Shipping to patients

[swes54]

I am trying to get shipping to patients under control for cost. How do you calculate costs? Do you have a particular size box that you use for glasses vs. annual supply monthly contacts vs. 6 mo monthly contacts vs. trials and who do you use to ship? Thanks!

[jpways]

Let me start we the easy stuff contact lenses, there are 2 options:
1. You order all lenses through a distributor or the manufacturer than on a one year supply for all lenses or at least a 6 month supply one one day lenses, there is not a company that I know of that does not provide free shipping to the patients (though if you are shipping across state lines sales tax laws may differ and you be charged the tax amount for the receiving state)
b. if the order does not apply for free shipping, and we are having the company we are purchasing from ship them, we charge the highest shipping amount from all of our suppliers to the patient (there's only about a 1 dollar difference between the highest and lowest) assuming groud or first class shipping, we will charge our cost for two day or next day shipping
2. For all other orders (including eyeglasses) we try to ship using priority mail, preferably the small flat rate box which fits 90% of eyeglass cases and any contact lens order that does not include one days or Acuvue Oasys 24 packs. We charge the patient our cost, though every order is insured at retail cost. The insurance does lead to the exception, which is for any order that needs to be insured for over $500 we will use FedEx because at that point the saving we see from not getting a residential delivery charge are greatly outweighed by the higher insurance costs.

[PartTimer]

We charge $15.00 for continental U.S. Shipping is one of the things we find is best to pass on to the patient at a slight profit, since it takes more staff time, and induces more chance of error with addresses, etc. We raised the price on shipping until every other person started pausing, then we kept it there. Most go ahead with it, and the ones that don't want to spend the $15 just stop by and pick it up and save me the time spent shipping it. UPS stops by my store anyway, so I do UPS Ground if I'm the one packing it. Easy to track, and if it's in my state, gets there the next day. Don't insure over the $100 amount, since you will save that cost multiple times over if they ever lose a box. Plus, my cogs rarely exceed $100, anyway.

We changed our prices with contacts: patients get a percentage off the ANNUAL supply, and free shipping for annual supplies (which the contact distributor does, of course). Six month/single box buyers pay significantly more per box. Online shoppers are going elsewhere, anyway. Our contact sales went up with this policy, along with patient compliance and profit. After all, if they want to save money and do the right things for their eyes, they get a year's supply, if they don't: it's on them. The single box buyers, who we never made money on to begin with and aren't compliant at all, either make us some decent profit now, or they go elsewhere and save me time ordering and dispensing. It's been quite freeing.