I know a fellow who picked up a TF Hot canary at the Weatherford Swap Meet last weekend. It is partially built, has the manual but has plans for Corsair! I think he can finish it without the plans but If anyone has, or knows where to get these plans it would help. As a matter of fact, if I had some plans I bet I could build it lighter(Orig. has lots of balsa blocks). There was a guy on this NG who was looking for a kit years(months?) ago, I wonder if he ever got one? mk
And if you charge a handling fee, or over charge for postage, according to the IRS, that too is profit. Profit is where you find it.
I always look at the net cost. If it is worth it to me, I buy. If not, I pass. I'll leave worrying about the semantics to others.
I get a kick out of those who try to lecture me about my marketing practices. I tell them that it is still almost a free country (well, that's the current paradygm) and that they are not being forced to buy anything from me - froggythegremlin. And, like a true gremlin, I do my best to get their blood pressure boiling. It's sort of my second hobby, these days.
Do you have an idea of the costs of printing a typical plan and posting it say in a cardboard tube?
It is not just press the button and a free print comes out; there are costs for paper, ink, the postage, the time of the person who prints it out, then the postage label and puts it all together.
Oh and dont forget the cost of the printer in the first place.
Right. The cost of materials and equipment figures into the price of $20 for the plan. "Shipping and Handling" typically refers to the cost of shipping and handling the plans after all of that other stuff is done.
I know, you can charge as much as you want to for anything you do. Some will pay it, some won't. I just get a little bit irritated by semantics because it's obviously a way to squeeze an extra couple of bucks out of the customer. Most of us will pay $20 for a good set of plans, but that's where a lot of us draw the line, especially when it's a plan for a balsa box with wings such as the Hot Kanary. They know this, so instead of calling it $25, they say $20 and tack the rest on as shipping charges, and your brain lies to you because it remembers the number 20.
Guess what, you can still send things via regular mail for a few bucks. And I still say that when you are in the business of handling things, that's part of the price. "Handling" is not an extra charge, because that's the whole point of what you're doing.
How would you like to go to any retailer where you buy anything from coffee to lumber and be charged not only the advertised retail price but also a service charge to pay the salary of all the people who work there? Why is it that this happens only when it involves putting stuff in the mail?
Maybe he should sell copies of the Corsair plans to recoup his losses... Anyone want to buy copies of this guy's Corsair plans?.... And I feel the same way- when it costs $3 or $4 to mail something- let's just keep it at that. Anything else is really taking advantage...
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