2024 Orders and Openings Chat

Juliarugula · 2023-08-01T22:12:46+00:00

I thought today might be a good day to start the 2024 thread, since I was browsing through the newly rolled over DahliaAddict site. Has anybody heard if Cle...

AndreaB

Krista I loved it, too! I borrowed it from Julia 😉

Krista

AndreaB Ah, thank you! All kudos go to @Juliarugula! “Travel companions” are officially in rotation when using vocabulary specific to springtime tuber shopping!

blown_dry

Weirdly, I think small suppliers should not combine shipping. If it takes them an extra 10 minutes per order to collate the mulitple orders and calculate and process the refunds, then it costs them about 10 dollars in time/and fees if they are making a living wage, and for what? Paypal does not refund to the supplier the fees they charge for them to receive the funds when the money is refunded to customers. I'm more bothered about suppliers getting burnt out, missing time with their loved ones and working for pennies on the hour than I am about paying shipping on each order I make from my comfy chair. 😂

Krista

blown_dry I think for me, it’s not about needing them to combine. I’ll happily pay for multiple shipments when it’s advertised as such. It’s the “we don’t combine” but then they do combine, but there’s no refund. It’s totally irrational of me but I think it’s about the expectation, either you do or you don’t. 😬 I totally accept full responsibility for those feelings of frustration, I know nobody’s getting rich off shipping charges!

blown_dry

Juliarugula I’m also getting better about talking myself down from “travel companions”.

I am getting better at this too. It doesn't actually make the shipping any less it just feels a little better and it adds up.

Teddahlia

I talked with Eric Anderson and he will be selling tubers this year. I got good stock of HH Cotton Candy from him back when. He uses the moniker "Sungates" for his new ones and he likes his white orchette new one. He sells pepper plants in the spring too. He is a real gardener and I sent him some geranium cuttings back when and he was able to root them.

Juliarugula

Krista Ah, thank you! All kudos go to @Juliarugula! “Travel companions” are officially in rotation when using vocabulary specific to springtime tuber shopping!

😁But I’m pretty sure I stole it from somebody else here! Calico20hill maybe? I’m not sure who! I think kudos should just go to the “Growing Dahlias” forum for that one!

blown_dry

Krista I totally get it. My peeves are irrational as well. 😂

Juliarugula

Krista It’s totally irrational of me but I think it’s about the expectation, either you do or you don’t

🤣🤣. If anything, I get annoyed at the opposite - when I pay for shipping three packages, so the seller ships them all separately. I feel like, geez, that’s just wasted packaging and also wasted money. At least the seller could get compensation for my ridiculous tuber purchasing! I’d rather my extra $15 line their pockets than the post office’s… 🤷‍♀️

Poor tuber sellers. They can’t win…

Krista

Juliarugula We could just popcorn accolades down to each member here so everyone gets individual kudos from the group! 🤣

Krista

Juliarugula Poor tuber sellers. They can’t win…

Truer words have never been spoken!

Honnat

I have a coupon code on my site to allows free shipping on subsequent orders. I still combine shipping on those that don't use the coupon and I don't refund those. It's part of how I've been able to charge a flat $9 for shipping any sized order and still break even. This year I believe USPS raised their Priority rates so I'm going to $10 flat charge for any sized order. As long as some people don't use the coupon code and I get some small local orders I sneak out with First Class - I'll hopefully still break even.

JessieC

Honnat That’s clever! I wondered last year (or was it the year before 🤔) about the USPS price hike, which seemed to come at a bad time. I got the feeling that a lot of sellers charged a shipping fee based on the previous rates, and that the higher shipping costs probably caught them by surprise. I believe packing materials shot up in price as well.
Every time I feel badly for spending money on some weird tuber that I really want, I think about all the kind and creative energy that the individual sellers have poured into these things. It’s hard work, and I’m happy to pay for it! (But I’ll admit the shipping fees can seem annoying.)

bloomhjelm

For my recent sale my shipping topped out at $18 for 3+ lbs of tubers or more.

Someone ordered 92 tubers in one order.

I don't regret setting my shipping as such, but I could not have anticipated things would go this way. (I only listed 200-something tubers for sale.)

MissyWeitzel

bloomhjelm I use pirate ship for my shipping. I don't know why anyone does the flat rate USPS boxes TBH. I buy my own boxes in sizes that make more sense for my packages from SupplyHut and even with that added expense, pirate ship is MUCH less expensive than flat rate prices. I can choose from different USPS rates as well as UPS.

As far as shipping charges go, I set mine up to charge a flat rate plus $1 per item. I make sure my shipping charges cover all my packaging materials and my handling. I learned in my previous business that if I don't get paid adequately for all the tasks involved with my business then I will burn out quickly. I used to do a lot more shipping and I charged exactly my shipping prices to my customers thinking it was a selling point but I was selling myself short and when it came time to do that shipping I HATED every minute of it. Now, with dahlia tubers, it takes me a long time to get those orders out but I'm being compensated for my time so I honestly don't mind it at all. I work long days, order take out for the fam for dinner a few times, and catch up on podcasts. 😊

blown_dry

I spaced the Mountain Diva sale which was too bad personally, but also, they remove sold out listings so I was unable to get a full record of their opening catalog so that was a whiff professionally.
I did get a couple at the North Cascade restock. An oddball and a big messy dahlia. 🙂

KitCMC

blown_dry Big messy dahlias, yes please!

Honnat

You got Encompass! Well we all like something different. 🙂 I saw that and thought...Paul Bloomquist has lowered his standards or is starting to loose his.....nvm. I was just in a texting conversation with another grower about it wondering what in the world they were doing with that one (and a few others). To each his own I guess. Amanda, you truly must have an eclectic garden.

blown_dry

Honnat You got Encompass! Well we all like something different.

Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 🙂 This is a case of extreme optimism. If the blooms all look like the photo I probably won't keep growing it, but I'm hoping that when it's fully open it will be some sort of cool anemone-ish thing. The image gave me just enough to pin my dreams on. This is what the dahlia wars do also, there is not a lot of time for rational thinking. 😂
I do have a numer of favorites in the NX category like HH Shaggy Dog, Hy Zizzle, Tall Sunburst and of course I grow Junkyard Dog.

calico20hill

I have made a number of small orders to North Cascades. I do hope they will combine them. I have a half a dozen new Bloomquist ones coming. I think I am about done once Birch Bay puts theirs out and I get an order on them.

Cosey

MissyWeitzel I learned in my previous business that if I don't get paid adequately for all the tasks involved with my business then I will burn out quickly.

I have also found that if I charge appropriately I have zero hesitation for hiring additional labor for short periods of time. I now have a handful of women who love coming out 2 weeks in the spring and fall to help me through time sensitive tasks. Most of the time they earn less than $600 and I do not need to submit a 1099. They get extra cash and I get everything done on time. If I knew their labor wasn't being covered I would be stressing myself out trying to do everything myself again.

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