Shipping. The cost of doing business.

Cobble Hill is a Canadian wholesale company creating high quality puzzles with quirky random cut pieces.  While our puzzles are enjoyed around the world, it's not always easy to find the puzzle that one wants.  Retailers have space constraints and they can rarely take every single image or they sell out faster than they can replenish.  

So, in 2014, we made a choice to offer online shopping and puzzles are shipped out of Brampton, Ontario. However, the goal has never been to drive traffic to our website. Our preference has always been for the consumer to purchase from our retailers. This is why from top to bottom on our website, one can find several different links to 'find a retailer'; this was very important to the owner, Dave Manga. We knew the website could also help retailers with brand recognition, and puzzlers are happy to find a puzzle that has eluded them in their neighbourhood store and online. 

But, in an effort not to compete with our valued retailers for business, we rarely ever do discounts or free shipping. However, we do quietly support our online shoppers by absorbing shipping costs on practically every order. We charge flat rates instead of live rates, which means we're eating anywhere from $1 to $25 dollars. The graphic below shows orders packed with three to five puzzles and an example of costs shipping within Ontario, and to the east (Nova Scotia) and west (Alberta); PEI and BC can cost even more. We don't make any money on shipping, but it's a cost of doing business.

Customer Freight Charge (red) versus Actual Freight Cost (yellow)

So while we don't actively offer discounts, we are trying to help curb expenses for the puzzler. In the United States, we aren't eligible for some of the cool discounts that the USPS offers, so we eat shipping costs there too. 

And lastly, we know puzzlers have been confused by our minimum purchase message because so many of us online shoppers are used to website offers of "free shipping with minimum purchase of $xx.xx". But check out our FAQs Section C6 "Where to Buy" as it explains why we now have a minimum purchase and that doesn't come with free shipping. 

Thank you for all your support over the years! We say this to our puzzlers, our retailers, and our distributors around the world! Your support of Cobble Hill puzzles has been amazing!!