Huh? Let me back up a little here. I've been working my butt off - we started at 7am Saturday and worked all day to process orders, it was a lovely, sunny day and I would have much rather taken that time to ride my horse. The check I wrote to the Postmaster was nearly $1,000. It's Sunday morning and I am at it again, will try to get the orders in house processed, packed and ready for pickup tomorrow. I check my inbox and here's the first email that I read:

Sure took the wind out of my sails and I was starting out the day tired anyway. I wish people could understand that free shipping isn't really free. Any business that is using it as a marketing tactic is making that money back somewhere in the prices of the items they are selling. I could add a few dollars to the price of a pack of cards and that would cover me, but it would be totally cheating my farrier and other equine professional customers who routinely buy 100+ Christmas cards to send to clients, family and friends.

All year we field calls from bargain-minded shoppers. "Do you have any sales going on?" "Can I get FREE shipping?" Shipping costs seem to be a real obsession, and we do lose orders from folks who think we're charging an excessive amount for shipping.

We have to charge for shipping to stay in business. The actual cost of the shipping is one thing - but there are lots of factors behind the scenes that contribute to the shipping charges that customers pay. Boxes, tape, packing peanuts being just a few of them. Then there are the computers, software and tech support to make sure the packages are correctly labeled and barcoded so they are delivered swiftly and correctly to the person who ordered them; an elaborate tracking system that lets us figure out what's wrong and fix it when it doesn't. (you would not believe the number of people who don't know their own address - I am not kidding)

And, having run the gamut of different options for packing and fulfillment, I can tell you that not just anyone is cut out for that job. How hard can it be? Find the items, put them in the box, and send them on... Well, if you've got all day, I can tell you the myriad of ways this can go terribly wrong. I'm fortunate to have good employees, and I pay them well for what they do. They do it right (and carefully) the first time, and I think this service should be perceived as valuable - not as something a customer begrudges having to pay.

The companies that are offering free or flat rate shipping are making those costs up somewhere, or they will eventually go out of business. I love a bargain as much as the next person, but there is something to be said for allowing those you do business with to prosper, too. With gas prices the way they are, I am thrilled that I can go online, find exactly what I need to buy, order it, and have it arrive at my door in a few days without my butt ever leaving this chair.

We deal with people all the time who are peeved because we don't have free shipping offers (like our friend Adam, above). Some of them are downright nasty and rude when we explain that it is not our policy to discount shipping charges. Most folks are gracious enough to leave a tip for the waiter/waitress who brings their food in a restaurant - why do they balk so much at paying all the people who prepare and handle their package as it makes it's way across the country hundreds, if not thousands of miles to them?! "

Personally, I think if folks could focus on what they DO get for the $6.95 they spend on shipping (that's our base rate for a minimum order) they might end up thinking it's a pretty good deal. Considering that the items in that order were pulled off the shelves by a fellow horse owner, carefully packed (and protected) in just the right box, and then sent on their way from a pole barn behind a farmhouse in the middle of an Indiana cornfield to the customer's own doorstep - most times in just 2-3 days...

I'd also like to THANK all the folks who posted kind and encouraging comments on our Facebook page after I posted this same rant earlier today. There were lots of insightful thoughts posted here.

Beautiful Jim Key book tells forgotten story here
Blacksmith Calendar - great gift for farriers here
Preserve your horsey memories - see how here
Snuggly fleece Horsewomens Trapper Hat  here