With so many people using the web to order nowadays, its like "old times" with the Sears catalog, when that was our only means of obtaining clothes and other necessities. Since I had some experience with that, and since we do have a rather large mail order company on the web as http://www.sugarcraft.com, I decided I would like to help you save money. I can remember when , for years, mail order was my only means of obtaining cake tools.
Of course no mail order company has anything to say about what UPS, USPS, FEDEX, etc., decide to charge for shipping costs. They all charge by weight and ‘girth’ (meaning box size if over certain measurements - listed on their respective web sites).
This is what I did to save money on shipping costs:
1.) When I did cakes at home, I kept a running list on a magnet on the refrigerator. Every time I thought of something I needed, I wrote it on the list. Then I sent one large order. This saves rather a lot of shipping cost $’s. Once in all the years of doing cakes at home, I had a rush order shipped! What if the company is out of stock? No company I’ve dealt with keeps every item in stock. Larger companies are more likely to be well stocked. But even they may be out of things. You must allow several weeks in case of this. Manufacturers Can be out and the company has no control over this of course.
2.) FYI, We charge a small handling fee. It is $1. boxes and wages of pickers, boxers, labelers etc. For larger orders it can take over an hour to gather all the products. We still just charge the minimum fee no matter how large an order is, so this saves when you send large orders.
3.) NEVER get into a mess where
you must have products very quickly. Always look ahead as much as possible.
Check dates of wedding or special cakes, so that you have products needed
in plenty of time without needing rush orders. We do use UPS 2-DAY or NEXT
DAY for rush shipments. This is guaranteed and quite expensive both to
you and to UPS. They may make a special trip several miles out of way,
so this is why it is expensive. On our part, these orders are always put
ON TOP of the stack and processed first. We drop everything to get these
out the first possible day. So does UPS.
At Sugarcraft, all orders are shipped as soon as possible. We go by invoice
number and take the first order first, etc.
4.) Keep some Novelties that are steady good sellers on hand. I kept clear plastic boxes full, labeled accordingly for ‘girls’, ‘boys’, ‘baby’, etc. Your customers won’t know all the possibilities and will be grateful for your suggestions of decorations for their cakes. One other possibility when customers order late and need a product shipped, you might have THEM make the order and have it shipped to you to make the cake. Then they pay the 2-day or next-day shipping charges.
5.) One more note…UPS charges
extra for some rural areas. This is because of time and gas prices when
they must drive for miles out of their way to deliver just one package.
They may hold your shipment several days hoping to make one trip do for
more than one person. This additional shipping cost is divided between
us and you as a courtesy. We don’t charge you the full amount, which is
usually around $5.00 total.
The
post office (USPS) doesn’t charge extra for rural areas, since they go
to your house daily anyway. If you are in a situation like this, you should
request we ship by the Post Office. We will be glad to do this for you.
Happy decorating, Dolores at www.sugarcraft.com