To Ship or Not to Ship?
A large part of the wholesale business is maintaining flexibility for the needs of our customers, but what exactly does that look like? Options, options, and more options! As you may have noticed, our options go beyond offering a variety of products; we also offer multiple order retrieval methods: shipping with UPS, local pickup, and freight shipping. How do you know which is best for your order? Let’s look at these options more in depth.
Shipping with UPS
Most of us are used to receiving packages through UPS, FedEx, or USPS. This familiarity is an easy default. It’s a great choice for one or two cases of closures, a few small cases of jars, or a combination. If you’re in need of a large quantity of product (for example, 80 cases or so), UPS shipping can get quite pricey. In this instance, you may want to submit a Shipping Quote Request Form. If, however, you live within a few short hours’ drive of our Oakdale warehouse, congratulations! You have the option of “Local Pickup”!
Local Pickup
The biggest perk of local pickup is you only have to pay for your own travel expenses. Local pickup is truly ideal for any size load. When shipping prices begin to creep higher than your comfort zone, you can avoid shipping prices (and the wait) altogether at your convenience. What no one really talks about, though, are the bonus perks! Local pickup gives you the opportunity to meet our team, view and compare products in person, and ask as many questions as you’d like. If you can pick up your order at our warehouse, that would certainly be the way to go; but we understand that many of our customers don’t live nearby. What do you do when your order is too large for UPS and you live too far away to pay us a visit? That’s where freight shipping comes in.
Freight Shipping
If you have a large business and go through product quickly (or you’re a pro at home canning and like to stock up for the winter months), freight shipping can be your best friend! Partial pallet, full pallet, mixed pallet, multiple pallets — freight shipping can be a valuable, versatile tool for a variety of needs. The drawback is that it can get very expensive. For this reason, we work with multiple freight brokers to find our customers the absolute best rates. Getting a freight shipping quote is pretty straightforward: fill out a Shipping Quote Request Form, we do the legwork to get you the best quote, you approve the rate, and we get the shipping set up for you.
Our Checkout Process
While we’re at it, let’s take a stroll through Saia Wholesale Container Corporation’s checkout process. Because we have a variety of options, getting through checkout can be tricky. We have included these detailed instructions with images to help you gain a better understanding of the proper UPS checkout process:
After adding product, you should see “Calculate Shipping” in the Cart Totals. This is clickable and will allow you to preview your shipping costs once you’ve entered the shipping state, city, and zip code. Please note: If you don’t choose to calculate shipping on the Cart Page, the Checkout Page will default to “Local Pickup”.
Once you’ve entered the state, city, and zip code, click “Update” to view your shipping cost.
It’s always a good idea to double-check to make sure you have UPS Ground selected!
After clicking “Proceed to Checkout” and filling out your shipping information on the Checkout Page, you’ll want to confirm that you have selected UPS Ground in the section titled “Your Order”. Once you’ve finished these steps, just fill out your payment information, submit your order, and you’re done!
Regardless of your order size and retrieval preferences, you can be assured that Saia Wholesale Container Corporation is working hard to make sure you’re getting the best deal every time!