Is there any way to avoid costly shipping?

[mgelsimino]

Maybe I've just gotten too spoiled with free shipping on Amazon that I can't deal with actually paying for shipping, and I will usually try to buy more to save on shipping, but so many vendors I've been looking at have quite seemingly expensive (to my newbie eyes) shipping costs. If anyone has found cheaper shipping for the same relatively priced items, please let me know. Thank you.

 

[pattime]

I''m a total noob (yet to make my first batch) but I've purchased supplies from WSP (wholesale supplies plus). Their prices from what I've seen are at least competitive, they have a pretty good selection, and if you order $40 worth of merchandise shipping is free (UPS ground). Hope that helps.

added: fellow spoiled amazon shopper

 

[Kraphti]

I'm a noob soapmaker and Amazon spoiled shopper as well. I ordered from WSP during their last sale 12/31 but my order is still processing. Please tell me that the slow processing/shipping is just due to the volume during the sale and not par for the course. I'm going :crazy: waiting for the order the changed to shipped.

 

[mel z]

pattime is right. Wholesalesuppliesplus is the best way to go to avoid shipping, if you order $40 or more.

Otherwise you could check out the "free shipping" category at Essential Depot, but that really means shipping has been added in, so do a cart of what you want, then check to see what shipping will be to see if it is any better to buy regularly or from that "free shipping" category. They sometimes have a discount on shipping code at the top of a page if you are willing to wait a few days to get the order shipped.

Shop locally when you can, but not much is any cheaper. Generally just the carrier oils, like olive oil.

Have no idea if fragrance oils can be found locally, unless you are one of the few lucky ones that have a soap making supply shop. Essential oils can be found locally at places like health food stores, but are not cheaper.

Lye, if you are one of the very few places left, can be found at your local home improvement store. Most towns no longer carry it.

Colorants, you could experiment with natural colorants from a local health food store or grocery, ie. annatto seed makes a great color, you can grow calendula for petals when the temp is right or try indoors, and so on....

HTH.

If anyone finds any other alternatives, I'm going to be watching this thread too.

 

[dixiedragon]

Considering that many of the items we order are heavy (oils, fragrances, etc), not really. The best thing is to buy in bulk if you can. For example, from Soaper's Choice, if I get a 5 gallon bucket of coconut oil, shippiing is $15. But it's still $15 if I get a gallon of castor and gallon of avocado, etc with that bucket of coconut.

I rarely order less than $100 at a time, b/c usually the shipping for a $50 order will be about the same (maybe a little less) than a $100 order.

 

[pattime]

I'm a noob soapmaker and Amazon spoiled shopper as well. I ordered from WSP during their last sale 12/31 but my order is still processing. Please tell me that the slow processing/shipping is just due to the volume during the sale and not par for the course. I'm going :crazy: waiting for the order the changed to shipped.

I ordered during the sale too (my second order) and I had everything ready in my cart then at midnight on the day of the sale hit the checkout button. We (I live in OH as well) have had some REALLY bad weather....near blizzard conditions with a lot of level 3 road closures so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. A few days ago my order said preparing for shipment, then the weather hit and it went back to awaiting shipment. Finally got a tracking number yesterday and it's on the truck to be delivered today.

I think they are a bit slow though....my first order was just a couple of items and it was a good week before I got my order. I'm so spoiled with the 2 day shipping though....guess it's all relative. Good reason to buy more than you think you need for awhile though.

 

[QueenBeeSoap]

mgelsimino, where are you located? Some soap making suppliers offer local pickup, so depending on where you live, that might be an option to save you the shipping costs altogether. This is an option I'm looking into personally!

Wholesale Supplies Plus does offer free shipping, but (as I was bemoaning on another thread) their free shipping program no longer includes Canada, so if you live outside of the US, be prepared to get burned on shipping even though you get a 20% discount. I love their products, but ordering from them is now prohibitively expensive because of this. Also, some people find their products more expensive than other suppliers because the shipping cost is "built in" to the price of each item.

I get as many items as I can locally, including lye from the hardware store. I get my oils from Costco or from my grocery store when they go on clearance, and some of the prices have been cheaper than if I had ordered in bulk from a supplier before even factoring in shipping.

You'd also be surprised how many items you can find to use for soap making tools at the dollar store or in the cooking section of your local stores. Before you know it, you'll be eying everything you see whenever you go shopping for potential use in soapmaking! ...Or is that just me? :smile:

 

[nebetmiw]

I find the best way to lower shipping cost is to buy from a supplier that is closer to me then across the country. Since I am in TN I do not buy from CA suppliers anymore as they have high shipping charges. Also if it is something I know I will use more than once I will buy a larger quantity to cut shipping cost that way also. Another thing to think of is how many supplies do you really need. Many buy too much and it just sits to be used. Buy your oils local and your fo and eos on the net that is close to home state.

 

[judymoody]

See if there is a restaurant supply store near you and/or a cash and carry. Soaping oils are the heaviest ingredients we use and if you can get them locally, that's the way to go. Restaurant supply places often carry coconut and palm oil.

Costco has a lot of oils including olive, coconut, avocado, etc.

I also do what Dixiedragon does. From Soapers' Choice the shipping cost of 1 or 3 gallons is identical. At 3 gallons per order, the costs are very reasonable.

 

[Kraphti]

I find the best way to lower shipping cost is to buy from a supplier that is closer to me then across the country. Since I am in TN I do not buy from CA suppliers anymore as they have high shipping charges. Also if it is something I know I will use more than once I will buy a larger quantity to cut shipping cost that way also. Another thing to think of is how many supplies do you really need. Many buy too much and it just sits to be used. Buy your oils local and your fo and eos on the net that is close to home state.

Hi! I am in TN as well. Can you recommend some suppliers with reasonable shipping rates and shipping time frames?

 

[lsg]

It depends on what you are ordering. Brambleberry has reasonable shipping, WSP has free shipping-plus rebate and reward points.

 

[paillo]

Maybe I'm being a grinch about WSP, but in doing a whole lot of price comparison shopping, I find that their 'free' shipping reflects higher prices than I find on other suppliers' sites, even with shipping. Yes, there's their free shipping over $40, but I can always find better deals without a whole lot of searching. I always shop sales from NDA, Peak, and like to get things from Soapmakers Choice, TKB Trading, Nurture, a few shops on Ebay, Essential Depot, and others. Unless there's way more than a 10 percent deal from WSP, I'm not gonna buy at 10 percent off when I can still get what I need at regular or sale prices from my other suppliers, and still at lower prices than WSP. I admit it's nice to have WSP's one-stop-shopping, but I'll take NDA any day for their huge selection.

Grinch, grinch

 

[corrine025]

First of all what is NDA? lol. Secondly I have to say that WSP is slow. I placed an order on Jan 2 and I seriously expected it to be shipped by now but its still not shipped. Its still being processed. When I ordered from Bulk Apocethary they were very quick. The only reason I ordered from WSP in the first place was for lotion bar containers which bulk apocethary doesnt carry

 

[paillo]

Sorry, NDA is New Directions Aromatics.

 

[judymoody]

NDA's minimum is going up to $100 as of Febr. 1, just an FYI.

WSP normally fulfills orders pretty quickly but due to their recent sale, I imagine they are swamped.

 

[mgelsimino]

"mgelsimino, where are you located? Some soap making suppliers offer local pickup, so depending on where you live, that might be an option to save you the shipping costs altogether. This is an option I'm looking into personally!"

i'm in western ny. i don't think there are any soap suppliers near me. i'm in a rural area and my truck drives extremely badly in snow, which we have a lot of right now. so i really do like getting things delivered, although in better weather, i wouldn't mind driving about an hour to pick up supplies.

 

[mgelsimino]

paillo, i just saw that new directions aromatics ships out of cheektowaga, ny, which is less than an hour from me!!! how perfect. thanks so much for the suggestion.

 

[indulgebandb]

I've always gotten my order pretty quickly from WSP but they are slower than normal right now due to the large sale on Dec. 30th. I have to admit I really just like the fact that I can get almost everything from one supplier. Because I work full-time and am trying to start my bath and body business it's just easier for me to streamline as much as possible. I do still order a couple of things from other vendors. I've been mostly happy with my products from them and I received great customer service response on one issue that I had. I also like the fact that I can use a smaller percentage of their fragrance oils for my products so that balances out the cost.

 

[elmtree]

I've always gotten orders quickly from WSP( I'm in nh) and while their prices are more expensive than others (sometimes by several dollars an ounce for fo, eo ), I still love that I'm getting free shipping. I also ordered from them the last sale they had. My order should be here today. I've placed a 50$ order from BB and had a 15$ shipping charge, only fragrances. That really sucks! And I won't see an order from them for at least 10 days, but probably 12-14. I LOVE NDA. They have excellent prices but again the shipping hurts. I'm disappointed in the new policy that's starting soon. I'm gonna place an order this Month to hopefully avoid that for awhile. I have to say though that that the best company for lotion supplies and the like is lotioncrafter. Fast, inexpensive, and they will try to get you a flat rate box and priority shipping if it will fit. That saves a few bucks in shipping. I've gotten shipping refunds from them several times and I love it.

 

[DeeAnna]

"... their 'free' shipping reflects higher prices than I find on other suppliers' sites, even with shipping...."

Hmmm. That's what I've seen too. And some of their pricing is just plain confusing. I am not a fan of the "free shipping" fad. Shipping costs are costs to the seller; they are going to be passed on to the consumer somehow. If not as a shipping fee, then as higher merchandise costs.