High shipping prices from BBQ Guru


 
C

Chad-Burnt to a T

TVWBB Super Fan
Has anyone else been gouged when they order from them? I ordered a wsm adapter and 3 kill plugs and shipping was $18.19. The items are high priced for what they are but then add almost 20 bucks for shipping. It's one thing to name your price on what you sell quite another to overcharge to ship. I buy tons of items online and this is the first time I've ran into high shipping costs.

2 Cajun bandit doors free shipping
2 Hunsaker kettle grill grates free shipping
2 Thermapen MK4 $4.99 shipping
2 door gasket kits for wsm $8.80 shipping
All my rubs and sauces free shipping. This was just some of what I've purchased the last two weeks.

Venting over.
 
I thought that their shipping was high also. I wanted to order a Weber adapter for my Party-Q, and the shipping on the small item was prohibitively high at the time. Since then, the adapter has also gone up from $20 to $27.50. I wish more sites would show you a shipping quote before you have to go through the whole shipping form. Some can give it to you with just your zip code.

Charlie
 
I'm not an online merchant, so I'm not qualified to speak for BBQ Guru nor any other vendor but I will: some folks' sites are not as sophisticated as they need to be to compete. And some want to profit nicely from shipping charges, but I'm not convinced BBQ Guru is one of them. For curiosity I tried this:
  • added an UltraQ - free Ground shipping (possibly UPS Ground)
  • added a Weber adapter and/or plug - $16.59 shipping for UPS SurePost (this included the UltraQ and in my experience means a potential hand-off to USPS)
  • Removed all items and added a Weber adapter and/or plug - $16.59 shipping for UPS SurePost
In my feeble mind it would not surprise me if based on my experiment it is a glitch (to have free shipping on the $359 controller, yet to incur $17 by adding accessories of inconsequential value and weight); however, that is not to say I feel it's a glitch to only order low-value accessories (although $18 is extreme).

You could call and ask.
 
This is what I got in response to my original question
Order # ******

I just wanted to reach out and say shipping charges are ridiculous. $18.19. There has to be better options. I could see $4 to $5.

Hello,
I'm sorry that you feel that way, it is a part of doing business.
As you may know, the cost of everything is very high right now and shipping is not only a part of that, it is also one of the causes. We are paying more for shipping and fuel surcharges just like everyone else.
When and if prices do come down, we will follow suit and offer the appropriate pricing.


Now if I was ordering something via freight I could see the justification of that response. The fact that 4 items are so small I doubt what they claim applies.
 
I have backed out of many online orders due to excessive shipping charges. It makes me ask myself 'how bad do I need it'.
 
Some companies itemize the freight price, others build it in to the price of the product, and some companies are doing surcharges. Generally speaking, I think it's best to build it in to the price of the product, in particular if 90% of your products are shipped for online sales vs. retail distribution. This stops people from thinking about what it costs to ship....

I've done business with BBQ guru before, and have had good luck, but If they keep charging people $19 to ship 3 ounces worth of product they'll lose a lot of customers. BBQ Guru also used to sell thru retail distribution but they stopped that a few years ago. I think Thermo-Works and others have probably taken a big chunk of their business. I'm using T-Works Smoke and Billows for longer cooks now and I really like it.

I bought some premium grass seed last fall (paid way too much for it online) and had it shipped in. I will say that the seed did germinate well and seems to be holding up pretty good so far this summer although my dogs are slowly killing it one pee spot at a time. I'm buying more premium grass seed this fall, to do my front yard and overseed the back. But this time I found it it local, and am paying way less per pound and their salesman is going to bring it right to my front door. The distributor paid the shipping charges to get it to my town, and when I picked up the phone to talk to someone I got lucky and saved myself a 60 minute round trip to go pick it up.
 
Amazon sure had some forethought in creating their own shipping company! USPS became very unreliable, and the others got expensive. I get upset when I see shipping something under a pound and it is more than $5. First class (if you can call it that) mail is only about $3 for up to 1lb.
 
Just some feedback on the shipping cost as someone who owns a business, part of which sells online. Minimum USPS First Class with commercial pricing these days is around $3.25 up to 4oz. Go to a 16oz and it’s close to $5. This is without price of label and mailer. Padded flat rate USPS mailer is now $8.25 commercial pricing.
Minimum cost for UPS Ground 1lb package with commercial negotiated rates to business address, no insurance is ~$7.60. Going to residential? Add a $4.00 surcharge.
Setting up shipping costs for the buyer on an e-commerce site is very challenging when you don’t want to overcharge but also not lose money. Want to add multiple shipping speeds? This adds further challenges, even more when maybe you sell items that are small and light, and ones that are big and heavy.
There are many ways for the e-commerce platforms to determine shipping costs, and it’s super easy to mess them up especially when you are adding newer items. Occasionally it takes an email from a buyer to let us know to take a look.
 
Teddy J. said:
Just some feedback on the shipping cost as someone who owns a business, part of which sells online. Minimum USPS First Class with commercial pricing these days is around $3.25 up to 4oz. Go to a 16oz and it’s close to $5. This is without price of label and mailer. Padded flat rate USPS mailer is now $8.25 commercial pricing.
Minimum cost for UPS Ground 1lb package with commercial negotiated rates to business address, no insurance is ~$7.60. Going to residential? Add a $4.00 surcharge.
Setting up shipping costs for the buyer on an e-commerce site is very challenging when you don’t want to overcharge but also not lose money. Want to add multiple shipping speeds? This adds further challenges, even more when maybe you sell items that are small and light, and ones that are big and heavy.
There are many ways for the e-commerce platforms to determine shipping costs, and it’s super easy to mess them up especially when you are adding newer items. Occasionally it takes an email from a buyer to let us know to take a look.
Click to expand...
It came in a envelope total weight including packaging 6 oz. This is the only item I have had shipped that has been over 9 bucks and is by far the smallest and lightest items I've gotten.
 
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