Why is it so expensive to ship to Florida, USA?

It’s the start of the weekend and you are casually browsing the web for a few things you might need for the upcoming week. You’ve stumbled upon a website that offers 2-day expedited shipping for the products you need, and you think “This is awesome!” 

You add the products to your cart and head to the checkout page. You are just about to select “purchase,” when the total charges stop you in your tracks. It’s way more than you expect it to be, but how come? 

Upon further investigation, you realise the product is based on the west coast and you are all the way in Florida, on the east coast. Your shipping charges and taxes have driven up your total cost! 

Some of the factors that could be affecting the shipping cost in this scenario are: 

• The distance and shipping zones 
• The mode of transportation that would be used to ship the product
• Shipping surcharges  
• Sales taxes

How does the shipping zone affect the shipping cost?

Shipping zones help to determine the distance for each shipment. In other words, where the shipment will originate from is considered zone 1. The further away the shipment will have to travel, the higher the shipping zone will be. The higher the shipping zone, the more expensive the shipment. 

So, even if the same product is being shipped from two different points of origin to one shipping address, they could still be using two different shipping zones. 

Mode of Transportation

The shipping distance would also affect the mode of transportation. If the product was being shipped to a city within Florida, the shipping company might use a truck or van as opposed to a cargo ship or cargo plane. The charges associated with shipping via van would be less than shipping via plane or ship. Hence, this would be reflected in your final shipping cost. 

Shipping surcharges 

What exactly are shipping surcharges? These are extra fees that may be added to a shipping cost by the carrier.  This can include:

• Additional handling for packages over a certain size or weight
• Delivery surcharge for rural areas or addresses not included in the carrier’s specified range
• Weekend surcharge for overtime deliveries
• Fuel surcharges
• Declared value surcharges, to help protect parcels with contents worth at least $100
• Print return label surcharges, for shipping with a provided return label

Taxes

Taxes are another factor that influences shipping costs. In Florida, the sales tax is imposed on the total sales price of taxable tangible personal property. Florida has a 6% tax rate which is added to the local surtax, then is multiplied by the sales price to determine the sales.