Shipping Costs

[Martin Boekers]

Lately I have been noticing shipping costs being pretty high for some things,
not sure why I can get marble bases shipped from JDS or Marco for $15 or so,
but another company wants $30 to ship an 8x10 crystal rectangle. I recently
ordered an eagle statue (actually 14 of them) and about fell into my grave
when they charged $45+ shipping on each one. We had a pretty long discusion
on that one. Shipping ate up my whole profit.

Sooooo..... the reason I am posting this esp for newcomers, you may want to
double check on shipping costs if it isnt an item you normally buy.

For the life of me I don't know why the eagle company didn't ship them on a pallet
to save a few $$ or why some of the designers at the manufacterers don't take into
consideration shipping costs. They may have been able to make the package an inch
or so smaller so it wasn't considered oversize by UPS and cut shipping in half.......

Just some thoughts....

[Dan Hintz]

Why should they care, you're paying for it

[Tim Bateson]

My 2 cents... Grrrrr

[Liesl Dexheimer]

That's what makes it so difficult to explain to customers. Some people think that the stock magically appears in your shop. Also, it's not like we can get free shipping on orders of $25 or more like some retail chains offer.

[Martin Boekers]

Its get a bit crazy when you by a $50 item and they charge to another $50 to ship it!

I have to explain to folks from time to time when they ask me to beat an online
price. "Does that include shipping and engraving"..... Their response is "Hmmmm I don't
know......I figured it did...."

I really wanted to post this so newcomers to our industry don't get burned by companies
that use shipping and handling as profit centers. I've been in this industry about 7 years
(a youngster as to some on this forum ) but even then I sometimes am taken by surprise...
I tend to buy more and more from Marco, JDS etc because of how they handle their business.
They have upgraded their selections quite a bit, I know I can depend on them.

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Had something similar happen recently where a customer we had helped before came in wanting a gavel with the engraved band. I had some in stock but she needed a specific size. Quoted her the price and she was in shock & told me she could get it for half the cost with free shipping online. I turned her away & told her I couldn't compete with that price. I could tell she was unhappy that I wasn't able to help her but I'm not going to work for free. Shipping alone would cost $11 to $12 nevermind the cost of the product & my labor.

[Joe Pelonio]

That's the latest trick learned from EBay sellers. You give a great price but then make your money on the shipping. Luckily most of what I need I can get locally.

[Mike Null]

It has been my thought that even the most trusted of our suppliers (that includes JDS) use shipping as a profit center. They may tell you they don't make any money on it but if you're ordering smaller quantities you're paying shipping costs for those who buy large enough to get free freight.

I ship everything by UPS and I am a small volume shipper by comparison but my rates are far lower than I am being charged by my suppliers.

[Mike Lassiter]

Truck dealer I use to work for doubled their cost on all freight cost that they paid for UPS and so forth. Even tow bills on trucks which easily ran hundreds that they paid and rebilled customers were marked up. Not double but by a sized amount.
I didn't agree to that and think freight should not be used to boost the bottom line.
There is a cost involved in shipping (boxes, tape,packing material that has to be used, ect ) which should be covered by shipping or handling charges in addition to actual shipping cost, but I think businesses that do this are sleezy in there business ethics.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

When possible I try to have it shipped on my UPS account. Saves lots of $$$$$$

[Stephen Maloney]

I want to emphasize Michael Kowalczyk's advice above. The #1 best way to avoid outrageous shipping charges is to have them bill to your account. All of the major wholesalers and distributors will do it - just ask. I can personally confirm JDS, laserbits, M&M, US Plastic will do it. The best part is you don't pay for S&H you just pay for the S. Which means NO markup. The best thing to do is band together with some laser friends / other local businesses and do enough business with UPS or FedEx to negotiate rates. 50lbs. from Ohio to CA is $72 straight off of UPS's site. My negotiated rate is $38, and when it shows up on the bill, it will probably be closer to $30-32 because of a further discount. It doesn't take many packages to get negotiated rates, either...

[John Frazee]

Not only are companies like Marco using shipping as a money maker but they are not keeping inventory up in all their locations. Most orders we have been placing are being shipped from so many locations costing us so much more in shipping because they refuse to keep stock. When they have to ship a few pieces from each location, we may end up paying the customer to take the items out the door. When I bought from PDU, they would ship next day or two day air at their expense anything they didn't have in stock locally. I left PDU because of inventory issues but will check their stock over the weekend and will consider going back to them. I will call and get a shipping quote from each supplier for a box of 2x3 marble. We have all three major suppliers in Charlotte. I'll post back here the results.

[Martin Boekers]

I order a bit from JDS I try to get it in $1000 + to save shipping, also I watch at times of the year (particularly trade shows) when they offer free
shipping at $500. Sometimes if I'm a few hundred short I order consumables to fill it in tape, metal, plastics etc. I save a few wthousand a year on
shipping costs from them. It does take a bit more work but worth it.

I will start using a UPS acct, I wasn't aware of the savings there. THANKS for sharing!

In this economy a thing such as shipping cost can make or break a month.

JDS with free shipping it's free no matter what warehouse ships it.

JDS to me has the best ordering system, I search previous orders easily, if my standard
shipping warehouse doesn't have stock it tells me which has it and how many then I can
chose where it comes from...NICE! Most all I order comes next day if I order before 4pm.

Other pluses with JDS....AP pricing order $5000 or more you get maximum case discount
when ordering a case (BIG savings) and now you get 1% back of yearly purchase to order
samples.

As I said I have learned to pay closer attention to details such as shipping.....

[Jesse Anderson]

Ordering in bulk is always the best answer... I would not suggest buying 10 pallets of toilet paper at 9 cents a roll like my father did 6 years ago. But when ordering heavy always order more.
If u are within a 200-300 mile radius. Some time's its better just to pick it up yourself.

I as just down in Las Vegas. I picked up 200 dozen pieces of glassware, shot glasses, and stuff from a very reputable and cheap company. Saved me like $1500 in shipping costs.

That is not including the Gambling loses, Gas, and Doritos......

[Glenn Vaughn]

The worst I ever saw was a U.S. company (forget who) that I was going to order a 40# bag of hickory sawdust from for my smoker. $16 for the sawdust. When I got to checkout shipping was $250.00 - needless to say I found a different source.