Exotic Blanks: Postage Increase

[Todd in PA]

I recently made a large order from Exotic Blanks. To the best of my knowledge every order I made in the past had shipping of $9.95 (and came with M&Ms). On this order (just north of over $1k) the shipping was $30.69. We're all spoiled by Amazon's free shipping and free returns. It's got to be a nightmare for mail order retailers like EB.

Anyway, if you go to EB and put one pen kit in the cart, shipping is $10.07. More shipping is added for each additional kit. So they have switched from a flat-rate per order to a weight-based postage model.

This is neither a cheer nor jeer. More of an information announcement.

Todd

 

[d_bondi]

My most recent order was delivered today.
Compared to Todd's a small order (~$90) for some GluBoost products and a single Band-It kit.
My shipping was only $7.87 and that seemed completely reasonable to me.

Thanks to Ed and Dawn for what you do for this craft and community.

 

[ed4copies]

We are trying to make shipping fair

We have changed to accommodate those who want really cheap shipping! We now offer "economy shipping" which is weight based.
For one pen, the cheapest shipping is $4.95. If you exceed 9 ounces, the rate is $5.65 up to one pound. This covers well over half of the orders we receive. This is the cheapest and slowest way--from a couple days to 10 days in some rare instances to the West coast. (We have only had this in place for a couple weeks, so we don't know what the real time will be)

A little faster?
Ground advantage starts at $7.10 plus 2 cents per ounce. One pound package is about $7.45

AND we still offer $9.95 priority mail, but there is now an "add-on" for insurance which is built in.

In short, shipping is NOT a profit center for us. And from time to time we order from PSI and CSUSA, so we experience their rates--ours are very competitive for large shipments.

Also, we have some customers who have their own FedEx or UPS accounts--they provide us with the label after we pick and pack and give them the specifics of the shipment. If you have other suggestions, please let us know.
(We do NOT want to raise quantity prices to accommodate "free" shipping as some of our competitors have done.)

Also in some cases, large items are ordered, which incurs additional shipping charges, so those specific items will make a noticeable difference.

Hope this is clear---nearly ALL our orders are now picking "economy shipping" and MOST are under 3 pounds.

We realize we made a reputation for FAST shipping, we also realize some of our customers really want CHEAP!
We are trying to allow you to pick the method YOU prefer. We will see how many complaints we get about the SLOW shipping. We still pack and ship the vast majority of the orders received before 3PM (eastern time) the same day.

 

[jttheclockman]

I see Priority mail just increased also. I sent a package yesterday and it was over $9. It use to be $8.00. just sent for some kits from Rhzeng and that was 90 shipping. Sent for an item from another vendor and the shipping was $7 but now there is a $6 handling fee. That was never the case. Just can not win. And here my post office can't even deliver my news paper on the day it is suppose to.

 

[sorcerertd]

Postage has definitely gone up all around. Also, we know that "free shipping" is never free. The cost will be coming out of your order total one way or the other. I just keep my Etsy store shipping at a flat $5, but I pay over $8. People seem to like the illusion of free or low cost shipping.

I don't make or sell enough to put in large orders, maybe a couple hundred now and then, but usually less. The economy or flat rate priority mail from EB is always fast enough for me from WI to NC.

 

[PreacherJon]

It is the cost of business and no way of getting around it. We just sent a cutting board to Geoagia and it was $16. Last December, same address to Georgia.... same weight cost only $14. It is what it is.

 

[jttheclockman]

It is the cost of business and no way of getting around it. We just sent a cutting board to Geoagia and it was $16. Last December, same address to Georgia.... same weight cost only $14. It is what it is.

It is what it is but you think the service would better. Horror stories all the time. Seems like thing are getting worse.

 

[woodwzrd]

I see Priority mail just increased also. I sent a package yesterday and it was over $9. It use to be $8.00. just sent for some kits from Rhzeng and that was 90 shipping. Sent for an item from another vendor and the shipping was $7 but now there is a $6 handling fee. That was never the case. Just can not win. And here my post office can't even deliver my news paper on the day it is suppose to.

Rhzeng's sliding scale shipping drives me nuts. Their kit prices are great, for the most part, but if you are not ordering 350-400+ it is usually quicker and fairly close in cost to order some of the stuff domestically. I usually order from them once a year about this time and maybe again late summer depending on how sales go. When I order I always play the game of adding or removing an item or two to see how it effects the shipping to get the most out of it.

 

[WriteON]

I recently made a large order from Exotic Blanks. To the best of my knowledge every order I made in the past had shipping of $9.95 (and came with M&Ms). On this order (just north of over $1k) the shipping was $30.69. We're all spoiled by Amazon's free shipping and free returns. It's got to be a nightmare for mail order retailers like EB.

Anyway, if you go to EB and put one pen kit in the cart, shipping is $10.07. More shipping is added for each additional kit. So they have switched from a flat-rate per order to a weight-based postage model.

This is neither a cheer nor jeer. More of an information announcement.

Todd

 

[WriteON]

I recently made a large order from Exotic Blanks. On this order (just north of over $1k) the shipping was $30.69.

What did you order?

 

[WriteON]

Rhzeng's sliding scale shipping drives me nuts.

I'll do my best to not order from this type of a bill padding vendor... .

 

[jttheclockman]

Rhzeng's sliding scale shipping drives me nuts. Their kit prices are great, for the most part, but if you are not ordering 350-400+ it is usually quicker and fairly close in cost to order some of the stuff domestically. I usually order from them once a year about this time and maybe again late summer depending on how sales go. When I order I always play the game of adding or removing an item or two to see how it effects the shipping to get the most out of it.

yes I understand and it is confusing at times. But if you average the price for kits which could be $3 and divide the shipping cost it may raise the cost per kit to $4 which is still cheaper than you can buy from here where you still have to pay shipping here too. That is how I look at it. Example. I think I bought about 80 kits at about $3 a kit ( a little less but I am rounding off) plus bushings and extra tubes which are not much but say $300. You get % off for bulk buying. Now you would pay shipping on that anyway. But take the $90 and divide that by 80 kits you are basically raising the price of kit to $4. Easily the kits sell at vendors for $7 at minimum. (Vendors do not even have these kits) So the savings. This is how I look at it. They do charge for using PayPal which was $16. Again still way less. Talk about padding.

 

[derekdd]

Ha! I just placed a modest order (~$150) with Ed this morning and noticed the shipping cost, also.

As @PreacherJon mentions, it's just the cost of doing biz.

 

[Woodchipper]

Amazon free shipping? I ordered some things with free shipping. Then they wanted to charge me on a monthly basis for free shipping. I cancelled as the monthly charge would be more than what I would pay for S&H for random orders...which are few and far between.
Ed, thanks for your response to the post.

 

[jttheclockman]

Amazon free shipping? I ordered some things with free shipping. Then they wanted to charge me on a monthly basis for free shipping. I cancelled as the monthly charge would be more than what I would pay for S&H for random orders...which are few and far between.
Ed, thanks for your response to the post.

I use to play the game with Amazon with their free shipping trial game and then noticed I actually order alot of stuff from Amazon so I decided to buy into their yearly rate. Does it pay, who knows. I am sure some things would cost more to ship because of weight and size and all so it is just the cost of the way we shop today. This is throughout the spectrum of living. Shipping is a factor.

 

[Todd in PA]

I pay for the Amazon Prime membership too. But also watch their tv programming and listen to music on the app while I make pens. Somehow all that seems worth it for $80/year to me.

 

[d_bondi]

yes I understand and it is confusing at times. But if you average the price for kits which could be $3 and divide the shipping cost it may raise the cost per kit to $4 which is still cheaper than you can buy from here where you still have to pay shipping here too. That is how I look at it. Example. I think I bought about 80 kits at about $3 a kit ( a little less but I am rounding off) plus bushings and extra tubes which are not much but say $300. You get % off for bulk buying. Now you would pay shipping on that anyway. But take the $90 and divide that by 80 kits you are basically raising the price of kit to $4. Easily the kits sell at vendors for $7 at minimum. (Vendors do not even have these kits) So the savings. This is how I look at it. They do charge for using PayPal which was $16. Again still way less. Talk about padding.

What site is the Rhzeng's you are talking about. I Googled it and found nothing. Thanks.

 

[jttheclockman]

I spelt it wrong. Rizheng pen kits.

 

[jttheclockman]

What site is the Rhzeng's you are talking about. I Googled it and found nothing. Thanks.

I spelt it wrong Rizheng pen kits.

 

[rixstix]

I pay for the Amazon Prime membership too. But also watch their tv programming and listen to music on the app while I make pens. Somehow all that seems worth it for $80/year to me.

Amazon Prime $80/yr ?? Ours is $140/yr. Likewise, we watch a lot of Prime TV (freevee) and music in the pen room.

All for the benefit of receiving delivery in 4-7 days

 

[bugradx2]

We are trying to make shipping fair

We have changed to accommodate those who want really cheap shipping! We now offer "economy shipping" which is weight based.
For one pen, the cheapest shipping is $4.95. If you exceed 9 ounces, the rate is $5.65 up to one pound. This covers well over half of the orders we receive. This is the cheapest and slowest way--from a couple days to 10 days in some rare instances to the West coast. (We have only had this in place for a couple weeks, so we don't know what the real time will be).....

Ed - Thanks very much for commenting on this. You & Dawn are wonderful

As someone who works in transportation world, there are annual increases for shipping from every carrier and Exotic Blanks has found ways to keep those increases minimized for all of us.

Typically speaking all transportation costs are based on weight of the shipment, dimensions of the shipment (for dimensional weight) and distance from origin to destination. The carriers review if the actual weight of the package is different from dimensional weight and take the larger of the two weights to decide billing. If you buy a large box full of body pillows it may cost more to ship the same distance than a 20 pound box of hammers because you're essentially paying for the segment of the transportation vehicle (s) you're using with USPS/UPS/FedEx.

I'll leave it to Ed & Dawn to tell us if or what the impact of the shipping change is on what people choose. In my experience we need 2 day or overnight shipping far less than what we may think. I appreciate having some additional options open to me for transit of my shipments. As a dedicated and terrible creature of habit it probably won't change what I do but I appreciate it none the less.

Perhaps we can all ask Ed to inform us of the complexities of shipping over a beverage of our choice at the MPG.

 

[JohnU]

Shipping is one thing I've always expected to go up. Look at the cost of living…. Wages of employees go up, gas prices, vehicle costs…. Pretty much everything needed to ship packages. Like said above… just the cost of doing business.

As for Rizheng… you get what you pay for. They are cheaper in price, but also cheaper in quality. A lot of their platings are not what we are use to in durability even though they call them by the same name, and don't get me started on kit names not being the same tube diameter as kits we buy locally, and the parts are not interchangeable with our usual vendors so there's no robbing one kit to fix another. When I first started I bought some kits from them. I think I still have most of them in a box somewhere. You can definitely tell by looking at the finished pen ( less quality or detailed center bands, more plastic parts, poor finishes and platings, odd sized tubes, etc, ) where it came from. Some are better than others but you get what you pay for. Good luck.

 

[Woodchipper]

How many see a fuel surcharge on your bill for services? Our trash service always add a couple of bucks to the bill but their service and allowances for trash are great.

 

[jttheclockman]

Shipping is one thing I've always expected to go up. Look at the cost of living…. Wages of employees go up, gas prices, vehicle costs…. Pretty much everything needed to ship packages. Like said above… just the cost of doing business.

As for Rizheng… you get what you pay for. They are cheaper in price, but also cheaper in quality. A lot of their platings are not what we are use to in durability even though they call them by the same name, and don't get me started on kit names not being the same tube diameter as kits we buy locally, and the parts are not interchangeable with our usual vendors so there's no robbing one kit to fix another. When I first started I bought some kits from them. I think I still have most of them in a box somewhere. You can definitely tell by looking at the finished pen ( less quality or detailed center bands, more plastic parts, poor finishes and platings, odd sized tubes, etc, ) where it came from. Some are better than others but you get what you pay for. Good luck.

John this is very true but will say that vendors here also carry China made kits and the platings are not as good and will not mention names. But sometimes you do not get what you pay for. Cheaper in price and yet when you buy the same kits from vendors they pad their sales. I know they have inventory and all that BS. I know. Won't go down this rat hole. Buyer beware as they say.

 

[ed4copies]

Also realize as an individual, you avoid the 25% tax that is levied on all business purchases from China. So, if you pay 10.00, the same kit would COST me $12.50--one thing Biden KEPT from Trump.

 

[Monty]

What site is the Rhzeng's you are talking about. I Googled it and found nothing. Thanks.

You can find them at PenKitsMall.com. But you have to register for an account. You can also find the on Esty by searching for Penkitsmall (but don't confuse them with Penkitmall who is a reseller.

 

[jttheclockman]

You can find them at PenKitsMall.com. But you have to register for an account. You can also find the on Esty by searching for Penkitsmall (but don't confuse them with Penkitmall who is a reseller.

yes this is their site. I am trying the Majestic pen kits. I have been wanting to try those for some time. At $7 if I do not like them I can sell here for $20 each

 

[JohnU]

John this is very true but will say that vendors here also carry China made kits and the platings are not as good and will not mention names.

I don't like to buy cheaply made component sets anywhere. Even though I don't sell pens, when I give one away, I want it to last and not have the plating discolor or flake off with normal use. I don't even use the stock ink anymore. Lol

 

[PreacherJon]

yes this is their site. I am trying the Majestic pen kits. I have been wanting to try those for some time. At $7 if I do not like them I can sell here for $20 each

You need a referer I.D. to join.

 

[jttheclockman]

I don't like to buy cheaply made component sets anywhere. Even though I don't sell pens, when I give one away, I want it to last and not have the plating discolor or flake off with normal use. I don't even use the stock ink anymore. Lol

I hear you but what is sad you just do not know any more. I can tell you this any copper coating kit I have used especially the Berra copper Sierra and cigar kits the coating on the copper wears off and the copper wears away. Seen it a few times. I hate to use them but some pens just scream for it as was my copper braiding pens I recently made. Also this antique finish on kits is another one that does not hold up. But as I said I have bought kits from reputable vendors and will not buy certain kits any more. They are suppose to be upgrades of kits on the market but still China made. Give me Dayacom kits any day of the week. I trust their kits. I try to stay away from any gold kits that are not high grade gold. I am not trusting this new gold colored stuff coming out because it even looks cheap. Has a off yellow color. I use stock ink. I found many of them are just as good as these so called better inks. I have used some higher end inks and they are too scratchy. If I sell a pen I offer a substitute ink or just throw a refill in.

 

[jttheclockman]

You need a referer I.D. to join.

I did not but maybe they changed their site. You can use my sign-on name if it helps.

 

[PreacherJon]

I did not but maybe they changed their site. You can use my sign-on name if it helps.

I'll let you know if it works. Probably tomorrow.

 

[Joebobber]

The Rizheng fast shipping used to be great. But last year they switched and put me in a delivery fee zone which added another $60-90 on shipping which is dumb because they just drop it off at the post office for the last few hundred miles. Now I have to go the cheap long way...

 

[jttheclockman]

Update. ordered from Rizheng on 3/11 and got order today 3/16. I do not get that from closer vendors here. Not bad. I looked at the Majestic kit. It is a large kit and not bad at all. Probably same size as full size majestic from PSI. Not as nice as the PSI kit. But $7 I did not expect it to be. Not top quality like a Dayacom but not bad. It will get some attention for sure and I will build some pen blanks on it. Bought a couple others that I will make and surprise with them. They too fit a need. Will see how things go. I should have bought a couple of their leather boxes to see what they look like in person. They would fit a bill for that better than cardboard box and yet not big $$$ so give away is easy to do. They do not look bad at all. Their wood boxes look good too. Probably same ones others sell.

 

[TonyL]

I recently made a large order from Exotic Blanks. To the best of my knowledge every order I made in the past had shipping of $9.95 (and came with M&Ms). On this order (just north of over $1k) the shipping was $30.69. We're all spoiled by Amazon's free shipping and free returns. It's got to be a nightmare for mail order retailers like EB.

Anyway, if you go to EB and put one pen kit in the cart, shipping is $10.07. More shipping is added for each additional kit. So they have switched from a flat-rate per order to a weight-based postage model.

This is neither a cheer nor jeer. More of an information announcement.

Todd

Here is my information announcement:

Good thing this wasn't a rant; it may have went on for several days and for several pages. Do we know of anyone else that raised their rates or was it just Exotics? I don't think Ed and Dawn have has many homes as Bernie, but I don't think they is going to get there, but profiting from shipping. I find it good to take a look at those suppliers that donated prizes; provide advice on this forum; free videos etc. I know, I know...it all free advertising for them. Then why don't I see other suppliers doing it - it is free after all, and one's time is worth nothing. How about having an very extensive inventory where you can but from Dayacom, PSI Berea etc all from one place and pay shipping once and at a discount. Other than PSI and CSUSA...maybe the the Chinese suppliers, I don't see suppliers close to his inventory which ties up cash. Berea had a 50% off sale. Did anyone see what they claimed were the original prices? There is no way they were the original prices. Yet...no public service announcement. Big fan of free speech. However, telling me my mother's ugly maybe be the truth, but I can see that for myself. BTW, I a buy most of the IAP vendors. I am interested in your learn what is going on with their rates too. " Yeah, but Ed started this and he, he, he .... He what; took a chance? Here's what is nice about this country (at least for the time being), we can buy from whomever we want. Don't give a cr@p about what others think, just don't want to see a "PSA" turn into an opportunity to single-out an IAP benefactor.