10/08/2024
It's no surprise to anyone these days that prices remain historically high and everyone is feeling stretched. Shipping costs are one area that we for one can't wait for some relief. When faced with higher prices over the last few years, we have always looked first at cutting costs before opting to raise prices. Raising shipping costs is a fast way to lose customers. We are proud that we have not raised our shipping rates over the last few years while also maintaining a threshold for a free shipping option in the US.
For our non-USA customers, the logistics and economics are a bit more complicated and it has been a bit of a pain point. However, we are happy to announce that we have added a new shipping service with a LOWER shipping costs dubbed 'International Economy'. Although it is not a "fast" service, it provides the customer with greater choices, which is always a move in the right direction.
In this new international shipping method, shipments go from us in South Dakota to forwarding services and are delivered by the local postal service in the countries we serve. The one catch of this service is that it is only available on small, lightweight items (under 4lb).
Customers in Europe and Australia/NZ will notice the greatest price breaks on these small shipments (see attached example), although the base rate to Canada has also decreased by 25% ($19.99 to $14.99). For our Canadian customers, we are also working hard to offer FedEx instead of UPS as we've heard you loud and clear that UPS is quite unfavorable when it comes to the brokerage fees your government charges. That switch should be made by the end of the year.
Running a business in this economic environment has been tricky, but I assure you we know that simply passing costs onto the customer is the fastest route to defeat.