Shipping Prices are murder!

[brian0523]

God - I put together an order for a bunch of oils - and the shipping is just so prohibitive! I don't know how you all do it?

Do you mostly order your supplies online or do you have local vendors in your area you purchase from?

 

[Guest]

I know what you mean about shipping. Since I live where I can't buy the oils locally like so many others I do what I can to buy what I can locally and order a few things online. And then try and get the best price I can and I always consider shipping as part of the price. Because while their price might look good they might kill you on the shipping. So before I even consider a place I want to know what they charge for shipping up front. Otherwise I'll move on.

Where were you looking at the murderous shipping prices?

 

[brian0523]

Soapers Choice is where I was shopping. I understand the weight of oils is not cheep to ship, but when you're ordering $30 worth of oil, and they tack on tax plus $14 just to ship, the price really jumps....and I have to pass that along to my customers. Sux!

 

[Guest]

Did you look at wholesale supplier plus

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/

I'm going to be ordering from them next,
Flat Rate Shipping of $6.95*
for
Orders of $0 to $25


but I'm not sure what their rates are for over the $25 amount.....


but it might be worth looking into if you haven't already placed your order.
From what i've seen WSP has some really good deals on many products.

but in the past i've gotten my unrefined shea butter and mango butter on ebay as well as other products. My FO came from another web site but now most things i'm going to order from WSP. Since their prices beat most others that i've seen.

 

[Tabitha]

Some suppliers will refund overages in shipping you pay. Often shopping carts figure shipping & can't really figure out how to combine effectively. When I am not comfortable w/ a shipping price I email the company & see if they make it a habit to refund overages, if they do I will go ahead & order, if not & it's a ahidden excessive handeling charge they have just lost my business & the business of everyone who asks me about my experieneces in the future.

 

[Guest]

I just ran this through the WSP web site to get their shipping costs on more than the $25 amount.


Palm Oil 1 gallon 12.45
Palm Kernel Flakes - 102º Melt 10 lb 15.00

TOTAL: $27.45


And I was given these choices, I don't think i'll overnight these items anytime soon...... LOL


Standard Ground ($16.12)
3 Day Service ($36.39)
2 Day Service ($52.65)
Overnight Service ($110.60)
Pickup ($0.00)

 

[Lane]

Some suppliers will refund overages in shipping you pay. Often shopping carts figure shipping & can't really figure out how to combine effectively. When I am not comfortable w/ a shipping price I email the company & see if they make it a habit to refund overages, if they do I will go ahead & order, if not & it's a ahidden excessive handeling charge they have just lost my business & the business of everyone who asks me about my experieneces in the future.

This is what Bramble Berry does, I can usually count on getting about $10 back on my shipping. (I know a go ON about that company, but I have been buying from them for over three years and their customer service is so incredible I feel lost when dealing with other companies...)

My last order was 10 4 oz bottles of different Fo's
Palm Oil 4 lbs
Coconut Oil 4 lbs
Avocado Oil 2 lbs
Almond oil 2 lbs
Shea Butter 3 lbs

My total was $100.75 and shipping came to $11.91. And this WASN'T the cheapest shipping method... It's much cheaper if you live near Washington...


I am thinking about trying http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ due to the raves! :

 

[Guest]

Thanks lane, i'm going to check out their prices as well.

Never hurts to look around

 

[Tabitha]

(deleted by the poster)

 

[Guest]

Yikes Tabitha that is quite spendy for only 4 pounds.....

Do you happen to know how much of that 24 day time was spent in the care of the carrier?

I ask this because with my ebay sales I had one customer buy an item on the 7th and I shipped it on the 8th of December but it didn't arrive to her house till the 24th. Luckily I had used delivery confirmation and I used click-n-ship so it was scanned at my local post office before being sent out. Plus it was also scanned at a city about 200 miles from where she lives on the 9th. So why it took 15 days to go 200 miles is beyond me. But I'm sure glad it arrived because it was a christmas present for her daughter!



BTW if anyone uses paypal for payment on their items they sell and you don't use delivery confirmation you really should use it to save your bum incase a package is lost or you have a bad buyer. It's the only form of proof that paypal accepts as proof of delivery. And that is why I either use the green labels from the post office or click-in-ship because the PO is not required to scan labels purchased online such as with paypal or other services. If your package is not scanned at your local post office there is no actual proof that it was actually sent. Just a thought for you sellers.......

 

[Gayle]

Shipping Fees

I am also concerned about freight cost. I have been told by a soaper friend that Mike @ Columbus Foods is great to work with and if your order applies, he can put it all on a pallet and get you better rates. I have not done this yet but, this is my plan. Maybe give Mike a call and see what he can offer. Good Luck.

 

[Tabitha]

Mike is great at CF.

Faithy, the carried had the pacakage just 7 days.

As for delivery confirmation... it will not save your bum. It only proves the package was dropped off somewhere. It could have been left on a porch or delievred to the wrong address or a mean neighbor. It will not hold up if they file a claim. The only thing that will hold up is a signature & even then you can not prove you did not ship a box of rocks.

Twice (through ebay) I had customers write to me that they got the item & loved it.

The first time was a motorcycle part. The guy smashed it to heck trying to get it on his bike & decided he wanted a refund, now mind you he already emailed me he LOVED the item & it arrived safe THEN he damaged it himself cause he did not know how to install it. He filed a claim it arrived damaged & got his money back. The emails he sent me I forwarded to paypal but they claimed i could have altered them.

The second was a collectors item, the guy wrote he loved it & it arrived safe but when his wife found out how much money he spent he wanted to return it. I would not take it back so he filed w/ paypal it never arrived. I had confirmation but they said to me what I jus said above. That confirmation only means it left the post mans hands but does not mean the buyer got the item w/o a signature. That money was refunded too.

Do not think confirmation will save your behind.

 

[Lane]

Tab- Sheesh! What shipping service did you choose!!?? Estimated shipping on a 5.5 pound box is only $13.00!! Sorry you have had a bad B&B experience! :cry: I know for a fact I do NOT get any sort of prefered customer discount (tho that would be nice!!) I HAVE had problems here and there and the company has been ready to fix them at a seconds notice.

I did spend about three hours on WSP last night!! WOW! The Budget Buster FO prices are pretty decent! (Has anyone tried the Cherry? I NEED a GOOD cherry!) The fixed oil prices were about the same as I pay now, a little less in places and a little more in places. I am going to place the EXACT same order I placed last month with WSP and see how it goes, PLUS I'll see how the products compare in a batch of soap...

 

[edco76]

Some suppliers will refund overages in shipping you pay. Often shopping carts figure shipping & can't really figure out how to combine effectively. When I am not comfortable w/ a shipping price I email the company & see if they make it a habit to refund overages, if they do I will go ahead & order, if not & it's a ahidden excessive handeling charge they have just lost my business & the business of everyone who asks me about my experieneces in the future.

Does WSP doe that Tab? I emailed them about an order I was going to place and they never answered me. They were going to charge me 12.00 for a 1 lb box (all FO's) I asked for a discount and never got a reply. I still shop with them though because their prices are great and they are super fast. I received an order today that I placed on the 4th.

 

[Lane]

They were going to charge me 12.00 for a 1 lb box (all FO's) I asked for a discount and never got a reply. I still shop with them though because their prices are great and they are super fast. I received an order today that I placed on the 4th.

I am placeing an order with them Friday *fingers crossed* I DID notice that they have a sister site and shipping on an order of $50 worth of FO's is FREE! I don't need THAT many, probably only $25.00 worth...But it might be worth it.

 

[perfectsoap]

shipping

Hello all. I am new were, but just made some large orders, at least for me and I will share my shipping cost.

I ordered though Soaperschoice (Columbus Foods) and it wasn't too bad.
$105.00 for oils (42lbs) Shipping was $15.28 ***They said $15.28 shipping up to 50lbs, but when I added another 7lb oil on the shipping went to $21.xx so maybe the new shipping rates took effect and they did not update their pricing on the website?

Natures Garden
Nine FO 16oz each (That is after I cut back )

Cost $124.55 Shipping $9.31 Not too bad, but not much weight either.

WSP - 6lbs of butters
Cost $39.50 (too bad I couldn't afford more, it would cut my price in half!)
Shipping $11.00 :shock:

The coops are nice, but I am getting 2 pound of Kpangnan Butter at a good price, but the shipping is $9.00, so I think you just have to do the best you can and incorporate it into your price if your selling or into your enjoyment if not

Jeff

 

[perfectsoap]

Soapers Choice shipping

Hello, me again.
I had a shipping question for Columbus AKA Soapers Choice, so I called and talked with Mike.
Some interesting tit-bits that Mike told me -
This is for buying from Soapers Choice only!
1. If you buy oils in the 7lb bottles, order in increments of 4 or 6, that is how they pack them and create the best price for shipping. Mike said you will actually loose money if you order 5, to either go back to 4 or up to 6.
2. Order from them now! UPS has increase shipping, but Mike said they have not, YET. Once they have time they are going to update their shipping price list, but he told me to enjoy until then!
Jeff

 

[holmescraft]

I ordered from WSP's sister site--FragranceandFlavors.com--and got it yesterday and I took advantage of their free shipping offer on orders over $50. Love them. My son doesn't like it when I "stink" up the house when making soaps/candles, etc. I made some blueberry muffin candles last night and this AM when my son got up, he complained about the kitchen smelling so good from the Blueberry candles but not having any muffins to eat, said it was not fair. I think it was worth it!

Dian

 

[perfectsoap]

holmescraft ~
Hi, I am new also. You might want to check out Natures Garden, I went with them even with shipping because their 16oz were 13.95 or 15.95 with great reviews.
Jeff

 

[Lane]

My son doesn't like it when I "stink" up the house when making soaps/candles, etc. I made some blueberry muffin candles last night and this AM when my son got up, he complained about the kitchen smelling so good from the Blueberry candles but not having any muffins to eat, said it was not fair

My little ones do the SAME thing!