The Sewing Place

High delivery charges

sewingj

High delivery charges
« on: March 14, 2018, 13:07:29 PM »
Sherwoods Fabrics have some nice stuff and I bought 2 metres of viscose jersey last night £7.50/m.  But their minimum delivery charge is £6.99!  I was having a bad day or I would have abandoned the order.
  Ditto Fabrics on the other hand have a sliding scale depending on the weight of the order and Minerva is completely free if you spend a very easily achievable £20.

I know I am teaching all of you grannies to suck eggs but it is something that people new to internet fabric shopping need to watch out for.  Sometimes I have spotted the same fabric in two places and the one that appears to be cheapest really isn`t by the time you add in the delivery

(while I`m at it - you also need to watch out for the suppliers who will only supply full metres which really bumps the cost up if the fabric is expensive)
« Last Edit: March 14, 2018, 13:12:08 PM by sewingj »

BrendaP

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 13:52:28 PM »
It's not only fabric shopping which is like that, it's all mail order.  Very often the "cheaper" product ends up more expensive once postage/shipping/delivery is included.

£6-99 probably reflects that they send by Royal Mail first class, maybe tracked as well.  It would be nicer though if they gave the option of 1st or 2nd class. 

I send quite a few small parcels (up to 2Kg).  1st class is £5-50, 2nd class is £2-90 which is quite a dofference.  Our localish newsagent is also an agent for MyHermes and I can send a parcel from there for £4 up to 5Kg.  Quite a lot cheaper but a lot of people prefer Royal mail.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

UttaRetch

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2018, 14:06:13 PM »
I always want to know the shipping costs before I place the order as I don't want a nasty shock at checkout.  I prefer to buy in full metres and my minimum is five, but I don't internet shop for fabric.

Ploshkin

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2018, 15:47:29 PM »
I can't really go anywhere for less than £5 worth of diesel and then there's no guarantee that I will find what I want so carriage charges aren't really out of the way. However, I won't order something if the postage is more than the item.
Life's too short for ironing.

Lolli

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2018, 08:19:42 AM »
I recently bought some power mesh, only needed 1 meter which was £5 but when I saw delivery was £5 too, I bought 2 meters instead to get my money's worth from the delivery!

wrenkins

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2018, 08:45:50 AM »
If you buy from Minerva through ebay they charge £2.99 per item (although that may have a cap) but directly through the website it doesn't take many taps to get your basket up to £20 as sewingj says.
Ebay suppliers sometimes do give a choice and often list twice for the same thing, one with free P&P and another at a cheaper price but with P&P then added on. Sneaky!!! >:)
It pays to watch 'em!
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Efemera

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2018, 09:18:19 AM »
I was looking at the Art Gallery fabrics on Minerva Crafts, it’s £22 a meter and it will only let you put whole meters in your cart... I rang them and if you order over the phone you can order any amount you like in increments of 10cm.

wrenkins

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2018, 09:24:06 AM »
Thanks for that Efemera. That's worth knowing...now scuse me while I go adjust my basket!!!  :D
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Samantha

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2018, 09:26:13 AM »
I was 'just looking' at fabrics on Sherwood yesterday, probably won't order now from them knowing the postage charge. I know it includes RM fees which are high and the time it takes to pack the order but it still seems a bit on the high side.

sewingj

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2018, 09:52:36 AM »
@Efemera   thanks for much for the info about Minerva - I recently bought something from them that needed 2.2m and I bought 3 - and it was £15 per metre!  Will know better next time

Francesca

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2018, 21:46:31 PM »
I'm spoilt by the fact that most of my online shopping (ASOS and Amazon) is free delivery so I always end up scoffing at any delivery fee :/ The Textile Centre is where I get most fabrics and luckily they are reasonable.

BrendaP

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2018, 00:13:11 AM »
I don't have Amazon Prime but I do often take advantage of the free delivery on Prime eligible items by making sure that an order is over £20.  But, sometimes (possibly most times!) the Prime eligible price is higher than the price asked by an Amazon marketplace seller. 
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Francesca

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2018, 11:03:50 AM »
I don't have Amazon Prime but I do often take advantage of the free delivery on Prime eligible items by making sure that an order is over £20.  But, sometimes (possibly most times!) the Prime eligible price is higher than the price asked by an Amazon marketplace seller.

I think that's because you are paying, in part, for the free delivery by way of an increased price. It makes sense.

sewingj

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2018, 12:37:35 PM »


£6-99 probably reflects that they send by Royal Mail first class, maybe tracked as well.  It would be nicer though if they gave the option of 1st or 2nd class. 

I send quite a few small parcels (up to 2Kg).  1st class is £5-50, 2nd class is £2-90 which is quite a dofference.  Our localish newsagent is also an agent for MyHermes and I can send a parcel from there for £4 up to 5Kg.  Quite a lot cheaper but a lot of people prefer Royal mail.

As an update - the parcel from Sherwoods arrived today delivered by DPD and didn`t weigh much as it was only 2 metres of jersey- so I really don`t know how they can justify £6.99 for delivery.

To add to my displeasure - I measured the fabric and there is actually slightly less than 2 metres - not much but enough to convince me not to shop with them again

Efemera

Re: High delivery charges
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2018, 15:58:35 PM »
I would tell them....