A Rant About Online Homebrew Supply Shops

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just my 2 cents on the shipping - i work in a mail center and USPS's reliablility is way below any other service. we deal with legal mail that needs to be tracked and dated to ensure things were filed with courts at the proper time. on a a daily basis we receive all types of USPS trackable mail (certified, express, sig confirmation, delivery confirmation etc etc) that has not been scanned into their system but is just thrown in with the regular mail, and the sender wastes their money for the services and the package is now untrackable. this because they Post Office is so hard up for money they are cutting jobs like crazy. at the post office we deal with, a big warehouse for the state capitol complex only has 2 people working mail at a time, when there used to be 6 or 7 on a shift.

also when these services are used with USPS the mail piece is scanned at each mail stop and takes longer for delivery.

i would suggest buying your ingredients in bulk and plan your brews a few btaches out.
 
Thats my goal, I purchased a grain mill and will be making a bulk purchase of base grains and will be bulk ordering hops. However, buying specialty grains in bulk is difficult. Eventually I will get a conical and be able to harvest yeast. But there will always be a need for extra ingredients. So, the need to utilize online retailers or LHBS will be there.
 
I live in Hawaii and have contacted probably every online brew shop regarding shipping charges. Everyone had told me that they will do usps flat rate shipping. All u have to do is ask for it in the comment section. All I'd them say they will find the best deal for shipping.....but I feel the OP pain regarding stores not having everything u want
 
That's the beauty of flat rate shipping. A well organized store can generally get your order out the same day and you don't have to leave the convenience of your own. Although it is nice to be able to stop and smell the hops occaisionally and swap home brewing stories.
 
Austin homebrew and brewmasters warehouse does. But they don't carry everything and are often out of stock. I have all the major suppliers saved.

What would you like me to carry?

I just had a person order 2 stockpots For $199 and the shipping cost me $98. The customer received free shipping. Everything on the site qualifies for free shipping if your order is over $100.

Forrest
 
I have studied economics and business. I know that having everything everyone wants at the right time and in stock all the time is a fallacy. But it is frustrating when the shipping is more than the order. Also, some sites have high prices compared to others so sometimes you are forced to pay higher prices in order to get everything from one place, in order to minimize the shipping.

Most stores do not advertise that they will special order or take requests, thats great to know you do. I use Brewmasters Warehouse frequently, I will probably be contacting you for some special orders.

Having different shipping options would be best. Offer USPS flat rate, it doesnt cost you anything. And its cheaper than Fed Ex and UPS.

Shipping charges are based on the weight and size of the box and how far and how fast the box is traveling. This has nothing to do with how much the product costs.

I looked up how much UPS charges to ship one pound across the street in St. Petersburg:

UPS Ground 7:00 P.M.
Monday
May 2, 2011
By End of Day,
Tuesday
May 3, 2011 10.66 USD *
Billable Weight:
1.0 lbs.


We also special order if needed. We started the flat rate option in this industry and we also offer free shipping on orders over $100.

No one can have the best price on every item. It is best to compare delivered price on a cart of items and buy where you get the best deal.

Forrest
 
We tried carrying vanilla beans. Not enough demand to get a decent price and still have them be fresh. No one wants over priced dried out vanilla beans.

Forrest
 
[QUOTE="Austinhomebrew"

Everything on the site qualifies for free shipping if your order is over $100.

Forrest[/QUOTE]

Unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, don't forget to mention that! Why not have some sort of flat rate shipping to those states? Maybe 14.99? Only up to a certain weight, maybe just enough for one kit?
 
Unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, don't forget to mention that! Why not have some sort of flat rate shipping to those states? Maybe 14.99? Only up to a certain weight, maybe just enough for one kit?

I am working on it.

Forrest
 
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