Shipping Charges?
I normally purchase my tea locally 95%. But, when I am looking for a good pu erh or difficult to locate tea I go to the internet. There is an abundance of companies seeking our attention offering many great deals, coupons, free shipping…if you purchase more than say 50,00$…My concern are the shipping charges…they are extra-ordinarily high don’t you think?
i only think they are because i always get a “rural charge” >.< it stinks! i live in a rural town but my apartment is right off the main road but i still get charged that little extra
I live in a somewhat ‘rural’ area as well by the sea…but it is only twenty minutes fm the city…rural? And, to top it off…I have to drive into the city to p/u my parcel when I am not home(at work) when the delivary man comes by during the day…I guess we pay to live ‘away’ from the city….it’s worth it. I will be more cautious of the shipping charges…I will have to curb my desire to buy tea and purchase it in bulk orders rather than a couple items at a time…
well about a mile to the west in my town is a farm and like3 miles north is another farm but i live in the more cityish aera and the post office is a 5 min walk from me. o wells. im not a city kind of girl so yes it is worth it :D sometimes its annoying with the extra charge but if its something i want really bad i wont mind. :)
I just received my very first tea shipment from an online tea vendor and I thought the shipping was very resonable for the package I got. I even checked how much the actual shipping charges were to the company against what I was charged and low and behold I paid LESS than what the company paid the USPS.I guess I have a great vendor who doesnt inflate shipping/handling charges.You might ask the weight of the package before confirming payment then checking actual weights/prices with that particular carrier their sending with.
Pete, a lot of companies offer free shipping if you reach a certain total. Like Harney & Sons currently has $25 = free shipping. And TeaGschwendner always has $35 = free shipping. Other companies have higher free shipping requirements (Adagio = $50, I believe, and Samovar = $99), but if you’re ordering a lot and reach that required goal, shipping costs are a lot easier to handle. Because there aren’t any!
Try and find a tea company that sells real pu erh cakes…one has to go thru a reputable buyer and this is where prices for shipping can be high. I have not as of yet located a “tea coy” I can trust with low prices for ‘pu’. There is good loose pu erh that most companies sell and they are resonably priced…but it is the ripe/raw pu erh that when it comes to shipping wow.
Teaplz, most of the time those ‘free shipping offers’ are only for within the continental U.S.
Eeek! I didn’t realize we were talking about Canada… although I do think that Harney’s free shipping deal (which I believe has expired) included Canada as well.
Have you tried Teaspring.com? They ship directly from China at a very good rate. I’m not very experienced with pu-ehr, but I have tried and liked a few of their loose pu-ehrs, and I know they’ve got some that are in cakes. I’m not sure if that’s really what you’re looking for, but if you haven’t seen it, it might be worth taking a look.
stumbled upon this thread and as a matter of my interest-I have offered 15$ flat shipping from Darjeeling to any location, with experience am learning that UPS is the best delivery man in the US. No complains yet but have 2 check out the rural charges-i dont want 2 end up getting a long email from a customer. Thanks this thread has helped me get updated.
at http://www.52teas.com/ they have free shipping to the US or Canada :) on all orders for right now.
www.cloudwalkerteas.com ships teas to the US for $8CDN and it’s insured so they replace any orders that don’t reach their customers. Over $80 and they ship for free!
Thanks so much, Mark! This way, you’ll be able to promote your brand without it seeming shady or anything. Good luck with your business!
The problem right now for me is. With were I want to price my tea with packaging I offer (every tea comes in its own tin) which increases the cost and size of the packages. If I were to offer free shipping on low cost orders I would loose money on those orders. However I do offer 15% off any order over 30 dollars no mater what you have in your cart to help with shipping costs. Average order I loose money on shipping though.
Its a packaging thing that I like. I always got upset when I got a tea and it came in a baggie or a box. I ordered a bunch from one company and I got clear bags of tea with tea smashed in the seal of the bag and they leaked air. (will not say who) It upset me. Thus I started my own company and do things my way, may loose money, may not work, but at least I tried and I can say see what I did. I get good feed back from customers on the package. I could change it but I personally would not be happy with what customers got. Its my personal prefrence. It hurts me with smaller $ orders if I offered free shipping on all but the larger dollar orders its not so bad. thus the discount. (I may revist the discount thats why its not on the site yet) As I grow with time the shipping will change but I can’t negotiate with UPS right now, they say I don’t ship enough.
Then don’t change=D. 1st priority for me is that the tea is kept from light and air, but those containers can take up quite a bit of space, which may be one of the few down sides of loose leaf.
I agree about the light and air, I wanted to give people the means to keep tea quality even if they don’t know how. And thanks for the note back. I love feed back. I have been thinking about offering a choice to recieve it in a baggie but not sure yet. I have the packaging equipment for it because I currently double package (sealed bag inside tin) But I just think it is neat looking.
I am curious why people would like to specify shipping charge out of total cost. If the total cost remains the same, would you prefer higher price+lower shipping, lower price+higher shipping, or either is the same to you? When it comes to tea, I also wonder, would most people prefer a shipping rate calculated based on weight, or a flat shipping rate that rewards larger purchases? Would love to learn what you think! :D
As someone who tends to buy smaller quantities of tea a shipping cost based on weight might be nice.
What’s really a huge pain in the butt for Canadians like Pete and I is when American companies charge $20+ just to ship across the border. I mean come-on people, customs isn’t that much of a hassle!
I like weight calculations – because they will be closer to the true cost, where % based sometimes is a little crazy
I prefer the rates based on weight. I work in a shop too, that sends books out of the country, and this seems like the most reasonable to both the seller and the buyer.
Umm… when the shipping fee cost the same as the total of 2 kg tea, I get upset. And specify the shippingfee. And cry. And pull my hair.
And start all over.
And then there is the toll…
I prefer higher price on tea, than higher price on shipping. But in my case, I don’t blame the seller – it’s just the d*** cost of sending thing to my country.
I definitely prefer shipping rates based on weight. I think a flat rate can be quite unreasonable for most buyers that want to buy in small amounts since it might be their first time shopping on that particular website or whatever so a high flat rate discourages some people from making the purchase. Of course I would also steer clear of companies that offer low shipping costs but make up for it with unreasonably high tea costs.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.