Harney & Sons shipping no longer always free
I was looking at the website and toying with ordering and I added an item to cart. A pop up advised that I could get free shipping at $59. This was a shock because several years ago they made shipping free on all items at any price level, which made it tempting to order more often but also worried me because I didn’t see how they could keep that up. A tin of loose leaf for $10 with nice packaging and free shipping? How were they making enough money? I suppose big orders made up for it.
Shipping is very reasonable for the US with Priority Mail costing 5.99 and I don’t mind that if I am ordering multiple things, though honestly if I wanted just one inexpensive tea I wouldn’t be keen on it.
I will probably order less often and just make sure to hit the $59 threshold, or pay up if I have several teas to order but still don’t make it to $59.Wow, that’s interesting that they went from always free to a threshold over $50. I don’t order from them often, but still good to know.
Yeah, I figured Harney would do that eventually! I think I did a couple VERY small orders with free shipping over the years and I really appreciated being able to that… but I knew it wouldn’t last long…
I heard about this on Facebook and they confirmed it. I am curious whether they will now end free samples with every order. I’ll keep ordering from them but I’m disappointed.
I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to drop a comment here, as I am a vendor myself – but the cost of shipping has skyrocketed, so I’m not at all surprised that they would have eliminated a free shipping benefit for all orders. I’m surprised that they kept it going as long as they did. When I first took over 52Teas, I was alarmed about how much shipping cost as opposed to when I shipped as LiberTEAS just a few years prior, and I remember lamenting about that then. Now, I would LOVE for the prices to go back to what they were when I took over 52Teas. The price now is nearly double what it used to cost 9 years ago when I took over. And they still increase it not just annually, but twice a year, because as soon as the holiday shipping starts, they increase the prices “for the season rush” but those prices don’t drop after the holidays, either.
I hate having to charge so much for shipping, but I do my best to keep it down to as close to cost as possible & put the free shipping threshold at a point where it won’t attack the bottom line. It’s frustrating, I would love to be able to offer free shipping on any order, but if I did that, I’d have to increase the prices on product to offset the losses. I figure that by charging shipping, it’s the most transparent option. :(
52teas: I think it is absolutely appropriate for you drop a comment! I think it is good to hear the seller’s perspective and the get the scoop on shipping.
As I said, I was worried about how they could make a profit offering free shipping on ALL sales.
Also, around lockdown I noticed that if I looked at an item I would get a coupon the next day and sometimes it was an outrageously good one, like $10 off ANY purchase and then free shipping on top of that. So if you looked at a $12 tin of black breakfast tea you would get it – delivered – for $2. My guess was that they were surviving the pandemic, turning over stock, keeping people employed, etc. if I recall correctly, they actually had to shut down for a few days once or twice because of Covid. Those coupons don’t come anymore. I do get emails about nice sales now and then!
So I fully support their decision to go back to charging shipping and it is a very reasonable charge. I want them to stay in business! I was just informing the rest of the tea heads here so it won’t catch them by surprise when they go to order.
Yeah, I totally get that! It’s good to let others know of such things! As someone who has a lot of tea myself, I don’t really buy a lot of retail tea these days – so I don’t keep up with such things. I’m amazed that they had that offer, to be perfectly honest! But I do understand why they’d want to do whatever they could to keep the business operating with such a large company & so many employees (and probably a jaw-dropping inventory). So, I’m glad they were able to come out this side of the pandemic still in operation because even though I don’t buy a lot of retail teas these days, I do still love Paris and have purchased some of it on occasion when I go to Myrtle’s.
I want to say it’s been a year or two since I last ordered from Harney (maybe more, honestly). One of the biggest deterrants for me as a Canadian has been that, for as long as I can remember, the shipping isn’t free at any threshold. From memory, shipping to Canada STARTS at about $30-40US. So it’s not even like waiting until you have a large order can save you on shipping costs, and you might still get slapped with duties.
…and with all that said, I’d wager they’re still taking a loss with how expensive it is to ship across the border.
The $30 shipping I pay for Fortnum hampers is understandable. I am stunned that shipping to Canada – not even crossing an ocean – is that high!!
Shipping to Canada is outrageously high and it continues to rise! It bums me out so much because Canadians are among my best customers, I know that I would probably get twice as many sales as I do if it didn’t cost so much to ship to Canada. And I’m in Washington State – Canada is just a couple of hours away! So frustrating!
A silver lining to this may be that high shipping costs make brick & mortar tea shops more competitive. Alas, that hasn’t seemed to stop so many from closing up. Just another reason to patronize any remaining local tea shop(s), especially those which curate a large selection. It was, after all a local shop where I purchased my first pu’erh. Alas,I quickly moved on to trying many other pu’erhs available only via the web. I also have to balance the cost of driving and time to get to a local tea shop. And who knows how the current trade conflicts will impact the. tea market. So few teas are produced domestically in the USA. WRT Harney, I’ve enjoyed their metal box packaging, sachet bags, and terrific selection. Some local shops do offer their products.
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