WTF = What the Freight?

I frequently get asked the following questions from our customers (and even our employees):

1. Why are freight charges so high on StationeryHQ (especially since they were lower on the old site)?
2. Why can't you use the flat rate mail service which is $4.95?
3. How can other places offer much cheaper or free freight?

I know freight is an important issue, so here’s my best shot at explaining our freight costs.

1. Why are our freight charges so high?
Our old site had it flaws – including some interface design issues. One of the main reasons we replaced it is that it could not handle accurate freight. We were losing significant money on almost every shipment.

Now we have a new site and are working out the freight integrations. It’s a challenge from a programming perspective since we only know approximate weights. Our goal is to only mark up freight 15% and we’re hoping to reach this goal by early 2012. Keep in mind, when you consistently order over $1,000 per month of printing (excluding freight), we can allow you to use your own freight account.

2. Why can't StatiioneryHQ use the flat rate mail service which is $4.95?
Programmatically it is almost impossible to figure out dimensional size and whether the items will fit in USPS boxes. Since our goal is not to actually make money on freight, we will continue to look into programming this in the future.

3. How can other places offer much cheaper or free freight rates?
Yes, it’s true; we do research our competition and there are places that offer free freight or much cheaper freight. However, we feel that our cost per piece is much lower than the providers that offer free freight. Let's be realistic. No one is really going to give you a low price and free freight – we all have to keep the lights on. If you only order 10 invites every time, we are not the least expensive. But if you use us for an average of 50 items and calculate the total cost of your order with us and another printer, than we feel we are very competitive.

We know that freight is an important issue and even prevents some customers from working with us. While we can’t promise an immediate fix, we can promise that we will try to improve our freight options over time. Feedback and suggestions welcome!