Teach Soap

I am curious whether others here have found the shipping costs on m&p bases ordered online to be as ludicrously high as I just found out at least some of them indeed are.

Today, after a few months of reading, researching and deliberation, I finally decided to place my first order for some melt-and-pour bases, from Brambleberry. After putting it all together, 25 pounds of bases in total, plus some molds and pigments, the order came to $104. I was absolutely SHOCKED, however, when it came to figuring in the shipping charges, that they wanted to charge me $58 for the shipping on this order! "This has to be a mistake", I thought --- SURELY they know about, and use, the US Postal Service's flat-rate boxes! Even using two of the largest of the USPS flat-rate boxes (which ship for $14.95, and are free from the Post Office), this order should have shipped for about half that $58 figure, and if they used just one such box, as I suspect would be perfectly possible, that cost would have been cut by almost 75%. But no such option appeared to be available.

"Maybe they are just gouging us because it is being shipped to Alaska" (as is SO depressingly common), I then thought, so I put in my old Michigan address just to compare --- and the charge was then over $70! This is wildly, ridiculously and absolutely unnecessarily expensive, when the flat-rate boxes are available and JUST as easy to use and mail as any other priority mail package --- even easier, in fact, as they do not need to be weighed, as their weight is irrelevant, shipping at one flat rate.

This constant, and NEEDLESS, gouging on shipping is a constant irritant for those of us living outside the Lower 48 in particular, and from things I have heard and read from others online and in person, increasingly so even for those living within the Lower 48 states. WHY will more businesses NOT take advantage of the HUGE savings offered by the US Postal Services' flat-rate boxes?

I must say, I was profoundly disappointed and discouraged by this shipping policy of Brambleberry, and I categorically will NOT pay such an overpriced shipping charge when other, much cheaper options are available but ignored. I am sick to death of being gouged on shipping charges on relatively heavy but relatively compact orders from the Lower 48 "just because", when the Post Office's flat-rate boxes were expressly made for exactly just such packages.

Have others here found the same kind of inordinately high freight or shipping charges being applied to the online order of m&p soap bases as well?

MP bases are heavy and not every company can ship via flat rate boxes (some have commercial contracts with other couriers). Have you emailed BrambleBerry privately and ask? I'm sure they have a good answer for you. What I would have done before placing that order after I saw the shipping charges was to save the order in your shopping cart. Then emailed BB to see if they would be willing to ship in a way that they normally don't. Most of the time BB has been very accomodating.

I live closer, so shipping for my MP base was less due to distance. I normally choose FedEx Ground.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I am aware of the mentality that if it's going to Alaska, it's going to the middle of nowhere. Some people believe that Alaska is very isolated and as such goods cannot be delivered via a truck. It has to be a plane or a boat. Both you and I know that it's not true. Alaska is beautiful; from what I have seen in pictures and documentaries. There are cities there just like the other 48 states. People are influenced by TV. What they see are lots of open spaces, lots of snow and lots od wild animals.

A friend sent me a picture once of a moose that was in the process of sticking his (her) head of a drive through McDonalds. I wish I still had that picture. Wild life meets the yellow arches. It made me laugh.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

The post office might treat Alaska as just another state - but it also lost $8.5 billion dollars in the 2010 fiscal year. Those flat rate boxes are a loss leader to get people to use the post office at all, so they don't have to cut another 100,000 positions like they already have.

Commercial carriers are for-profit industries and have stockholders to answer to, so their fees are going to be more of a representation of how much it actually costs to ship something.

_________________
Namaste,
Heather
Martinsville Emporium - ~

Soapysmith,
Would you consider a co-op buying from SFIC? Maybe gather a whole bunch of soapers and buy in bulk (they do have min. order) and pay someone here to ship it UPS priority flat rate to you. BB gets M&P bases from SFIC anyway, same bases.

_________________
Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

We happily ship in flat rate boxes and always have. It is, however, a special request that does need to be done over the phone. You can phone Bramble Berry at 1-87-SOAP-STUF or always email Bramble Berry with customer service questions at info @ brambleberry . com (taking the spaces out).

Shipping is not a profit center for us; it never has be and it never will be. If we can save a customer money on shipping and get them their product in a safe manner (we cannot, for example, stuff a bunch of glass products into most flat rate boxes), then we happily do so.

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

_________________
Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

_________________
JKM Creative Enterprises

Thanks for the suggestion. We are always glad to check and see if flat rate mail is a viable option for any order; just ask in your comments section. Unfortunately, there are two big problems we have with having flat rate available for every order. First is actually the cost. We can safely get three to four fragrance bottles in a flat rate box. That box will only weigh around 3-4lbs and at that weight Fedex or normal priority mail would be similar in price or even less expensive. The second reason is the flashpoint issue. USPS has a different set of flashpoint shipping rules than the DOT (Dept of Transportation), so many of our products can not ship priority mail at all.

We find that flat rate only works out if you are 1) only getting bulk melt and pour or a mixture of bases weighing over 8lbs or 2) you live in Alaska or Hawaii. Because of how confusing this would be (with the flashpoint issue, the glass, etc...), we don't have it has a option on the site. But, like I said before, you can always ask in the notes or phone us and we will check to see if it's an option for your order. We love to save customers money when it's possible.

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com