Month: June 2022

The products are affordable, but how can I save on couriers?

Here we are, with fuel prices at a record high, and courier fees rising every two months. What does that mean for online shopping? How can you get hold of your favourite Mrs Martin’s products without paying too much for delivery?

We all know there is no such thing as free shipping. No courier works for nothing. When you order below a certain amount, we ask you to pay for the courier. When you order over a certain amount, we call it ‘free shipping’, but in actual fact it is just free for you, the buyer. We, the seller, pay full price. We do so gladly, because we really apprectiate your business.

So in order NOT to pay extra for courier fees, your aim should always be to order for more than R900. That is a lot of money. Perhaps even more soap than you need. How now?

Order in bulk

Did you know that using our concentrate and refill options are more economical by far? Take the savings even further by ordering enough to last you three months. That should bring your order to a total above the free shipping threshold, which means you save on couriers.

Create a delivery ‘lift club’

Convince your responsible friends or family to order together! Decide on a date by which everyone must let you know what they want or the month, and order everyones products in one go. Give one delivery address and collect your products from there when they arrive. No extra courier fee!

Ask your local sustainable living store to stock us

We would love to be in every shop in South Africa! Approach the shop you love to support, and ask them to contact me. Who knows, perhaps we can strike a deal and have your favourite products on their shelves in no time. Since you visit that shop anyway, it would cost you nothing more to get a hold of our products.

In a way, having to think about one’s courier fees actually makes one more responsible as a consumer. Instead of sending the couriers every month for smaller orders, one plans now and sends the courier once in three months, for example. That creates far less carbon emissions and makes the foorprint of our product smaller.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. We look forward to packing your next order!

Cheerio

Did you know you can return empty containers to us? If you are anything like me, you hate throwing out a strong, lightweight, durable container after only one use. When you return your empty containers to us, we really use them again.

If you want to return empty containers, go to mrsmartins.co.za and look for the product ‘Return Used Containers’. Add it to your cart and we will know to ask the courier to collect a parcel when he delivers your order. This service costs you a small fee.

Why do we charge you a fee to collect your used containers? Because we are mainly an online shop, everything we offer involves couriers. Unfortunately couriers charge per weight or volume, depending on which is bigger. That means they charge a full courier fee for picking up the containers even if it is light, because it is large.

We try to arrange that they pick up the parcel when they deliver your order, this way we try to minimise unnecessary carbon emissions. Also, if they can complete the delivery and pick up in one trip, we might one day be able to negotiate a discount on the fees. Very often however, lines get crossed and the courier arrives at your door twice. Please do pardon the inefficiency and know that we are working to educate all parties regarding small footprints and such!

We hope that as our delivery volume picks up we can negotiate better rates in the future, but for now we pay a full courier fee to have your containers collected. In order to keep this service sustainable, we ask you to pay a portion thereof.

Of course, if you stay in Pretoria, you can deliver the containers to us or to Brooklyn’s Banting Market at no extra cost.

Thank you so much for being a responsible, intelligent consumer. We trust that we will all reap the rewards in the future.