Packing and shipping our products around the country has always been part and parcel for online mid
century modern dealers.
What was once a charge that was reasonable is now often equal to and often more than the item itself.
Before an item can be shipped it has to be securely packed. This takes cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, Styrofoam packing peanuts, and packing tape. These necessities of packing were also once inexpensive. Just a few short years ago (2009) to pack a Heywood Wakefield desk approximately 30” tall by 20”deep by 42” wide would cost $45.00 in packing materials. Today the cost of packing materials for the same size desk is running approximately $75.00
Once packed, in 2009 the Heywood Wakefield desk shipped from greater Boston to San Francisco for $270.00. Today the same desk to the same destination will cost $530.00; this includes the packing material cost.
Why the large increase? It’s all about the cost of fuel. Nothing gets moved without it.
In 2007 a gallon of diesel cost $2.50. It spiked in 2008 to $4.60. By 2009 it dropped back down to 2007 levels ($2.50) but only momentarily. During that same year it started to creep back up and by 2011 it was hovering at the $4.00 per gallon mark where it remains today. From small to large to independent, the fuel increase has impacted all of the delivery carriers, which in turn has affected all of the on-line mid century modern dealers.
Those of us who are on-line dealers and are passionate about mid century modern pieces will always be looking for ways to predict, stabilize or reduce shipping costs.
