I wanted to make an order on Buckleguy and the shipping is 30$

[HeatherLeather]

I really want to try their buffalo calf leather and their hardwares. I ordered $70 goods and the shipping is $30... It’s not that far from MA to VA.

Is there any replacement to recommend? 

[Rebecca Wiseman]

Look at Ohio Travel Bag for Hardware.

www.ohiotravelbag.com

[LatigoAmigo]

43 minutes ago, HeatherLeather said:

I ordered $70 goods and the shipping is $30... It’s not that far from MA to VA.

I think the reason for the high cost, since you ordered a hide, is due to the shape of the package, which is non-standard.

[Ferg]

It seems I had a problem with the shipping cost from them . I questioned it and I believe they told me that is an estimate, won't be the final amount. That was disconcerting for me. 

I like to know what I am getting for what I need to pay.

Since we ship thousands of items every year I know the shipping cost just keeps going up. Seems it needs to stop somewhere but never does.

Ferg

[HeatherLeather]

1 hour ago, LatigoAmigo said:

I think the reason for the high cost, since you ordered a hide, is due to the shape of the package, which is non-standard.

You are probably right. I ordered from Springfield with a bunch of sides, it only costs around $15 shipping. They use USPS.

[HeatherLeather]

7 minutes ago, nstarleather said:

this^^^

Hides aren't cheap to ship and depending on what else you ordered they might not even be able to ship it together (I'm not sticking metal hardware in the same box with a hide that can get dinged up). 

Generally, to ship a side I have to use at least at 4"x4"x48" so since the box is actually 5"x5"x49" (in my experience) you're looking at 9lbs regardless of the actual weight...add in a couple surcharges and you're easily over $20 just for the hide.

It'd be extremely hard to configure a website to be accurate if you have multiple items that aren't of very similar weights and dimensions...not sure what you're shipping but if most of your stuff is the same size/shape/weight, it's easy, but to me shipping metal hardware and hides of leather seems like a bit of a nightmare.  "Low cost and dense" vs "big and bulky and expensive"...

 

We had to give up and just go with a shipping chart for retail because if someone ordered a bunch of small items, they'd get overcharged (waaaaay more than cost) but if we tried to correct the cost of shipping just one of them didn't get covered.  Add to that the complexity of having "light" items of high value (snakeskin wallets) and bulky/heavy items with a small value (assortments of simple drawstring pouches) and it's not as easy as you'd think. 

Do you use fedex too? I think usps is a little cheaper. 

Sometimes it’s tough to choose a website. Rocky Mountain is free shipping with US, but I think their leather price includes everything. 

[HeatherLeather]

I removed all the 4 rivets and only keep the side, the shipping drops to 18. I guess I will take it. Maybe it’s cheaper to buy the hardwares separately.

[JLSleather]

$30 would be high enough for me to just pass on ordering that.  Hermann Oak send me TEN full sides of 8 oz tooling leather, shipping be about $50.  So ONE piece of tooling calf (smaller) .. uh.. no.  A bit of hardware gets wrapped in bubble wrap and dropped into the center of the hide.. done all the time.

North Star is correct about 'free shipping" being the  norm these days, but that's more hype and ignorance.  A few of us have actualy offered TRULY FREE shipping (usually for short periods) but most just jack the price of the item.  If you're buying 1 or 2, might seem like an okay idea.  BUT..... consider that "free" shipping on the hide you want.

Say the hide is $100.  And say they charging $15 for shipping.  And that's pretty close to what I would expect ot be ACTUAL shipping cost.  

So for the first one, you pay $115, really no matter one way or another.

On the second one, you pay $230, actual shipping is $19, so you actually paying another $11 for that "free" shipping.

Third one, you pay $345, actual cost more like $325.

It gets worse the more you buy, basically "free" shipping means you're NOT GETTING the shipping discount.  Some about now are saying "that's with a larger item".. but fact is it's worse with a smaller item - from a percentage standpoint.  Buy those blue "dummy guns" at $50, with free shipping, or pay $45 and pay actual shipping.

AMT       FREESHIP    ACTUAL SHIP 

1                 $50                          $52

2                 $100                        $100

3                $150                         $145

4                $200                         $192

The more you buy, the worse deal you're getting on the "Free" shipping.

IN THE END though, only one can say if the price is worth it or not is YOU. 

What hardware you need?  $12 shipping on some rivets sound EXTREME.

[HeatherLeather]

I tried for several more times on Buckleguy:

1. When I buy 1 side only, shipping $18.

2. When I buy 1 side leather + 1 sqft of leather panel, shipping $ 30.

3. I added 5-6 hardwares, still $30.

 

Not reasonable to me. I gave up.

[Ferg]

2 hours ago, nstarleather said:

this^^^

Hides aren't cheap to ship and depending on what else you ordered they might not even be able to ship it together (I'm not sticking metal hardware in the same box with a hide that can get dinged up). 

Generally, to ship a side I have to use at least at 4"x4"x48" so since the box is actually 5"x5"x49" (in my experience) you're looking at 9lbs regardless of the actual weight...add in a couple surcharges and you're easily over $20 just for the hide.

It'd be extremely hard to configure a website to be accurate if you have multiple items that aren't of very similar weights and dimensions...not sure what you're shipping but if most of your stuff is the same size/shape/weight, it's easy, but to me shipping metal hardware and hides of leather seems like a bit of a nightmare.  "Low cost and dense" vs "big and bulky and expensive"...

 

We had to give up and just go with a shipping chart for retail because if someone ordered a bunch of small items, they'd get overcharged (waaaaay more than cost) but if we tried to correct the cost of shipping just one of them didn't get covered.  Add to that the complexity of having "light" items of high value (snakeskin wallets) and bulky/heavy items with a small value (assortments of simple drawstring pouches) and it's not as easy as you'd think. 

Our items weigh from 8 or 9 oz. through maybe 10 pounds. It is really tricky to figure our costs since we drop ship our products direct to buyer. We really have no input on what the eventual retailer charges for mailing/shipping.

 

Ferg