Shipping Costs 101
Smoke, mirrors, and the art
of misdirection.
(These remarks generally apply to all ground shippers like FedEx,
UPS and DHL, but the details here are specifically for FedEx, as that is who I use to ship your fatwood. I have checked with UPS and DHL, and the monetary result is the same).
In the good old days the shipping companies used to publish their new rates every February, and we were able to post our shipping rates based on hard numbers for a year. We could post a flat rate shipping amount and know we could control costs and profit margin. Those days are gone.
The shipping companies now float their prices according to fuel costs - done monthly by FedEx, and add in that lovely grey area called surcharges.
For FedEx, the surcharges are
(1) for residential delivery - a flat amount that is NOT discounted and is added back in, (2) and delivery area surcharges - a flat amount that is NOT discounted and is added in if you happen to live in a rural area, or a remoter location, or even on the far side of the lake. Therefore, it is not out of the question to get a quote on Tuesday and have it off by a small amount by Thursday. In the good old days flat rate shipping was very popular (and a lot more honest) until the Madison Avenue guys figured out that making the shipping "appear" cheap would fool the buyer into thinking he was getting a great deal, thereby selling more products. A company would simply build the shipping cost back into the product cost so the "real" shipping amount disappeard.
The truth, folks, is that the "list" price for shipping is the same for everyone. The difference is the discounts. Big retailers may get over 50% off shipping while small guys get 15% or 20% off. Big retailers also get a cheaper price from their product suppliers for volume, which means their pricing should be run-away cheap, which clearly isn't the case.
So the game is smoke and mirrors. Given what any company wants to make on a product to make it viable, they will move the product and shipping amounts around until they believe you will think you are getting a great deal. I mean really folks, do you think $3.95 is a realistic shipping amount for a 12 lb. bag of fatwood?
OF COURSE it isn't!
I am going to tell you a story. In 2005 one of the major-retailers ran a holiday catalog which included fatwood and Free Shipping. Apparently, the result was so disastrous for that company that they "ran out of" fatwood on December 6th (I know because our sales tripled in 24 hours). 4 weeks later, after the free shipping catalog died (early January) they were back in stock. Since it takes 3+ months to get a container of fatwood out of Honduras, not to mention the private label packaging, they clearly decided that it was better to take the sales loss than the greater loss of shipping against the product price. Now mind you, I can't prove any of this, but if it struts like a rooster and doodle-dos like a rooster . . . .
That's what happens when you engage in PRETEND pricing.
I know the things that matter most to you are:
1. |
price |
2. |
quality |
3. |
service |
QUALITY
Most of the big companies have their fatwood packed in Honduras, and many
ship from a fulfillment location in the mid-Atlantic.
This is what we take out of the Honduran bulk boxes before we
re-package our Grade "A" for you.
We sell this as cull for $.75 per pound.
It is perfectly useful fatwood, but it is hunks, chunks and shards,
and "sticks" that are cut right above the stump called "butts".
SERVICE
We ship within 24 hours, notwithstanding weekends.
I have shared all this with you because, well frankly, I find all the games employed to befuddle buyers to be just plain obxonious. I am a consumer too, and I am pretty easily annoyed these days.
We have now written our own shopping cart, and it contains a button for shipping quotes in real time, that carry into your order. The quote shows both list price, and our discount, which is what you pay.
You will always know the pound price from us, and you will pay ONLY the
exact amount I pay for shipping to you through FedEx, which includes my 20% discount. Your shipping receipt is a printout from FedEx and will be in your box, along with your credit card receipt (which does NOT include your cc#).
Thank you for actually taking the time to read this!
You are a good-smart shopper, and even if you don't buy from us
you are now armed with MORE information, which means it will help you understand why a box shipped to your office is LESS than a box shipped to your home, and why a box shipped to your home may be LESS than a box shipped to your lake house.
Susan
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