FedEx owns DHL now if you didn’t know.
Interesting in terms of marketing strategy. I just checked and DHL rates for a small item from BHPhotoVideo ranged from $13-18 whereas the Fedex rate for the same item was $51.
In the case of deliveries to Australia there is a marked difference in trackability. DHL parcels can be tracked at all times and delivery estimates are reliable. Once Fedex parcels hit Australia they enter a black hole and are untraceable. They emerge eventually but it can take days.
Every company is going to be different in terms of shipping things based off an exorbitant number of variables. We definitely explored other options in terms of shipping companies and we found FedEx to be the best option for us and our products. I'm not super familiar with BHphotoVideo, but there are many factors that come into play, especially for international shipments.
Since a majority of Particle's products ship with a lithium battery, there's extra charges for handling those "dangerous goods" from the carrier (see DHL's site for info there), there's additional charges for packaging (since they have to be labeled as dangerous goods), there's additional charges for certifications on those dangerous goods, and the list goes on and on. Some of these are flat fee's, some of these charges are negotiable, but trust me that our team has been working tirelessly to get the price as low as possible for our customers.
In addition to this, DHL recently changed their policies on shipping Lithium batteries, which you can see here. We've used DHL in the past and every international shipment would be returned to us due to their dangerous goods policies, causing massive delays and extremely high shipping fees (shipping the order, returning the order, re-shipping the order). All of these factors caused an extremely poor customer experience, which is unacceptable.
We do have 3 distributors in Australia right now though! Core Electronics, Redshift Labs, and IOT Store. We're constantly adding new ones as well, but you can check out our distributor page for a complete list of them.
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Thanks. I have the choices of local distributors with 30% markup for small volumes or amortising mailing costs over a larger number of devices direct from Particle.
This is so discouraging. I was an original backer from Kickstarter, took a break and finally decided to give Particle another go. I live in Hawaii. I ship products here daily for less than $10. Free prime shipping, USPS Flat Rate for under $9. Why is shipping here over $30 for 1 board? Last week I had a 75 pound, 5-foot roll of vinyl wrapped shipped for the same price it will cost this board. Given it was USPS and not UPS.
I just canceled my order because I don’t want to spend more on shipping the deb board, especially if I plan on buying many of them for production. I am sure 1 board doesn’t gain your attention, but seriously, this one doesn’t make sense. Especially since this post said the prices were cut by 60%.
Can you please consider using USPS for Hawaii? We are not international and the rates costs are not any higher for their flat rate than it is to send 2 doors down from you. If it fits, it ships no matter the weight or USA destination.
Thank you!
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Same reason I was forced to move away from Particle in Australia mate. That and the lack still of any LTE, 5G, or LoRa connectivity. We are in the process of phasing 3G out, so my particles are fast becoming obsolete.
Also, Please consider using USPS for Canada.
I regularly get USPS packages from several online electronic outlets from USA (USPS) and UK (Royal Mail) for USD$8-10 vs. UPS USD$30 (plus their “handling charges”).
At a minimum USD$30+ for shipping, say for a Particle Boron kit, it is almost close to 50% of the kit!
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