ioannisds Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Am I the only one that is regularly SHOCKED by how much it is starting to cost to get hookah stuff shipped to your door nowadays? I was farting around Mya's site, thinking about picking up one of these:[url="http://www.myasaray.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=920&DEPARTMENT_ID=42"]http://www.myasaray.com/store/item.asp?ITE...EPARTMENT_ID=42[/url]With the forum discount it comes to around $76. I tack on a couple of bowls, and I just break the $80 mark. I go to check out, and they want TWENTY-FIVE GODDAMN DOLLARS to ship the stuff, GROUND. I mean, this is about a third of the cost of the hookah. So I say forget it. I recently bought a hookah and some other stuff from another vendor for a friend of mine, same thing, around $25 to ship. Am I the only one who thinks this is completely retarded? I just shipped out two hookahs to folks on the forum, one was around $10, the other around $12. I'm sure people/vendors will come out and say packing material, labor, blah, blah, blah. I still call bullshit. For someone who packages and ships things for a living, even fragile things (I used to ship instruments out of a music store), it takes NO TIME AT ALL to get whatever it is into a box, packaged nicely, labled, and on the truck. Packing materials are DIRT CHEAP. Like I said, I did this kind of thing for years.I'm just sick of feeling like I'm taking it up the ass via shipping charges everytime I go to buy hookah related merchandise on the internet anymore. I'm not writing this because I'm a cheap bastard or anything like that. I just really feel like we are all being regularly overcharged for shipping. I know we are dealing with a specialty product here, but that shouldn't make any difference. I don't believe that vendors should be making any kind of profit off of shipping costs when they ship their products out, yet that is exactly what I believe they are doing. So what do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiedepot Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Could be really heavy, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain Soph Aur Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I say youre right. Try living in canada though. 25$ shipping is like minimum.edit: also that hookah is frigin sweet as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrGuy Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 im paying $56 to have $99 worth of hookah, shisha and accessories shipped to UK. stop complaining, you got it easy being on the same island as most retailers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostofdavid Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I kpnow what you mean. By the way, the packing that you placed on my hookah was perfect and looked like you actually cared about the shipping of it. ioannisds is good people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 [quote name='MrGuy']im paying $56 to have $99 worth of hookah, shisha and accessories shipped to UK. stop complaining, you got it easy being on the same island as most retailers...[/quote] Ok, that's fine, but there is a REASON why it is costing you so much more to get it. You live on another continent. I order absinthe a couple of times a year from Spain or Germany, and I don't even flinch at the cost to get it into the States. I understand your situation completely. I think if it cost you $25 or $30 to have that same merchandise shipped to you from within the UK, you'd be singing the same song as I am, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 [quote name='ghostofdavid']I kpnow what you mean. By the way, the packing that you placed on my hookah was perfect and looked like you actually cared about the shipping of it. ioannisds is good people![/quote] That's because I did care about the shipping of it. And it took me a whole 2 minutes to do it . Glad you like it man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claytron Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 It's lame but companies do that. They pad the shipping price to be really high flat rate cause it raises their overhead. It's a shitty practice. I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain Soph Aur Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I just tried to buy a new head at SS. The bowl was 6 dollars and with shipping and evrythign it came out to $35 lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 [quote name='Ain Soph Aur']I just tried to buy a new head at SS. The bowl was 6 dollars and with shipping and evrythign it came out to $35 lol[/quote] That's exactly what I'm talking about. FLIPPIN' RIDICULOUS. Unless you're joking, but I don't think you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvansLight Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 hmmm shipping on my order at hookah-shisha was only around $6 or $7. It was a mya qt and a 250g box of al almir. I got the ground, which is 1 day for me since i live within an hour of Social Smoke, and less than 5 hours from hookah-shisha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain Soph Aur Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 [img]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9747/hccx1.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 [quote name='EvansLight']hmmm shipping on my order at hookah-shisha was only around $6 or $7. It was a mya qt and a 250g box of al almir. I got the ground, which is 1 day for me since i live within an hour of Social Smoke, and less than 5 hours from hookah-shisha[/quote] THAT is 100% reasonable shipping, and to me reflects weight vs. cost to ship. So it sounds like Hookah-Shisha is on the ball. I have not ordered from them in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuschultz Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 People dont stop to think that it isnt shipping.It is shipping and HANDLING.Handling includes packaging costs, such as materials (not cheap), packaging time (actual packaging, labeling, and preparation), etc.But it still seems high sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyGuy Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='ioannisds'] [quote name='MrGuy'] im paying $56 to have $99 worth of hookah, shisha and accessories shipped to UK. stop complaining, you got it easy being on the same island as most retailers...[/quote] Ok, that's fine, but there is a REASON why it is costing you so much more to get it. You live on another continent. I order absinthe a couple of times a year from Spain or Germany, and I don't even flinch at the cost to get it into the States. I understand your situation completely. I think if it cost you $25 or $30 to have that same merchandise shipped to you from within the UK, you'd be singing the same song as I am, though. [/quote] I agree with you about shipping cost, just a little too steep. But yeah, I hate to get off topic a bit, but how is absinthe? I've always wondered what it was like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuschultz Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 Ive had it a couple times.The morning after I felt like I was having a baby. Only it was coming out of my skull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claytron Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='nuschultz']People dont stop to think that it isnt shipping. It is shipping and HANDLING.[/quote]$20 to put a head in a box with packing peanuts and mail it? Gimme a break. We are talking about internet business here - shipping is part of the deal. If *handling* is so damn expensive, raise your prices. It's dishonest to claim to have low prices and then charge a high flat rate shipping cost. That's the real issue.I have had things shipped from all over. $5-10 is the most I'd expect on smaller to medium packages. The real issue is that they don't want to go through figuring out the actual shipping costs, so they charge a high flat rate. Lots of places do it. It's just a lame business practice.I've been wanting to try absinth myself. Read alot about it and it's production, but never had a chance to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuschultz Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 I agree that it sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='DizzyGuy']But yeah, I hate to get off topic a bit, but how is absinthe? I've always wondered what it was like[/quote]It is REALLY good. No, it does not make you hallucinate or kill your family or cut your ear off or anything like that. It is just a very strong (usually around 140-150 proof) alcohol that you mix with ice water. Tastes very strongly of anise (think Ouzo). The buzz is really weird though... Imagine being drunk, but stone cold sober at the same time. It's the only way I can think of to describe it. For those interested, there is lots and lots of info here:[url="http://www.feeverte.net/"]http://www.feeverte.net/[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betsy Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='ioannisds']It is REALLY good. No, it does not make you hallucinate or kill your family or cut your ear off or anything like that. [/quote] the thing is supposedly it isn't made in the same way it used to be so it no longer has the hallucinagenic properties it did in its previous life. something about the treatment of the wood or root or whatever during distillation i believe. at least that's what my research told me, i could have found misinformation.and btw i actually saw a bottle of absinthe a week ago at this weird little grocery store in carmel, ca. (the only place i've seen pastis since i've been back in the us as well.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyGuy Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 Yeah, I really need to try it sometime... but that also brings up the point... won't it get confiscated at customs when being sent into the states? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claytron Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 There was a chemist in New Orleans who had replicated old school absinth - but you can imagine Katrina didn't help. He had used a chemical analysis to defermine what was in old school absinth from hundreds of years ago to figure out why it didn't taste right. I forget what the differnce was. I believe the article was in Make, but I'm not sure.Wikipedia has tons of info on it.[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinth"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbsinthCustoms misses ALOT. I know people who've mailed alot worse. hehehe... It's a chance you take. But the worst that happens is that it never arrives. It usually does though.EDIT: The article was in WIRED, you can check it here if you wanna read it.[url="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/a...nthe.html"]http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/a...nthe.html[/url][/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='betsy'] [quote name='ioannisds']It is REALLY good. No, it does not make you hallucinate or kill your family or cut your ear off or anything like that. [/quote] the thing is supposedly it isn't made in the same way it used to be so it no longer has the hallucinagenic properties it did in its previous life. something about the treatment of the wood or root or whatever during distillation i believe. at least that's what my research told me, i could have found misinformation.and btw i actually saw a bottle of absinthe a week ago at this weird little grocery store in carmel, ca. (the only place i've seen pastis since i've been back in the us as well.)[/quote] In Europe, there are still many absinthes being made that are fairly authentic. From what I understand, a lot of the crazy talk about absinthe at the turn of the century came from cheap abisnthe that much of the population drank. Apparently there was mercury or something involved in the distillation process of this cheaper swill, and mercury, well, makes you crazy. Or sick. Or dead. Oh, and stay away from the stuff you saw in Carmel. It is illegal to sell true absinthe in the US because of the wormwood it is supposed to contain (thanks FDA), yet there are knock-offs that call themselves absinthe, but are not. Often you can spot them because they use the spelling absinth, without the e. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='DizzyGuy']Yeah, I really need to try it sometime... but that also brings up the point... won't it get confiscated at customs when being sent into the states?[/quote] 'cough' What? 'cough' um 'cough' Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioannisds Posted August 12, 2006 Author Share Posted August 12, 2006 [quote name='Claytron']There was a chemist in New Orleans who had replicated old school absinthe[/quote]Yes, these are the so called "Jade" absinthes from Ted Breaux. They are supposed to be from God. I have never tried them. They cost about $100 a bottle before shipping. I'm not that wealthy yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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