Parts Express, great prices, horrible shipping fees (1 Viewer)

[Dave Schofield]

I just bought a roll of 100' roll of 12ga speaker wire. The unit price was ~$30, after shipping the order came to ~$40. Yes, $10 shipping/handling on a simple spindle of wire...

EDIT:

I'll give this to them, though, they sure ship orders fast, mine was shipped 3 hours after I placed it. However, anyone know why a 100' spindle of speaker wire would weigh 9.0lbs? (as UPS claims my package weights)

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I'm amazed that it's only 9 lbs. 12 AWG speaker wire is really heavy. Wait until you see how big a 100 ft. spool of it is.
Wait until you have ammo shipped: all that lead is really heavy. Expect 40% of the ammo cost to be added on as shipping.

 

[Dave Schofield]

I guess I don't have any basis for comparison, as I've never seen 12ga wire in person...

Does anyone know if they go "per pound" or per order. If I would have known their shipping was so high I would have ordered two spools, and the bananas plugs I wanted in one fell swoop.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Remember, UPS also has "fuel surcharges" in place. Also, they tack on another $1.00 to $1.50 for deliveries to residential addresses. Add in a box (I just bought a box today @ Office Depot for $2.60) and you'll quickly see how shipping can add up to $10.00.

 

[John_Bilbrey]

partsexpress was great on the cables I ordered from them. The shipping was very reasonable, although cables don't weigh all that much....

 

[Dave Schofield]

After getting the wire I completely understand why shipping costs so much, that is one big hunk of copper I should update this and say that because of the service and promptness I got from Parts Express the first time I have since ordered from them again and gotten the same quick service. Great store!

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Dave,

Thanks for the update. Yesterday, I purchased 110' of in-wall 12 gauge speaker wire at Home Depot. I also realized the weight of my purchase while carrying it to my car - and this didn't even include a spool since it was coiled up. If you have a Home Depot store close by, you might consider them for future speaker wire purchases - provided you don't need any Monster cable. I found the 12 gauge in-wall wire at the 3rd store I visited - the first two didn't stock it. I only paid $22.00 (+ tax) for 110' of cable made by Carol. This was only .20 a foot.

During my search for banana plugs to complete the task of making my speaker cables, I came across a vendor (on-line) who had 14 of the banana plugs that I needed. The price for all of them was attractive - ~$16.00, but when I added the items to my shopping cart, the shipping was a whopping $83.00 for UPS Ground and it only went up from there depending on the other upgraded shipping options. Clearly, this vendor didn't allow for a discount on the shipping for multiple items, but added the same shipping charge ($12.00 or so to the 7 pairs of plugs). There are some vendors that one needs to clearly avoid.