Request Shipping Quote First

A good idea when you want to know what real shipping costs really cost....

Our shopping cart will not automatically compute shipping. That would require a robot that actually knows what it is doing, instead of just basing it on parameters like order values. With the mix of product lines that we offer, all kinds of weights, sizes, dimensional sizes, it is a complicated task to do it right.

You do not need to read any further at this time if you do not want to. We will get back to you in 1 to 3 days with a shipping quote on the products you submitted in your shopping cart. Be patient as it will be a person getting back to you.

But if you do have a moment to read a little more, we have a little more to say.

On this web page, we provide shipping cost examples, offered as a basic outline. We cannot cover every product and every zip code scenario on that page. Just some general examples. We do charge fair shipping. We are charging what the post office, UPS, or FedEx is charging us. And applying that to your order. There are no mark ups or profiting on shipping. That is ridiculous. We know companies do this. They advertise a product for $22 then say $30 for shipping. If you add a second, sometimes they multiply the shipping. Shipping costs are not the same all throughout the country, or outside of the US. We are located in FL. So shipping a large or heavy product to CA, OR, WA, WY, ID and other western states costs more than when we ship it to FL, GA, AL, SC and states nearby us. Then the middle of the country and the Northeast are generally even priced from our FL location.

Thus, a 3 pound towel bar (when packed), that we use to ship via the post office did range from $14.45 to $26.45, depending upon your distance from FL. But the post office initiated extra fees: there is a $4 fee for boxes 22" to 30" long, and a high $15 fee for boxes over 30" long. This makes shipping 24" towel bars more expensive with the post office. So, UPS stepped in and put us on a rate plan tailored to our needs. This 3# towel bar will ship as a 6 or 7# dimensional size box with UPS, but range from $12 to $19 cross country, for those living in the big cities or close to the big cities. UPS does have some delivery area extended charges, and remote area charges. When you live further out from a metropolitan area, these additional charges can apply. For example: If you live in San Francisco, Daly City, San Mateo, Oakland, San Leandro, you are NOT in an extended or remote area. If you are in Valley Springs, CA, 95252 in the valley, you are in the "extended" delivery area. UPS tacks on a $7.15 surcharge (current as of Jan. 2023). If you are in Tuscarora, NV, 89834, you are WAY WAY out there. That is what UPS considers a "Remote" area. And a box with them will have an extra $13.05 fee for them to travel out to you. This is when the US Post Office can prove to be less expensive. To ship to areas like this.

THIS IS what we have to juggle for every order. I cannot even imagine allowing a robot to figure it out. Especially when it is considered "dimensional weight," or has unusual box dimensions. Robots don't know how to utilize flat rate boxes, they don't know what will FIT.

UPS ships everything as dimensional weight, or actual weight if heavier than dimensional. So if we pack 1 towel bar in a box, it costs X amount to ship (this particular box is a 6# or 7# DIM weight). If we put 2 or 3 towel bars in that same size box, the weight goes up, but the dimension of the box is the same. The actual weight will increase to 7 or 8 pounds, so it will ship as DIM weight or the actual if the actual became a little greater. With the post office though, that box is now 7 or 8 pounds and the costs goes up, and considerably to the western states. We are referring to towel bars because they are a popular item with us. All cabinet handles weigh differently, some fit in the flat rate postal boxes. Under cabinet lighting is not heavy, most of it can fit in flat rate boxes. Some is long and has to ship in normal brown boxes. Longer boxes over 48" carry surcharges with UPS. Dimensionally large boxes with the post office ship at a dimensional rate. There is a LOT to it!

Head spinning yet? There is a lot not disclosed about real shipping costs. The free shipping that you get with Amazon and others, well they can do that because they get humungous discounts with the shipping companies. When it costs them $3 to $4 to ship a box, they can waive that and give you free shipping. When it costs us $15 to $45 to ship a box, we cannot waive that. We can reduce or waive shipping on larger value orders. We are referring to large orders. Some customers do purchase a thousand dollars in cabinet lighting or bath hardware. We can be flexible on big orders.

We are honest about shipping costs. This is why we are giving you this option to quote shipping first before sending in a credit card number. No rude surprises. We do not add in a gratuity for us, that is just wrong. We just apply the shipping cost for the proper size/weight of the box and the zip code it is traveling to. Or the country it is traveling to.

For customers who finalize their order as they are placing it, our shopping cart last step directs them to this page: on-line order form. If at this time after reading the above, you would like to continue with your order, that link will take you to the page where you can securely enter your credit card details and continue with your order. If you still would like us to quote exact shipping first, you can now leave this page and we will get back to you shortly.

Thanks,