I am not sure if Burnt Ridge has what you want but I believe they charge $12.50 for shipping costs for up to 35 scions if you are just purchasing scions.
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I don’t see an issue with “complaining” or discussing these issues on an internet forum. In my opinion it is not an unproductive, futile exercise. I see it as beneficial, actually. When you have an idea of how you think things should be and you keep it to yourself or just between you and that company, you don’t leave space for someone to post what you just posted about them losing money. Reading the ideas of others may be what helps you see that you weren’t thinking about things from every angle. Or perhaps you are thinking correctly and there will be consensus. Feedback is a great tool.
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They charge $12, and $13 for a virus-free stick. That seems awfully expensive. Of course if you buy more the price goes down, but it’s still $6 if you buy 10. Are they 1/2" caliper wide, and a foot long? I looked on their site, and there doesn’t appear to be any mention of this.
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I wasn’t complaining per se on Cummins I was complaining about shipping. I wouldn’t do a loss on it if I had a business I’d pass it on. I just had no idea shipping was that much. I know or at least assumed trees would be more expensive as they weigh more and are bulky.
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Shipping costs for shippers without market clout is way up. The tell for me is that there was little premium for air shipping.
I don’t know, but I presume that mail order nurseries are doing a land office business as people hunker down at home for Covid. Full ability to pass on costs.
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I’m with FarmGirl. I think there IS value in discussing these things on internet forums (Fora? Fori?). How else would we know what is “normal” and what is not for these types of charges?
I do think that sometimes it has to do with who their target customer is. Cummins will accommodate, but it’s pretty clear from their pricing structure that their target market is more commercial operations, even small ones. It’s us with the backyard orchards who really have no use for more than one scion/variety who aren’t REALLY their stock in trade. And that’s fine. There are other sellers for whom we ARE the target market. Most of THOSE are really just adding a little bit of income to their main business by selling off that scion wood that would normally just get pruned away to folks that would like a snippet. And they’re also interested in preserving heritage varieties.
While I will agree that there are other places to get scion wood (and I tend to get most of mine from places that have pretty off-the-wall stuff, and mostly sell as part of the mission of preservation than as a business model), I feel bad for the OP. It’s aggravating to have a “credit” to use that will require you to spend more for shipping than the credit likely covered.
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When I lived in the states I traded scion or just gave it away. But here there are few backyard orchards. Mine is rare that it is in pots so I just have to pay the going rate for what I want. My scion wood arrived a day ago, will open the box tomorrow .
Just noticed that Cummins has some tree stock listed for spring of 2022 already. I guess if there is something they are out of this year, maybe you can order it for next year. For instance, they are sold out of Surefire pie cherries this year (2021), but have 116 available for next spring (2022).
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