CSUSA Shipping increases!

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Wow,that's pretty high.It doesn't seem fair just basing it on the amount you spend.( 3 pens would fi in the same small box as 6)

I think it should be based on weight or size of box,if oversized.

We ship stuff out everyday where I work,and that's what we do.

Hoping that they have some special sales,like free shipping every so often.


Steve
 
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This is what you get when you turn your business over to the accountants, remove real leadership skills or when upper level players are dominated by greed. I suppose a very legit question for this is does this new deal include KY jelly?

quote from the owner and president of the company.

"My observation of the IAP over the years is that a small group of its members control the dialog and effectively prevent us, other businesses, and even fellow members from being able to set the record straight regardless of how false and misleading their claims are. They "shout down" and demonize those who make an attempt to bring reasoned thinking or truth to the discussion. These same individuals are intolerant of any attempt made to defend ones character against their false claims and vicious comments. Our not weighing in on comments is at times construed to mean that we don't care. The truth is that we do care very much about what is said about our company as we work diligently every day to give our customers the very best service and product for their hard earned money.
As in the past, all anyone can do with this kind of thing is to let it burn out. It's the sad truth."
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Oh and for compare.

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Sorry I just could not help myself. .....

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May be related to shipping cost increases, and how those significant costs are passed through to customers -- Postal Service bumped rates a week ago, and freight has been headed up significantly for the last year.
 
KenV said:
May be related to shipping cost increases, and how those significant costs are passed through to customers -- Postal Service bumped rates a week ago, and freight has been headed up significantly for the last year.
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Not sure what ups and fedex are doing, but my understanding is that USPS priority has no major increases.
 
The rates were bumped on some flat rate boxes and some 1st class packages which handle small items (like a couple of pens).

There is seldom free shipping to Alaska -- and effectively no Ground rates to this community, so we watch the postal rates closely - A buck here and a buck there adds up.

I watch the rates on Amazon between "Prime" and paid shipping -- Prime is usually less costly to Alaska, but the costs are significant either way.
 
Looks like a 50% increase for an order of 10 kits. Actual shipping costs are based on weight and size of carton. Add in the labor factor and these higher rates are the result. It is easier to increase shipping rates than increasing prices on the kits and material. The company I worked for charged actual shipping costs from the carrier but the labor involved was part of the prices for producing the work. Either way we will pay for the "shipping".
 
I've never paid a dime for shipping with CSUSA...then again, I live close enough to them that I can ride my bicycle there. When I visit them, I have always been treated absolutely great. Same goes for the local Woodcraft.
All vendors account for the shipping charges of all transactions one way or another so why stress over it?
 
Shipping charges are just the cost of doing business. No issue here but again this my full time job. I plan for increases of cost in my business plan which results in the cost at which my pens sell for.
 
maxwell_smart007 said:
What's the issue? I don't see what the fuss is about at all!
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It's nothing to 'fuss about' but It's not anything that's going to help us any.

I understand that they sell lots of big stuff like tools which may be the bigger issue on their end.

Shipping a bunch of pen kits is different that a bunch of turning tools. Which is hard for them to account for in charging shipping I know.

Anyway, I'm not fussing but I'm disappointed.
 
KenV said:
May be related to shipping cost increases, and how those significant costs are passed through to customers -- Postal Service bumped rates a week ago, and freight has been headed up significantly for the last year.
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The postal service has jumped rates twice in recent memory.
 
If anyone missed it (apparently several did) the price of an item is not reflected on shipping charges. The only aspect of shipping that the cost makes a difference is in insurance taken out. The key aspects of real shipping charges is size and weight, which is not reflected in their 'new' rate structure.

Also this company does higher volumes than anyone here and they get special volume discounts and a very specialized rate structure for that reason.
 
Folks whether you like it or not Shipping is a big expense to everyone who sells on the internet and one way or another you ARE going to pay it so you might as well get used to the idea.

Given the amount of labor and treasure it consumes shipping should be a profit center for most of the businesses here at IAP - but it isn't. For me the only out of pocket cost that exceeds shipping is cost of inventory and about 15% to 20% of inventory cost is shipping from the seller to me.

If you think postage rates have increased you should chedk international shipping - in some cases they have doubled and they are also set by weight so at times I actually pay more shipping on a smaller order. i,e. it will cost me more dollars to have 19kg shipped than 21.5kg. And not just a couple of cents more either.

Shipping is usually calculated one of three ways. Flat rate, by weight/volume and by order price. With all of them the general rule is the more you order the less per item it will cost. Also, whichever the seller selects some people's order would go cheaper using a different method. Most of you are looking for fast delivery which usually means the seller can't select the cheapest rate - lower cost usually will mean slower delivery.

To say that high shipping costs are somehow due to mismanagement or greed is patently absurd.
 
Smitty37 said:
To say that high shipping costs are somehow due to mismanagement or greed is patently absurd.
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Agreed- that's ridiculous.

The key with shipping is that if you expect free shipping, you should expect that the company would have to make up that price elsewhere...i.e. cheaper shipping method, higher costs of items, less promotions, or otherwise.

With the very high amount of bad publicity that other companies have had for lowering shipping costs by 'drop shipping to hubs', then I think raising shipping prices to be more competitive is a good move.

I thought the shipping prices seemed reasonable, but then again, I live in an area where everything costs about double that to ship - so it's all about what you're used to, perhaps...
 
There are two significant points in this entire discussion:

- the cost of shipping is rising (did you notice that the cost of a first-class postage stamp also went up this past week?)

- the cost of shipping per item goes down as the number of items being purchased goes up. Duh.

When I go to a brick and mortar store, I have to pay for the gas consumed by my car, and the price that the vendor charges includes his cost for the product, his cost for getting the product shipped from wherever it was manufactured to his store, and his markup. When I purchase something on line, the price that the vendor charges includes the same components, but in addition, the incremental cost of shipping the stuff from his place to mine. That's how it should be. Sure, it would be nice if the vendor absorbed the cost of shipping the product to me, but what that really means is that he is going to add that incremental cost to the price of his product, so I will pay for it in another way.

Bottom line - there's no free lunch. There is a real cost for shipping, and someone has to pay it. And that someone is usually the consumer at the end of the line.
 
I just ordered a product that cost me $7.95 to ship. It was a large box, approximately 9lbs. This same item is available from another vendor that charges $20 to ship it. Point is...sometimes you will be ahead, sometimes not.

To the accusation about greed, I disagree. Most agree that CSUSA has top notch customer service. They also run a top notch shipping operation. As long as I order by 4pm, I have it here in Pennsylvania in two days(from Utah)....ALWAYS! I can order from "you know who" in the same state, and never know what to expect. So maybe I pay $2 more for this level of quality.

When we take a $9 pen kit and sell it for $50, are we greedy? How about a $25 kit and sell it for $150? I think we get that because of the quality of work we do.....same as CSUSA and the USPS. As long as their service remains high, they will get it...and I'm willing to pay it.
 
While I don't like price based shipping charges, I do understand the logic behind them... before retirement, I made my living handling shipping... that was the only service I offered, the parent division of my company received, checked and packed the shipments, and I handled the actual logistics from point A to point B... my revenues came from what rates I could buy for transport and what rates I could sell.... in this day and age of computerization, it's relatively easy to set up a price range as criteria for generating a shipping charge... it's much more difficult to work out a program based on weights and sizes... those almost have to be handled individually... labor being the highest cost to most business, it's more reasonable to use a system that doesn't use much labor.... I have always figured shipping into what ever I buy online... as Smitty said, it's a cost of doing business, whether your are a buyer or vendor.
 
I placed an order on Jan 20, 2014 - $189.30 (Turning blanks for bowls)...89 lbs! Free shipping.

I just did a trial to place the same order today - $14 for shipping... I have NO problem with that.

I went to the Fed Express site and tried to send an 89 lb package (to CSUSA's zip)... Close to $200 for me (an unnegotiated rate albet).

It may be onerous for small light packages, but for 80 lbs of wood... They negotiated a good rate and I'm OK. (just my opinion).
 
Last I checked, CSUSA ( and every other vendor) did not have the words "charity" or "non-profit" associated with their names. These are businesses and they need to structure their shipping policies in a way that they feel gives them the best business advantage. To chalk this up to greed is ridiculous.
 
mark james said:
I placed an order on Jan 20, 2014 - $189.30 (Turning blanks for bowls)...89 lbs! Free shipping. I just did a trial to place the same order today - $14 for shipping... I have NO problem with that. I went to the Fed Express site and tried to send an 89 lb package (to CSUSA's zip)... Close to $200 for me (an unnegotiated rate albet). It may be onerous for small light packages, but for 80 lbs of wood... They negotiated a good rate and I'm OK. (just my opinion).
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I hope the FedEx guy wore his back brace that day!
 
mark james said:
It may be onerous for small light packages, but for 80 lbs of wood... They negotiated a good rate and I'm OK. (just my opinion).
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The reality of it is they most likely did not negotiate that rate. Their actual cost for the shipping was probably more. They are just using averaged shipping so the guy who paid too much for a small package helped offset the shipping cost on your order.
 
MesquiteMan said:
mark james said:
It may be onerous for small light packages, but for 80 lbs of wood... They negotiated a good rate and I'm OK. (just my opinion).
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The reality of it is they most likely did not negotiate that rate. Their actual cost for the shipping was probably more. They are just using averaged shipping so the guy who paid too much for a small package helped offset the shipping cost on your order.
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I suspect you are right... Thank you to all the small order folks :smile:
 
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