Comment · Tue, October 11, 2022 · ND Owner
Just curious about shipping cost on ND site
Original post in this thread
ianonuanon · 1 points
I typically order from ND unless I only need one thing from then I sometimes order it from Amazon.
I am wonder why a single 20g powder item has a shipping cost of over $10? I own a small business and we ship orders through usps and ups. That small of an item in a bubble mailer doesn’t cost anywhere near that mush to ship usps. Does anyone know the answer to this?
What they were answering
Direct reply to the original post — see the thread post above.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
We ship on FedEx One Rate for most of our packages. That's a single rate we pay for every address in the United States, and it goes in 1lb increments. It also has guaranteed delivery times. This really saved us during the pandemic, as we signed our locked-in contract just before COVID hit. This meant FedEx was contractually mandated to keep our rate and delivery times in place. In some cases, customers reported FedEx employees hand delivering our packages to them using their personal vehicles. This is because we would get refunded if they didn't meet their contractually mandated times, so they tried extra hard to keep our packages moving. FedEx cancelled all delivery guarantees for everyone else, but our contract stipulated it. This is why our shipping was faster than everyone during the thick of it in the pandemic. USPS also was a shitshow during back then. We got lucky with our FedEx One Rate contract. However, once it came time to renew, you can bet your ass FedEx changed the contract. They have upped the prices 4 times since. It's gotten very expensive. Shipping is killing us. We are taking a loss on every shipment at the moment. At least they are keeping the delivery times quick.
We could definitely lower costs by offering USPS First Class for smaller shipments. However, we had a ton of issues with them losing packages or taking weeks to get there, so we stopped. This was around the time Louis DeJoy fucked all the sorting at USPS. Even USPS Priority Mail has removed delivery guarantees. They give you an estimate of 1, 2, or 3 days, but they won't guarantee it. Most of our customers want their packages as quick as possible, though. This is why we keep the system the way we have it. However, it really is killing us with costs.