Reasonable Shipping Prices

[Xavier]

Ok, I have been browsing over some of the few online shaving stores I know and they all seem to have exaggerated shipping charges. I think $7.95 was the lowest I could get for Tabac Soap with Bowl. I am all for supporting smaller mom & pop shops, but within reason. Do I have to shop at Amazon from now on for my shaving supplies?

Just a comment that got me thinking where people get their supplies. Or how many people really do just go to Amazon?

 

[faster_than_u]

Most places offer some sort of free shipping with a certain $ limit, me personally I will pay a bit extra to support a smaller or local store, But ever that has it's limit's

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

I've never found amazon to be any better on shipping prices. In fact they are usually worse (maybe just for the things I buy?). The times I've looked, WestCoastShaving has had decent prices on shipping. ShaveABuck is very reasonable. BestGroomingTools, too. Shavingessentials.biz was very nice as well.

 

[mecha_buddha]

Being gouged on shipping is pretty normal for me. Being in Canada, half the US-based online shave shops won't even ship to me. So If I find something I want, I try to make the order bigger to average out shipping. I did get some wonderful momma bear soap and west coast shaving has no issue shipping international.

 

[memoryleak]

I hardly think amazon could be considered a "price buster" for shipping charges for online sellers. If anything, my experience is that amazon does
a cute "bait and switch" when dealing with their "partners". Even though he order qualifies for "free shipping", I've had to double check online invoice promptly to keep amazon's partners from hitting me with unstated shipping charges.

Also I wouldn't paint all the small "ma and pa" with a broad brush. If you were paying attention, Phill over at bullgoose offered flat rate shipping of $4.95 during the holiday shopping season. I wisely put together a fair sized order and when it was delivered, the postage meter stamp showed $10.50. So, stop and think that these online sellers are working on a margin and shipping charges effect them as well.

 

[mmack66]

Fragrancex.com always seems to have free shipping and they have great prices on Tabac as well.

 

[thunderball]

Most of the online places will show you what shipping will be before you buy so just check around. I have had great success with both bullgooseshaving and westcoastshaving. What they charged me was exactly what was printed on the stamp when the package arrived (ie. they don't make a cent from shipping).

Keep in mind that the Tabac bowl is a very heavy item and the shipping costs will reflect that.

 

[Blue-EyedSon]

I'd highly recommend shavingessentials.biz. I think that shipping under $50 is something like $5.00 and if it's over $50, then it's free. Plus, John is a very helpful person and always includes some extra samples. I'd highly recommend him.

 

[WhosYerBob]

Having recently unloaded most of my shave den AD supplies on the B/S/T recently, I can tell you that shipping is very expensive.

Most of the 4 oz items I was selling turned into 1 lb, 3 oz by the time bubble wrap, box and tape are thrown into the mix. And a 1 lb, 3 oz box shipped by USPS Priority Mail is $5.30 to most of the US, even more if shipped via UPS, and outright robbery if shipped faster.

 

[BrianP]

Having recently unloaded most of my shave den AD supplies on the B/S/T recently, I can tell you that shipping is very expensive.

Most of the 4 oz items I was selling turned into 1 lb, 3 oz by the time bubble wrap, box and tape are thrown into the mix. And a 1 lb, 3 oz box shipped by USPS Priority Mail is $5.30 to most of the US, even more if shipped via UPS, and outright robbery if shipped faster.

Canada post parcel starts at around $10....$5.30 looks like a bargain to me.

 

[tg16]

I'd highly recommend shavingessentials.biz. I think that shipping under $50 is something like $5.00 and if it's over $50, then it's free. Plus, John is a very helpful person and always includes some extra samples. I'd highly recommend him.

I like Shaving Essentials and Bull Goose. I recommend them.

 

[faster_than_u]

Canada post parcel starts at around $10....$5.30 looks like a bargain to me.

ya exactly.I shipped a vinyl shift boot to someone across Canada it was $10.xx. Tell me that wasnt a robbery it weighed 6 oz all packaged up.

 

[houlejames]

Fragrance X is the cheapest on Tabac, if I remember right it was $13 with the bowl on sale and free shipping. WCS is also very cheap shipping but I don't think they handle Tabac but they are hard to beat on Merkur Razors or a Alum Bar.

 

[Tha Baron]

I have had great success with both bullgooseshaving and westcoastshaving. What they charged me was exactly what was printed on the stamp when the package arrived (ie. they don't make a cent from shipping).

Added to this... WCS lists all of your options for shipping, so you can send some things USPS 1st class at a lower rate. (i.e. it doesn't have to be the 'flat rate priority' option thats around $8 or so).

 

[JMan424]

Fragrance X is the cheapest on Tabac, if I remember right it was $13 with the bowl on sale and free shipping. WCS is also very cheap shipping but I don't think they handle Tabac but they are hard to beat on Merkur Razors or a Alum Bar.

I feel a bit like I'm playing devil's advocate, but I got my Tabac soap and tub from Amazon for $14-and-change delivered 2nd day air for "free" (I buy enough from Amazon year-round, including numerous "subscription" discounts, to make a Prime membership more than pay for itself)

 

[drewmac]

I find that bestgroomingtools.com is one of the best when it comes to reasonable prices (both goods and shipping). BTW, always go for first class shipping, not priority mail. I have never found priority to be any faster...ever.

 

[mkevenson]

Shipping charges IMHO should relect the actual cost of shipping to the vendor. I hate it when you find a reasonably priced item and the shipping charge is 2 or 3x the actual cost. Most of us here know what the actual shipping costs are because we ship from the BST forum. Larger retail business I would think don't pay what we as individuals pay to ship.
Rant Rant Rant

 

[jkh]

I understand that if you buy a $10-$14 item that $7.95 might seems like a bit of a shock, but don't forget what a business must do to ship an item.

• Buy shipping materials - boxes, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, tape, etc.
• Pay someone a wage to package the box - print off invoice and include
• Pay the actual postage/shipping

Not really defending anyone here, just saying there is more to shipping cost than what gets paid to USPS/FedEx/UPS/DHL/etc.

 

[MichaelG]

I've purchased from a few of the most popular vendors and have been very happy with the service from guys like Shaving Essentials, Bullgoose, Shoebox, dridiot, etc. (I'm probably leaving out some other good guys as well).

I think it's important to support them; they're often the only guys who carry some stuff. I figure the competition is so tight that none of them can really get away with too high shipping fees, etc. I know they're small operations and their margins must be pretty slim. Mostly, their customer service is top-notch and they've been good about including samples (maybe more so in the past, but that could just be the current business environment).

I confess, that my last purchase (a couple of tubes of Musgo Real cream) for my elderly dad were from Amazon. I was able to get free shipping. The handling time, though, has been pretty long. So, I'll have to wait and see how that works out.

Ok, I have been browsing over some of the few online shaving stores I know and they all seem to have exaggerated shipping charges. I think $7.95 was the lowest I could get for Tabac Soap with Bowl. I am all for supporting smaller mom & pop shops, but within reason. Do I have to shop at Amazon from now on for my shaving supplies?

Just a comment that got me thinking where people get their supplies. Or how many people really do just go to Amazon?

 

[Xavier]

Thanks for all your replies.

I guess is just best to rack up $50 in product to offset shipping charges. This just makes it harder for some of us that need small product here and there. Especially since just started a couple of years ago I still like to try and sample some of those wonderful soaps and aftershaves. Yeah, I tried miniature samples, but really not great for soaps.