Sewing machine needles- Buying in quantity?

I've always found Jaycotts very reliable:

Thank you Kate, very helpful, I'm sorted now. Much apreciated.

Claire in Montréal France. http:// snipped-for-privacy@free.fr

I realize that you weren't interested in USA sources but my favorite here is AllBrands. However - I needed to lay in a comfortable supply of Schmetz metallica needles for my emb SM. They didn't have 100 packs available but did offer packs of 5. For four packs they wanted $ 10.50 shipping. I howled and they said I could request regular postage for about $ 5. Now REALLY ! Four packs of needles couldn't weigh as much as a hankie. As the 1st grader said, " It's not school, it's the principal of the thing." Polly

Courier/postal rates are based on parcel weight and volume, and there normally is a minimum charge. Also, envelopes and cardboard boxes for mailing/shipping cost money that must be recovered if the company plans to stay in business.

gwh

UPS shipping for a 1 pound package to a residence in a rural area is about $10.00

What's ordinary postage? I know I pay about 50p postage for the PO to send 2 packs of 100 needles if that's all I'm sending inside the UK. Jaycotts charge about £2.50 for up to £30's worth, after which it's free, so I can order 200 needles and pay nothing for P&P. I pay £10 for overnight carrier delivery of rolls of silk from Leeds, and this includes insurance. If they can fold it rather than roll it, I pay £4.50 for the same overnight.

At Christmas I sent a HUGE box of goodies to South Shields (a five-hour drive from here), on overnight with a local carrier and paid £15. Mind you, another carrier quoted me £350 for the same deal! Guess why I went with the local lot!

Yeah. The place I have ordered needles for the industrial before always tells me that. He said that the smallest box he could ship was $8 (it's been a while since I had to order industrial needles!) He said, "I can put A LOT of needles in there for that. Do you want a quart of SM oil or something to make it worth the shipping?" lol Good sales technique for him, and true too.

There are still a few places that are willing to drop small orders into a padded envelope and ship. But they are few and far between. It does help if you're a regular customer who usually places bigger orders than that. I keep a shopping list going usually of small things. Pins, needles, etc. When the list is long enough to fill a small box, then I order.

Sharon

I ship most items USPS Priority mail anything up to 1 pound $6.00. Can do regular mail in a padded envelope but have to purchase the envelope, change shipping options in the software pay for delivery confirmation etc. The cost difference when all is considered is not all that much. Most shippers have to balance their logistics with the customers best interests in mind. That is why I picked priority mail, best service for the money, gets there relatively quick, everything seems to need to be instantaneous these days, and the least expensive for the most thing I ship. If I were shipping a lot of heavy items like machines UPS would be the better option. No way to make everyone happy all the time. Try as we might.

Priority flat rate envelopes are lower than that, and you can get free delivery confirmation.

Ron has always been very fair in his charges for S&H. Most of all, he gets out orders with no delays. I'm willing to pay whatever he charges because of his service. As far as most shipping is concerned I usually consider whether it's going to be something that I'd waste a lot of valuable time and gas on, trying to find. If I can get free shipping that's great but that's not always possible. My biggest thing is good service. I keep a list of what I need and try to get a lot at once the same way Sharon does. If I'm in a big hurry, I'll pay a bit more to get what i want. Juno

That is always a consideration. I, too, will pay more for delivery when buying certain items from people known to me for their ethical business practices, because it's just a part of the price -- I always factor in all costs when making a decision. Getting reliable quality, prompt delivery, and assurance that the seller will stand behind the merchandise in the event of a problem are all important when purchasing.

Polly,

I've been buying needles from CTSUSA, they have free shipping for the most part and excellent prices. 100 large eye for metallic thread needles are $24, these are Organ brand and I've learned to love them recently. I can recommend their customer service, they shipped my last order within an hour of my placing it on a Friday and I received it (in a padded envelope) on Monday. They are in California and I'm in Western New York.

Judie

Judie, I didn't realize you were here. Thank you so much. I just used some of that soft sweet waterproof (diaper cover) knit you recommended for puddle pads and they are quite lovely. Polly

"Judie in Penfield NY"

Ditto. I live out in the sticks, and if the drugstore 6 miles away doesn't stock it, my choices are pretty much Joann, 40 miles and an hour roundtrip, the indie fabric store near Beverly, 60 miles and an hour and a half roundtrip, or the indie that's actually a bit easier drive for me, 80 miles and an hour and a half.

If the shipping is likely less than the gas....

Kay

Polly, I haven't been here as often as I would like but still try to drop in when I get a chance. TSWLTH is now carrying PUL, they have it in the utility section in most stores and sell for $10 yd in some nice pastels. I've been very happy with the quality, etc and it's a good price when you have a coupon.

Judie

Yeah, you are absolutely right on all counts. (Trust me, Mom knows all about not being able to make everyone happy all the time. LOL) The postal service has come a long way in the last few years at making things easier and better, I think. Do you use the click and ship thing on usps.com? That's a handy feature. I've done that before and then just put the small package out for my carrier to pick up. :) (it doesn't take much to make me all happy. lol)

The flat rate boxes can be a good deal too. The very smallest box is like $5 IIRC. And they say anything that will fit in the boxes that weighs less than 70 lbs. will go for the flat rate.

DH has a 1990 Porsche 928 S4 (I have been well trained to state the full designation thereof. lol) Like any 20 year old car, it requires a good bit of maintenance. It also needed some straightening out from work done by a less experienced/knowledgable mechanic sometime in its past. That's fine. Himself is having a blast with it (and we got it for a song!!!) That's all to tell you that he orders a lot of Porsche parts through the mail. None of the local car part stores carry a lot of what he would need. One place that he orders the bulk of his parts from, uses the flat rate boxes for 90% of what they ship. It works really well for them since so many of the things they ship are heavy, but not terribly large. And boy howdy are they good a packing a box!!! I would look at a pile of stuff and say "large box." They fit it all in a medium every time. ;) Plus that allows them to do the click and ship labels too.

And I think you do a really good job of making your customers happy, Ron. :) Sharon