Any news on reducing the extortionate shipping costs?

[Tinkyti]

Still a problem: Any news?
Last update was from Jun 22:

Announcing the Framework Marketplace

We get it and we agree, freight prices suck. Incredibly, the true cost of shipping is actually higher than what we’re charging, and we’re eating some of the cost to make it somewhat less crazy. There are two things that we are doing to improve this though: We’re working with our fulfillment partner to find alternate ship methods that could be lower cost, though at the tradeoff of potentially being a slower method. We’re investigating standing up a local fulfillment partner in Europe specifica…

I know for a startup, these things can be hard. All the best framework, still support you!

[Tinkyti]

Framework support answer to a complaint about the cost. In short: Still working on it.

"For Europe, as with Framework Laptop purchases, we’re shipping Marketplace items directly from Taiwan as we’re still working on more localized options for warehousing and shipment of these parts for Europe. This was the only way we could open up these sales publicly for the time being.

Our apologies for Marketplace shipping prices, but given the cost of international logistics, this is where pricing landed."

Thanks for the quick reply framework!
Good to know they are aware of the problem and working on a solution.

[Josh_Cook]

For the EU there is already a local reseller, for AU I may become one after getting the approval from FW

[Anachron]

@Josh_Cook

For the EU there is already a local reseller

Maybe, but it’s still 30€ for the shipping costs no matter what I try to order.
This is okay for orders >= 200 imo, but below that it’s quite a hefty price.

[2disbetter]

I don’t work for Framework, please remember that.

I think the shipping is reasonable on large purchases because the cost of the purchase is easier for Framework to absorb. Remember it is not just the cost of shipping a product from a warehouse in the country you live. The items are manufactured in Tiawan, then shipped to fulfillment locations in the areas of the world they sell. From here they are shipped to customers, each with varying tax regulations and other costs. Framework is responsible for the costs of ALL of that shipping.

The high costs, I speculate, are representative of that.

I sincerely hope Framework becomes as large as Dell or HP and can leverage their marketplace presence to see incentive discounts on the logistics of their business, but until then this is just not the case.

[Anachron]

@2disbetter

I think the shipping is reasonable on large purchases because the cost of the purchase is easier for Framework to absorb. Remember it is not just the cost of shipping a product from a warehouse in the country you live. The items are manufactured in Tiawan, then shipped to fulfillment locations in the areas of the world they sell. From here they are shipped to customers, each with varying tax regulations and other costs. Framework is responsible for the costs of ALL of that shipping.

I think (not experienced, only ordered the laptop so far) another issue is that everything ships with the same priority. It was good for me to receive the laptop within one week after ordering, but I can wait weeks for an additional ethernet or 1TB expansion card.

I agree with your point though. If we had a lot of requests in Europe for the products of the marketplace it would allow Framework to ship big packages to Europe, driving the costs of shipment down.

By the way, the 30€ will not prevent me from buying the additional products. Just that I will wait and see what other products I find useful to limit the amount of shipment costs I have.

[Jason_Dagless]

I think it would be wise for Framework to state on the ordering page when you pick your laptop something like -

“Due to us being a small company shipping from Taiwan, shipping costs for extra items is higher than we would like. You may wish to order all the extra parts now, rather than after you have received your laptop!”

Gives the customer the option then.

[Tinkyti]

@framework team: This is still an issue:
Small parts shipping cost of 120 % of product price is still too high. It is bad customer experience

And I know you are working on it. Any news?

Announcing the Framework Marketplace

We get it and we agree, freight prices suck. Incredibly, the true cost of shipping is actually higher than what we’re charging, and we’re eating some of the cost to make it somewhat less crazy. There are two things that we are doing to improve this though: We’re working with our fulfillment partner to find alternate ship methods that could be lower cost, though at the tradeoff of potentially being a slower method. We’re investigating standing up a local fulfillment partner in Europe specifica…

What I would like a customer:
For European customer shipping option from Europe. Shipping cost for small parts should be in between 30-50% of the product price max.

Still supporting framework: Thanks for making modular laptops a reality. And yes, being a startup is hard. All the best to you!

Best,
Tinkyti

[Tinkyti]

Framework support answer per email to a complaint about the cost. In short: Still working on it.

"For Europe, as with Framework Laptop purchases, we’re shipping Marketplace items directly from Taiwan as we’re still working on more localized options for warehousing and shipment of these parts for Europe. This was the only way we could open up these sales publicly for the time being.

Our apologies for Marketplace shipping prices, but given the cost of international logistics, this is where pricing landed."

Thanks for the quick reply framework!
Good to know they are aware of the problem and working on a solution.

[junaruga]

@Charlie_Hoover

Right now the marketplace only sells Framework produced products.

What about third-party community marketplace where hackers can sell there 3d printed expansion cards and stuff. I think this would meet a need and solve for people engaging in trading, buying these third party products via direct message in the community board or via other means.

For the third-party community marketplace, I know one, “r/frameworkmarket” on Reddit. You can see Officially Supported Secondhand parts market - #18 by junaruga for details.

[Tinkyti]

I bought hinges for 25 €. Shipping comes on top for 30 €. So, in total 55 €. That is still a lot of money.

For a product that is light and has a small form factor, shipping should not be 120 % of the price.
I accept the cost now because framework is a new company. They are also finding a distribution center in Europe, to bring the cost down.
But in general, the shipping cost should not exceed the product value unless size and weight matters or things like insurance or priority. If they had a snail mail option with shipping for 15 € for a 25 € product, that would be okay for me as a customer.

[mahe]

There is another problem. If you think „I‘ll wait and order much more parts at once to save some costs“, you can possibly wait „forever“ because there is always at least one part which isn’t available right now.

I‘m wondering if it would be possible to offer a „group delivery“ option. Like every 2 months (or so) all orders for (as an example) Europe will be shipped together. If the parts aren’t needed urgently, I guess it would be fine for everyone to wait.
I don’t know if this would be cheaper (because I don’t know anything how about their logistic works), it’s just an idea.

[Anachron]

@mahe

There is another problem. If you think „I‘ll wait and order much more parts at once to save some costs“, you can possibly wait „forever“ because there is always at least one part which isn’t available right now.

Huh? Either I’m lucky or their stock is more filled recently, because even though I check the market place regulary there is hardly anything not available.

In fact, the things I’m interested in are all available right now. (1TB expansion card and ethernet adapter)

[Josh_Cook]

FW eats most of the shipping cost so that 30 bucks you get charged, it probably costs FW 50,60,70 bucks to ship. You do not know how much FedEx is to ship.

[devryd]

@mahe

I‘m wondering if it would be possible to offer a „group delivery“ option. Like every 2 months (or so) all orders for (as an example) Europe will be shipped together.

IIRC the german community thread did that at least once.

[Jason_Dagless]

@Josh_Cook

FW eats most of the shipping cost so that 30 bucks you get charged, it probably costs FW 50,60,70 bucks to ship. You do not know how much FedEx is to ship.

One packaged module is 43grams… Less than 100grams for two.

That is a bit hard to justify IMO.

[mahe]

@devryd

IIRC the german community thread did that at least once.

Yes, they did.
But not everyone is around here and also knows about it.
If there is such a shipping option in the shop everyone would at least see it.

[LordJonas]

Yeah we did it in the german group. We listed all parts and I collected the money from 4 people. We split the 30 euro shipping cost and 5 euro per domestic parcel. So in total it was still around 10 for everyone in shipping, but better than 30€ for each person.

#muchefficiency #segermans

[Leseratte]

Good thing I found this thread before I preordered the Framework Laptop so I can add some more modules to my order…

I understand that Framework can’t operate on a loss by having like €5 when it costs them €30, but sometimes I still wonder why stuff from like AliExpress costs cents or rarely 1-3€ to ship from China but any “proper product” like stuff from Framework or other small companies costs €30. Why does shipping crap from China cost €2 but shipping from Taiwan €30 when they’re right next to eachother?

I hope they can get a warehouse set up in Europe relatively quickly to fix that issue.

[Anachron]

@Leseratte

I understand that Framework can’t operate on a loss by having like €5 when it costs them €30, but sometimes I still wonder why stuff from like AliExpress costs cents or rarely 1-3€ to ship from China but any “proper product” like stuff from Framework or other small companies costs €30. Why does shipping crap from China cost €2 but shipping from Taiwan €30 when they’re right next to eachother?

If you were being serious, it’s because they ship stuff in big containers via ships and take much longer time to arrive. My Framework took one week from order to delivery.

You can’t send a package via plane and only pay a few € for shipment.