Really Mckenzie????

Jeff, I had to laugh at the hypocracy in yor poke at me, but I have to thank you for opening the door. You are a prime example. What do YOU charge to mount a 30 inch coho? I charge $20 an inch and I recall you laughing at me for that. It was implied that you carge well over twice that amount. Tell me again about "gouging" customers.

I also want to know about this "FREE" shipping from Amazon. Since when? Oh I don't pay shipping on certain items but only because I'm a "PRIME MEMBERSHIP" holder. In real life, that means I pay Amazon $100 each and every year I expect to enjoy this "free" shipping and handling fee. Some items don't fall under Prime exemptions.

Additionally, Amazon and UPS have a pretty sweet agreement. Usually I get my Amazon order with my regular driver, but it's not unusual to have it delivered by a second truck running the same route.

That's business however, and personally, when I have an order as small as described here, I know the "rules". I'd have either specifically requested USPS, or been prepared to pay for my lack of planning.

Some of you look for reasons to piss and moan. Others just lookfor my posts so they can get a few cheap shots in. I can only imagine the psychological damage having to read " "Trump -2016," written in chalk on a sidewalk. If I were treated so cruelly, I'd never orderder from McKenzie again. But alas, it's like buying hand tools. I know that if I want a tool guaranteed for life, I go to Sears and buy Craftsman. If I want but for a one-time job, I go buy the Boatpeople specialist Harbor Freight.

 

George, my friend , harbor freight tools has been my go to for a while now.
I have one sawsall that's two years old, paid 25.00 bucks for it.
I know it has done 50 gator heads @ an average of $300.00.
If it plays out tomorrow, I am headed to Harbor Freight for another !!!!
On the other hand I have a Dewalt jigsaw 4 years old , hardly used, payed about 150.00 for it. It doesn't work today.
Some times cheap works !

 

George, I wish you were right- for your sake. I have no idea where you dream up this stuff :? If you are getting 20 per inch, my hat is off to you, (I would love to see my posted comments to the contrary) I only charge 13.00 more than you do? The "gouging dumb customers" comment, came from you...your post... bragging how you bought a rock from McKenzie and were charged $350 for shipping and how you LOL... made your customer eat a $750.00 dollar rock! Sounds like a line form the movie Dumb and Dumber?

Good grief, I think you've blown a fuse or two.

 

Haha,
George, sorry but I'm going to have jump in.
I think even you would admit Jeff is putting out 3-4 times the quality you are.
Who's gouging who?
Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Lol

 

I have to admit Perca, this is entertaining. Good point DFJ... Looks as if I need to raise my prices...

But the thread is about FAIR SHIPPING PRICES not FREE! 8)

 

Quality is decided by the buyer and though I'd certainly agree Jeff's clients are getting one helluva deal, I'm not holding a gun to anyone's head.

I never forced the client to foot the bill on the rock. I explained that I could build one but it would be heavier and wouldn't offer the cleaner lines afforded by the cast rock. He chose to go that way and understood I wasn't going to eat that extra costs. He made the choice. And Mckenzie makes s rock better than I could as well. It's their money and they choose howcto spend it. I'm not going to pay them for using my services. It's called the price of doing business

 

It's to bad you have to make up smack to support your agenda.

 

Jeff, you tend to be the lip artist. I don't need makeup.

 

I have to laugh when I read some of this stuff. Most times I am with George, but on money matters I am usually NOT. George lives in some Bizarroland where a house costs the same everywhere, rent is the same everywhere products cost the same anywhere, paying the highest possible cost means better...etc etc.

I pay ZERO shipping 90% of the time on Amazon and I don't pay for the ridiculous "prime" service. Most of the largest Musical Instrument companies have FREE SHIPPING. 90% of WalMart.com ships free. Just bought a microwave, underwear, and some vacuum filters....FREE shipping....and NO, the prices for the items were the SAME as if I went to a retail store...even better most of the time. It's not some SHOCKING occurrence. It is the NEW NORMAL.

McKenzie is a good company, good products and great service. I like to use them...but their prices and shipping are the highest in the business, FACT. I KNOW this going in when I use them. I am not going to make up BAD LOGIC to defend them. They know it too. Most times I will use them over the cheaper alternative because when I order my stuff will be on my doorstep in a day.

 

Actually Jim, I don't live in Bizarroland but neither do I live in Fantasy Land. Do you REALLY REALLY believe you get "free shipping"? REALLY? I do a bit of wholesale buying from time to time. I know that as a dealer in those products I get a "40% discount" on those items I buy. I sell a few items to taxidermy supply companies and they expect (no, REQUIRE) that they get a 40% discount. Now I could claim that when I buy, I'm getting "free shipping" I suppose, but nobody rides for free. No business that I'm familiar with, anyplace on this planet, could long survive if they sold a product for what they paid for it and then gave the customer "free shipping". Like the joke of the guy selling watermelons. He bought them for a dollar and sold them for a dollar and figured the only way to make a profit would be to buy a bigger truck to haul more watermelons.

 

Actually, yes.

Black Microwave at Wal-Mart - $52 wife wanted WHITE Same Microwave Wal-Mart.com in WHITE - $52 shipped to MY DOOR for free...total bill $52, so is that NOT FREE SHIPPING?

Yes, sure WalMart has it figured in there somewhere but it cost me the SAME shipped or bought at site. I only care about the bottom line not esoteric philosophy.

Sweetwater ships PA SPEAKERS...large items that weigh quite a bit...at a lower cost then I can by them in a store...to my door FOR FREE...AND I don't have to pay sales tax.

So despite the fact that THEY might figure it in...I cannot get it for any less..anywhere...so not only is it cheaper, the posted PRICE is what you pay, not PRICE + shipping. That YOU have a buddy who can get you a deal doesn't mean a thing to ME unless I can get the same deal.

On to AMAZON. I need certain shirts for work. I can get them on Amazon for $10 a piece less than I can buy them at WalMart....AND pay 0 sales tax...and they SHIP for FREE. The fact that the shirt company has "shipping costs" figured in doesn't mean a thing to the bottom line as a consumer.

My wife is in charge of specialty shipping for a HUGE multi-national company. When she does our taxes she steams looking at the shipping charges from certain companies.


The old adage about not telling me the warm liguid running down my back is RAIN applies here. Your argument sounds like government logic.

 

LMAO. I have some swampland I'll sell real cheap. NO ONE WORKS FOR FREE. I worked in a furniture store for about 10 years in another life. Furniture coming in was marked up 200%. Sale days came, they reduced the markup to 100% over cost and included FREE DELIVERY. It's great for business when you have a gullible public that doesn't understand the root issue in business. You buy cheap and sell extra high. When it doesn't sell extra high, you reduce your profit margin slightly and convince the buyers they're getting something extra for FREE.

Even Walmart works like that. They order in bulk and demand even a lower wholesale price than other smaller businesses get. This allows them to undercut the prices mom&pop charged and then work against their own profit margin so that guys like me and you can get our products at prices that can't be matched by local merchants. AND WE GO THERE. Then we lament that mom&pop no longer have a store and we can't get either the service nor the larger selection they once ordered.

 

So what you are telling me is that McKenzie is marking everything up 200% and THEN on top of it they are charging high shipping? Makes me want to re-think my business practices. Fortunately for them their service and selection is second to none.

Mom & Pop needed to wake up. LOSS OF SELECTION at wal mart!?! The are at least 6 pages of microwaves at approx 40 per page. I don't remember Mom & Pop ever offering me 240 microwaves to choose from at the store : I can go online and have my choice of 1000's of guitars all shipped to my door for free. Mom & Pop would have had 5 to choose from, gouged me and THEN turned around and give me some kind of BS story when I needed their assistance.

It's like the local contractor's complaining about the Amish building better, faster and cheaper...somehow they don't understand why I would not want to pay THEM triple to build something like I DON'T want it, take my money and disappear before finishing and not delivering on completion dates?? All because this is how they always did it.

 

What does your swampland have to do with how much somebody pays for shipping. You can spin it anyway you want George but your argument doesn't hold water. If you are dumb enough to think it is ok to gouge people on shipping charges then you are part of the problem. I simply look else where for merchandise. Alot of the stuff we use is cheaper if you look around. I can get about 10 times the amount of Hi-fiber for molding shipped from Cali to my door cheaper than i can get a small bag from the taxidermy supplier. And that is just one example.

 

Its interesting that after 5 pages of remarks no one has demonstrated that the guy crying in the original post was overcharged, gouged, ripped off et. by Mckenzie.... :-\......................the other day I ordered 2 bear rug shells from them.....I was smart enough to throw in 25 lbs of mache that I really didn't need right now, but since it would not increase the shipping charge due to dimensional shipping charges by UPS I was smart enough to do that.

 

I think this question is in need of being asked. Why do taxidermists piss and moan about customers that price shop, but in that same exact breath do the same damn thing?
Of coarse McKenzie marks up their prices. Why shouldn't they? They are in business to make money. Aren't you? Yes, many things can be acquired from other sources at a savings but, you have to spend the time and effort to find those suppliers. "Time is money". McKenzie offers pretty much a one stop shop. Convenience costs more.
Shipping costs money regardless of who is doing it.
People keep comparing McKenzie to Amazon or Walmart , that is a ridiculous comparison. I'm sure the McKenzie investors would like it to be as large of a corporation as those other 2 but, it isn't. The demand isn't there. We as taxidermists are a relatively small market. The volume of sales isn't there to help offset the cost of shipping. Taxidermy suppliers have to make money or they cannot offer their goods to us. No business can stay afloat, for long without making a profit on just about all ventures, I know mine can't. This includes packing and shipping. There is plenty of overhead in this area from employee wages and all that goes with that, like unemployment and workman's comp to boxes and tape and labels and the facilities to accomplish this.

 

Not to mention them having to cover the costs of having to deal with whining taxidermists. Be thankful people for the ease of dealing with this company.

 

Like I said earlier in the thread, they do it for the same reason anyone does something....because they can. They have a ton of leverage. I have no better option...I'm a loyal customer.

Here's the problem. Perceived dishonesty/gouging. If I pay more for a McKenzie manikin than brand x, I know that up front. When I find out after the fact that I spent SIGNIFICANTLY more for shipping than ANY other vendor I do business with, both professional and personal, I feel taken advantage of. Kind of like our customer would if they showed up to pick up their mount and you added $300 to their mount for the shipping on their rock without telling them that up front. Simple as that. Will I take my business else where? Nope. Would I consider it if another company had everything I wanted? Absolutely!