Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Morphy shipping costs

What we need to know is the cost of the pump plate to know if your getting overcharged. Lets take into consideration packing time and material also.

I had a long talk with Dan Matthews also and Just remember guys he's Just an employee of Morphys now.

Now onto the subject at hand, I was there when the auction ended loading my stuff. After Dan backed up their big trailer to the back of the Holiday Inn, His son along with a number of other employees had to pack up all the internet buys to haul them back home before shipping. So IMO I'm sure part of the shipping costs are for handling, transportation to their shipping location and keeping it all in order while doing so.
All I know is I wouldn't want to be in charge of keeping track of all those items and who they had to go to in the end.
Do I think the costs are high, yes but that's going by what I ship when I sell stuff, so until someone tells me all what goes into their complete handling of items, who knows?
And again just my opinion

At least Ebay tells you what the shipping charges will be.

Jack Sim

Whether an auction house packages and sends the items or hires an outside company to do so, I believe the issue is similar to when you take your car to be serviced by the dealership. The cost is based on a derived formula not on reality. You may pay for fixed cost parts, but the formula includes a workbook number of hours for the type of work supposedly required and then multiplied by the hourly charge.

Such a shipping formula should be independent of final value of the item except as it applies to actual insurance cost.


Rarely do I participate in online auctions because the rate for the online participant is higher and then the shipping costs can become burdensome.

Good points Mike It's a lot of work dealing with packing and shipping and keeping orders right. If you don't like how much morphys shipping is don't ever buy a gun from out of state. I just bought one from an auction in Nevada. I paid $50 for them to ship it to the wrong place and get lost for two weeks and then another 15 for the ffl. So by the time I was done 65 for shipping and recieving cost and that was per gun on shipping no bulk shipping. Each gun had to be in its own box. Now that being said the auction house did say that upfront but they didn't know what shipping would cost you until after the auction. Thank god I didn't pay a lot for the gun

So back to the point, this is a 12" pump plate with a value of $1400. Morphy already collected $280.00 premium from me on top of that so one would think that an additional $51.00 is WAY over the top for a small sign. Something just seems out of kilter what then what choice do we have.

less each day... Morphy's also just bought VCA (Victorian Casino Antiques)

Mine was $36 to mail two thin painted signs. They are the mobilgas keyhole pump plate signs. About triple of what actual cost to ship is. But you have to think that they pay people to package, transport and then insurance. So high on price... I think so. Last auction my bill was triple and shipping was only $50ish and I had a globe. I don't understand the logic

BOYCOTT Online Auctions or keep bending over to get....

I talked to Dan and he got my shipping costs "corrected" to a much better rate
Thanks Dan

15 is cheap for a FFL transfer its 20 to 30 around here.

Option to paying shipping cost, go to the show.
Take one week off of work
12-13 hour drive, one way.
Food for the week
Hotels for the week
Cost of beer. ( Could be a lot)
Carry your auction buys home for free!

I understand the point of the post but for those of us that actually made the trip to Iowa, we spent a lot more going than most did on shipping cost I would think? It all comes down to how bad do you want the item. I for one wouldn't fuss to much about paying shipping insurance on your item. I know I want my buys covered.

Well Said Wes... Tom

I agree with Wes and have rationalized buying something at an on line auction for that reason. Having said that, I think some of the shipping costs are over the line. Same thing with the "internet premium." But, I get ticked when airlines charge more for a premium seat....Whatever that is.

With all due respect Wes,I don't think that's a fair comparison for an auction houses shipping cost.
That's like a cab company saying pay us $300 for what is normally a $30 fare,or else go buy a $30,000 brand new car..take it or leave it.

The argument against extraordinarily high shipping fees should be compared to what other Std. shippers are charging today.