[ThorCorps]

This is now done!

Another piece of advice that used to matter when corresponding with a government agency (I work for one, but not that one), is that if you write them a letter that you're having some sort of problem and it has been x number of days (perhaps 45) since your initial contact and you have not received an adequate resolution, common practice is to notate at the bottom of the letter that it is being cc'd to your representative and senators (list their names/offices on the cc line).

Many years ago, when I was involved with that kind of thing, if correspondence being screened showed that it was cc'd to a representative or congressman, it was treated as a "Congressional" case, and not just as correspondence. It was tracked, etc., because there was an expectation that we would be contacted in short order by a representative/congressperson and wanted to have already taken action and documented it related to the complaint/concern.

 

[Otheronek]

So instead of paying usps to pick up you packages

buy a van, pay some college kid intern beer money three times a week to run your packages to the post office and you will have a van for other services you may need... A company always has a need for a cargo van. Plus you can teach some college intern electrical engineerng audio magic... Kinda pass the torch.. Feel good audio thing... Help rejuvenate the feeling of helping a newbie out... I am sure you learned stuff along the way when just starting out..

 

[UsoppNoKami]

2019, Chapter 10:
**** This Ship!

So, it looks like Schiit may not be shipping with USPS anymore.

Yes. That USPS. The United States Postal Service.

Why? Because they’ve simply become too unreliable for a business to rely on. Well, at least our post office has. As of this writing, they have not reliably picked up shipments from us for seven weeks. That’s nearly two months. This is despite contacting them, cajoling them, trying to find out what was wrong, trying to figure out how to make it work…and despite literally paying them $23 per day for what they call “scheduled pickup,” which has only worked about 33% of the time.

So what have we done in the meantime? We’ve had employees drive shipments down to the post office. This is a non-ideal solution for many reasons, including the fact that we have to work out a time-off payment for them, and if there’s a traffic incident while they’re driving down to the post office, we could be totally on the hook for that.

We’ve told the USPS this. Like I said, we’ve tried everything, including paying them, to get reliable pickup.

But here’s the bottom line: nobody cares at the USPS.

So, it looks like we may have to shut off USPS as a shipping option for Schiit. I think this is a pretty sad day when your national postal service cannot perform at a level needed for a business customer. And no, this is not a political thing. Business is business. We need a reliable shipping partner that picks up our packages (and, as a bonus, is happy to pick up our packages, because, hey, you know, that’s actual business we’re paying for, and, as another bonus, is happy to pick up our packages without any bribes/extortion/payola like the “scheduled pickup fee.”)

FedEx is happy to do this. UPS is happy to do this.

So are we gonna kick USPS to the curb? Well, before I answer that question, why don’t we take a look at shipping in general. Hopefully some start-ups will find this information useful, or at least you’ll find this enlightening.

To begin with, let’s start with skewering my most detested sacred cow….


“Free Shipping” Should Be Banned

Yeah, I get it. The siren call of “free shipping.” Hell, I’ve fallen for it.

But here’s the unadultated truth: there is no free shipping.

No. Such. Thing.

Period.

Everything has a price.

If you put me in charge, I’d ban the term “Free shipping.” Because it’s a misleading term. It’s not “free shipping.” It’s actually “price inclusive shipping.” And that’s what we should call it.

Seriously, do you think that someone’s gonna truck a Ragnarok from LA to NYC for free?

Of course you don’t. You knowsomeone is paying for shipping. You just don’t want it to be you.

And, like I said, I totally understand. But I also understand that what we’re really talking about is “price inclusive shipping,” and that the manufacturer or retailer is paying for it. If this type of shipping is abused too much (like, say, using it as an equipment rental service, especially when coupled with “free returns,”) the whole thing breaks. Hell, even Amazon has made it harder to return things these days, to help stem the tide of rentaholics abusing the system.

I hate the term “free shipping” so much, this is what we should do:



Yes, you see that right. You can choose “standard shipping” for standard price, or “free shipping” and pay more.

Because this accurately reflects what “free shipping” is: price inclusive shipping. You can have free shipping and pay more, or pay a fair price for shipping and pay less.

Aside: another company that does this is frameiteasy.com. If you’re looking for wall art, and you’re not so deep-pocketed so as to simply hang a ton of Samsung The Frames around your place, these guys are very fairly priced, fast, and have very reasonable shipping prices. No, I don’t own them, nope, I’m not an investor, just a satisfied customer…and happy to see them call out “free shipping” for what it is. They have competitors with free shipping. They cost 50% more—or more.​

Hell, we should do this “select your shipping thing” for Black Friday. Call it the Schiit Free Shipping Promo, or something like that. Maybe we can finally one-up Cards Against Humanity.

And, before you get irritated, we can also just refund the difference between “free shipping” and actual shipping, so nobody loses…and maybe some people learn a thing or two.

Okay, free shipping screed over. Let’s talk about how dire shipping is.


Amazon’s Solution: Fire Everyone

Yep. Fire everyone.

Amazon has long had contracts with FedEx and USPS. USPS handled Sunday deliveries. Well, it kinda-sorta still handles them, but…

Wait. Let me just relate a story.

It’s a Monday. We’re 6 weeks into the “USPS ain’t picking up” thing. Alex and I are talking, as usual, and I have to ask:

“So, are we gonna fire USPS?”

Alex shakes his head. “I’m still on the fence.”

“But are they picking up?”

Another head-shake. “Not usually.”

“Not even when paying them?”

“Not even when paying them.” Alex sighs, then continues. “It’s really hard to take them seriously when, you know, yesterday, Sunday, I get a delivery from the Amazon Prime van. I mean, that’s not a surprise, I’m at home. But then I get a notice from the USPS, which was delivering something else from Amazon, saying they couldn’t deliver because they couldn’t find my door. Hell, I was standing thirty feet from the door when that message came in, and they weren’t anywhere around.”

I laughed. “That happens all the time. Amazon delivers, USPS comes on Monday. Maybe.”

“It’s not surprising Amazon did what it did,” Alex said.

“What?” I honestly didn’t know.

Alex looked at me like I had two heads. “They fired everyone. Or they’re in the process of firing everyone. USPS is going out. They’re not renewing their FedEx contract.”

“So what are they doing?” I asked, somewhat incredulous. “Shipping it themselves?”

“Exactly,” Alex said.

“Wait…what?” I said. “They just…started their own shipping company?”

“Not exactly,” Alex explained. “They subsidized cheap Mercedes vans so people could start up their own last-mile delivery services, and take on their routes.”

Holy schiit,I thought. “Those are the Amazon vans you see running around?”

Alex nodded. “Those are them.”

Wow,I thought. Completely vertically integrated, including shipping. Given our pain with the USPS (and, to be honest, we’ve had our moments with FedEx, as well as pain with testing out UPS and DHL), I totally got it. It wasn’t something we could do, but when a retailer decides tocreate its own shipping fleet…things must really be ugly. Yes, I know, Amazon is huge…but that’s an amazing amount of liability to take on. Their pain must have been immense.

And here we were, with USPS not picking up…

…so maybe they will have to go.


Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I really don’t want to lose USPS as a shipper. But, unless they improve, we have to do something. Right now, I see our options as:

1. Eat it, and just have someone take the packages down every day, and take the disruption and liability that incurs. This is what we’re doing now.
2. Do the same, but change our shipping policy so we only ship via USPS two days per week to minimize disruption and liability.
3. Add a surcharge to every USPS order so it’s not attractive to use it as a shipping option.
4. Raise prices 10-20% across the board and have “free domestic shipping.”
5. Turn USPS off.

But, you know, I gotta ask: what are we missing if we drop USPS as a shipping option?

• Does it go anywhere in the USA that isn’t covered by other services?
• Does it have some huge advantage getting into other countries that I’m missing?
• It is insanely less expensive than other options? If so, to where?
• Is there some other advantage I’m missing?

Feel free to let me know in the comments. I’ll be looking at them, and Alex will be as well. I’m genuinely perturbed by this turn of events, and nothing is (yet) set in stone. If USPS doesn’t have some significant advantage that I’m missing, though…why should we continue to engage with a shipping service that doesn’t even care enough to pick up our packages?

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for your input.

Have had a Freya and then a Freya+ shipped to me in Malaysia via FEDEX. Fast: they pre-clear customs documentation & advise duty amount before the parcel even touches down.. much better than UPS and DHL for your international express shipping. I don't know if you do USPS to Asia, but it would be handed over to POS Malaysia - slow & not any cheaper on brokerage fees vs express couriers.

 

[Lurker0918]

Maybe it's time for Schiit to stop stressing out over shipping and for people to accept the fact that something ordered with regular shipping gets there when it gets there? If you want it there immediately, pay for over night or expedited shipping.

I like this little gem when trying to order something from Schiit's site: "*Please note that USPS does not guarantee ANY transit times - a "USPS Priority 2-Day" package may not arrive in 2 days, for example." I'm guessing in that parlance, the color of an orange is ambiguous to the USPS. So, on top of being a government bureaucracy, the people picking up your packages or managing things are governed by a 480 page monstrosity of a collective bargaining agreement (on the bright side, the letter carrier CBA is under 300 pages). There's a probably a specific subsection in an article in that CBA saying they don't need to pick up packages every day from Schiit and that they're entitled to pick it up when they feel like it.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Amazon has created a system of near instant gratification. To pattern shipping practices after them must be daunting if not impossible.

If USPS fills a niche that UPS or Fedex doesn’t, firing them will only hurt your customers. That’s what I’m gathering from the above posts.

I’d second the notion to make it clear that USPS will take longer for delivery. If someone wants it faster, they’ll need to pony up a few more bucks. Make a system that’s fair to your employees but keeps USPS as an option.

 

[johnnyboy101]

Having worked for a freight forwarder which was 1 of the top 3 shipping partners in the US for DHL, and also a significant user of FedEx, I can say that that USPS simply don't give a crap. We wanted to give them a significant part of our business for Amazon packages coming from the regional hub so that we could get direct transport from the hub rather than having to go through the various local stations. They couldn't be bothered. Amazon ended up contracting trucks to run our packages direct. Now as far as Schiit's options, I'd increase the USPS option cost such that other options are more attractive. Also would be worth exploring what kind of discounts could be attained by giving all of your USPS business to a single carrier.

 

[caenlenfromOCN]

All shipping services are dependent upon location. In my small town for example, USPS workers are small town folk and handle my packages with perfect care, never had an issue and always fast. Yet, Fed-Ex I have literally seen toss a computer monitor onto my porch and not gently to save 5 seconds. UPS is also 10/10 where I live very high quality people. I am sure if I went to Fed-Ex in some other part of Indiana it would all be fine.

Honestly, if your paying for a service your not getting, then you have to go with the higher quality in your area. Fed-Ex has been getting a bit better though, all depends who is working that day I suppose.

 

[valiant66]

2019, Chapter 10:
**** This Ship!

[snip]
But, you know, I gotta ask: what are we missing if we drop USPS as a shipping option?

• Does it go anywhere in the USA that isn’t covered by other services?
• Does it have some huge advantage getting into other countries that I’m missing?
• It is insanely less expensive than other options? If so, to where?
• Is there some other advantage I’m missing?

As a Canadian I far prefer USPS. When I bought my Schiit I was happy you had it as an option. Why? They may be a few days slower, but they are far cheaper at the receiving end of US->Canada shipping.

DHL is the worst, price wise and should only be used for cross-ocean shipping, and even then only if no other option is available. Why? In Canada, they charge you a $35 handling fee for doing the customs for you, and sometimes another $20 fee for something I’ve never worked out. So $55 to get your package, payable at the door.

UPS USA is pretty good, I’m told, but UPS Canada is a wholly independent company - badly run and poorly paid. I once had an actual UPS driver tell me (over a beer, not on the job) that he would never ship UPS. Why? Bad service, shoddy box handling, and again a customs fee that, for me, has occasionally exceeded the cost of goods and shipping combined.

FedEx is second-best for me, particularly if I’m in a hurry. Their customs handling fees are much more reasonable, in the range of $10 to free. I choose them when I need tracking, but I pay for the privilege.

Finally, USPS usually wins for me. Why? They play nice with Canada Post, there is no customs handling fee, and, if a bit slow, parcels/packages usually show up undamaged. Sometimes there is no cross-border “tax” either. The downside is that tracking breaks at the border. Packages show up whenever, and if you aren’t there to sign, you may end up having to drive to your local P.O. for pickup. When choosing the USPS I need to feel confident that I can go back to the company if necessary and say ‘hey it never showed up’ without reams of (non-existent) tracking data.

Just my 2¢. Canadian cents at that, which currently is worth about 1½ American cents.

 

[wout31]

I found this link for a review of the Aegir on another site:
http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/schiit-audio-aegir-class-a-power-amplifier/
JC

Thanks for the link. A very different and relevant way of reviewing in a way I can relate to.
Mostly when I read reviews (not so much) I think like: every seven year old can write this as it says nothing about anything that is relevant to my EARS, and is obviously mostly related to CASH en LOOKS. So the review is mostly about how to impress people who want to know the high price, impressive non important numbers and extravagant looks. For this reason this review is quite different and appeals to me. Thanks again.

 

[garbulky]

Well here's my experience. I've found neither me or my wife like being forced to click on something extra to add more money to the purchase price. It's hard enough deciding whether the purchase price is worth it let alone whether two day shipping is worth it. Because now the company is forcing people to put a price on how much they value their own impatience.

To find out how much more it is, we'd go through the hassle of creating accounts, then "calculating shipping" only to find out we are going to be paying $10 more than we intended...and waiting over a week, or $25 for two day shipping. Then the question becomes - well is the extra $15 really worth it? About 80% of the time I simply cancelled my order. I'd either do without or just pop down to the store.

I can guarantee you when I purchased my heavy 70 pound monoblock amps, if I had realized that shipping was going to be another $120 for two day shipping, I wouldn't have bothered. But it wasn't. It was "free" two day shipping and I got that amp in two business days and I was thrilled. I did not think twice about how much I paid for shipping.

Once my wife and I moved to a website that offered free two day shipping and now one day shipping, our number of purchases have risen by a lot! It's because it removed an extra step of thinking - "yeah but what about shipping?" or "well what's the slowest speed I want it". It's taken out. I've got "free" two day or one day shipping - whether I like it or not - and I couldn't be happier. The number of trips to the store to "save on shipping" have gone down a lot too.

I suspect you'll sell a good bit more if you simply do just that. Increase the price - blanket fast speed delivery - increase customer satisfaction.

 

[EricDH]

While we're on the subject of cassette decks. (Which is a HORRIBLE idea for a company to get into for the sake of retro)....The last time I checked you couldn't even buy blanks any more unless they were the super cheesy normal bias crap. I don't think any company has made Hi-bias or Metal blanks for almost 2 decades.

I've got an old Nakamichi boxed up and sitting in the garage. I haven't been missing it at all.

Ship it to me then

I won't be picky in the choice of shipping company (to stay a bit on-topic)...

 

[Jheal]

And I found some old reel to reels, including pre-recorded ones...
.

When I was a youngster, many moons ago, my uncle had a complete set of The Beatles albums on pre-recorded reel to reel tapes which I would frequently listen to. Many years later I asked him if he still had them and he replied that he had thrown them in the bin some years previously because “nobody would want old tapes”. I could have cheerfully throttled him.

 

[unsane69]

@Jason Stoddard et al
So, just an update on my knob issues. Not that I don't trust Jason, but I popped Schiit an email too, to ask whether it was something I could fix myself. Unbelievably, I got the exact same reply: "Send it in for repair". So I mulled it over for a few days, preparing to be Freya-less for an unknown time. Then I popped Sonority an email. After a lot of mails back and forth with Dennis (it took a bit since he assumed that the knob was fastened in the same way as OG Freya), he suggested that I should pull off the knob, since it might be to close to the chassis. When that didn't help, he asked me to loosen the hex nut on the shaft slightly.
And that was that: After loosening the nut about 1/5th of a turn, it works perfectly. Very happy I don't have to send it back.

And a big cheer to Dennis and Sonority.

 

[Varejao17]

Once my wife and I moved to a website that offered free two day shipping and now one day shipping, our number of purchases have risen by a lot! It's because it removed an extra step of thinking - "yeah but what about shipping?" or "well what's the slowest speed I want it". It's taken out. I've got "free" two day or one day shipping - whether I like it or not - and I couldn't be happier. The number of trips to the store to "save on shipping" have gone down a lot too.

I suspect you'll sell a good bit more if you simply do just that. Increase the price - blanket fast speed delivery - increase customer satisfaction.

Sorry, I don't agree. Consider someone buying a $99 product from Schiit, and doesn't need it overnight/2-day. You seriously want Schiit to raise the price by 15-25% just to cover shipping this customer don't need? Not everyone can afford this - and Schiit was founded to play to the high-value/cost-conscious segment of the market!

 

[CAPT Deadpool]

Sorry, I don't agree. Consider someone buying a $99 product from Schiit, and doesn't need it overnight/2-day. You seriously want Schiit to raise the price by 15-25% just to cover shipping this customer don't need? Not everyone can afford this - and Schiit was founded to play to the high-value/cost-conscious segment of the market!

I'd like to second that. I don't want shipping lumped in to the product price. I typically order the cheapest shipping option to save money. When shopping on Amazon I almost always choose the slow boat from China option to get the $1 digital credit towards ebooks, movie or music (almost always use for kindle book).

I don't need to be subsidizing other peoples impatience. Getting the package in a week or two is just fine for me, it saves me money, and hopefully reduces the carbon footprint of the shipping by avoiding air transport.

If you need really need it same day, next day, 2 day then you should pay the price individually.

I recommend you pursue an option that informs the customer and lets them decide how to spend their money.

Schiit's web metrics can provide only limited insight if shipping is causing people to skip out on carts.

For Example I am known to price out the shipping on multiple items in various combinations before eventually going ahead with a purchase in a month or two. The cost of shipping is not a deterrent to me just a factor to be considered. This web metrics measurement (items left in cart after shipping calculated) does not provide causation only correlation.