US warehouse update (for US customers) :airplane:

Jiska_Queal 2018-09-13 11:30:57 UTC #1

Dear US Quealers,

Last January, after more than a year of paperwork, the first batch of Queal Steady finally arrived at our warehouse in Idaho. Sending out from within the US meant an easier way to introduce you guys to our product and help grow our international customers base. While you got the change to try out our 4.0 recipe, we've kept on researching and developing new iterations and even introduced some completely new products in Europe.

We've held a flash-sale in the last few weeks and we've welcomed a lot of new Quealers. Alas, it won't provide us with enough certainty to start sending another (and even a bigger) batch to the US. So, we've started to look into alternatives and wrecked our brains over finding a way that would mean you could order the latest and greatest Queal products while also, keeping things manageable for us.

The conclusion - at least for now - is that we will use our EU warehouse for US orders. Meaning both good and bad news for our US customers: you can now order every Queal product, but we can't keep on offering free shipping.

We're really sorry about this, but hope you will understand our side of the story and promise we will keep on aiming to re-open a warehouse in the US.

Facts about ordering from Europe to America:

Shipping costs will be $25 (€20) for orders above $57 (€49).
Our warehouse works fast, which means you'll most likely receive your tracking information the same day, and your package in approximately 5 to 10 working days.
We'll use Maxipack (for the Europe part) & USPS (for the American part) as shipping companies.
There will be no import taxes. At least, if you stay under 800 dollars

Please let us know if you have any question.

Latestfuels 2018-09-13 13:12:07 UTC #2

This is ill news. I hope we can see a US warehouse back up soon, although this does raise some questions looking to the future.

I guess it's up to us -no pun intended- the EU Quealers to make up for the US.

I did some quick maths, to see how "big" this price change is:

Ordering 8 bagsof standard now (to meet $57) costs $90 or $11.25 per bag or $2.13 per 400kcal (note this will go down the more bags you order)
Before 8 bags cost $65 or $8.17 per bag or $1.55 per 400kcal.

This is 138% the price it was before.

E.g for standard now:

10 bags= $106.66 = $10.6/bag= $2.02/400kcal 30 meals

20 bags= $188.33 = $9.41/bag= $1.79/400kcal 60 meal

30 bags= $269.99 = $8.99/bag= $1.71/400kcal 90 meals

US Quealers do you think you will keep buying from Queal?

fernly 2018-09-13 15:42:33 UTC #3

It seems to me you are saying there was not sufficient sales volume to cover the cost of the warehouse and shipping operation. Correct? What I don't understand is, why do you not retain the warehouse and just begin charging for shipping at a rate that will cover expenses?

Surely the site would pay its way at, perhaps, $20/shipment? That would be less than the cost from Europe and would retain the faster and more predictable shipping times.

Floris_Queal 2018-09-13 16:44:43 UTC #4

Yes that is correct. But that also includes shipping (and paperwork) for the bulk (container) shipment to the US and land transport to the warehouse. There, but also with the warehouse itself there are quite some fixed costs that now can't be spread over enough orders. And shipping within the US is surprisingly expensive (and people expect free shipping).

And next to that I think we want to be able to update you with new products really quickly, and that isn't possible at the moment with the container shipments.

Onno_Queal 2018-09-13 16:50:51 UTC #5

Not to mention, this way we can offer all our products in the USA immediately.
If we were to retain a US warehouse, due to logistics, but mostly import regulations, introductions of new products (including Limited Editions) would be heavily delayed, if not simply impossible for our US customers.

fernly 2018-09-13 19:53:43 UTC #6

thanks @Floris_Queal & @Onno_Queal for the explanations.

VoodooMurphy 2018-09-13 21:25:34 UTC #8

Absolutely not. This is upsetting and frankly insulting that the company would try to candy coat dropping a huge price increase on us as giving us more choice. If you want to sell to US customers then you keep a US facility. Plain and simple. Choosing not to maintain a business presence in the country is fine, but don’t expect us to remain customers.

Latestfuels 2018-09-14 05:58:47 UTC #9

Does that mean that is more expensive under $57 or that you will not ship under $57?

Jiska_Queal 2018-09-14 06:53:23 UTC #10

It will be more expensive for orders under $57.

boothman 2018-09-14 18:43:42 UTC #11

The question I have is, how long was it known that operations at the US facilities would cease?

I'm a new customer, that loves the product, but also was highly impressed by how the executives & staff were so responsive on this forum in regards to ideas, issues, changes, updates etc. When I caught wind of the flash sale, I was under the impression (assumed) that it was result of there being a new formula released, so room was being made by discounting the 4.0 formula.

It just seems like this has been in the works, and on the radar for some time. If that is the case, I would have hoped to see it mentioned that this was the direction the company was headed, hence why there was a flash sale.

Perhaps there is more that I do not understand (business/numbers aside) and do not know, but its difficult not to feel as if more could have been announced to lessen the blow.

Jiska_Queal 2018-09-15 10:17:25 UTC #12

Hi @boothman!

The reason for starting our flash sale in the first place was because of the nearing BBD of the US stock, which also happened to be Steady 4.0. We only recently made the decision to use our EU warehouse for the time being (weeks, not months ago).

Thank you so much for being enthusiastic about Queal and I hope we will have another solution in the future too. And I hope that for you or some others our EU warehouse might also work. The shipping charges are a flat fee so maybe a large or combined order is most economical (and because our EU warehouse is quite fast, shipping should only be a few days longer)

SteveGM19 2018-09-15 12:55:08 UTC #13

Even with the shipping, the cost is still reasonable when compared with other ‘lents available in the USA. And if the 5-10 day shipping holds true, it is right in the time frame of my experiences with other products as well. But I’m never needing the product right away since I always keep a healthy stock. So those factors won’t totally drive me away. I can’t say I’ll be ordering as much as I was planning to, but I think I’ll still remain a customer because I do like the variety.

Does this mean I need to order from and create an account on the main website?

Jiska_Queal 2018-09-17 06:16:22 UTC #14

Hi @SteveGM19! Thank you for putting things in perspective

All accounts from the US website have been transferred to the EU one, so you don't need to create a new one!

Jiska_Queal 2018-10-01 06:16:32 UTC #15

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