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Why does the cheap shipping take so long? Does Mouser do it just to get us mad?

Continuing my rant about Mouser shipping with new information on recent orders. I was going to post this in the thread about Mouser doing right but thought it off topic a bit. Here is that thread: https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/mouser-com-did-well-by-me.897960/ so it may read a little odd, not wanting to completely rewrite it. Might be repeated info from above, too. Hope not too bad.

Both Mouser and Digikey are great companies for supplying parts we need and they have great customer service but I have issues with Mouser shipping and I think they know well of these issues. A recent order for about $350 in parts was not the cheap shipping but a bumped up price because of the weight of the large caps in the order. My purchase order number for that shipment was "Shipping too high" and well that got me a phone call from Customer Service. We had a nice 30 minute conversation about shipping where I learned they were trying to figure out how to do it right.
My issues:
Foreign orders are frequently shipped for free, we see it all the time here on AK even mentioned, a c-note of goods to Canada shipped free, what about me??

Slow shipping (USPS) is not pulled until the next business day. More anon.

Cheapest shipping was 7.99, it has since been lowered

While talking to them I found out if I had gone for the same priced UPS Mail Innovations instead of USPS they would have upgraded the order to 2-day which would mean they would have picked the parts today also for a quicker delivery. Why wasn't that indicated somewhere while I online ordered?

With the jacked up shipping I paid for the large order, not the 7.99 but close to 11, it made me feel like I was subsidizing their international customers. Yes, I checked the prices for a few of the products in foreign countries and they were the same. I'm sure Mouser has some international presence to allow shipping from a location closer to New Zealand but I don't know about that.

Mouser slow ship is a week to me.

Let's talk about Digikey and Mouser a moment:
For US and Canada, send Digikey a check (I have to include state tax) and they ship for free, quicker than the cheap ship from Mouser. I placed an order with Mouser on Dec 6 with slow boat shipping. It was acknowledged on the 6th and picked and shipped on the 9th and I received it on the 13th. I cut a check and mailed it with order on Dec 9 to Digikey and the order showed up on the Dec 16. Both of these orders took 7 days to show up. One included the USPS taking a letter to Thief River Falls, MN and the package being dropped in the mail and going to North Dakota before coming to me. The other order, placed before noon on Friday and Mouser per their process, picked this order Monday evening (based on the shipping label time stamp from tracking info) and shipped it to me to arrive on Dec 13.
Both of these were during the high volume shipping times, and the Mouser order did float around this area a day before getting here but for the shipping performance vs. cost, Digikey is my go to.
 
There are agreements with foreign countries that reduce the cost of postage, which is why you can get a package from Hong Kong cheaper than from across town. I assume Digikey does free shipping because they save the fee charged by the credit card company.

I remember the days of 4-6 weeks for Parcel Post, so I don't get too bent out of shape.
 
Aerobat said:
Digikey does free shipping because they save the fee charged by the credit card company.
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I read it is to support the little guy, the hobbyist making radios and such in his basement back in the day that got them going and kept them alive. Just paying it back. I use both companies and if Digikey's parts finder was quicker they would get a few more orders from me. I like the free shipping but on a big order it isn't such a problem hiding a tenner.
 
Mouser's cheap shipping option has seemingly added another day or so to arrive over the past year. IMO

Blue Shadow - UPS Mail Innovations is how all of my economy shipping arrives here from Mouser and its dog slow, my guess is because it involves USPS in the process.

I just ordered parts this past weekend using the economy shipping option on Sat evening, the order was pulled and I received ready to ship notification on Mon. 1/6 but it wasn't picked up until 1/8. Its still not arrived and I only live 10 miles or so from Mouser's distribution center..... Anything which involves USPS will turn to cr@p.

If I order via the more expensive shipping option $7.99 (UPS) and I get the order in before about 3pm then I'll have it the next day, every single time.

With all of that being said. I am extremely happy that Mouser has an economy shipping option. I really don't care if that option takes a week or more to get to me as long as I know that delivery time up front. About 1 in 3 orders I make from Mouser I do not need to be here in short order so I'm happy to save the $3.50. Complain enough and there may no longer be an economy shipping option.
 
The cheapest shipping option I have from Mouser to Iowa is 7.99. That’s for USPS or UPS 2-day. Same price. It used to be 4.99 for USPS.

Is there other options I’m not aware of, like 4.99 listed elsewhere? Or does it require a phone call to complain about it? Just wondering.
 
mondialfan said:
UPS Mail Innovations
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Is that the deal where UPS drops it off at the post office, and USPS carries it to your mailbox? I've had things shipped that way before, and yes it does seem to take way longer. Almost like neither company really wants to fully deal with it.
 
playittwice said:
The cheapest shipping option I have from Mouser to Iowa is 7.99. That’s for USPS or UPS 2-day. Same price. It used to be 4.99 for USPS.

Is there other options I’m not aware of, like 4.99 listed elsewhere? Or does it require a phone call to complain about it? Just wondering.
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Did you log into your Mouser account?
The econ shipping option doesn't show up for me until I log in.
 
I will have to do more research.
I wouldn’t think 3 big caps in the small order would make it too heavy to ship USPS, but maybe that’s the case.

Thanks.
 
mondialfan said:
UPS Mail Innovations is how all of my economy shipping arrives here from Mouser and its dog slow, my guess is because it involves USPS in the process.
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Mouser does the UPS Mail Innovations because of costs. They are too damn cheap to just use USPS Priority for cost and get the damn parts picked just like the rest, immediately, they wait a business day before doing that because they want you to use UPS where they pay a buck a box and not USPS rates. Since it takes the same amount of time for me to get a box from Digikey shipped for free through USPS Priority after they receive my snail mail order vs. a Mouser online order shipped cheap, I'm moving more orders to Digikey and those that like the idea of lower cost shipping might try it to, if you can put a letter together with a check and mail it to Digikey.

Mouser may have listened to what I said but they haven't done much to improve their shipping. But I don't know the financials behind their choices, just pissed the US customers don't get free shipping when those in the rest of the world seem to at a reasonable total purchase.
 
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A new low. Perhaps complicated by USPS being banjaxed? Don't know, but it's clear to me that economy shipping is just not usable for me any longer. I'll do what I'm being tortured into doing, and use the straight UPS or Fedex shipping options, which still work great and are not unreasonably priced, after all. But I do begrudge being offered a service which turns out to be unusable.

Ordered: Thursday, Aug 27
Acknowledged to be in the hands of UPS Mail Innovations: Wednesday, Sep 2
Received: Friday, Sep 11
Updates on UPS tracking website between Sep 2 and time of this post: none (still shows package as being in Carollton TX)
 
No complaint from me with mouser/digikey/UPS/FedEX, multiple orders over the years, full tracking from the US
max 3 day delivery to metro Melbourne AU. Gobsmacked
 
mbz said:
No complaint from me with mouser/digikey/UPS/FedEX, multiple orders over the years, full tracking from the US
max 3 day delivery to metro Melbourne AU. Gobsmacked
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Of course you shipping is quick cause it is FREE for a certain value purchase We DO NOT have that option at all with Mouser. Their shipping sucks on the cheap end and costs significantly for the rest of the options.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Of course you shipping is quick cause it is FREE for a certain value purchase We DO NOT have that option at all with Mouser. Their shipping sucks on the cheap end and costs significantly for the rest of the options.
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OK, so I will stop "loving" them...
 
Aerobat said:
There are agreements with foreign countries that reduce the cost of postage, which is why you can get a package from Hong Kong cheaper than from across town....
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If the 'shipment' is small enough to count as mail the receiving country delivers it for free.
 
invaderzim said:
If the 'shipment' is small enough to count as mail the receiving country delivers it for free.
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Dunno about this, you may be right but... smallest package received about 10inx6inx3in, largest about 14inx10inx6in, all
parcels delivered by UPS/FEDeX, no AustPost handling. UPS tracking shows items sent from the USA. I will count myself
lucky unlike AKers in the US
 
Mouser has a contract with UPS and FedEx and they must do enough domestic business to great Great rates to the ROW.

I feel like I subsidize @mbz's purchases but I don't know for sure.

My cheap ship where UPS carries it further from me for a few days and then drops it in the mail takes a week.
 
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