I’ve ordered 5+ switches from Inovelli in the past, and shipping to California was about $8.
(Which is above cost – USPS Ground Advantage for a 5x5x5 box costs about $4 in my experience. But I understand it needs to cover packaging and such.)
Today I ordered another Blue Fan Switch and the cheapest shipping option was over $14!
Estimated delivery: 10/21
Is this a mistake? If not, can I just make a Pirate Ship label and email it over?
I ordered a switch today and noticed the same change in shipping.
I wanted to buy two replacement black switch paddles, weighing like 1 oz and costing $10, and they wanted to charge me $15.36! That is nuts!
@Eric_Inovelli what is going on with shipping costs?
@Courtney_Inovelli can explain it better, but essentially, my understanding was that we were losing money on shipping, so we adjusted it.
@simnick – this one I’m not sure about (paddles) – that does seem high.
@Courtney_Inovelli Since I have a Pirate Ship account and their rate is about 1/4th of what Inovelli presently charges, would it be possible to send you guys a prepaid shipping label for future orders and waive the shipping fee? That would be a huge help.
Alternatively I could provide my UPS account number so you could bill it third party.
(I usually buy these switches one at a time as needs arise, so paying a $10 upcharge on each $50 switch amounts to a 20% price increase.)
@Courtney_Inovelli have you checked why 2 replacement black paddles costs $15 to ship? Is the weight set incorrectly? I get there is a minimum cost to any shipment, but these should be near that minimum, same or less than one switch.
All the weights are set correctly, but it has a default package it bases things off of which I can’t change. I have changed a lot of settings within the last few days and it is pretty accurate for what it is charging. I’m guessing you’re on the west coast with that price - which makes sense since it is the farthest zone from us. We undercharged on shipping for YEARS so now we finally have everything set up correctly. We had people choosing Priority Mail in California and being charged $11.07 to ship 50 units which costs us like $45. I understand it was our issue and we couldn’t get it working correctly on the website until now. But generally prices on shipping will stay as they are and will come down slightly after the holidays are over since holiday shipping price increases are also in effect for all carriers.
If you want I can send you an invoice for the paddles and charge you a smaller fee, but I will not be able to do this for everyone as it is highly unrealistic to charge people per shipment or have people sending us their own labels.
@Courtney_Inovelli In order to offer a better customer experience, would it be possible to change shipping providers? Sending a 5x5x5 box to California costs only $4.62 using Pirate Ship:
For $12.06 you could send it second day air, and that’s still significantly cheaper than what is being charged by your current provider for basic ground service. They are gouging us.
I am not affiliated with Pirate Ship. I have used them for my own shipments and they are well-liked on many online forums: pirate ship site:reddit.com - Google Search
We had people choosing Priority Mail in California and being charged $11.07 to ship 50 units which costs us like $45.
FYI, the shipping is still misconfigured. I added 50 Blue switches to my cart and the site wanted $91 to send via Priority Mail to SF.
It’s not. Firstly, if you are ordering 50 switches you qualify for free shipping so IDK why you would want to choose priority mail. Just go with the free shipping option.
Here is a screenshot of someone in southern CA and I put it in as if they ordered 50 units (so correct weight) and Priority Mail. The total came to $87.12 - so within a few bucks. These boxes are 16x14x9 and large and heavy. We use Stamps.com with heavily discounted rates through ShipStation.
Here is a screenshot of someone in southern CA and I put it in as if they ordered 50 units (so correct weight) and Priority Mail. The total came to $87.12
OK, Pirate Ship also quoted me $87.12 for that shipment, so that number is consistent across both services. I don’t really understand where the $45 number above came from, but we can surmise that large orders are being handled correctly now.
However, for small orders I am still being quoted a shipping rate that is ~3x the actual postage:
This used to be $8 a few months ago. Postal rates did increase, but not by 50%.
Are the weights entered correctly for items under a pound, or is it rounding small items up to 1lb?
On Pirate Ship I see that a 1lb 5x5x6 package is $8.35 via USPS ground, and an 8oz package is only $4.62. This could account for a $4 discrepancy.
Firstly, if you are ordering 50 switches you qualify for free shipping so IDK why you would want to choose priority mail
Depending on the premium and the urgency, it might be worth paying a little extra to get the item more quickly.
FWIW, as an occasional eBay seller, I have sometimes comped 2-day or 3-day shipping on a large order just to keep a large customer happy.
