Canada. The problem is that they are going to charge $20 for shipping. Seems a little steep, just to send a piece of plastic a couple miles across the border.

Does anybody know a cheaper alternative to mpcstuff.com? Or a Canadian distributor that won't charge as much for shipping or the part?

This is what I'm trying to get my hands on:

http://www.mpcstuff.com/mpc1000-end-cap ... black.html

Same goes for outside the USA. Prices are more expensive to ship internationally even if it is just Canada.

Unfortunately, either way the endcaps are on backorder right now.

Sorry guys I wish we could help in this situation but shipping prices are based on what we pay to ship things, packaging costs, and actual labor to ship. Not to mention (especially with international) the overall risk that an item gets lost or broken in transit which happens more often than you would think. All of which we cannot change.

I'm not trying to hate on MPCStuff.com, our choices are limited for certain parts and MPCStuff provides a necessary service. But really, you don't have time to "weigh your own items and make exact pricing?" Okay, but doesn't the post office do that for you? Have you shipped the vast majority of your products before? Is it an unreasonable burden on your business to glance at the shipping receipts and revise your asking shipping cost to reflect reality?

Lampdog wrote:

mpcstuff.com wrote:websites that offer cheaper shipping just add the shipping cost they want into the item price and offer free or discounted shipping.

I've noticed sellers on Amazon are NOTORIOUS for this.

Crazy prices on there

When you buy something online...

Item price + shipping costs (if any) = THE PRICE.

If you are not willing to pay THE PRICE, that's cool.

But think about the time you'll spend searching for a better price.

For example you spend 3 hours online searching, and your time is 'worth' $10 an hour. You've spent $30, trying to save $15. I'd rather just pay THE PRICE to get what I need, when I need it.

If money is really tight, and you can't pay THE PRICE, just consider the time, costs and inconvenience incurred while searching. Also consider buying several items from MPC Stuff in a single purchase to make the flat rate shipping cost work in your favour, as it will for many people. Otherwise, Ebay might help you out, but when?

Me, I bought some MPC3000 pad sensors from MPC Stuff earlier this year, with shipping to the UK. Considering all that I've just said, it was a good price. Mikes a cool guy and helps many of us to maintain these machines at reasonable cost, with excellent pre/ post sale advice and support for FREE.

...or those guys that sell gear through ebay buy-it-now listings for $1 but $350 shipping and sh!t like that [in order to avoid ebay taking their cut]...

Thanks to everyone who replied. Your help is greatly appreciated. A lot of good points have been made. Taking all this into consideration I got to go with Mpcstuff.com... at the end of the day, nobody else is selling this part and they aren't in Canada. All other solutions would cost money and take time... and time is also money.

Hey Mpcstuff.com... Any time frame for when end-caps will be back in stock?

smoothcriminal wrote:But really, you don't have time to "weigh your own items and make exact pricing?" Okay, but doesn't the post office do that for you?

No, the post office will not come to our shop and weigh each of our items for us If you meant the boxes we ship, no they still dont, we do and add the labels to them for shipment. Knowing how much a box weighs after the fact wont help us when shipping is already charged.

smoothcriminal wrote:Have you shipped the vast majority of your products before? Is it an unreasonable burden on your business to glance at the shipping receipts and revise your asking shipping cost to reflect reality?

Each box normally goes with more than one item. So each item would have to be figured out separately including the size of the standard box it would usually go in. With our small staff we would have to close down for weeks to weigh, add to spreadsheet and put 10,000 plus spare part weights in our online ordering system.

If we did this our shipping rates would go up, each item would have to be treated like it was being shipped separately (with no other items in the box) to get the right weight. So if an item weighs 1 ounce ,but requires 8 ounces worth of box and packing, we would have to put it in the system as 9 oz to ship to make sure to cover ourselves when someone just orders the one single item. If you ordered 10 of them it would be 90 oz in our system and charge you for a 6 lbs box that was only actually 18 ounces. We go through this problem constantly with Pioneer as they use a weighed part system. We just got a 2lb box the other day from them that said 26lbs on the label and we were charged nearly $40 for shipping. All because we had ordered 26 potentiometers. I wish they charged us $7.50

In short, guys that are ordering one button would benefit if we weighed each item but any order with more than one part would suffer in paying for the box weight each time.
So when you are geting a $3.00 button it seems excessive but its just how it has to be.

Again, $7.50 is NOT a bad price for shipping, trust me (my wife buys things constantly online) , as its not just the actual price it costs the post office to deliver. We have to get it to the post office, we have to pack it, and we spend TONS of money on packing supplies.

So please understand. I think some people are a bit skewed by seeing so many sites with free or $2.00 shipping. We would rather be upfront about it rather than give free shipping to make you feel good inside, but then add $7.50 to the price of the part.

breakdizzle wrote:
Hey Mpcstuff.com... Any time frame for when end-caps will be back in stock?

Not sure yet. Akai is very slow with backorders and these have been gone for months now. Shoot me an email at [email protected] so I have your email addy and try to email you when they are back in.