Recently we added our Jameis Pint Glasses to our online store because demand was so high. We were reluctant to do so because of the cost of shipping and breakage based on previous experience. In December, we had sold a couple pint glass concepts online (one for charity) and we had some issues with cost that was unexpected. So, we needed to better figure that out.

After an hour at the UPS store we had a little better understanding on the cost of shipping...and it was not pretty. For example, shipping four glasses to Miami is $25 including the cost of the box, etc. Shipping to California is $37. Our website unfortunately does not allow us to verify zip code and get an exact cost. We needed to find a fair blended rate.

We settled on $25 flat rate shipping. We probably will lose this bet most of the time and based on the online orders we already see, we are shipping all throughout the country. Madison Social will be in people's house in Washington..which is pretty cool.

Another website issue (along with the verification of zip code) is we cannot change the price of shipping for one product. We needed to just change the price of the glass an then keep our standard shipping rate of $5. We just changed the price of the glass from $10 to $15 to make up the shipping difference and then had the standard $5 fee. Might be a little confusing, but it was the best way to do it in a timely manner.

Finally, we have heard from some of our local Tallahassee audience regarding the price being $15 for them when it was previously $10 for a glass. We hear you but we provided our local audience with two opportunities and 500 pint glasses to purchase for that price. In order to sell these online at $10 a glass we would have needed to create another product. We have A LOT of experience with this and 20% of the time it ends up in an issue. Folks order from the wrong link, select shipping when they don't want it, or omit shipping when they do want it. Again, chalk this up to website store limitations because if we could just do everything on one page, we would, and not create two separate products.

The final thing you may be thinking is "why not just sell in store?" Simply put, inventory control. Selling online and in store creates a little bit of an inventory nightmare.

This is probably more explanation than you ever wanted on the subject, but we wanted to be transparent. Until May 8, you can order the set of four pint glasses over at our store and if you have any further questions, feel free to send us a note.