…so a nice couple from New York contact me about making them two custom wall cabinets for their Nursery(newborn on the way). Shaker style hanging wall cabinets…dovetailed corners, frame and panel doors…all solid wood of course. 3 ft wide x 3 feet tall x about 12 inches deep-pretty decent size cabinets. Couple wanted them made out of Maple.
So I start shopping shipping options. Anything I’ve made in the past, I typically use a local PakMail store where I just drop off the piece and they do all the packing and shipping. Yes, I know I could save money by doing some of the packing myself but one can only do so much and I’m not in the shipping business…I’d have to order custom boxes, etc… just not what I want to do.
Anyhow, from Michigan to New York City…I was quoted $350 to $500(the cheaper price if I could ship to a commercial address) to ship these cabinets to New York. I knew it wouldn’t be cheap, but this is more than a darn round trip PLANE FLIGHT to New York!
Anyhow, it killed the deal with these people..just put the price out of range. We’re really up against it when it comes to trying to eak out a profit in this business. It’s just too expensive.
Question… I see Amazon and other Online retailers frequently offer –free shipping–… heck, I think I bought my first Tablesaw from Amazon/Toolcrib about 10-12 years ago and there was no shipping cost. How in the WORLD do they do this?
Replies
Amazon does millions of dollars of business, probably everyday, maybe every hour. They also contract shipping and don't pay what we would for a single item. We still pay the cost, one way or another. For furniture, you should use "white glove" delivery through movers, not UPS, FedEx or the mail. It could arrive in pieces with their package handling procedures. I wouldn't let shipping costs spoil a job unless those costs broke the deal, money wise. Products have to get there somehow, it isn't going to be free.
Hammer, I realize what you're saying, but I went to 2 different(UPS store and Pakmail) and asked them exhaust any method of shipment....the CHEAPEST was $350. And that was only provided I could find a commercial outfit to accept delivery. Each assured me that was the least expensive way to ship... I'm honestly not sure what they were going to use to ship the cabinets.
I realize Amazon ships in huge volumes but come on...how do they do it for FREE? My guess is that they are making pennies on stuff and its ok to them. You say we still pay the cost? Huh? My Tablesaw I bought years ago from Amazon(Jet Contractors Saw)...Amazon had the cheapest price anywhere --AND-- Free shipping. Not sure how they were getting there money there.... and I've bought countless tools from them where the tool is at least as cheap as the brick and mortar and they ship it for free. Unbelievable to me.
It just blows me away. I can FLY to the east coast for cheaper. Heck, a friend had a CAR shipped from PA to Michigan for about the same price I was quoted.
I'll keep looking for other options. thanks
there are alternatives
I remember when I was shipping a r/chair to the san antonio museum of art a few years back and I got a quote from ups. $850.00. I shipped it myself by air. think that it went s/eastern via seattle for 235.00 to the door and that was through customs. if your crating is good and it fits within their dimensions the dog is reasonable. also I shipped a restored chair to a customer 500 mi away by a lessor courier by ground and it was 120.00
ronm
it pays to check around and sometimes the big guys I think just like to bend you over
Woodk,
check on some freight companies in your area. If you put the two cabinets on a standard pallet (and protect them with OSB board and shrink wrap) I think you will find a ground carrier that will move your stuff for about $100 bucks. You will need to drop off the pallet to their depot to avoid a pick-up charge (usually $50 more in my area) and the client may have to pick-up from a distribution centre at the other end to avoid the "to the door" delivery charge. Check it out, sure hate to see you lose a client because of the shipping costs, many clients lead to more orders/new clients. I had a pallet sized load shipped over 1000 miles recently for $107 bucks. Was all ground delivery and depot to depot only and took most of a week but the price was right.
By contrast I (like you) thought I would send a blanket chest by UPS and let them handle the packaging and shipping to the door and everything, cost me $254 for a 800 mile trip! opps. Since I had quoted a set price for the work including delivery to the client I was the one out the difference and it hurt for sure. Enough that I pack up the freight now and take it to a truck freight company that have regular van service to the centres I deal with. Live and learn I guess. (I think UPS made more on the freight than I did on the chest!) For smaller items I have found the bus companies will handle a fair sized box for a good price too.
Robert.
Your shopping for shipping quotes in the wrong neighborhood. Think "freight". UPS and the like bend guys like us right over the coals, and there's no kiss at the end, either.
I shipped a kitchen table I made for my daughter from chicagoland to Florida last year for $145.00. You need to shop around for better carriers, and package/crate the items yourself. Styrofoam, bubble wrap and plywood for crate making aren't very expensive.
Jeff
Freight shipping
Freight is cheaper, but I don't think many customers would want to put up with the hassle of going to distribution center and picking up furniture. We've grown accustomed to having deliveries arrive at our doorstep.
Interesting......I had the table delivered to my daughter's new home, and the guy even carried it into the garage for her. She's a very pretty young lady, so maybe a guy would have had it left at the garage door. But, no pickup required at a freight terminal.
Seek, and ye shall find!
Jeff
Try a different shipper
Hi Woodk,
I don't pretend to be an expert in the woodworking business, I am just a hobbyist. However, I do work for a small craft company in Utah that ships direct to customers. One of the things our business has done is sought out a reseller of UPS or FedEx services. The way the shipping prices work with UPS / FedEx, etc. is by volume. If you are Amazon, you are going to get excellent rates if you are not then you don't have a lot of good options going directly to UPS for your rates. However, there are a number of what we call "resellers" of UPS services. I would seek out an authorized reseller of UPS. These companies have a single UPS shipping account with UPS and then they resell their services to other smaller companies by allowing other businesses to ship on their account number. These resellers get a giant group of companies shipping on their account number and by so doing get their volume high enough with UPS to warrant very good rates. Much better than you could get by going directly to UPS. There are some risks to shipping with these companies, as you will pay directly to these resellers who then have to pay UPS for the shipments. So if the reseller takes your money and doesn't pay UPS, then your shipments can be held by UPS and the reseller can disappear. This is why I highly suggest if you take this route you find a reputable company. We use these companies to ship internationally as well and their prices have been unbeatable.
Thanks,
Will
Try any of the freight companies for shipping either blanket wrapped (you don't do any packaging or wrapping) or regular freight service (you do all the packaging). I use Plycon on the West Coast and Clark and Reid on the East Coast, both would have been cheaper than either UPS or FedEx. Shipments are picked up in my shop and delivered to the customers home, shipping can take up to two weeks though.
Bob
Freight is right.
Yellow freight, Old Dominion, Roadway should be able to deliver to your customer door. I have had stuff shipped to me from the US to Mexico and have not paid as much as UPS is charging you. GIve the a call I am betting 100 to 200 bucks should be the charge.
ABF, FedEx, etc.
Check with ABF (one of, if not the, largest trucking company in the nation) and FedEx about setting up your own account. Setting up the account won't cost you anything. I know that sort of thing can cut your costs in half, or better. With FedEx you can ship ground for 1/2 or less.
Alan - planesaw
Get a Furniture Mover
Contact one of the national household moving companies, such as Mayflower or Bekins, that has a local branch in your area and ask them for a price. They will blanket wrap the piece, so you won't have to spend a lot of time and money with crating and deliver it right to the clients house probably for way less than the cost of a package delivery company. Be sure to get the piece insured for its actual replacement value, the base insurance supplied by household movers isn't too generous. This is how we shipped furniture at Fine Woodworking.
Check out a website called: http://www.freightquote.com/you might have to put stuff on a pallet (which you should anyway) but companies like these bid out shipping - we use them all the time. I can ship a ton across the country for a couple of hundred bucks.
LTL vs. Package vs. Moving Companies
I am in the shipping business and have shipped a lot of large projects. Like everything else, each option has it's advantages and disadvantages.
Package carriers FedEx, UPS, USPS. Package carrier equipment and facilities are optimized for shipping packages, not cabinets. Their rates reflect this bias.
LTL (Freight) carriers will be less expensive per mile than the package carriers for cabinets. LTL carriers will charge for residential deliveries and lift gate trailers/trucks. It's cheaper to go terminal to terminal with a dock. This works OK if you have a local installer or you are meeting the shipment at the other end. I crate or palletize/shrink everything that goes LTL. I see a lot of damaged shipments that
FedEx and UPS now offer LTL as well as package services. Convenient if you have packages and freight. Package services max out at 150lbs per package. You can usually get better rates if you set-up an account and ship on regular basis.
Furniture Movers -- I have had good results using furniture movers. Residential deliveries are part of their business and they are equipped to move furniture. It may take longer to get there but it's usually in one piece. If you have some flexibility with your dates, you can get some great rates.
BTW Amazon can offer free shipping because they use the USPS via FedEx Smart Post for a majority of their shipments.
Be careful of freight quotes. You have to use the correct classification/ description of your shipments to get accurate freight quotes. Use the wrong classification and the carrier will reclassify it which usually costs more.
Cheers and Happy New Years.
I hope this helps.
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