Better Shipping Solutions
I'm in the business of selling trees, yes, but I want you, my customer to receive great value for your purchase dollars. So, with this in mind I have been constantly trying to find the best ways to ship our amazing Japanese maples for the best prices. And this is where the shipping calculations of our existing built-in website tools have been a challenge.
The website host's built-in capabilities are basic. Very basic. Many hours have been spent agonizing trying to find solutions but it just wasn't going to happen with the built-in site tools. Until, I found an app that has now allowed me the ability to create more accurate shipping rules and costs. This is huge!
This app isn't perfect, there's still the odd calculation that doesn't take into account some of the "imperfections" of live plants and their pesky tendency to not be perfectly sized and uniform. But in general, we're making progress in leaps and bounds. Let me provide more context.
There's no set formula on how many trees can fit into each sized box because the sizes vary from one tree to the next. Even two of the same kind and sized container of Japanese maple may be quite different. There are some rough maximum numbers and sizes that can fit into each different size of shipping box, but it's not a perfect science. And when it comes to shipping a box of trees within British Columbia compared to the significantly higher cost to ship to Ontario, that's where it is imperative for me to have the best possible value for your money.
So, fortunately persistence has paid off and we are days away from providing a significantly improved set of shipping costs. If occasionally the cost of shipping hits one of these "gliches", I will most likely notice it on your order. In these situations, I will happily discount your order if I can make it work.
Thank you for all your support so far during this first year of mail-order sales in Canada. It has been a lot of fun. And it's been amazing to offer this service to all the wonderful people who love Japanese maples.