Rant....Shipping prices

[HEChicken]

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"Squeezed" and "cram" are not a terms you want to hear concerning shipping, when eggs are involved, nor is "I use the smallest box I can put those eggs into". Just a little business advice.

I've neither shipped nor received eggs so take this comment for what its worth

but as a potential buyer of eggs, I *would* want the shipper to use the smallest box the eggs will fit into, because that would mean less room for them to move around, which would increase the chances I would get unbroken eggs. I know that onthespot has been shipping eggs for awhile so I would assume when she made this comment she meant the smallest box they would fit into AFTER she had wrapped the eggs with plenty of cushioning.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I am sending bantam eggs which does make a huge difference in weight for sure.

We use thick-walled styrofoam shippers that I am able to get free at work. If you will check your local pharmacy...especially the hospital pharmacies...you may be able to get them free as well. They are extremely light weight and protect the eggs from cold and heat.

Bubble wrap each eggs and put it into a bubble wrap lined shipper, top with an "air pillow" (These are free too!), put on the lid and tape it up good.

We charge $8.00 for shipping but have never had one cost me more than $7.50 to ship. I try to pass on all my savings to the buyer. It's complicated to include an accurate shipping price on an auction because you don't know where it might be going. I know that it won't be more than $8.00. If anyone purchases from me twice, I will cut the shipping price of the second batch down to EXACTLY the shipping cost because I already know what it will be.

Not criticizing those who charge more...just offering some suggestions to keep prices down. I know that I am VERY particular when it comes to the shipping price and generally won't purchase anything when the shipping price is way out of line.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

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exactly, if you pack your box right with light weight packing materials, you can keep your shipping cost below $10. I scroung packing materals, I've not had to buy bubble wrap yet

 

[onthespot]

so far no one has ever complained when I "crammed" an extra dozen marans eggs in with their orders... LOL. I pack them tight. Rather than just pack the extra space with wads of paper, I put an egg inside every wad of paper when available... They seem to get there okay. I don't know how many dozens I have sent, but I do know only three people have told me an egg broke, and that was before I started "cramming" the boxes full of eggs. The eggs help also as heat sinks and keep the temps more stable than just a wad of paper. They also provide mass, (weight) which helps a box come to a stop more slowly, and to start into motion more slowly than a very lightweight one. Plus, the extra eggs gives the buyer a greater chance of a good hatch, especially with the marans eggs, which are not the easiest eggs to hatch in any case. So... for the time being, I will continue to "cram" as many eggs wrapped in wadded full sheets of newspaper as possible into a larger box and just hope like crazy no one is torqued for paying less than the price of one extra egg to have the extras included.

Oops, make that four. just got a pm that two of the extra dozen silkie eggs I sent someone didn't make it. Seems the eggs were not hard enough. I will have to check out that coop and make sure what is up there... That is another reason i send out a lot of extra eggs for free. I get to hear back how they shipped. I don't send people eggs they don't want, just kinds they wouldn't mind hatching and have room for.

 

[Cara]

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The post office will give you flat rate boxes for free. They're not in the habit of giving away free mailing boxes for general purposes. I have received packages using 'recycled' materials, not even originally intended for packaging, and i'd rather pay the difference for quality materials rather than receive a box of goop for $35+.

Our post office is 52 miles away. If a buyer wants to shoulder the cost of driving there rather than that of a flat rate box, nobody has yet requested it.

$12-15 for shipping is one thing. Lately I have seen inflated shipping charges from $17 all the way up to $38! That is a $14 profit on Express shipping which is just disgusting. That being said, anyone paying that much for shipping is a fool and the market should let a seller know they are overcharging. I don't care what someone is selling, if they are trying to rip me off with inflated shipping i'm not going to buy it. If they can't be honest about that, how honest are they about their product?

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Just for clarification purposes:

* The USPS provides several different sizes of PRIORITY shipping boxes free of charge, including 3 flat rate boxes.

* You can purchase your postage and print out a shipping label for priority or express mail at ClickNShip - www.usps.com
(this will provide free delivery confirmation and a discount on shipping cost)

* You can request pickup at your location

FLAT RATE means you will be charged the same fee whether you ship it 10 miles across town or 2000 miles across country. Eggs are generally a 'lighter' shipping weight, so the shipping cost may be lower when shipping shorter distances. It isn't difficult to get an inexpensive scale to check to see which is more advantageous.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

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Right, I get boxes, labels, stickers all delivered to my house. all you need is a scale and you don't need to go to the PO, as for recycling shipping materials, I only use quality packaging that was intended for shipping, the bubble wrap that I use is not popped

. as I said some of us can't get to the PO. What I'm upset about is over priced shipping. when I know Its not right.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

What you have to realize with auction sites such as ebay, is because of their fees many people do reverse pricing. You might see an item for $2.00 but they have $25.00 for shipping. They do this to get around paying the higher fees that the auction sites charge. The same thing goes on everywhere. If you are looking at an active auction, are you more likely to bid on an item at $2 or the same item at $25? We have sold on ebay for years and it frosts our cookies when people do that. But places like ebay are strating to crack down on people who reverse price their items. If you know that it only costs so much to ship something then it is best to contact the seller and ask about their shipping fees and policies. Usually they will drop them to a normal cost. Otherwise it is best to not bid on the item. If enough people quit bidding on reversed price auctions then maybe these people would quit doing it.
We know that shipping fees have gotten way out of hand. The cost goes up and the service has gone down. With our business, when someone places an order, we package the order and get an actual weight and shipping fees on the order. If someone has paid too much for shipping then we will generally refund the difference if it is a substantial amount. We always try to ship the cheapest way possible to save people as much money as possible.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

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I certainly agree with refunding $$ if the actual shipping is less than I have charged. The only problem with that is by refunding via PayPal causes another service charge, doesn't it? What we are doing is donating the excess shipping that is paid to our favorite charity...The USO.

My daughter will be back from Iraq in 5 weeks

and she said a while ago..."Mom, if you ever want to donate to another charity...please consider the USO. I don't know what I would have done without them many, many times. In airports, they feed us and some even give you a place to sleep overnight while waiting on your flight."

So all our excess shipping, plus 10% of our sales of journals goes to the USO. Sorry if I hijacked this thread

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

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not hijacked, GREAT idea.