Free Shipping - Two More Days!
This is a blog - a place for thoughts, reflection and news. So, besides mentioning that we're now offering free shipping on 6 or more bottles of our Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir until this Friday, November 14 (available on our Web site along with our normal 10% discount on 6-11 bottles and 15% discount on 12 or more), I thought I'd offer a few thoughts about this whole concept:
I'm a wine consumer too, and I get all the offers and newsletters. Many wineries have been offering free or discounted shipping this holiday season, most I believe due to concerns about sales with a slumping economy. I understand, but I have one major pet peeve: I've gotten some offers for 1 cent shipping or 99 cent shipping. What is that? Pennies are the things that we dump into change jars, hoping to ever use again sometime in the next 10 years - perhaps to buy a hot dog once we've acquired about 10,000 of them. They're not for shipping. As a winery, I would absolutely loathe having to add a penny to everyone's orders - it's not even worth my time. I get it, they're trying to be different, but just make it free already! Save everybody some time and change.
When it comes to FREE shipping, I love it. Personally, I hate shopping around the holidays. I prefer to order online and have it all come to me, but I always know that if I just make one trip out, I can save myself a lot in shipping charges. That's where the free part comes in. I figure, with free wine shipping, I save myself anywhere between $15 and $25 in shipping charges (okay, I admit I buy pretty much exclusively from CA wineries) and it arrives on my doorstep a week later. And most wineries offer a quantity discount. So, let's take 6 bottles of our Pinot for example - if you combine the savings in shipping, plus a 10% discount for 6 bottles, that's like $50 in total savings. I can definitely get creative and spend that $50 on another member of the family, plus I have the wine to give away. It's a win, win. In fact, I think I hear the FedEx truck pulling up now.
I'm a wine consumer too, and I get all the offers and newsletters. Many wineries have been offering free or discounted shipping this holiday season, most I believe due to concerns about sales with a slumping economy. I understand, but I have one major pet peeve: I've gotten some offers for 1 cent shipping or 99 cent shipping. What is that? Pennies are the things that we dump into change jars, hoping to ever use again sometime in the next 10 years - perhaps to buy a hot dog once we've acquired about 10,000 of them. They're not for shipping. As a winery, I would absolutely loathe having to add a penny to everyone's orders - it's not even worth my time. I get it, they're trying to be different, but just make it free already! Save everybody some time and change.
When it comes to FREE shipping, I love it. Personally, I hate shopping around the holidays. I prefer to order online and have it all come to me, but I always know that if I just make one trip out, I can save myself a lot in shipping charges. That's where the free part comes in. I figure, with free wine shipping, I save myself anywhere between $15 and $25 in shipping charges (okay, I admit I buy pretty much exclusively from CA wineries) and it arrives on my doorstep a week later. And most wineries offer a quantity discount. So, let's take 6 bottles of our Pinot for example - if you combine the savings in shipping, plus a 10% discount for 6 bottles, that's like $50 in total savings. I can definitely get creative and spend that $50 on another member of the family, plus I have the wine to give away. It's a win, win. In fact, I think I hear the FedEx truck pulling up now.
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