Yeah, it may be too good to last. Reports I've read suggest they would keep Saturday and eliminate one of the slower weekdays.

Jim

USPS priority flat rate shippers get my business normally.
I think Metropolis ships Fedex but somehow keeps the costs reasonable, if i remember correctly.

I am happy to see that there are others that are sensitive to shipping costs for online purchases. The last time I posted a comment regarding shipping costs I received one of the infrequent condescending remarks that occasionally pops up on HB. However, since both of my favorite coffees are shipped from Chicago I don't understand the differences in shipping costs from Metropolis and Intelligentsia. 2 Pounds of Redline from Metropolis shipped to North Carolina costs $24.50 for the coffee plus $4.94 shipping by Fedex Ground for a total of $29.44. Two pounds of Black Cat is $30. plus $8.58 or $38.58.

Black Cat is $2.50 a pound more expensive that Redline and the shipping cost is $3.64 more. The question then becomes is it worth the additional costs or 31.1% overall higher cost.

Intelligentsia could fix this disparity and make their coffee more affordable without affecting their profit structure if they would do their research and negotiate with their shippers. When there is this much difference in shipping costs it clearly is neglect or disinterest. Regardless Black Cat is a great product. The question is it worth the difference. I haven't decided yet. Still working on it.

Fullsack wrote:I paid $24.57 for a pound of Black Cat, the shipping and the coffee itself. It was DOA by the time UPS managed to get it from Chicago to California 8 days later. What a waste.

Thought I better handle this before Dan sees it. This site strongly discourages/forbids members from using it as a venue to resolve disputes. This post was intended to be a UPS story, not an Intelligentsia story.

That said, Matt PMed me with an offer replace the coffee and mentioned, in the future Intelligentsia would be shipping West Coast coffee from L.A. Thanks Matt.

Edit: Got the coffee today, Intelligentsia rocks! 12/1

I usually do okay with shipping costs.

Roasted orders are 4lb at a time, every 12-14 days. If the shipping charge is 12dollars or under, AND gets here without getting hung up on a weekend, Im okay with.

Green Coffee is from SweetMarias, 20-25lbs at a time, and it gets here in 6 days, not including weekends. Since its green, I dont care. Shipping aint bad at all with their "sweet marias special'

A couple of my favorites are West Coast. Klatch and Ecco.

Klatch uses USPS, and Ecco Ships FedEx. Ecco is awesome, because if your on the east coast, they charge for regular ground shipping, but they send it fedex 2day air. Thats top notch. I find myself ordering from Klatch and Ecco Quite often. I like Klatch a lot, because of the Variety. Even if Im not in the mood for a SO, for whatever reason, they have enough blends to change it up.

I guess shipping doesn't bother me because of the amount I order. I realize that if you're ordering one pound at a time, shipping can get ridiculous, and easily limit who you can order from. BUT, if thats the case, I see no reason to not buy in bulk and freeze.

For UPS shipping, I put the order through sunday night. It leaves monday, and I have it before the weekend, sometimes Friday, sometimes sooner. If coffee is roasted Mon, and I get it Fri, Thats perfect. 4days old when it gets to me is fine with me. There is no advantage to getting an order on day 2 of the roast, when your not going to use it for a couple more days. Now, when a weekend interrupts, thats different, but its yet to happen to me.

Fullsack wrote:That said, Matt PMed me with an offer replace the coffee and mentioned, in the future Intelligentsia would be shipping West Coast coffee from L.A. Thanks Matt.

I was kinda wondering why you wouldn't want the LA roasters product...

I try to shop locally, with my local roasters and shops, so I (mostly) get the products that are shipped in bulk, and get a few bucks extra to the local guys for eating my shipping costs.
For a while, I was getting an absolutely great deal on BC.
I'm looking at $15 a pound now, though, too.

Fullsack wrote: . . . and mentioned, in the future Intelligentsia would be shipping West Coast coffee from L.A.

Great news! That's one reason why I only get Intelligentsia when I'm actually in LA and can buy it myself.

Cheers,
Jason

i order beans from espresso vivace in seattle (priority mail) and counterculture in north carolina (ups ground). they both always take exactly 2 days to get to me (east coast).

i usually buy 3 lbs at a time, and my total cost, including shipping, is $17 to $18 per lb.

as with any mail-order product, i only look at the total cost; i don't pay much attention to how they break it down between product and "shipping" charges.

i wish a could pay less for locally-roasted coffee, but i don't have any good local roasters.

Danger! Danger! Warning, Will Robinson -- Thread Drift Approaching!

ChiaroScuro wrote:i order beans from espresso vivace in seattle (priority mail) and counterculture in north carolina (ups ground). they both always take exactly 2 days to get to me (east coast).

OK, I'm confused: are you in the "Pacific NW," as it says in your profile over there to the right, or are you on the "(east coast)", as it says in your post?

I regularly order from Vivace and, living in the SF Bay area, get my coffee in two days via USPS Priority Mail, the same as you. But any order I place from roasters in the Midwest or farther to the East takes five days to arrive via UPS or FedEx Ground -- and that's defined by those shippers as "five working days, meaning weekends and holidays are not counted as a part of the "five." In other words, if I order from a roaster located in the Midwest or farther east that uses "regular" UPS or FedEx Ground on, say, the afternoon of December 9th . . .

• my order will be roasted and shipped on December 10th (Thursday);
• I will receive it on December 17th (Thursday);
• and both UPS and FedEx will say, "See? It took five days."

As a result, I tend to only order from roasters on the West Coast unless they use Priority Mail . . .

* * * * *

As for shipping costs, my purchases also run approx. $17-18 a pound. I could pay less -- either by ordering, say, five pounds (2.27 kg) at a time, or by picking up the coffee directly from a roaster. The latter doesn't save me much, but rather forces me to buy from *$ (never!) or Peet's (only in an emergency). The former would typically require a drive across the Bay Bridge into SF (Four Barrel, Ritual), and with the bridge toll and parking, I'm still at $17-18 or more (!) a pound . . . although I can get Blue Bottle at the Berkeley or Temescal Farmer's Market (Saturday and Sunday, respectively).

Then again, at $17-18/lb., it remains one of life's most affordable luxuries . . . .

Cheers,
Jason

i moved recently. my profile now says "east coast."

As a result, I tend to only order from roasters on the West Coast unless they use Priority Mail . . .

my experience is the mirror of yours. UPS takes too long if it's not coming from somewhere close, but priority mail makes it coast-to-coast in 2 days at least 90% of the time.