Teach Soap

Patience grasshopper. This is a complete shipping anomaly for BB, one time occurrence. They have even hired help to get threw this bad patch. Their forum is very cool too!

Mella

Been ordering from BB for 6 years now.....and I still will for those hard to find items that only they carry. That's if I can wait 3 weeks to receive it. The typical turnaround for me after placing an internet order from BB is 2.5 weeks. The 3 week+plus mark tipped the scales for me. I also had to consider cost of shipping 2 pounds of shea butter cost an additional $24 and the only shipping option available at checkout was FedEx. The post office has flat rate that would be suitable for $11 and make it across the country in 4 days. But then you can't pad USPS flat rate boxes because everybody knows what they cost to mail. I had to factor all of this and especially when a competitors shipment arrives within 72, and sometimes 48 hours after ordering, with no shipping charges. They say they factor shipping charges into their prices but the prices are equivalent to BB's. FedEx was the first, but are no longer the best. They lost their edge and it's costing some companies money when their clients and customers decide to shop elsewhere.

I see supersoaper forgot you were on the east coast so that does matter. But shipping costs go with fuel costs, and if you can cut the middle out well it would nice. I too find what I order from NDA or other east coast facilities does run me more and it has to be important or I won't do it! Cheers mate!

Large flat rate of 25 pounds of m and p base costs 14.50 I believe to ship USPS to anywhere with a ZIP Code, no padding necessary and the box arrives intack. The forum is still cool!

I have to agree with supersoaper. Shipping is expensive from anywhere on the west coast and I try to find local or east coast suppliers whenever possible. But, I still have my BB wishlist!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I ordered 3 Fos from them this week, soaping one tomorrow (Beer ) the reviews looked good for CP. Which did you order and not like ? I'll stay away from them.

Mella, Don't cut the middle out! Thats where I am!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

The two of you crack me up. (note the new idiom for today)

Thanks for your feedback.

Shipping isn't a profit center for us - it never has been, and never will be. If you go to FedEx.com and put our zip code in for boxes shipping to a residence from 98225 you can always confirm pricing for shipping. If you're concerned with the accuracy of the shipping info, we happily look into anything and everything (like the Olive Oil base).

We're in Washington State which unfortunately, is quite a distance from most of our customers. And unfortunately, Fed Ex and USPS all have expenses like planes that they like to see a return on so shipping can be expensive to ship a package across the country. We've looked into a 'shipping included' price model but haven't seen a way that we're comfortable doing it (unfair for some, too fair for others, just right for a few).

We try to offer fair pricing and tons of free resources, like this forum, TeachSoap, SoapQueen.Com and SoapQueen.TV to help elevate the industry to an entirely new and exciting level.

I'm sorry to lose your business SuperSoaper. I hope you continue to post and teach/learn anyways. =)

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Happy Soaping!

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

Anne-Marie: Thank you for the sincere response. As a businesswoman, I know you understand it was merely a business decision and not a personal one. I try to make good decisions in every aspect of life, including being a good consumer. I still plan to order the exclusive items you carry and know that I must allow adequate time for delivery. And thank you again for clarifying that you charge the exact amount for shipping that you incur.

You run a very informative, educational, and fun forum; and while I don’t entertain myself in being a group spokesperson, I think I speak for everyone when I say we all appreciate the resources you provide to enable us to share ideas and our thoughts.

In losing me as a single customer for semi-frequent orders, you have gained a dozen more. I travel to New Jersey and in some places around rural North Carolina to teach a cold process soapmaking class. My New Jersey group is a women’s guild from a Congolese church. While they have taxed my French speaking abilities, they are all starting soapmaking as a way to boost revenue for their group....as well as their personal business interests. I gave only BrambleBerry as the resource for purchasing supplies. The same with my soapmaking classes in rural North Carolina. I know factually that many of these women are now current customers.

The quality of your fragrance and essential oils is unsurpassed; as is the quality of your oils and butters. My soapmaking business is not a means of support, but rather a way for me to donate profits, and often entire proceeds to one of several charities I support while allowing me a tax haven for my soapmaking expenditures. Since my customers know this, I am afforded to luxury to use less than perfect supplies. Hence my decision to purchase from a different retail outlet.

Again, I appreciate your candor in your responses in this thread and certainly hope you take no offense to my comments as they are simply a business decision and nothing more. Thank you again for providing us with an outlet to express our concern, thoughts, opinions, and experience through this forum.

Supersoaper.

Very well said soapersoaper. I for one tried somewhere else for a fragrance I did not realize BB had and also ordered a repeat one that I love at the same time. There was a difference and have made the decision to stay with BB. There are times that I wished I had started this venture alot sooner than I did (since I am as old as dirt!) but then realize that when I was in my 20 -30's I probably could not have afforded to do as much as I can right now. So BB you have me on your side! Thanks for all you do.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

SuperSoaper,

You write really well! Do you have a blog I should be keeping up with?

I rarely, rarely take offense unless people are just straight out mean to me and call me names (LOL!) which happens more frequently than I would expect for such a fun, normally sweet industry =)

Business realities and juggling is so tough to do sometimes so whenever there's an opportunity to examine what we do, as a company or as individuals, with policies and the way we do things, I"m always excited about the opportunity. Sometimes, you get stuck in a rut and just keep doing the same thing over and over again and don't realize that the situation (or the world) has changed around you. Frequent check-ins are a good way to make sure that you're/we're staying relevant with trends and keeping on pace with the competition (aka "fellow vendors"). In this case, I do see the 'free shipping' trend coming down the pipe (diapers.com, amazon.com, the Limited brands etc...) and so it's something we'll revisit in the future once we figure out how to do it and do it the most fair that we possibly can.

In the meantime, I am STILL dreaming of an East Coast warehouse. That would be a dream come true .... (sigh).

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Happy Soaping!

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

Not to worry Mella! After all where would everyone get all that corn and wheat from? My dtr on the east coast wants me to move there.... but right now the roots are just too deep to pull up and transplant. We do visit often and that is nice!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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JKM Creative Enterprises

I'll send you a PM so we don't get too far off the thread.