postage and packing grrrrr

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TracyUK

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Dont know how many other techs find postage and package charges from various companies just getting higher and higher :mad: ...drives me mad to have to pay , in some cases over £7 ontop of my order (must be really hard for a small business just starting out and I bet it kind of 'forces' them to stick to only one company rather than pay several delivery charges...really annoying as I know I for one like to use 'favourite' items from various companies)...heck I could wrap the order in bows and ribbons and send a bunch of flowers and a kissogram with it for the price some charge!
 
TracyUK said:
Dont know how many other techs find postage and package charges from various companies just getting higher and higher :mad: ...drives me mad to have to pay , in some cases over £7 ontop of my order (must be really hard for a small business just starting out and I bet it kind of 'forces' them to stick to only one company rather than pay several delivery charges...really annoying as I know I for one like to use 'favourite' items from various companies)...heck I could wrap the order in bows and ribbons and send a bunch of flowers and a kissogram with it for the price some charge!
Hi,

I know exactly how you feel! I find that a lot of companies have free delivery when you buy a certain amount of goods from them - so i find myself searching through the catalogues for products up to the amount that i can qualify for free postage! the end result? i end up buying 3 times the amount of stuff i want just to get free postage!!!!

i am at the point of topping up my supplies, which is frustrating because i cannot wait until Pro Beauty at Olympia but I know when I get there, there will be loads of stuff on offer!!!!

I think us tech's will have to get together and ask the companies for lower postage costs!!! :D

Jenn
 
Hiya

I know this is so frustrating, i can understand it when they are posting chemicals, as they have to come by courier, but when you are only ordering tips or files ect and they can come in the post its really annoying and certainly makes me not order from the company again. I tend to stick to a few like ellisons and beauty express and designer nails so it keeps my costs low. It soon adds up, cause then the cheeky sods add vat to it. They could at least pay that for us..................
 
yes I agree and for small businesses or people starting out it is frustrating. The thing that I find with some companies is there is a minimum order price as well which makes ordering individual products impossible when you have run out of just a few items and if I could I would pay postage and packaging for the items if it meant I could have them without having to spend even more money on extra items I may not have needed. I think it is good for the company to have a minimum order price but not for us small salons, or mobile techs etc :sad:
 
Yea, shipping sucks the big one.
Trust me, most companies would love to get away with cheap or no shipping costs... but the fact of the matter is that it cost mucho dinero to ship out most items.
If companies were not to charge for shipping, then they would lose money on smaller items (as they would spend the profit+ on the free shipping). This in turn would mean that the shipping costs would end up getting folded into all of the other items. In other words, you would end up paying for it through higher prices.
I think of it kind of like taxes. No one wants to pay them, but everyone wants nice roads, hospitals and the like.

Designer Nails sends anything it can via First Class post... but were put under pressure after an enamel bottle once broke and leaked.... yup... now even if you buy 1 enamel bottle... it has to go First Class. Bummer huh?

Several companies can absorb the shipping costs when a certain amount of products are purchased (i.e. £100 worth) or some (i.e. Designer Nails) work on a 'points' type of system that essentially gives you most of your shipping costs back, but allows you to spend them how you want (i.e. take £10 off your order).

As far as charging VAT on it... wish that didnt have to happen as well. The fact is that if you charge for something... you must pay the Vat man 17.5% on it. Once again, you either pay for it in the cost of your goods, or clear as day (VAT on your invoice). Thats one of the funny things at Trade Shows. Designer Nails has alsways charged VAT because Designer Nails always has to pay VAT (it is illegal to say 'no vat' as it is illegal not to charge the VAT). The VAT isnt going to the company, it is going to the Tax man.

I know it sucks... wish it wasnt so... but I guess its one of those things you can always be sure of in life... Death, Tax, and Shipping :(
 
I must be one of the good guys lol
Maybe not many of you know I also have a packing supplie business............I sell Mail Tuff and Featherpost packing bags started it years ago b4 nails as it was internet based and I didnt need me ears lol .........right ok to the point I have a good turnover and I give all my customers FREE P&P on orders over £25 ok I dont make so much money but a few pounds less and a lot of happy customers is the way I like to do things.............I use Business Post and goods are delivered in 24 hrs.

Just my 2 pennies worth lol

Take care Dawnie xxxx
 
I don't mind paying for next day delivery charges as long as the stuff arrives :twisted: !!!!!

Business Post appear to have delivered my £200+ order to one of my neighbours I've never heard of and can't find!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:

I waited in all day for the delivery, left my windows open so it looked like I was home, and when I rang at 5pm to find out where the delivery was the lovely lady at Business Post says it was left at 10.40am - I have no postcard through my door to say left with a neighbour or anything and I KNOW he didn't call here!!

I've got to call them back tomorrow morning so they can question the delivery guy as to where my stuff has gone - I'm so disappointed :cry:
 
Dawnie said:
I must be one of the good guys lol
Maybe not many of you know I also have a packing supplie business............I sell Mail Tuff and Featherpost packing bags started it years ago b4 nails as it was internet based and I didnt need me ears lol .........right ok to the point I have a good turnover and I give all my customers FREE P&P on orders over £25 ok I dont make so much money but a few pounds less and a lot of happy customers is the way I like to do things.............I use Business Post and goods are delivered in 24 hrs.

Just my 2 pennies worth lol

Take care Dawnie xxxx
Hi Dawnie,

do you have a web address?

Jenn xx
 
Those P&P charges soon add up don't they? What I tend to do now is shop mainly from a company who ships free of charge if you order over a certain amount. It ALWAYS make me spend more than I had originally intended! :lol:

I can certainly understand though, that companies do not want to be posting out small orders free of charge, that's understandable. I've also got into the habit of buying as much as I can from GMEX each year (yes, I'm one of those people with the suitcase trailing behind me, brimming with show offers - goodness, the comments from some people as I ran over their little toes by mistake! :evil: ). If you're able to stock up for the year at one of the shows it saves you a small fortune.

But perhaps other nail companies could consider free P&P for a minimum order - after all it is nice to think you're getting something for nothing! ;)

Jackie
www.LibertyNailDesign.com
 
Thats kind of the idea behind the points system. Not only do you get the equivelent of free shipping after a certain amount... you get more the more you spend.
(the £200 order gives you £10 worth of points) whereas the £10 order (though you still get shipping charges) still gives you points too.
That way you are not forced into minimum orders and those with large orders get even more of a bonus. ;)
 
i activated my points today and had nearly £50 worth. :green:
 
What was that saying,
What do points make.................prizes
or shipping still cool though Sam
 
lesley1965 said:
What was that saying,
What do points make.................prizes
or shipping still cool though Sam
err.........I think you'll find thats.........Parsnips!!!!!

Dellie:green:
 
I also think you have to weigh up the cost of postage against the cost of say taking time off work or worse spending your free time physically going to a store to buy your goods.

When you can earn 35+ per hour doing nails ... it would cost you allot more to take an hour off to go and shop for your goods (time, petrol, wear and tear on the car etc). You may not pay for those costs out of your pocket there and then, but they are there none the less and I think we tend to forget about that when we see the charges in black and white on our bills.

Postage is a fact of life and should be factored into your charges. We are lucky really in our profession. Even with postage your product should only amount to 13% ish of your overall service. This is low indeed. Our profit margin is very high compared to other professions. I think we need to learn to live with these things and be glad we are in a business where we can get such a great return on our investment.
 
Until a couple of years ago I owned a network marketing company. This meant I shipped in excess of 50 consignments every single day. For some time we absorbed the shipping costs and used parcelforce ( :evil: :evil: ) because they were cheap. In the end I had one member of staff spending nearly all her time chasing missing parcels. In the end we had to go with another courier who charged more money but at least they got there on time and undamaged. We charged the customer £3.95 for each parcel we sent, but we were still paying for the staff to pack it, the box, the tape, the labels, and a LOT more than £3.95 to the courier!!!! There's no such thing as a free lunch so the costs were covered by raising prices.

There can often be restrictions made by the credit card handling companies that unless you use a "sign for delivery" service (which costs more money) on large value orders, they will not permit you to handle credit cards for mail order. What I am trying to point out is that using royal mail standard service is not always an option. We occasionally used it for low value orders, and you would not beleive the amount of people who rand up saying they did not receive it - hmmmmm, funny that only happened when you don't have to sign and there is no proof!!!

The way I see it, to get to a wholesaler takes me at least an hour, plus petrol, wear & tear on my car (and then having to go back if they didn't have it in stock) so anything the companies charge for delivery saves me money!!

Thumbs up to the designer nails points system - this is great and about as fair as it gets.
 
ella said:
Thumbs up to the designer nails points system - this is great and about as fair as it gets.
I agree Ella, my time is money................
So the postage in this case is no problem for me either and then there are the points.............
Nice one Creative !!!!!!!
 
This is the first I've heard about the points system with Designer Nails - I've been a customer of theirs for 3 years now. How do I 'activate'my points and how far do they go back?

Jackie
 
JackieMc said:
This is the first I've heard about the points system with Designer Nails - I've been a customer of theirs for 3 years now. How do I 'activate'my points and how far do they go back?

Jackie
Hi...
Me too!
What, when and Where can i get some?...every little helps, so they say!!!!
 
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