Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello foodies,

I am shipping out product on the west coast but when I go to ship product on the east coast...it is so expensive. Has anyone considered using a fullfillment center that is closer to a distribution market? My average weight is 50 lbs ( three cases of 12 of glass packaged products) I had a distributor but the customer service to my customers was not great and I feel that I can do that aspect of my job much better.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

 

-------------------------

Kathaleen All Natural Specialty Sauces and Crepe Maker Extraordinaire www.riverhousecreations.com

Hello,

My company Rapid Fulfillment, located in the NE, works with many companies on the West coast.  You are correct that the savings you will get in reduced shipping fees will offset the majority of your fulfillment fees.  If you would like some information please feel free to contact me.

-------------------------

Product & Literature Fulfillment Experts Dan Coll, President Rapid Fulfillment, Inc. 461 Cochran Road, Suite 300 Pittsburgh, PA 15228 dan@rapidfulfillment.com www.rapidfulfillment.com

Riverhouse, wow! Sorry, I`m not much help here, that sucks! We are located pretty centrally in Michigan and fortunately for us our product is very light. There are good companies out there if you find the right one. I have a company that handles all my internet orders and they give very good service, everything ships within 24 hours. I think they have only missed this once (and this is counting weekdays). All weekend orders ship on Monday. I am copied on all orders and see when they ship so I have backup but I still don`t think they would be of much help to you.

I do the packaging and shipping to my retail accounts and I just sent a couple of pretty good sized orders, one was over 600 packs and it was under $20 for the shipping. I thought $20 was bad. . .lol . . .so I can really feel your pain

There are good companies out there, check around and looks like maybe Dan might have an option for you.

Congrats on that order, I wish I could find a way to package that was lighter. My really great partners/suppliers were people that were referred by others, I know they are out there.....somewhere

-------------------------

Kathaleen All Natural Specialty Sauces and Crepe Maker Extraordinaire www.riverhousecreations.com

Don`t give up, you will find something that works. Is there any substitute for the glass, any kind of plastic? I see lots of things like what you have in plastic at shows, is there anything that would work? I would think that it would cut your damaged goods and weight dramatically. . .

Some of them would be great in a plastic squeeze bottle!

I wish but my products are all hot packed. Thanks for the suggestion though :)

-------------------------

Kathaleen All Natural Specialty Sauces and Crepe Maker Extraordinaire www.riverhousecreations.com

Well, I  figured as much, I was just sitting and thinking of all the others I have seen and while some are in glass jars there are a few that are in plastic type containers. I am curious how they do it, maybe they have a way of cooling and filling. Not sure. Your jars and labels and everything are beautiful tho and if it was me, I would be very hestitant to change anything! I hope you find something that works out.