Some of you who know us at ComputerWire will be aware that one or two of us are from the UK and as such have occasional cravings for some of the (often vilified) foodstuffs we miss from back home. These include baked beans; in particular those made by Heinz, which produces a different variety for the UK market than it does in its home market, and has helped make Brits the largest consumers of beans per capita in the world. So after seeing a banner ad somewhere, offering a chance for us to have them mailed to us directly from the supplier, it seemed too good to be true. And so it proved. Heinz offered a box of 12 for 4.44 pounds ($7.32), so your correspondent thought he’d buy two boxes for $14.63. Heinz took a day to come back with the cost of transporting the beans. It wants the equivalent of $89.77 to ship 24 cans, making a total of $104.40: that’s $4.35 a can. Even shops and wholesalers that offer the things in the US charge less than $2.00. Perhaps it should go back to the drawing board and work this e-business thing out.
