Need to Vent About Shipping Costs and ....

[micocina]

This price increase really upsets me! And I hear that there will be an increase for the Guest Specials as well!... $60 for FREE gift. I haven't done one KS yet and I just held an Open House last weekend with not one soul showing up. It's been hard getting a jump start. Most of my sales have come from my own CS and people complain now of the shipping, can everyone imagine how they will complain with the $4.00! Would it be a good idea to call HO and express my feelings!

HELP!!

 

[Marg]

How often does JC Penney or Bloomingdales (sorry I am a Canadian and these are the only two US deparment store I can think of! LOL) give away a free product when you spend $60 - ALMOST NEVER! How often does PC do it? EVERY MONTH.
And as for the shipping - how much does it cost you in gas/parking/babysitting to go to the mall? More than $4. What happens when you get home and the item has fallen over in your car and broken? Too bad, so sad. If a PC item arrives broken, it is replaced NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
When's the last time you shipped a heavy box via USPS for $4 - never.

As for direct selling companies, PC has the cheapest shipping - Discovery Toys is a 10% of your total order. PartyLite is about the same, but the host has to pay shipping as well.

I think you just need to put it into perspective.

 

[micocina]

You are absolutely correct! Thanks for your input.

 

[Marg]

I have had a lot of the same complaints in the past from customers, so I really had to sit down and think about an answer! Because I really like to have some kind of answer ready when someone has an objection. HTH!

 

[dawnsclassycupboard]

If you don't make it an issue, it will rarely be an issue.

Many companies charge 10-11% which on a $60.00 order is $6.00. The customers who are complaining are the ones who spend $10.00, even less, and we all know that if that is what they can or will spend then they are also savy enough to figure out combining orders. You know, the group over in the corner that is whispering like they have a big secret. They will figure it out and if we don't tell them that there has been an increase, many of them will never know.

This came from a fellow Director: food for thought

FYI - I recently sold a pink Quick Stir Pitcher & Family Size Pitcher to
another Consultant on this loop. The value was $28.00, weight was 4lbs 9.2 oz. -
check this out:

PC shipping w/a show $4.00
PC shipping direct $6.60
USPS shipping $10.40 plus insurance of $2.30 (I valued it at $56)
UPS shipping $14 plus change

WOW - that was eye opening to me!

Our company would never rip off its customers. Remeber that. If they did, they wouldn't have any.

 

[Sooner PC]

I don't think it is too badI had a friend host one of my first shows. She invited me to some show she was having. I didn't get to go, but I ordered (as a payback) Well - I got 2 SMALL packages of invitation - 6 each and too small to mail (they were about credit card size) and 24 recipe cards. Shipping was $6.50. I about fell over. I could have a stone shipped to my house cheaper than those 36 sheets of paper. THAT was a rip off.

Maybe PC will offer that as an incentive one month. Free shipping on orders $30 or more.

Boomer Sooner
Shannon Overstreet

 

[janel kelly]

If anyone complains to me about the shipping rate going up I plan on telling them simply its because shipping rates have gone up at post office and shipping companies ect... We all have had to deal with rates going up this year and Pampered Chef is the same way. Hopefully customers will understand.

 

[luvs2sellit]

GEEZ!! It is only .50 cents. There are alot of times I give free shipping on big orders anyways and just eat that cost. There are always gonna be "gripers" out there that will complain about the shipping cost (even the tax sometimes-go figure). Would you really expect to order something from say Pottery barn and get free shipping and a gift with purchase. Not a chance. How bout getting something from them shipped for less than $6.00. Not a chance.

As stated before, saying the recent hike in postal prices would be good reasoning use.

 

[ChefLoriG]

Increases in shipping are never fun to deal with at shows, but with the rise in gas prices, it is affecting everything. Like was said earlier, if we don't point it out, I'm sure most will not notice. Just tell people that UPS raised their prices, just like the Post Office did.

In my experience, when places offer "free shipping" for a product, usually have a "must spend $$$$" to get it, and then they just hike up the price of the product to make up for not charging shipping.

 

[rayday]

I know most of you get the flat rate shipping of $3.50 and soon to be $4 for shipping. However, does anyone know if they are changing the % to order shipping as well? I am in Hawaii and it has been 15% of the order. Just wondering if this will change as well.

 

[Happy Mom]

Like anything else prices do increase; however, in the spring, PC has increased the prices of some products, increased shipping costs for shows and individual orders, denied a free gift to customers who place individual orders, and raised the product level at shows to $60 before guests receive a free gift. Also, they changed the website policy and advertising rules to make it more difficult for consultants and ultimately their potential customers to buy PC. When added together, all of these "small" increases will make an impact on our sales.

How is this going to affect sales? We will have to work harder to increase sales. When prices go up at the gas station or the grocery store, how do you cope with the increased costs? You cut back on what you buy! That is what we do to live within our own budget and to economize our shrinking buying power.

Time will tell what effect all of this has on our bottom line.

 

[pamperedbecky]

Personally I don't think this will make a huge difference in our bottom lines. That's just my opinion. It's also all in the way you present it to customers and guests at shows. Regarding the free gift with $50 or $60 order, like I saw on another post on here somewhere, how many stores give you a free gift when you spend that much? If anything, they'll give you some type of deal on something, but never something free worth between $10 and $15.

I think if we can find ways to maintain people's excitement about the products and the tips and ideas they receive at shows, this will be what they come away with. If we focus on the fact that shipping increased, some prices increased, you have to buy more to get the free product, etc then that IS what guests will come away with. There are SOOOO many other benefits to our company, try not to focus on these. If you do have customers caught up on this, what an even better reason to host a show and avoid all of that because you can get a ton for free and half price!!! There are probably hidden bookings in these things if we look at this the right away.

Again, it's just my opnion and it's the way I plan on approaching these changes.

 

[batroark]

I think our shipping cost are goodI agree with many others here that has gave feed back from this thread. Here is an experience I had....At the end of Oct. I had a girl ordering from me, and when she said she would order she said she was doing a catalog party for a company called Kelly's Kids (never heard of it, but said Ok I will look at the book) and wanted me to order from her party. The catalog was kids clothing and most of it was so overpriced that it was unreal. I have a 2 year old daughter and thought I would order her something. It was to babyish for my 6 year old son. The cheapest thing I found that was cute was a pillowcase for $15.99 so that would have been with shipping and tax nearly $30 for 1 pillowcase. I stood there and laughed inside. I settled for shirt for $34.99 and by the time shipping ($10!!!!) and taxes it was like $50 something! I about fell over when I was told that it was going to take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery! I ask if I was going to get it back by Christmas since it had candy canes on it, and she said it should. It arrived 2 weeks before Christmas and the size 2 was about like a size 6, but I didn't say anything especially since it was not the girls faught that I ordered it from. My point in saying this, is that I too have customer complain about the shipping and also the shipping charges being taxed. I just tell them it is a state law and the company don't have anything to do with it. I tell them if they don't like it to find a friend to go in and split the s&h cost with. I also tell them they can't go to anywhere else and expect to get a 1 yr. up to a lifetime warrenty on their product(s) they are buying for free. I know at places like Sears or places like that I have to pay for a warranty. Oh, I could go on and on like Becky and others, but you will always have the complainers even if there was nothing to complain about.

 

[pampered_usmc]

Being in Japan, Consultants have had to pay $6 just to have our things shipped to us. Everything comes to us by way of USPS. All of the customers have to pay the direct shipping costs for their items, even at a show because we're not allowed to do business through our Post Office Boxes and the hosts aren't allowed to have the whole show shipped to them. The only up side to this is we don't have to pay taxes on anything.

 

[cookerup]

Anyone Who Has Mailed A Package Latelyknows how expensive shipping costs are. When someone books a show over the telephone, I often mail the hostess packet to them, because of the distance and the hours I work my day job. It costs me almost $3 or more just to mail them a packet of invitations, several catalogs and order forms,etc, etc. Any other company charges shipping, too, it's part of life.
I think the best way to handle it is to not make a big deal of it, just mention in an offhand way that every company charges for shipping, and PC keeps it as low as they can for customers at shows. Might want to have a copy of the individual shipping charts to show them how much it SHOULD be costing them. (I know of a company whose minimum shipping cost is $8.50 up to six lbs, even if all you are ordering is a bottle of vitamins or a pair of socks)

When a customer said to me that a lot of people don't like that they have to pay tax on the shipping, I just shrugged and said that it was a state law and there was nothing I could do about it, and she backed off in a hurry and said, Oh, yes, I know.

Some people will always find something to complain about. The more you defend and explain, the more they complain. Just treat it lightly.

Ruth Mescher
Ind. Kitchen Consultant
The Pampered Chef

 

[fruit76loop]

I agree with Becky!!

Personally I don't think this will make a huge difference in our bottom lines. That's just my opinion. It's also all in the way you present it to customers and guests at shows. Regarding the free gift with $50 or $60 order, like I saw on another post on here somewhere, how many stores give you a free gift when you spend that much? If anything, they'll give you some type of deal on something, but never something free worth between $10 and $15.

I think if we can find ways to maintain people's excitement about the products and the tips and ideas they receive at shows, this will be what they come away with. If we focus on the fact that shipping increased, some prices increased, you have to buy more to get the free product, etc then that IS what guests will come away with. There are SOOOO many other benefits to our company, try not to focus on these. If you do have customers caught up on this, what an even better reason to host a show and avoid all of that because you can get a ton for free and half price!!! There are probably hidden bookings in these things if we look at this the right away.

Again, it's just my opnion and it's the way I plan on approaching these changes.

It is all in the way you appoach the subject! As far as my customers spending $60 instead of $50 for the free gift...this will help my business so I am not going to gripe about it! I have had several guests add $20-$30 to their order to get the FREEBIE, so why would it make a difference over $10. Like said so many times before, do you get FREEBIE'S from anyone else? The only things I get from companies are Spend $50 get $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more...so I have to spend more money to get the free stuff.

I have already spoke my opinion on the shipping issue is this thread:


http://www.chefsuccess.com/showthread.php?t=5356&highlight=shipping

Be positive and don't make a big deal over the changes in the new season!

 

[I Have the Tools]

I have to jump in here. As the wife of an Owner Operator truck driver, shipping costs have definatly gone UP! We HAVE to charge a fuel surcharge on everything we put on his trailer, or we would be out of business.

I just restarted with Pampered Chef in November and was amazed that even after me being involved with PC for 15 years (not selling for 7 years) when I came back shipping was still $3.50!

Honestly they could raise it higher and it'd be justified. (However I'm not going to say that so much to my customers.)

Like others have said, it's all in your attitude about it. Just like the fuel prices that we spent $50,000 last year on (nearly double what it was in previous years), because this forces us to not take freight that doesn't pay well, we made a good profit.

As PC business people, like anything else, it's OUR attitude about it. You can either let this make you or break you is what I'm trying to say.

Kris

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Higher costs

This price increase really upsets me! And I hear that there will be an increase for the Guest Specials as well!... $60 for FREE gift. I haven't done one KS yet and I just held an Open House last weekend with not one soul showing up. It's been hard getting a jump start. Most of my sales have come from my own CS and people complain now of the shipping, can everyone imagine how they will complain with the $4.00! Would it be a good idea to call HO and express my feelings!

HELP!!

I really think that this increase will only hinder our sales to those who only order out of obligation to us or to their friends but not to people who truly love PC.
I had a girl once place an order for a hold n slice and a basil rub so her total was seven something plus tax and shipping her total came out to $11.29 which she complained to me about the shipping of $3.50 for only two items. I showed her an order form from another person at the show who ordered two stones and a chillzane server for the same shipping price. I explained to her that this is actually a great shipping price via UPS for larger items and realizing she did not really want to order and probably never would again but out of obligation to the host she did it as her neighborly duty, I told her that I really appreciated her business (as small as it was and even with all the trouble she was giving me) and told her she could tag her order onto her sister or friend who came with her so they could split the cost. She thought that was a great idea and thanked me for my help.
I also at the same show had a lady who ordered over $150 in products just go on and on about how low the shipping was for everything she ordered and thought it was great the hosts products had FREE shipping. She loves PC and she was going to pay whatever the cost, which is not unreasonable, to get her products. So I think we will not have to really explain ourselves to our customers, except for the truth that postage has gone up. I have a flyer that I have available to those in my flyer membership that I include in my folders to guests that will show the cost of shipping for a combination of products at PC price, and then UPS, and post office price. It's a great way to say, "Hey order as much as you want, it's only $4 shipping!" I spent more shipping the host binder to my hostess via Priority mail!!
Debbie