The golden rule of "Do onto others as you would have done onto you" applies here. For retailers I ask if they would do buisness with a supplier that charges at the same rate they do? For some, I would think not as it would slowly eat away at their business if they did. For builders check the shipping rates and if you don't like them, go someplace else. Be prepared and prepare your order. It takes me 2-3 days before I place an order. I double check all my supplies, then go back over the order multiple times to make sure I included everything I need, and to ensure I need everything i am ordering. When it is required I do order small quanities, but I am prepared to "Pay the piper" so to speak. As far as buisness's being in a crisis, the entire US is in a crisis. We have battled out of it in the past, and we will do it again.

Kirk

The crisis in the rod building industry is not due to the recession. It comes from poor trade practices which are slowly but surely destroying it.

When companies are setting sales records, but making less money than ever before, or even having record sales and yet losing money, there's a much bigger problem at hand than any recession can produce.

............

Are there any professional rod builders that charge their customers a shipping fee based upon the cost of the rod they ordered? I wonder how that would go over?

I've never ordered anything from Acid Rod, but that's going to change. Like others have said, If they take care of me, I'll do my best to take care of them. The Golden Rule works both ways.

John Krukemeier Wrote:
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> Are there any professional rod builders that
> charge their customers a shipping fee based upon
> the cost of the rod they ordered? I wonder how
> that would go over?

I charge a flat fee that allows for shipping, packing materials AND time ... anything less is counterproductive. One size fits all, I don't discount for local shipments and I don't increase the fee for coast-to-coast.

I always made sure to have enough margin in the rod that I could foot the bill for shipping. That's one of the biggest problem for dealers these days. The margins are now so thin they can't absorb handling and shipping charges. And make no mistake, the freight-postage-etc., is the least costly part of shipping.

..............

It's not really any different in any area of mail order, whether it be scrap booking supplies, model airplane parts or fishing tackle. Some places charge more than others for shipping. Some go by the dollar amount. It's a simple case of shopping around and being wise with your money. I don't think I could ever just buy one spool of thread. If that was the case I'd just run to a sewing store and use Madeira with CP. Even the private sellers on the @#$%& site will nail you for $5 shipping (minimum) on a CD. Put yourself in the seller's position. You have to process the order, print a label, put it in a package. If the "kind" dealers are losing money on you they might not be around very long, or worse - they raise the prices so they can survive.

Les Stewart Wrote:
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> Swampland will refund money if you use the online
> order form and it over charges you for shipping. I
> ordered some micro guides from them and the online
> program wanted to charge me $14. When I got my
> guides in the mail they had included a $10. refund
> on shipping. Nice folks at SL.

+1

Lance always makes it right on the smaller orders! I will be buying from him whenever possible.

It’s always fun to open the box and find out how much cash he sent with your stuff…..

Man, I wish I had this problem. Every time I run out of a small item, I end up spending $150 on stuff. Since I have to order a $2 spool of thread, I think, I'll order another blank, and some guides, and a couple of reel seats... you can see where this is heading. I think I would embrace a $2 item that cost me only $12.

And I want to add one thing: I placed my first order with @#$%& a few weeks ago. It couldn't have been any easier, and the product was superb. I'll be back, and I can't recommend them highly enough. They're good folks.