Shipping Charges -- OUCH!

Greatgardens · October 7, 2021

If you've bought most anything recently, you are aware of the price increases that everyone is passing on to consumers. One of these is seed vendors' shipping charges. I can't say that they are not justified, but these increases especially hurt retirees (and I suspect there are quite a few here at T'ville). I'm certainly going to be more careful about combining seed varieties and making substitutes. It's also another good reason to cut back how may items I want to grow. And it makes seed swapping an even more attractive proposition.

Labradors2 · October 7, 2021

Tell me about it. I just bought one packet of tomato seeds from a vendor here in Canada. I don't often buy one packet of anything, but it was a new-to-me variety that I just HAD to have, and they were on sale, which suggested that they were about to run out, and they didn't have much else in stock. For some reason, I thought that shipping was included (and it would have been, had I lived around the corner from the supplier), but apparently not, then they added tax on top of everything.

Hooray for swaps!
Linda

PaulF · October 7, 2021

With a degree in economics, the first thing taught was that ALL costs of doing business were taken into consideration when deciding how much to charge for products. Cost of production includes labor, shipping, materials and (get this one) taxes.

Cost minus sales equals profit. Easy, right? Someone who knows nothing about the real world says sellers need to ignore the tax portion of cost so that consumers will have costs kept low while tax collections will get higher and pay for government stuff.

In the real world, tax increases on the seller equals higher prices to maintain profit and increased production costs are passed on to the consumer. You can say the lower income people will not be taxed, but increased prices due to taxing producers is actually a tax on the consumer.

Someone needs to go back to Econ 101. I like trades too, but I also like to deal with those in the business of selling seeds. Consumers just have to realize what is going on.

Labradors2 · October 7, 2021

Well, Paul, how would you like to buy from this company, Vesey's Seeds. (Which also sells plants and bulbs).

Their catalog announces 50% off, so you place a large order for bulbs online. The full price comes up, then the shipping, then the 13% tax. Only at the very end, do they deduct the 50% off the price of the bulbs.

I don't much like paying tax on shipping, and I certainly don't like paying tax on something I haven't bought. They lost me as a customer.

Linda

VirginiaClay · October 7, 2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Their catalog announces 50% off, so you place a large order for bulbs online. The full price comes up, then the shipping, then the 13% tax. Only at the very end, do they deduct the 50% off the price of the bulbs.

I don't much like paying tax on shipping, and I certainly don't like paying tax on something I haven't bought. They lost me as a customer.

I sympathize; it's never fun when you think you're getting a good deal and end up feeling ripped off. However, vendors don't have any discretion in how they calculate and collect sales tax (or for you, gst/hst/pst, I guess); it's all spelled out in the regulations.

I took a quick look at Canadian sales tax law, and it looks to me like Canadian vendors are required to collect tax on the shipping fees they charge to Canadian customers. So, I think Vesey's did that correctly on your order.

However, for the bulbs themselves, the law says they should have collected tax on the price after discounts. If they charged you tax on the full price, they did it incorrectly, and you could contact them and request a refund. If they refuse to refund the excess tax to you, you could report them to the tax authorities, if you have free time and care about the principle of the thing.

I like Veseys and have bought bean seeds from them that I can't find elsewhere. If they sold tomato seeds to US customers, I might buy from them more often. Still, I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

rxkeith · October 8, 2021

the last order i placed with sandhill preservation for packets of seeds, the flat rate
for mailing was $3.00. that is regardless of the size of the order for seeds mind you.
i haven't bought bulbs or such like by mail in awhile.

keith

PaulF · October 7, 2021

For me, the bottom line is the bottom line. Total price compared to value and price paid and what you could get from another source for the same product of equal value. Careful shopping or loyalty to product source. Sellers have a point of diminishing returns whenever they raise prices. I will my best to help my choices to remain in business.

PaulF · October 8, 2021

Sandhill's rate is the best and seed prices are very low, too. Quality high, prices low.

zipcode · October 12, 2021

I find the amateur seed sites to have nice shipping rates, here in Europe at least. By amateur I mean sites that are operated by 1-2 people and they really have mostly tomatoes and maybe a couple of other things like peppers or eggplant, OP varieties that are mostly grown by themselves. (something like tatiana for example). Usually their shipping rates are between 1 and 1.5 euro, which is a bit more than a letter costs to post, so a good shipping fee.
If you want some hybrids, you're out of luck though, not to mention the extreme cost of those, it use to be 10 seed in a pack, now the standard is 6 or 8.

October 7, 2021	#1
Greatgardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,124	Shipping Charges -- OUCH! If you've bought most anything recently, you are aware of the price increases that everyone is passing on to consumers. One of these is seed vendors' shipping charges. I can't say that they are not justified, but these increases especially hurt retirees (and I suspect there are quite a few here at T'ville). I'm certainly going to be more careful about combining seed varieties and making substitutes. It's also another good reason to cut back how may items I want to grow. And it makes seed swapping an even more attractive proposition.

October 7, 2021	#3
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,294	With a degree in economics, the first thing taught was that ALL costs of doing business were taken into consideration when deciding how much to charge for products. Cost of production includes labor, shipping, materials and (get this one) taxes. Cost minus sales equals profit. Easy, right? Someone who knows nothing about the real world says sellers need to ignore the tax portion of cost so that consumers will have costs kept low while tax collections will get higher and pay for government stuff. In the real world, tax increases on the seller equals higher prices to maintain profit and increased production costs are passed on to the consumer. You can say the lower income people will not be taxed, but increased prices due to taxing producers is actually a tax on the consumer. Someone needs to go back to Econ 101. I like trades too, but I also like to deal with those in the business of selling seeds. Consumers just have to realize what is going on. __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

October 7, 2021	#4
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,895	Well, Paul, how would you like to buy from this company, Vesey's Seeds. (Which also sells plants and bulbs). Their catalog announces 50% off, so you place a large order for bulbs online. The full price comes up, then the shipping, then the 13% tax. Only at the very end, do they deduct the 50% off the price of the bulbs. I don't much like paying tax on shipping, and I certainly don't like paying tax on something I haven't bought. They lost me as a customer. Linda Last edited by Labradors2; October 7, 2021 at 12:32 PM.

October 8, 2021	#6
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	the last order i placed with sandhill preservation for packets of seeds, the flat rate for mailing was $3.00. that is regardless of the size of the order for seeds mind you. i haven't bought bulbs or such like by mail in awhile. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

October 7, 2021	#7
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,294	For me, the bottom line is the bottom line. Total price compared to value and price paid and what you could get from another source for the same product of equal value. Careful shopping or loyalty to product source. Sellers have a point of diminishing returns whenever they raise prices. I will my best to help my choices to remain in business. __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

October 12, 2021	#9
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	I find the amateur seed sites to have nice shipping rates, here in Europe at least. By amateur I mean sites that are operated by 1-2 people and they really have mostly tomatoes and maybe a couple of other things like peppers or eggplant, OP varieties that are mostly grown by themselves. (something like tatiana for example). Usually their shipping rates are between 1 and 1.5 euro, which is a bit more than a letter costs to post, so a good shipping fee. If you want some hybrids, you're out of luck though, not to mention the extreme cost of those, it use to be 10 seed in a pack, now the standard is 6 or 8.