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yeah I live in Honolulu and last week i tried to buy some mens trainers and plimsolls online but the delivery cost so much!!
Amazon does not assess any shipment charge to Hawaii (even if you are not Amazon Prime). Supposedly they assess sales tax starting April, but the merchandise I just ordered this month still carries no sales tax.
So actually I order expensive stuff from Amazon to Hawaii and then ship them by priority mail to my kids who go to school in East Coast (8-9% sales tax) which is still a bargain.
yeah I live in Honolulu and last week i tried to buy some mens trainers and plimsolls online but the delivery cost so much!!
Welcome to the forum, brownsugar24!
At least they were going to ship them to Hawaii, even though the cost was high. Sometimes they will tell you that they won't ship to 'international' addresses. Or they won't ship to Hawaii & Alaska and don't even mention the Territories. It must suck to be Guam and Puerto Rico when it comes to getting things shipped.
Just one more expense we have while living in Hawaii which helps keep things expensive.
I kinda wonder though, how much shipping a container full of things actually adds to the cost of the items? A full forty foot container is how much to ship? How many things will fit inside?
Hmm, according to the internet (I just adore the internet, don't you?) 21 'standard' pallets can fit into a 40 foot container. A standard pallet is roughly 40" x 48". They don't mention how many layers of them will fit, but the container is about 7 feet or higher. So, two layers of pallets, I suppose. That's 42 pallets of stuff. Just for theoretical purposes, one pallet can hold 60 cases of beer. That's 2,500 cases of beer if we figure 20 cases are going to disappear somehow in transit so our numbers are nice and round. I'm sure the drivers will help us with that. So, how much does it cost to get the container to Hawaii?
Figure $10K to ship to Hawaii and that should allow for the tractor trailer to get it to the warehouse. So, that's an additional $4 per case to get the beer to Hawaii.
However, if you're a high volume shipper, you get volume discounts of sometimes up to half off or more. So, I'm suspecting it actually costs them about $2 per case more, but I'm sure most big companies are not going to share their numbers with us. The best thing to do is to make our own beer!
the more irritating thing about shipping to HI is a lot of companies refuse to use USPS flat rate boxes, instead insist all shipping to AK/HI done with UPS/FEDEX 2nd day air, which results in shipping costs that are likely more than the item itself. Or if the item is too big, they won't ship to Hawaii at all.
Figure $10K to ship to Hawaii and that should allow for the tractor trailer to get it to the warehouse. So, that's an additional $4 per case to get the beer to Hawaii.
However, if you're a high volume shipper, you get volume discounts of sometimes up to half off or more. So, I'm suspecting it actually costs them about $2 per case more, but I'm sure most big companies are not going to share their numbers with us. The best thing to do is to make our own beer!
It isn't just the shipping.
That warehouse is sitting on a lot more expensive land than what you find in lets say Denver. Now you have high electricity/refrigeration costs. The people working at the warehouse likely cost more. Then is needs to get distributed to the stores with expensive labor and kept on shelves or stored again in expensive real estate and electricity. And, if that beer has to go to the outer islands, more shipping, more warehouses, etc...It's all those little costs that make a material difference.
Amazon does not assess any shipment charge to Hawaii (even if you are not Amazon Prime). Supposedly they assess sales tax starting April, but the merchandise I just ordered this month still carries no sales tax.
So actually I order expensive stuff from Amazon to Hawaii and then ship them by priority mail to my kids who go to school in East Coast (8-9% sales tax) which is still a bargain.
it really depends, even with amazon.
if it's a bulky item, it may state free shipping, but when you go to checkout, they'll slap on a $50 destination shipping charge. And that's even assuming they'll ship to HI in the first place. Many "free shipping" items don't ship to Hawaii at all.
regarding taxes, I think it depends on the retailer. If it's an amazon product, they probably charge the sales tax. but if it's a separate retailer with no presence in HI, they are not required to collect Use tax.
if it's a bulky item, it may state free shipping, but when you go to checkout, they'll slap on a $50 destination shipping charge. And that's even assuming they'll ship to HI in the first place. Many "free shipping" items don't ship to Hawaii at all.
regarding taxes, I think it depends on the retailer. If it's an amazon product, they probably charge the sales tax. but if it's a separate retailer with no presence in HI, they are not required to collect Use tax.
The Amazon shipment threshold is about 30 pounds. I ordered a 12-bottle wine cooler and Amazon shipped it free. But when I ordered a mini fridge, Amazon said it could not ship.
The Amazon shipment threshold is about 30 pounds. I ordered a 12-bottle wine cooler and Amazon shipped it free. But when I ordered a mini fridge, Amazon said it could not ship.
If you have Amazon Prime and it is a Amazon Prime Item, standard shipping is free up to 70lbs
If you have Amazon Prime and it is a Amazon Prime Item, standard shipping is free up to 70lbs
I think it still depends on the item. I had amazon prime, and it reduced the shipping charge from $70 to around $40 or something for standard shipping. The weight was "only" 45 lbs.
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