Shipping From Mckenzie

I would have guessed somewhere in the middle, 35 to 40 bucks to ship an elk form seems way underpriced, and $100 seems closer but a little high. Which carrier did they use? Shipping prices are a necessary evil unfortunately.

 

I order very little any more from McKenzie because of their high shipping charges. Most anything they have I can get elsewhere for just about the same price. The same size box/weight from Jim Allred to my place is usually above 60% of McKenzie. They are both in the same shipping zone.

 

Two elk forms,ears,eyes,hangers from Head Quarters -$48.20 shipping! I am in western N.Y. Shipped Fed Ex.

 

Your post doesn't say if your Elk was shipped in one piece or cut in half. Makes a big difference. I had an Elk form shipped to me from Research for $43 but April at RMI asked me if they could cut it in half to save me the "oversize box fee".
Shipping costs are going to be a necessary evil. My clients pay for my shipping, so to speak:
I averaged my shipping costs for the year 2019. Divided that by 12 months, then divided by 20 days a month my shop is open and then divided that by 8 hours a day. Mine was 89 cents per hour (based on $1700 shipping costs for 2019). In 2020, I added the 89 cents to the cost of my overhead. a 12 hour shoulder mount incurred $10.68 to materials (.89 X 12). Do this to all your pricing and your clients will be paying for your shipping.
I have to buy from McKenzie, only they carry Polytranspar and the most fantastic habitat. I buy my waterfowl heads and bodies from HQ because I love Page Nethercutt forms. I only get Elk and Mule deer from TruFitt and Research because of Frazier and Lancaster forms. Matuska for all my pan pastels and accessories, etc., etc, etc. I don't have time to research who will give me the best shipping costs. I order what I need and at the end of the year at tax time, I figure out my new overhead and put out a new pricelist. Anyways, that's how I do it. I hope this helps.

 

I switched to fed ex only from them. Rates are half as much. It’s not mckenzie. UPS shipping charges are insane! We use both ups and fed ex at my regular job. We shipp fed ex only now as ups as simply gotten way to expensive.

 

Oh, I do understand. They may be overcharging, I don't know, and I'm way out in California. The point is, it shouldn't matter if your clients are paying for it, in my opinion.

 

I don't like how they charge shipping separate and you have no idea what it is when you order. My last order was a single fox form, some assorted needles and such, 2 ear liners, and a change out head with 35 dollar shipping. Usually I go pick up orders at HQ to save shipping but I ate the cost for convenience this time. They are very nice if you go pick up an order. I ordered a large habitat a while back and they forgot to make it at the warehouse. They ended up shipping it to me at no cost.

 

Does anybody here ever ship mounts? Do you charge for crating materials and time, I know I do. I just shipped a flying snow goose mount yesterday to Seattle, lets just say that if I had used UPS or Fedex, shipping would have been almost as much as the mount, not that it mattered to me, the customer paid for it. I also charged for the crate I had to make, time and materials, not just me but, my business has to make money.

 

Oh and as far as not knowing exact shipping charges at the time of order, they have an idea but until it is boxed up, they can't know exactly the cost to charge you, do you expect them to eat anything over and estimated cost?

 

I'm just a hobbyist so I can't charge anyone else. However I don't have to purchase big items too often so I expect to eat the cost. I know it's not McKenzie's fault but that of the shipper. 1 box of blue foam - $106.80 + tax. $63.03 to ship. I bet if I filled that same box with air it would cost just as much. 1 can of sealer and 1 can of Wet look gloss around $32.00. $16.00 to ship. Amazon needs to get in touch with these taxidermy supply companies.

 

I get your point 3Bears but in a business like McKenzie's they know that 99% of the items purchased are going to be shipped so the cost of boxes, packing material, labor to take orders, pick the order, pack the order etc is built into the cost of the items to begin with. The only thing left is the shipping charges. How can the same size box/weight from one supply house vs. another be that much different? If anything McKenzie is getting a better deal because they are bigger and do more volume than others.

 

Yes they are aware of their products being shipped the majority of the time but they give you the option of who you ship with and even how your products are packed. I'm guessing that the OP either chose fedex or has no other option for their area, how is that McKenzie's fault? I'm guessing that many who complain about shipping forget that delivery to a residence cost more, that again is not McKenzie's fault. I will say that fedex was at least $60 more to ship that goose mount I mentioned than ups, I went a different route and saved my customer even more. In the end it doesn't matter to me if some quit ordering from McKenzie, I for one will continue because of their selection and customer service is second to none, not to mention that when I do place an order it typically comes with a big enough volume discount that covers shipping. Just like everyone else, I don't enjoy over paying for anything but shipping is a part of our business that is typically paid for by our customers, if you take the time to include that in your prices.

 

I get what your saying and 98% of it is true and I agree with , but as you said your in business to make money all way round, that said saving money is also part of that , and if you average your shipping cost and set your price for the year on your mounts and they change there shipping cost mid stride your screwed and you will eat that cost . Crating and shipping is completely different then the cost of the mount and can be adjusted after the fact as you don’t know the size or weight of it till after it’s built. Basically as you said it’s an estimate. But when your cost of shipping anything is 40% of the cost it’s totally ridiculous, and if one company is making a profit off of shipping then something is wrong with that and they will ship 2 boxes instead of one just for the extra profit.

 

tell them to ship one box, its that simple. It all boils down to the fact that they cannot control what the materials for shipping cost them and they sure as hell can't control what the shippers charge. They have a business model that tries to stay ahead of the curve, unlike many of us that only react to price changes by getting pissed. If I remember correctly MK raises their prices by 5 to 7% every year, so knowing that, should we all not do so as well? Like I said, if you think they are raking you over the coals than maybe try somebody else, I don't care. I'm just a one man band but, I've learned that if you plan ahead and order supplies well in advance, you can save a ton by ordering in volume and that covers shipping in itself. Sure if I screw up and forget something or order the wrong thing it costs me more to get the right product in a hurry but that is my mistake, not the suppliers. It seems that many of us, including myself should have taken business management classes before we hung our taxidermist shingles.

 

99% of mail order catalogs have shipping fee charts per zone by wt... Mckenzie is just scamming.....they know by previous orders almost to the dime what shipping fees are....they even ask you what shipper you want......if you order by phone they can tell you