amanda Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 This year I focuses on expanding the wholesale side of my business. I've done a great job of doing so in my city, but now I'd like to put together a media kit and a wholesale section of a website and look at some larger wholesale clients in other cities.Which leave me with the daunting task of figuring out the best way to ship lots of heavy candles. Please tell me how those of you who mail large orders of candles do so. I feel a bit lost. From my research UPS looks to be the best options. Plus the UPS hub is blocks from my house. So extra bonus. The line I've been wholesaling is in the 12oz status jar and in a 4x4x4 box. A dozen weighs about 20 pounds including boxes and packing supplies. So it looks like shipping 2-4 dozen per box ($35ish-$65ish on the east coast) is optimum. Does anyone just include shipping into the cost? I was thinking of calculating my line sheets by the dozen. Each candle wholesales for $11. So if I included shipping, I could do something like "2 dozen for $300 to east coast destinations". Nice round number. And the list of locations I'd like to contact are all east coast located for now. And maybe it makes shipping seem like less of a blow to someone ordering my product. I don't believe I'd be shipping enough yet to warrant a UPS business account. Especially since the bulk of my etsy/online orders are my twofer and threefer deals that fit perfectly into a $12 flat rate box. Anyway. I'd love to hear the experiences/methods/opinions/etc of those of you who have shipped large batches of candles out. I hope everyone had a great sales season and has a lovely holiday and new year TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 When I shipped my wholesale orders I used UPS. Most were in the 150-200 lb range but they could climb to over 700 lbs. Schlepping a 150 lb order is a different task altogether than sclepping 700 lbs, so when the orders were over 200 lbs I had them picked up. UPS used to offer a discount on shipments over 200 lbs. I now deliver them to one of their stores 25 miles from my house and save them a lot of money. I would definitely not include shipping because it changes so much. People who order for a business, like you and I, know there's shipping. It's the price of doing business. If you want to offer them an incentive, that would be nice. Maybe there's a different way to approach it. Also, since these customers will be far away, I would include a tealight of a new fragrance with each dozen. As long as they are buying from you, you can make it super convenient for them to buy more. Aztec still has the maxi tealights which is what I use to introduce a new scent. They are a bit over 2" wide and you can get a really good idea of how nice the fragrance is with these little gems. They weigh next to nothing. I put them in a 3x4" cello bag with the name of the fragrance on the side of the tealight cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanda Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Thanks OG!! I knew you'd be the first to reply So did you just make boxes of 150 pounds and give the customer a quote based on zip code? I've loved the idea of those maxi tealights for awhile now and now I have a good reason to order them. Good tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanda Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Bc one individual box can't be over 150 pounds, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fields Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 We operate similar to Old Glory. We have a UPS account that we use for shipments under 150 pounds. We box the cases into larger boxes around 40-50 pounds. Everything over 150 pounds we use freight. We have a particular shipper we use. UPS freight is high. To get a good rate you have to have a contract with a shipper. The rates decrease with usage. In one way I like freight because we only have to load cases onto a skid and shrink wrap it. But then is the part I don't care for. Unless the customer has a profile that we use, we have to ask lots of questions: do you need a liftgate, is the delivery point trailer accessible, will there be someone there to accept, is the delivery point residential or business. etc. Because the freight company asks the same questions. It changes the price. It's a hassle. For most of our higher volume customers we have a card on file; we add the shipping charges and charge the account. Our customers know we add shipping and don't normally question it. New customers are a PITA about the charges, and we have to detail all of the charges and options for them. Oh, we have the freight company pick up skid. Also, for website customers and smaller wholesale customers we use USPS.HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 In addition to the 150# max per box with UPS they have girth restrictions as well so be sure your boxes fit their requirements. Their website has all the info.I always tried to limit my weight per box to about 50-70#.I have also used FedEx for smaller wholesale orders, for some reason they calculated cheaper than UPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I kept my boxes at 60 lbs or less so I could carry them. Now I have to keep them at 50 lbs or less, lol. So if you are going to drop off your shipments, you'll want to package in boxes that you can carry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfintoni Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 We use Fed Ex for our wholesale clients. In pricing it out they were actually cheaper. At this time I do not ship freight as the cost jumped way up over the 150 lb mark. If the shipment is over the 150 I will ship it in several boxes and it almost always prices out cheaper. I also find that a box around 50 lbs seems more manageable to carry and tends to get damaged less.I have had two bad shipments with UPS so that also weighed in on how we shipped. I also have a few customers that do not actually get UPS delivery where they are and one that does not get USPS package delivery where they are located The customer had to dive to the post office to pick up the order. Karen in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanda Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Thanks all! This was really helpful. After looking further into some of the info in this thread, it's starting to seem less confusing.I'm going to stick with UPS to start bc it's a difference between a 5 minute drive and a 45 minute drive to fedex. And for some reason it seems to be more cost effect to ship 50-60 pound boxes instead of one big 100-120 pound box. Which seems more manageable. So that's nice! So my next step is working with my graphic designer to put together a media kit and try to snag a few big wholesale accounts Wheee! I make book themed candles so I'm going to reach out to some bigger bookstores on the east coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmettoWaxWorks Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 One thing you might consider is using a hub to hub freight service. Years back I used to buy/sell arcade machines, the best way to ship them was on a pallet and go hub to hub. I dropped off at my local hub, and the customer would pick up the pallet at theirs. Not trying to advertise for them, but I used Forward Air quite a bit since they had a good network and were convenient to my location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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