Shipping on challenge car parts

Hi All,

Here is a question (not about the rules, they are clear) but more about the goal of the rules.

Rules: Costs to pick up your hooptie from the seller are exempt.

And then: Shipping counts toward parts prices. Sales tax does not.

I always thought this was because shipping CARS could put a huge disadvantage regionally on folks who live in "expensive" areas or, more likely, that GOOD DEALS can come up anywhere in the US (or world) and competitors should not be penalized for not living there. I can see why sales tax should not count, since it is not the same for all areas. But why does shipping cost budget for parts? Seems like you can make a similar argument for parts as you can for cars.

I have found some wheels that would be perfect for my challenge car that are very uncommon. Only problem is they are in VA, and I am in IL. Shipping will be about $100 I bet. I have had this issue before with challenge car parts and have always just swallowed the shipping, but I am curious to hear the reason.

What do you say?

Being in Canada, shipping is a killer. However, it makes me be more resourceful locally, and it also keeps the money in the local economy.

I would, however, love it if shipping didn't count against you.

Also, I should add that I could ask the board or my sister (in NC) to pick up the wheels for me, but at some point I will have to have them shipped back to me or I would have to drive to go get them.

At some practical level, just spending the $100 is way better than asking one or multiple people to spend many hours of their time help me out for free or close to it. Also, if I just drove to VA and back to pick up the wheels (24 hours, 1500 miles), I would spend close to $150 or more on gas, but that wouldn't be counted in the budget.

I guess what I am trying to say is that logically I would just pay to have the wheels shipped to me, but because of the challenge rules I'm trying to figure out a way to pay $200 to save $100.

Is there a way to relay them by having people bringing them to you?

SkinnyG wrote: However, it makes me be more resourceful locally, and it also keeps the money in the local economy.

I can see this argument, but I wonder how it holds up if the part really isn't available locally (but is available elsewhere).

In this case I am talking about a set of stock fiat (4x98 bolt pattern) 13 inch steel wheels that were widened to 8 inches wide for racing more than 20 years ago, and have been sitting in a shed ever since.

I doubt something comparable is available to me locally.

MulletTruck wrote: Is there a way to relay them by having people bringing them to you?

I bet there is, but what I don't love about that is that means a bunch of people spend significant time and energy for a pretty small savings for me.

I guess if someone happended to be planning a trip from DC to Chicago by car in the next few months that might be a way to work it, but it is still extra time and effort that person has to put in.

The problem with not having shipping count is you can buy something like crappy race seats on ebay for $1 but shipping is $249. I wouldn't view those seats as a $1 budget hit. Having shipping count towards parts evens things out and avoids anyone taking advantage of parts deals like that.

To get around the budget hit your best option is have someone drop the wheels off to you. Also in the past I believe shipping parts between teammates was free but I'm not sure if that still applies.

If you can get them to ATL or anywhere near I75 on the day after Thanksgiving I can get them to Battle Creek.

In an attempt to exploit the shipping doesn't count on the car purchase I had a friend in the military looking for vehicles while stationed in Korea and Japan.

I would agree on the shipping shouldn't count anymore on parts. Although I have driven 600+ miles in the past to pick up a set of wheels. Now my time has become more valuable to me and I think a little differently about the need for aftermarket wheels on a challenge car. The whole cost/benifit of having wider wheels.

eBay has gotten away from the $1 items with the $250 shipping. I believe it was partly because buyers were only covered for the purchase price of items and shipping wasn't refunded.

Shipping should but shouldn't count. Things like having ONE JY within 100 miles that has anything I would need sucks, so I have to have things shipped in to me. This is a contest with a budget cap, every cent counts. I can't see buying from the FLAPS for double what I can have shipped for less, but then get boned on "reasonable" shipping, yea you Rock Auto with the inflated shipping costs.

Although I do maximize my buying power with spending the minimums on every order from Summit for free shipping or using every available discount from Advance.

I can probably get from DC to Chicago at New Years if that works, especially if you can get the seller to run them up to Frederick.

It's a remnant from the old rules.

ALL shipping used to count. The old rules did not exclude shipping costs for "your hooptie".

The logic was that they didn't want someone to buy a Japanese half cut, pay to ship it over and through customs, and then not include shipping.

In fact, that rule led to the creation of the Evil Alliance (a "Club" originally designed for the sole purpose of transporting a vehicle between "friends" to avoid the shipping cost in the budget)

The new rules lifted the rule on including shipping costs for the car. They wanted to open it up to allow someone to put in as much labor as they wanted, drive across the country, ship a car across the country, etc. They also opened up the opportunity for someone to ship something from overseas (though no one has exploited this to my knowledge). Logic was...Less rules= more cool stuff.

The shipping on parts is just left over from the previous generations of rules.

I never thought shipping should be included on either.

BTW, shipping is as unbalanced as taxes were.

If I choose, for example, to use a part from Flyin Miata, I will have to pay to ship it across the country. Anyone located in Colorado can pick it up themselves.

Maybe standard USPS shipping by weight could be exempt as a way to make challenge builds more feasible but discourage outright cheating on $1 eBay items with $249 shipping?