Getting the Most for Your Shipping Buck When Buying Floss Online

Let's face it, buying floss online can be expensive because sometimes the postage seems like it costs more than the floss!

With this dilemma in mind, we decided to do a little shipping experiment to see how many skeins of floss we could stuff into a one ounce envelope and a two ounce bubble bag.

We got 6 skeins of floss into a one ounce envelope with a card (we needed to make sure the envelope was stiff and flat enough to go through postage machines without getting caught) and was able to mail it with a single first class postage stamp.

In a small 4 inch by 6 inch bubble bag we were able to fit a full box of 12 skeins of floss to come up with a two ounce first class package. Without the box, we could probably have fit one or two more skeins of floss in the bag.

So what does this all mean? Well, when you can, buy enough floss to spread the cost of the shipping over multiple skeins. Try to fill that one ounce envelope or that two ounce package because the cost is going to be fixed by the ounce. Our experiment showed that you can get up to 6 skeins shipped for one ounce and 12 to 14 skeins shipped for a two ounce price.

Also adding in floss to an order that includes fabric will add very little if anything to the shipping cost calculation because floss is so light, so this is another way to lessen the effect of shipping costs.

The Myth of Free Shipping

I know everyone loves free shipping. I'll admit that I look for it myself when shopping. But you know what? There is no such thing as free shipping. Just ask at your local post office if they will send anything for you for free. Of course they don't! Like any business, they have to charge for the services or they wouldn't be able to stay in business.

So what does "free shipping" mean? It means that the business has incorporated the cost of shipping into the price of the product. You aren't getting free shipping, you are still paying for shipping, it's just that the cost of shipping is hidden from you to help you believe that it is "free."

You won't see free shipping on our site because we believe it is important to be honest with our customers about the cost of shipping versus the cost of the product. We've set our shipping costs to be calculated at check out time based on the actual shipping costs determined by the weight of the products. This is our best way to make sure to charge as accurate a shipping cost as we can.