Having worked with fulfilment houses in the past what you tend to find is that the UPS competitors $37.50 service either can only handle limited volumes, offers no delivery time guarantees, offers no tracking, won't provide shipping insurance for the goods, or doesn't reach certain areas you want to ship to.
The main problem is that although they are shipping 100's of units they being shipped as individual packages going to different end destinations, which means that each one has to go through a check-in, track, and check-out procedure, and so carriers tend not to offer any sizeable discounts. I'm sure we could all find better deals for shipping, but Brightstar have to use what's best for all of their destinations, and hence UPS/FedeX/DHL tend to end up getting the job. Al. Eric wrote: > But obviously, like others pointed out, "Shipping by a UPS competitor > is $37.50 and with a bit of research the most that would be charged > extra for processing all conceivable tariffs is another $25." > > Given the distribution company are shipping at least hundreds of > units, they would know the delivery prices better than we do. > They should be able to offer equivalent and/or cheaper delivery > service than UPS. Or at least offer an alternative for people to > choose, especially when the faster shipping doesn't really help > anyway. > > > "it also said something about it taking 3 business days and I thought > that's pretty cool... > but what it really meant was that Brighstarcorp is taking 3 days to > place their order at UPS... had they just placed the order on Monday > as you'd expect, I would have it by now... but somehow they waited > until Wednesday to place the order at UPS.... That's ridiculous " > http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss/browse_thread/thread/893ddde4dbdf066b?hl=en > > Cheers > Eric > Portable Electronics Ltd > www.hdmp4.com > > On Dec 13, 8:49 pm, Al Sutton <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Eric, >> >> I've just priced up a package of a $399 item weighing 1Kg from Googles >> US office (*Mountain view, 94043, U.S.A.) *to it's Sydney office >> (*Sydney, 2000, Australia) with FedEx using a scheduled pickup and I get >> 107.88 USD as the cheapest price with $112.03 as their two day service, >> so the profit to brightstar is more like $50 USD which is still over the >> top in my view. >> >> Al. >> * >> >> Eric wrote: >> >>> Justin, >>> >>> If Google is not making money out of this, then your distribution >>> partner must be making unreasonable profits out of all the poor >>> developers. >>> At the RRP US$399 price, there is already substantial margin and >>> overcharging for the shipping is NOT acceptable. >>> The current shipping tax fee, ex tax too high, for example, Australia >>> have free entry of up to AU$1000 which means the shipping to Australia >>> is NOT taxed, yet someone reported the shipping fee to cost ~US$160. >>> Last time I check, the cost to post about 1kg worth of item from US to >>> Australia via USPS's courier service only cost like <$50, so there is >>> at least $100 excess profit here.. >>> >>> Too bad our device isn't ready yet, otherwise, it will definitely be >>> sold for much less incl shipping. >>> >>> Cheers >>> Eric >>> Portable Electronics Ltd >>> www.hdmp4.com >>> >>> On Dec 12, 5:30 am, "Justin (Google Employee)" <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Peekay, >>>> >>>> Thanks for the feedback, you can be sure that we're learning from our >>>> experience with this developer device program. Google isn't making any >>>> money from the Android Dev Phone 1, since we are not selling them. We >>>> are working with our distribution partner to make the process better. >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> Justin >>>> Android Team @ Google >>>> >>>> On Dec 10, 11:23 am, Peekay <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Thanks Justin for the response. I did place an order right after >>>>> starting this thread, despite the cost. Just some suggestions since >>>>> clarification / changes are apparently on the way: >>>>> >>>>> 1. Please do itemize the costs. $264 shipping is seriously out-of- >>>>> whack for a $399 phone, even accounting for actual shipping costs, >>>>> brokerage fees, and import taxes. The import taxes should only be >>>>> around $55. Brokerage fees are usually already included with UPS's >>>>> Express or Expedited levels. So that means Canadians are paying about >>>>> $200+ in "shipping and handling" which seems really steep to charge >>>>> indy developers. >>>>> >>>>> 2. If we're going to pay that much for shipping, be transparent about >>>>> the shipping method. When I ordered, only *after* I paid that a >>>>> message appeared stating that shipping could take up to three days. I >>>>> felt like a total chump for paying $200+ for three day shipping on a >>>>> phone (when our US cousins get free shipping apparently.) Really, I >>>>> felt like I've been had. >>>>> >>>>> 3. Again if we're going to be charged so much for shipping, please at >>>>> least give us a tracking number. I got a confirmation email with an >>>>> "order number" but no obvious way to see the status of that order >>>>> anywhere. I ordered a couple of days ago, and I have no idea if the >>>>> phone has even shipped yet!! >>>>> >>>>> 4. As you know there's a lot of negative press already on this >>>>> shipping issue, on Engadget, CNET, PC World, etc. I know the last >>>>> thing Google wants is being seen as nickel-and-diming indy developers, >>>>> but that's the perception out there right now. $264 buys a lot of >>>>> Ramen. :-) So please really consider cheaper shipping options in the >>>>> future. (It's too late for me, but I'm sure my fellow international >>>>> coders would appreciate it.) >>>>> >>>>> I'm a believer in Android and that's why I placed my order right away >>>>> even with the outrageous shipping cost. I know Google will take care >>>>> of us developers, despite these initial issues. >>>>> > > > -- ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. The registered head office is Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK. 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