Western Bee Supply - shipping costs!

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

If you think they are charging too much then set up a UPS account and schedule a pick up at Western. Chances are, you won't save much money.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

Are you venting at Western or the general cost of shipping?

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

Did the supplier force you to cancel your order or your lack of money?bottom line, if you couldn't afford the shipping then just say so. No one will hold that against you.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

kelley and mann lake have free shipping right?

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

so order from a closer supplier.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

I placed an order yesterday that I considered the shipping was far to high. so I ordered it on another site. the shipping came out nearly identical. The cost of shipping has gotten ridiculous. Finally I just ordered $100 worth of stuff from Mann Lake. The last shipping total before I went over the limit was 60 some dollars. I think the order total at that point was about $75. In all I had that same $60 go toward more items rather than lost to shipping.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

burns375 said:

kelley and mann lake have free shipping right?

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Free shipping? I like to refer to it as being included in the price. With Mann Lake its priced into some items and some items it isn't. I recently wanted an approximately 20 pound parcel next day shipped from Minnesota to Texas. I got a price of around $250. Decided to go with the "free" standard shipping and got my parcel about 4 days later.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

I'm just venting in regards to the costs of shipping lately . . . I suppose it's of no fault to Western. My initial post could have been worded differently.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

The cost of shipping stopped me from an order to Kelly's,So it's not just Western Bee Supply,
It's a shame when shipping is about 1/3 to 1/2, the cost of the product,
Everyone blames it on the high cost of fuel,That is a bunch of B/S,
I drive over the road,& I'm hauling some freight for the same today as I did 4-5 years ago,Even some for less.
To many middle men in the picture.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

years ago I use to order from my suppliers (non bee related business) if I mad orders greater than $2000.00 I got a 12% discount, that discount use to cover my shipping. today it does not, in fact it leaves me with a 20% defecate. Now I order the same $2000.00 drive to the warehouse and pick the stuff up and put about $175.00 of the 12% in my pocket. not to mention Visit old friends, and take my lady to lunch on the drive.

The times they are a changing. and OTR trucking ain't as lucrative as it once was. go figure.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

jim lyon said:

Free shipping? I like to refer to it as being included in the price. With Mann Lake its priced into some items and some items it isn't. I recently wanted an approximately 20 pound parcel next day shipped from Minnesota to Texas. I got a price of around $250. Decided to go with the "free" standard shipping and got my parcel about 4 days later.

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Honestly I don't know. Both Dadant and Kelley are less than 50 miles from my home. I show up tell em what I want, no shipping. I like kelley and there excellent costumer service so I generally go there unless for some reason I am heading east to Frankfort or Lexington. Its great personally knowing the staff and managers at a large company, Kelley is the best. I wish I could have met Mr. Kelley before he passed.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

jim lyon said:

Free shipping? I like to refer to it as being included in the price.

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Amen. I get so tired of all the drum pounding about free shipping. IT'S NOT FREE! These companies are in the business of making money, not giving it away. It's a age old sales tactic and they are making up for not charging for shipping over a certain size order, elsewhere.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

I'm lucky both miller and brushy mnt bee supply are driving distance. Miller had a sell on med supers for 5$ I racked up on them.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

try amazon. an amazon prime membership is still only $80 and they carry mann lake products. thats a years worth of two day delivery plus all the other perks

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

> amazon prime membership is still only $80

Better hurry up and get those hive products - Amazon has increased the annual cost of Prime to $99.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/13/technology/amazon-prime-price-increase/

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

Many of these companies make money on shipping. For 2 complete assembled hives shipped Western wanted $541, Millers wanted $782, Dadant $716 and Mann Lake was $521. There is even a place within a 2 hour drive from me and their price for 2 hives was $396, but shipping is $410 for a total of $806! Western is not the worst as you can see. I recently built a house and ordered many items from across the country, most of those items came freight. The 1200lbs of tile I ordered was the most expensive for shipping costs and that was $225, but most items were under $100 for shipping. I also think UPS charges more due to the size of hives and taking up so much room on their trucks. I know free shipping is not free, but it is usually the cheapest.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

Package carriers like UPS and FedEx have as part of their rate schedule a concept called DIM Weight (Dimensional weight). The cubic volume of the item is computed, and for items that exceed a certain ratio of volume to weight - additional charges are applied.

I haven't specifically checked assembled hives, but given the large volume of empty space in a hive body, I'd expect that assembled hive bodies are charged shipping at DIM rates.

Buy your [shipped] hives unassembled and assemble them yourself to save on shipping costs. Don't forget to use glue along with staples/nails/screws.



... Titebond is good ...

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

We were interested in some of the EZ Nucs from Dadant. Shipping doubled the price of each nuc and then some. Seems like it's just best to order $100 from Mann Lake -- too bad they don't carry the EZ Nucs.

Re: Western Bee Supply - outrageous shipping costs!

We have suppliers that come to our monthly beek meetings. We make out great with no shipping and they make out great with big orders and not having to box and ship. They also run "specials" for only us. If there is a supplier close, try inviting them to meetings. It's a win/win. Occasionally, I have to order something they don't carry, but that is infrequent.