Wish you could do that for Canada too!!!

Veeb wrote: Fantastic news, thanks John, much appreciated. Will keep my eyes peeled!

Here is what the new rate will be for the UK. You can see the "now vs before" by comparing the Negotiated rate to the rate we have gotten until recently. I don't know why our shipping aggregator removed FEDEX and DHL to the UK, but they did: that's why they haven't available on our website (maybe their profit margin was highest with UPS). Now that we're dealing directly with all 3, I can show all 3 rate quotes.

We've signed contracts with UPS, DHL and Fedex, bypassing our shipping aggregator service, and got much better deals, as we're of a size now that each courier wants our business and will negotiate.

Do the changes also apply to the EU? I can only select UPS as an (very expensive) shipping courier to Denmark? Would be great with other and cheaper options as DHL.

espressosnob_LT wrote:Wish you could do that for Canada too!!!

I've got good news for you, the new shipping rates to Canada are less than half what they previously were.

Coming soon...

Adsi2200 wrote:Do the changes also apply to the EU? I can only select UPS as an (very expensive) shipping courier to Denmark? Would be great with other and cheaper options as DHL.

Yes, Denmark is becoming much cheaper too.

If you consider that the tax the government gets hasn't changed, this is what it was:
472.60 € shipping + 271.15 € tax = 743.75 € total

and will be shortly:
137.90 € shipping + 171.44 € tax = 309.34 € total

about 70% cheaper shipping to Denmark. And the "agent's fee" to do the duty/tax handling is much lower, now with a contract, too.

From:




to:

Excellent! Thank you so much John!

Much, much cheaper Decent Espresso Shipping

Decent Espresso's shipping rates have dropped by 50% to 70%, as of today, to most of the world. "Tax agent fees" per package have been reduced to most countries, with a $100 reduction being typical.

As of today, you can see "Decent Negotiated Rates" on our shopping cart page, for all couriers, and compare them to the normal rates, which we were getting until last week.

How did we accomplish this? Read on for the full story.

We use a "shipping aggregator" company, that has contracts with lots of couriers, to get us "the best deal to any country". At least, that's the theory. We noticed that in the past few months, our shipping rates have been steadily increasing, and our aggregator has been suggesting UPS in most situations. We suspected that "commission" that we're being charged is increasing, or else perhaps our aggregator can't get as good a deal as they used it.

We decided to reach out to the main couriers we have used: UPS, FEDEX, and DHL. All were willing to give us better deals, if we signed a minimum order contract, and we leave money in our account with them.

It turns out that, for instance, all couriers pay customs/tax fees out of their own pocket, and then charge the sender the real amount. There's a credit risk for them. We were able to get a much reduced "tax agent fee" (about $100 less per package!) by signing directly, probably because we're a low credit risk, as opposed to the random assortment of companies an aggregator is shipping for.

Because we were signing with 3 couriers at once, and getting rate sheets from each, we were able to get them to compete with each other. I suspect that a downturn in the global economy has also increased our bargaining power.

And remember what I said about "credit risk"? These couriers like to get paid within a week of invoicing us. I wonder if our aggregator has been late in paying, and that's been increasing the prices? Or perhaps they're just increasing their profits? Hard to tell, without transparency.

Because we make niche products, we sell a little bit, all over the world, and that global reach is what enables us to survive. High shipping rates make us uncompetitive, as nobody likes blowing money on shipping costs, since they don't add value to the item's resale value (it's just lost money).

At any rate, I'm *thrilled* to be get these really low shipping rates. As we're committed to transparency, we're showing you the real rates we pay, both direct-to-courier and through our aggregator.

Note that these prices are "shipped to your door", and include all fees to buy a Decent Espresso Machine, including taxes and customs fees.

-john

Is the new diffuser still on track for June or has it been delayed?

Thank you

decent_espresso wrote:image

Much, much cheaper Decent Espresso Shipping

Decent Espresso's shipping rates have dropped by 50% to 70%, as of today, to most of the world. "Tax agent fees" per package have been reduced to most countries, with a $100 reduction being typical.

As of today, you can see "Decent Negotiated Rates" on our shopping cart page, for all couriers, and compare them to the normal rates, which we were getting until last week.

How did we accomplish this? Read on for the full story.

We use a "shipping aggregator" company, that has contracts with lots of couriers, to get us "the best deal to any country". At least, that's the theory. We noticed that in the past few months, our shipping rates have been steadily increasing, and our aggregator has been suggesting UPS in most situations. We suspected that "commission" that we're being charged is increasing, or else perhaps our aggregator can't get as good a deal as they used it.

We decided to reach out to the main couriers we have used: UPS, FEDEX, and DHL. All were willing to give us better deals, if we signed a minimum order contract, and we leave money in our account with them.

It turns out that, for instance, all couriers pay customs/tax fees out of their own pocket, and then charge the sender the real amount. There's a credit risk for them. We were able to get a much reduced "tax agent fee" (about $100 less per package!) by signing directly, probably because we're a low credit risk, as opposed to the random assortment of companies an aggregator is shipping for.

Because we were signing with 3 couriers at once, and getting rate sheets from each, we were able to get them to compete with each other. I suspect that a downturn in the global economy has also increased our bargaining power.

And remember what I said about "credit risk"? These couriers like to get paid within a week of invoicing us. I wonder if our aggregator has been late in paying, and that's been increasing the prices? Or perhaps they're just increasing their profits? Hard to tell, without transparency.

Because we make niche products, we sell a little bit, all over the world, and that global reach is what enables us to survive. High shipping rates make us uncompetitive, as nobody likes blowing money on shipping costs, since they don't add value to the item's resale value (it's just lost money).

At any rate, I'm *thrilled* to be get these really low shipping rates. As we're committed to transparency, we're showing you the real rates we pay, both direct-to-courier and through our aggregator.

Note that these prices are "shipped to your door", and include all fees to buy a Decent Espresso Machine, including taxes and customs fees.

-john

I understand some of the justification for higher prices in certain markets was due to shipping costs (Canada etc). Will these changes result in less of an additional markup over the foreign exchange? It's still significantly higher to buy DE in Canada

Wow. This is actually really exciting for anyone interested. The shipping price is definitely a huge turnoff! Nice going.

I'm also super super super crushed that I ordered my machine and got it this week, paying an extra $500 CAD that's the kindof thing I'd gladly have waited a month on....