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If I go into the shop and say "can I have 30 spokes of length X and 30 spokes of length Y and 60 nipples please" the guy still has to count them out right? Unless I am expected to do that myself in the shop (I'm guessing not; it would create a huge mess on the shop floor). So the only difference in terms of wages is that the guy has to chuck them in a bag, print out a label and post them rather than handing them to me.
In the shop they have to deal with cash, cleaning, whatever regulations there are about shop floors (prices displayed for every item etc.), carrier bags and whatever other packaging, as well as having a guy standing around doing nothing in case I need help whilst I'm in there, etc.
Regardless, I don't think it costs £6 extra to post something compared to selling it to me in person (ignoring the cost of postage itself).
I don't mind paying it though; they said it's signed/next day delivery which probably costs about £6 (ie. there's no surcharge for packaging) but I'm in no rush so the speedy delivery is an unnecessary expense for me.
In his email to me he said he's not found unsigned Royal Mail reliable so I'm guessing they had a bunch of parcels go missing and had to eat the losses themselves and now are being very cautious.
frankenbike-
So the only difference in terms of wages is that the guy has to chuck them in a bag, print out a label and post them rather than handing them to me.
Which is exactly what I said, and I still don't think it can be done for £6 in a small way
I don't think it costs £6 extra to post something compared to selling it to me in person (ignoring the cost of postage itself)
The £6 includes postage, and VAT on the p&p charge. Out of £6, £1 goes to HMRC immediately, £3.85 goes on a Signed for 2nd class small parcel, a Jiffy bag big enough for small bike parts is about 18p as long as you buy by the thousand, label about 3p plus 1p for printer consumables. That leaves about 94p to pay your mail boy to print the label, attach it to the envelope, put the stuff in it and take it to the post office. That's 5-10 minutes depending on the age and working hours of the mail boy assuming he is on minimum wage. Plenty of time if he has hundreds of packages to send every day and the Post Office collects them, not so much if it's only 10 per day and the shop isn't right next door to a Post Office branch.
gbj_tester
Compared with a shop sale, you have wrapping, carrier's charge and maybe taking it to the carrier's office, depending on which service you use. Premises, finance and labour costs should be pretty much identical if you're a shop which does mail order rather than a mail order only outfit. Do you really think you can wrap and post something for less than £6 over the cost of passing it over the counter?