Advice Needed Re: RUSH Shipping charges

My fellow HBT'ers: Sorry for the long read, but I need HELP!

I need advice regarding RUSH ORDERS and the additional charges that they often incur. I'd like to get as much information as possible before I make a final decision, so please weigh in with your concerns, for/against companies charging YOU, the consumer for RUSH ORDERS.


I am a small business owner who supplies Emergency/Trauma Gear to Fire/Rescue,Law Enforcement, and various Govt. Agencies worldwide. I sell both on Ebay and my through my website. I just celebrated my 3rd year in business and stand behind not only the products I designed, but also my companies customer service. I work as many hours as I have too when filling orders.

This is the problem I'm having as of late. I have had customers call my sales office and inquire if I ship their order the same day their pay. My website has a detailed FAQ page regarding our shipping times. I explain to them, that excluding large department orders we normally ship orders in 1-3 business days. We are closed weekends and holidays. The majority of the orders are shipped out within 48 hrs. I am proud of this.

I a fortunate to have an awesome "hardware" store by my shop called King Bolt-If they don't have a nut/screw/bolt you are looking for they will be happy to special order it for you. This often leads to customers panicking/pleading/demanding that they RUSH the special order. The owner(old school hot rodder) will assure them that it will be ordered and they can call the next business day to confirm pickup. I've seen people further freak out and whine/complain that,"it's not fast enough". The owner then points to an OLD dusty sign that reads: "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part".

I'd love to follow Austin Homebrew Shops shipping model of $7.99 flat rate on orders less than $100 and free shipping on all orders over $100-My system needs to be ugraded in the future to do this. I love that they charge ACTUAl UPS shipping charges if you order by a certain time of the day and need your order shipped that same day. I think this is VERY Fair.

My trauma kits range from $55-500.00, I need to figure out an reasonable amount to charge customers who need RUSH orders. Please share your ideas with me.

I've taken to ordering all my stuff via FedEx previous day overnight with guaranteed 10:30 AM delivery. That way if it's not what I want when it arrives, I just don't bother to order it.

Well, if your plan ultimately is to subsidize the shipping (the "AHS model"), what about charging actual shipping costs if it needs to be rushed out immediately? I'm assuming that your actual shipping costs will be somewhat higher than what you're going to be charging the customer. That subsidy is effectively only available if you can wait the 48 hours for processing.

That seems simple and easy to explain. "Need it today? I've got to charge you actual shipping costs, if you can wait for two days I'll only whack you $7.95."

EDIT: I guess reading your second-to-last paragraph again, that's what you'd like to do but can't because of systems limitations. In that case, I'd tack on a $10 - $15 "rush fee." I would do a flat fee; I'm assuming that it's just as much of a PITA and takes about the same time for you to rush a $55 sale as it does one that's $500.

Personally, I'm thinking an individual doesn't need a trauma kit RIGHTF**KINGNOW, but that could be because I already have one in my car... and I cxan't really see a department needing one immediately either.. that's just poor planning on their part (which sounds like my department.)

I guess it comes down to what you have for manpower and how disruptive it would be to the customer orders in front of the "rush" job.

Sorry I'm not of any help, but hopefully have given you some stuff to ponder.

I voted for the 10-15% extra. I'm thinking that anyone who needs a rush order on a trauma kit is probably already too late to have one. With that in mind, they can just wait their turn in line to have theirs shipped, especially if you get most, if not all, orders out within 48 hours. Then, if they REALLY want to skip their place in line, they can pay an extra fee for the privilege. You may also put in some kind of caveat that if they explain a legitimate reason why they need it now, then maybe waive the extra charge - but still charge the actual shipping (next day air or whatever).

Everyone wants to feel special. If they don't want to pay for the privilege of being special, then they get to be normal like the rest of us.

MMTG - I work for UPS. Would you mind if I had someone contact you regarding our services and offerings? If so, PM me your contact details. I"ll pass it along to an account executive in your area.

We may be able to help with your rush ordering and package handling. UPS does a lot in the health industry (e.g. Merc) where perishables are moved on a daily basis.

Ray

My company charges $25 for same day shipping on top of shipping charges. We also have a $50 min order.

the_bird said:

Well, if your plan ultimately is to subsidize the shipping (the "AHS model"), what about charging actual shipping costs if it needs to be rushed out immediately? I'm assuming that your actual shipping costs will be somewhat higher than what you're going to be charging the customer. That subsidy is effectively only available if you can wait the 48 hours for processing.

That seems simple and easy to explain. "Need it today? I've got to charge you actual shipping costs, if you can wait for two days I'll only whack you $7.95."

EDIT: I guess reading your second-to-last paragraph again, that's what you'd like to do but can't because of systems limitations. In that case, I'd tack on a $10 - $15 "rush fee." I would do a flat fee; I'm assuming that it's just as much of a PITA and takes about the same time for you to rush a $55 sale as it does one that's $500.

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It actually is more of a PITA to rush a $500 order. Especially if it's a custom built Trauma Kit, or multiple purchases. For example, small volunteer SAR dept. needs several kits for an academy graduation that's this weekend.

brewmcq said:

Personally, I'm thinking an individual doesn't need a trauma kit RIGHTF**KINGNOW, but that could be because I already have one in my car... and I cxan't really see a department needing one immediately either.. that's just poor planning on their part (which sounds like my department.)

I guess it comes down to what you have for manpower and how disruptive it would be to the customer orders in front of the "rush" job.

Sorry I'm not of any help, but hopefully have given you some stuff to ponder.

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Well, you'd be surprised how thinly stretched many departments are and these kind of orders are often last minute after thoughts. Also, many people want Birthday/graduation presents for their loved ones in the EMS field and it's not like you can just go to Walmart and get my kits.

jmendez29 said:

I voted for the 10-15% extra. I'm thinking that anyone who needs a rush order on a trauma kit is probably already too late to have one. With that in mind, they can just wait their turn in line to have theirs shipped, especially if you get most, if not all, orders out within 48 hours. Then, if they REALLY want to skip their place in line, they can pay an extra fee for the privilege. You may also put in some kind of caveat that if they explain a legitimate reason why they need it now, then maybe waive the extra charge - but still charge the actual shipping (next day air or whatever).

Everyone wants to feel special. If they don't want to pay for the privilege of being special, then they get to be normal like the rest of us.

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Thank you for your insight! This is how I feel, but I wasn't sure that others would feel the same way. I as a consumer don't like to pay extra for "normal" service, but I will pay extra for expedited service.

ultravista said:

MMTG - I work for UPS. Would you mind if I had someone contact you regarding our services and offerings? If so, PM me your contact details. I"ll pass it along to an account executive in your area.

We may be able to help with your rush ordering and package handling. UPS does a lot in the health industry (e.g. Merc) where perishables are moved on a daily basis.

Ray

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Ray,

Thanks for your offer, but I have a GREAT UPS account rep-I'd need to redo my entire shipping module to offer "FREE" shipping. I am in the process of this, however it has proven difficult as it's a very time consuming process. Also,I ship not only domestically, but worldwide.

I think making your offer of rush treatment obvious on the website is a little negative PR for the vast majority of customers who won't pay for it. In other words, it appears like you're willing to sell out for customers with deeper pockets and that you'll put the regular orders aside in the meantime. Ultimately, it may not actually delay the regular orders at all or to a point that the customer would notice, but it's a perception nonetheless.

To avoid this, I'd put in the FAQ that rush orders will be considered on a case by case basis, please contact me. At that point, I'd inform them of your policy, which I think should be 10% of the total order cost to drop everything and pack their order. Then give them the shipping option, at cost, based on how soon they want to receive it.

I don't care for subsidized shipping discounts at all as both a consumer and online vendor.


Off topic: Do you find that the ol' slashed prices thing works? I guess some market study concluded that it does but as a consumer, I find it very infomercial/tacky when it's applied across the board.

Bobby_M said:

I think making your offer of rush treatment obvious on the website is a little negative PR for the vast majority of customers who won't pay for it. In other words, it appears like you're willing to sell out for customers with deeper pockets and that you'll put the regular orders aside in the meantime. Ultimately, it may not actually delay the regular orders at all or to a point that the customer would notice, but it's a perception nonetheless.

To avoid this, I'd put in the FAQ that rush orders will be considered on a case by case basis, please contact me. At that point, I'd inform them of your policy, which I think should be 10% of the total order cost to drop everything and pack their order. Then give them the shipping option, at cost, based on how soon they want to receive it.

I don't care for subsidized shipping discounts at all as both a consumer and online vendor.


Off topic: Do you find that the ol' slashed prices thing works? I guess some market study concluded that it does but as a consumer, I find it very infomercial/tacky when it's applied across the board.

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Bobby,

Thank you for your input. It's great to have an actual vendor weigh in on this. I agree with your point of view on NOT putting up that we OFFER rush shipping up on our website. As a company policy, we don't accept requests for all rush orders. If I can ship something faster, I do. However, it's a case by case basis at this time.

I only charge actual shipping/insurance costs, and have found subsidized or "free" shipping to be really hard to accurately figure out. There are so many variables that can affect a shipments costs.

In regards to your off topic "slashed prices" comment-I understand where you're coming from, but the reason we have a slashed/sale price is simple. I started selling on Ebay before I had a website, so my RETAIL price is the same as my Ebay price. The SALE price on my website is based on the fact that since I don't have to pay Ebay a % when I sell on my website, I can pass the savings directly to my customers. Also, I further reduce prices from time to time on my website and this helps my customers see the actual savings when purchasing direct from me versus Ebay.

I wish more people would have weighed in on this poll...I do appreciate all those that shared their POV.