ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Broken Disconnect Handle - need help

"BTW, I looked on Galco's site but never found an exact match."
I didn't find my contactor on the website either, so I called the guy. He had exactly what I needed and we ordered 3 of them. That's why I suggested that you give them a call. I sent him 2 pics and he came up with the new ABB Part#.
Joe

It would be about a 4 hour drive one way.

I am not an expert on eBay and shipping but I had a bad experience selling a very simple item where the shipping costs consumed my profit. That experience led me to the eBay forums where I read numerous seller's horror stories about the problems with calculating shipping. Based on that I assume that some sellers keep it as simple as possible to insure their profit.

I'll call Monday morning. Thanks.

These days Ebay will compute the shipping and send you the prepaid label as a PDF. That is what the buyer is charged and you are out of it.

I do not know all the ins and outs of selling on eBay but I do know that there is long discussions on the user forums that include experienced sellers (people who make a living selling on eBay) who discuss taking the occasional hit to the profit margin when it comes to shipping. One of the most common issues is when you try to make an item more attractive by allowing potential buyers the ability to calculate the cost of shipping before they buy. This can be tricky if the item is up for auction and the final sale price hasn't been determined yet. You want to give as many people the cheapest shipping method possible but that includes insurance for yourself on an item whose sale price hasn't been finalized. If you buy an item in an auction without knowing the shipping cost and then find out shipping is going to be nearly as much or more than the item itself...oops. Some buyers while stay away from an auction without knowing shipping costs up front. I read that some experienced sellers suggest keeping a rainy day fund from your profitable sales so that you can take a hit when a sale goes bad and you have to cough up the shortfall on the shipping to keep a buyer happy.

I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay and I never get surprised on the shipping these days (it has happened before I got trained). Just be sure you weigh the box as it will be packed before you list the item and enter that weight into the shipping calculator on the selling page. Usually I only specify USPS priority mail as the method I will use. Ebay does the rest and the mail man picks up the box at my house.

Occasionally I find I can arrange shipping on Click n ship (the USPS site) cheaper than the price Ebay quotes and I can make an extra buck or so.

It is not unusual that shipping is more than the actual price of the item if it ends up going for the opening price. You just need to be sure you get that shipping cost right. There is nothing to keep you from putting a greater weight into the calculator, having a higher than actual shipping cost show on the auction, pay the actual cost and justify it as your handling fee. You are the merchant and you are not supposed to be losing money on the deal. If it is too much, the buyer can buy from someone else.

First, I'd like to claim credit for first correctly identifying the part.

As for shipping to Canada .... international shipping can get involved, as various governments attempt to enforce manufacturer's marketing agreements, and other political silliness.

Perhaps things would be easier if we only had some idea as to how these things are made in the first place.

Let's say (and I'm just picking manufacturers at random here) Plasitform CSX desires a new extrusion machine. They accept a bid from Cincinnati Millacron for the machine, and associated equipment. CM will draw up a panel, and have it fabricated by Automatic Switchboard (a panel shop). AS will have arrangements with various providers for certain parts ... they might use Square D push buttons, GE breakers, and AB starters. It's anybody's guess where they get the disconnect assemblies from, and the box itself might be custom made by a neighborhood sheet metal shop.

The customer will receive the completed assembly line, with everything painted and marked as "Cincinatti Millacron." Any reference to other suppliers will be absent. Even where there is an identifiable part number, the casual inquiry to the usual distributors will receive replies that it's a bad part number, an OEM part number, a special order part number, and the like.

So, you call the machine maker, and get an absurd price with an ridiculous lead time- all for a part that is stocked on the shelf by the gross.

Do I exaggerate? Not at all. Let me cite two simple examples.

A restaurant burned up the motor to one of their exhaust fans. The local distributor of GE motors was not able to obtain a replacement for the GE motor, and Motion Industries could not obtain the appropriate drive belt.

Solution? A local motor shop had the exact motor in stock- and an HVAC supplier had the (industry standard) belts on the shelf.

In a second example, a commercial garage door opener had a failed / damaged Square D contactor in it. The local Square D distributor quoted an $800 price and 4-month lead time for the 'special order.'

I had some trouble with this, as my customer had something like 50 of those door openers in operation- and I was certain the contactor was made by the tens of thousands. My instincts were right; a door supplier had the contactors on the shelf for $40.

That's good advice for any first time sellers on eBay. I know that it is better than the eBay guidelines that I used to sell my first item.

Well Joe, I took your advice and called Galco this morning. Talked to a fantastic lady who really tried her best to get a suitable replacement handle. No luck. The best match that ABB puts out these days has all the same specs but the handle shaft is 8mm square instead of the existing shaft's 12mm. Here we go again...