Dear Talas: Shipping Can Make or Break a Customer

I'm working on another bookbinding project for my cousin's wedding at the end of April, so a few weeks ago I ordered some paper and other supplies that I need for it. I ended up placing two orders—one from Talas and one from Paper Source. I've ordered from both sites before, usually in smaller quantities, but I have never had such a disgruntled experience with the first as I have in recent memory. I don't usually comment on purchasing experiences, but this one has been writing itself for a few days now.

I use Talas mainly because I already have sample books for a lot of their paper and they have a wide selection of good paper options. When I was done figuring out all the paper in my shopping cart, I ordered 10 sheets of .098" 20x30 davey board (the board I use to make hard covers on my books). Now, Talas doesn't have their online system configured to tell you what the actual shipping cost will be, but they do charge you $12.50 as some sort of shipping cover charge. The idea is that you'll get an email from them confirming if the shipping cost is higher or lower than that $12.50 rate. With today's technology on websites, it's not impossible to have a website configure accurate shipping rates. But I digress. The next day I got an email from Talas. With davey board, the actual cost of my shipping would be $38.22 by FedEx Ground.

Wow. What am I, made of money? $40 for shipping? I can think of a lot of other things I could buy with $40. Talas' reasoning was this cost was due to "dimensional weight (oversize) charges, multiple packages in shipment, expedited methods of delivery, or international shipping". But they didn't tell me which of those four things actually applied to my order until I called them out on their customer service BS—of course I'm thrilled with the personal service they're giving me. So in our next correspondence, I got this: "oversize charges" and "multiple packages in shipment shipping is pretty expensive."

Uh huh. I told them to remove the davey board from my order, which made shipping $14.50. Actual sheets of paper in this order probably totaled 25, with a container of glue.

The next day I got online at Paper Source. They aren't a specifically designated bookbinding vendor—they're more of a stationery store—but they do carry some things that I use for bookbinding. In short, I LOVE Paper Source. If they ever had a job opening there that involved communications and/or design, I would so work there. Every time I'm in a city that has a paper source I made it a point to go in that store. (Paper Source: please bring a store to Utah. Thank you.) Anyway, Paper Source sells davey board, so I ordered 8 sheets of davey board along with my paper that I needed from them. The cost for the board is the same as Talas, so I wasn't out anything on a price differential.

I actually ordered more paper through Paper Source than I did at Talas, AND I ordered davey board. How much did I pay for shipping??

$10 FLAT. And this was via their online system. The shipping was $10. The end. No crazy rationalizing about why they're trying to charge me an arm and a leg for extra shipping. $10 flat.

Here's the best part—

• Paper Source order arrived first (and I ordered it 2 days later than I did through Talas) via UPS Ground in TWO boxes—one was a long rectangle box (with the rolled-up paper in a large brown tube) and the other was a flat 35"x25"-ish box that contained the davey board, taped down so that it wouldn't move around the box. 
• Talas sent one box with all the paper wrapped in layers around a giant tube that probably weighed 5 lbs by itself. They did a great job with packaging, but it took me about 10 minutes to get all the paper off the tube. (I have a lot of bubble wrap if anyone needs some.) 

So in summary: Paper Source sent me everything that Talas said they had to charge more money for. Talas, are you using shipping as a profit center? Maybe I should come work for you. Sounds like your shipping team makes quite a bit of income with the rates you charge.

I'm not saying I'll never order from Talas again, but their shipping games are enough to deter me from purchasing anything from them that I can find somewhere else.

Just as a nail in the coffin, my parents own a business that ships aluminum serveware. ALUMINUM. They ship METAL products through UPS Ground for less than Talas charges for PAPER (and their prices do include handling). People complain that their rates are high (average $12), but with metal, $12 is not bad. But for paper??

Thanks to Paper Source for making me love you (again), and Talas for just reconfirming that maybe you should rethink your shipping and customer retention strategies. I'll enjoy your paper but it may be the last time.