Ballard Designs has become one of the premier online destinations for home furnishings and decor. With its wide selection of stylish, high-quality furniture, lighting, rugs, and accessories, it’s easy to see why so many shoppers flock to BallardDesigns.com.
However, one consistent complaint about the company is their steep shipping costs. So what’s behind Ballard Designs’ pricey shipping fees? There are several key reasons.
Reasons For Ballard Designs Shipping So Expensive
- Large and Heavy Items Drive Up Shipping Costs
A major factor behind Ballard Designs’ high shipping prices is that many of their products are bulky, heavy, or oversized. From plush sofas and dining sets to large mirrors and cavernous storage ottomans, Ballard Designs specializes in statement pieces and substantial furniture.
This often necessitates special handling and freight shipping – which is far more expensive than standard parcel post. Customers are often shocked when they purchase that beautiful new media console online, only to get hit with $300+ in shipping fees.
It’s not a seperate charge Ballard Designs tacks on just to squeeze more money out of customers. Those jumbo items incur legitimate freight costs no matter where you buy from.
- Shipping From Warehouses Across Different Regions
Another aspect that increases Ballard Designs shipping costs is that orders are fulfilled from warehouses in different regions of the US. For example, a customer on the West Coast may have their order shipped cross-country from a warehouse in New Jersey.
And someone in Texas may get their package sent from Ohio. This geographic distance adds to the underlying shipping rates. Other retailers with centralized warehouse locations can ship products much shorter routes for less money.
Consequently, Ballard Designs has intrinsically higher baseline shipping fees trying to reach customers spread out across the entire continental US.
- Heavy Reliance on UPS and FedEx
Ballard Designs primarily relies on major carriers like UPS and FedEx for deliveries.
These companies charge much higher shipping rates compared to USPS.
So outsourcing fulfillment and using premium transport services gets passed onto the customer.
Ballard likely chooses the reliability and tracking capabilities of UPS/FedEx over potential cost savings of USPS.
But the downside is inflated shipping prices versus utilizing cheaper ground shipping and parcel post.
- Higher Logistics Costs Due to Nature of Products
There are also overhead costs associated with Ballard Designs’ operating model that influence shipping expenses. As primarily a furniture and home decor company, they must manage extensive warehousing and specialized logistics.
Bulky couches, armoires and dining sets require much more handling, storage space and transportation costs compared to apparel companies, for example. There’s an inherent premium paid for moving heavier, fragile, and irregularly shaped merchandise. These costs eventually flow through to the customer.
- Free Shipping Minimums Are Quite High
To Ballard Designs’ credit, they do offer free shipping…with a catch. Customers must spend at least $250 to qualify for free standard delivery. For oversized items, the free shipping minimum jumps all the way to $1,250.
Very few items on the site are under $250, so essentially you have to spend a bundle to avoid shipping fees. Many other retailers offer free shipping at much lower order values like $50 or $75. Ballard Designs’ lofty free delivery minimums put free shipping out of reach for most orders.
- Shipping Prices Help Subsidize Overall Lower Costs
An argument can be made that Ballard Designs relies on padding shipping fees to help offset lower prices on the actual furniture and decor products. There’s a strategy of luring in shoppers with appealing prices on sofas, beds, rugs and other items.
Ballard Designs likely depend on high profit margins on delivery charges to subsidize keeping product costs competitive. It moves where the true costs are being recouped.
- A High-End Retailer Can Command Higher Prices
There’s also the reality that Ballard Designs positions itself as a premium, high-end furniture and home decor retailer. The brand can command higher prices across the board, including shipping. Target sells a mid-century modern style sofa for $599 with free delivery.
Ballard Designs sells a very similar looking couch for $1,699 plus $299 shipping. Customers expect to pay more for the style cachet and exclusivity of shopping the Ballard Designs brand.
The brand equity allows them to charge premium shipping fees compared to mass market merchants.
- Customers Accept High Shipping Costs
At the end of the day, Ballard Designs can get away with expensive shipping because customers have shown they’ll pay.
If droves of shoppers completely abandoned their carts after seeing a $299 shipping charge on a new acacia wood coffee table, Ballard would adjust their fees.
But apparently enough design-conscious consumers value the Ballard Designs selection, styles and brand reputation to swallow the high delivery costs.
When customers vote with their wallets that outrageous shipping is acceptable, a retailer has little incentive to lower rates.
Ballard seems to have struck a balance where shipping sticker shock isn’t deterring a critical mass of customers.
- Difficult to Offer Free Shipping on All Orders
For a furniture and home decor merchant like Ballard Designs, offering free shipping on all orders with no minimum purchase is likely cost-prohibitive. Between the large, heavy products and fulfillment from a decentralized network of warehouses, the logistics expenses would be tremendous.
Ballard undoubtedly ran the numbers and realized sweeping free delivery would decimate their profit margins. So they opted for high free shipping thresholds that only a fraction of customers will qualify for.
It shifts the burden more onto bigger spenders instead of giving free shipping privileges to everyone.
- Extra Charges for Deliveries to Alaska & Hawaii
Ballard Designs also tacks on additional shipping fees for customers located in Alaska and Hawaii. Buyers in these remote states already expect to pay higher shipping costs for distance and difícil access. So Ballard feels justified dipping into these customers’ pockets even deeper.
After all, it’s quite expensive to truck a dining set to a town in interior Alaska thousands of miles from any warehouse. The same goes for ocean freight to far flung Hawaiian islands. Ballard Designs gets away with doubling down on delivery prices for America’s most isolated cornera.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ballard Designs Shipping
Ballard Designs shipping fees vary widely depending on the size of the order and products purchased. In general, expect to pay $50 to $500+ in shipping costs depending on the size and weight of items ordered. Oversized furniture and rug shipments incur the highest rates.
Overall, Ballard Designs does charge higher prices compared to mass market furniture and home decor retailers. However, customers are paying for a premium brand, exclusive styles, and higher quality. The trade-off is high shipping costs to go along with Ballard’s elevated pricing model.
Ballard Designs incurs substantial logistics expenses shipping large, heavy products long distances from warehouses scattered across the US. Their reliance on UPS/FedEx instead of cheaper USPS also increases costs. High free shipping minimums also shift delivery costs more heavily onto customers.
Ballard Designs enjoys strong brand recognition and high satisfaction ratings as a top retailer of stylish, high-end furniture and home decor. Their products deliver on quality and aesthetics. However, customers do complain about exorbitant shipping fees which can diminish the value proposition.
Final Thoughts
So in summary, Ballard Designs’ steep shipping costs stem from heavy, oversized furniture, decentralized warehouses, reliance on premium carriers, specialized logistics needs, high free shipping minimums, subsidizing product costs, leveraging brand appeal, customer tolerance, difficulties providing free shipping for all, and extra remote state charges.
It ends up being a perfect storm of operational and strategic factors that enable Ballard Designs to charge a shipping premium. Consumers have to decide if great style and quality are worth budget-busting delivery fees.
