Shipping a Blaze King to save money?

BKVP said:

Jeff_t,

To be clear...no rumor, we did fix that disparity. Shipping 1 or 2 stoves at a time to a dealer can vastly affect the stoves retail price. Dealers in the PNW enjoy huge discounts on freight costs as freight carriers slug it out. I encourage shopping to occur because while we did fix the disparity issue, what retailers charge can vary depending on overhead. Dealer support if warranty is required is worth more when someone needs it.

Chris

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I wouldn't have expected shipping a 450 lb piece that takes up less than a pallet space to add $1000+ to the cost. I'm just a crazy food service guy though, not a real truck driver

It really is prohibitive for me. I'll just have to be in the right place at the right time again. It'll happen eventually.

jeff_t said:

I wouldn't have expected shipping a 450 lb piece that takes up less than a pallet space to add $1000+ to the cost. I'm just a crazy food service guy though, not a real truck driver

It really is prohibitive for me. I'll just have to be in the right place at the right time again. It'll happen eventually.

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Provide me the name of the two dealers and I'll call both...

fortydegnorth said:

Just several gaskets. Nothing major or abnormal. It was just a challenge tightening up everything and took a fair amount of trial and error. I'm convinced it still leaks but it's not my stove and it works for them.

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Most non-cats seem to "leak"
They are designed in such a way that they can seem uncontrollable at times.

I got quoted 2100 for the scriocco 30 base model here in the pnw.

fortydegnorth said:

I like the progress hybrid.

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Woodstock offers free shipping on all their stoves during the spring, pre-order sale. You can save serious $$

Poindexter said:

I could see giving your business to the nearest dealer who is not a Richard to deal with, but I wouldn't want my warranty support any further from the house than absolutely necessary. M2c.

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WTH is a "Richard" ? Careful, there may be a Richard-phobia group out there.

DUMF said:

WTH is a "Richard" ? Careful, there may be a Richard-phobia group out there.

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Not sure if you are asking this as a serious question or not . . . this is the website's way of "fixing" certain words which may be considered offensive to some folks. If you happen to be named Richard, you may use a knickname that some folks consider slang for the male genitalia (think of those books that you read in Kindergarten that taught you how to read . . . you know the ones with _____, Jane and Spot.)

Now as a side note, true story . . . my Uncle's name is Richard. Most folks call him Ritchie, but some folks call him D___. Our family's last name is Johnson incidentally. It gets better. My father's name is William . . . most folks call him Willie . . . again . . . our last name being Johnson. One of the few positive things I can say about my mother is that she had the foresight to not name me William Johnson Jr. . . . otherwise I am pretty sure I would be known as Little Willie Johnson!

No, serious. So "Richard" = willie ? Where the H did this originate ?
New one on me.....oh where have I been
Hey some one changed it to "willie" ...got it.

DUMF said:

No, serious. So "Richard" = willie ? Where the H did this originate ?
New one on me.....oh where have I been
Hey some one changed it to "willie" ...got it.

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A knickname for Richard is D__k.

A knickname for William is Willie.

And Johnson is . . . well . . . Johnson.

fortydegnorth said:

I'm starting to look more seriously at the Absolute Steel. I wasn't that big of a fan regarding its looks but my wife loves the leaf/tree overlay on the "wildwood", I think that's the pattern. .

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Sale has started:

http://www.woodstove.com/wood-stoves/new-absolute-steel-hybrid

$1795 for Absolute Steel.

I'm very close to ordering the Absolute Steel. I'm in northern MN, so I know shipping will be hard to swallow, but this stove has everything we want. I assume I want all the add-ons, including the ash pan?

Waiting on a Princess Classic here. This will be BK stove #3 for us. (House/shop/greenhouse) We are on week #7 of waiting at this point.

BK obviously needs to ramp up production with those kinds of lengthy waits! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?? Does anyone else see this as ridiculous? If it's "made to order"...as I was told....will it come with my initials engraved on it in gold? SMH...

Bought the first 2 last Fall (2016) and got a 20% across the board discount for buying 2. Full regalia...fans/shields/ash pans.... $5200 out the door.

Bought # 3 from a different (closer???) dealer who is "only" 2 hours away.... LOL. First dealer is 3.5 hours away! (the other is 5+) NONE of them will offer ANY services or installs due to the DISTANCE...so they basically make their (40%?) profit by unloading the stove from the truck from BK directly into my truck. Quite a great deal for them....quite the hassle for us.

$2950 for this one....no fans...no shields...no ash pan. Just an OAK, the stove, and tax.

FWIW (like anyone cares!)......I'd rather buy direct and save $$$$ than to pay $$$ to a "dealer"....especially when the dealer then tells me I am "too far away" or "you are out of our service area" when it comes to installing the stove. They won't SHIP IT...so I then have to take an entire DAY to go get it and FIGURE OUT HOW TO UNLOAD IT! That's total crap.

Service and offer installs for what you sell..wherever it is it is going...or stop claiming that you are a f'in stove dealer!

THIS is the only complaint I have about BK. I can buy almost everything else (and do) online....and have it shipped direct to my house....

but a BK?? Nope. Ridiculous stuff....yet again. It would be a different thing if they required their "dealers" to offer services....but that obviously isn't the case.

happy burnin', all......

fortydegnorth said:

just sold our house and we are under contract for another house. We had a Hearthstone Clydesdale insert and really enjoyed wood heat in our last house. My parents are using a Jotul Oslo, but only casually heat part time, I'm not impressed with the maintenance of keeping air leaks out of the jotul. I'd like to try a Blaze King since they now have much nicer styling with the Ashford 30. I was never a fan of the princess or king's looks.

We don't have a lot of dealers in the southwest Ohio area. I've called about every one in the state and one in Indiana. Prices are around $3100-3900. The higher prices are enamel for the most part, but they are all around $3000 and up. I can look towards Colorado or the west coast and find them for ~$2300. I do my own installs, so that's not an issue. Do you think it's worth saving a few hundred to buy from Somewhere west and ship it to Ohio? Unloading isn't an issue, we have fork lifts. Any dealer recommendations for a great price?

We'd likely get a pretty bare bones ashford 30, no enamel, likely no blower or convection deck. The house is an 1100 square foot ranch, with a half finished basement. Stove would be on the main floor, middle of the house with a pretty open floor plan. An addition of 450 square feet is to happen in the next year or two, that's the reason for the larger stove.

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I can refer you to two BK dealers in Ohio both about three hours from you,both honest and I've dealt with both. If you're interested let me know.

MtnBURN said:

Waiting on a Princess Classic here. This will be BK stove #3 for us. (House/shop/greenhouse) We are on week #7 of waiting at this point.

BK obviously needs to ramp up production with those kinds of lengthy waits! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?? Does anyone else see this as ridiculous? If it's "made to order"...as I was told....will it come with my initials engraved on it in gold? SMH...

Bought the first 2 last Fall (2016) and got a 20% across the board discount for buying 2. Full regalia...fans/shields/ash pans.... $5200 out the door.

Bought # 3 from a different (closer???) dealer who is "only" 2 hours away.... LOL. First dealer is 3.5 hours away! (the other is 5+) NONE of them will offer ANY services or installs due to the DISTANCE...so they basically make their (40%?) profit by unloading the stove from the truck from BK directly into my truck. Quite a great deal for them....quite the hassle for us.

$2950 for this one....no fans...no shields...no ash pan. Just an OAK, the stove, and tax.

FWIW (like anyone cares!)......I'd rather buy direct and save $$$$ than to pay $$$ to a "dealer"....especially when the dealer then tells me I am "too far away" or "you are out of our service area" when it comes to installing the stove. They won't SHIP IT...so I then have to take an entire DAY to go get it and FIGURE OUT HOW TO UNLOAD IT! That's total crap.

Service and offer installs for what you sell..wherever it is it is going...or stop claiming that you are a f'in stove dealer!

THIS is the only complaint I have about BK. I can buy almost everything else (and do) online....and have it shipped direct to my house....

but a BK?? Nope. Ridiculous stuff....yet again. It would be a different thing if they required their "dealers" to offer services....but that obviously isn't the case.

happy burnin', all......

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They are NOT made to order. They have times when production is a little behind, but we almost always get stoves within 2 weeks. Unusually in 1 week. Or even better, we almost always have the stoves in our warehouse.

fortydegnorth said:

just sold our house and we are under contract for another house. We had a Hearthstone Clydesdale insert and really enjoyed wood heat in our last house. My parents are using a Jotul Oslo, but only casually heat part time, I'm not impressed with the maintenance of keeping air leaks out of the jotul. I'd like to try a Blaze King since they now have much nicer styling with the Ashford 30. I was never a fan of the princess or king's looks.

We don't have a lot of dealers in the southwest Ohio area. I've called about every one in the state and one in Indiana. Prices are around $3100-3900. The higher prices are enamel for the most part, but they are all around $3000 and up. I can look towards Colorado or the west coast and find them for ~$2300. I do my own installs, so that's not an issue. Do you think it's worth saving a few hundred to buy from Somewhere west and ship it to Ohio? Unloading isn't an issue, we have fork lifts. Any dealer recommendations for a great price?

We'd likely get a pretty bare bones ashford 30, no enamel, likely no blower or convection deck. The house is an 1100 square foot ranch, with a half finished basement. Stove would be on the main floor, middle of the house with a pretty open floor plan. An addition of 450 square feet is to happen in the next year or two, that's the reason for the larger stove.

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Why not just drive to an Ohio BK dealer and pick it up ,one dealer is about 2 hours from you in Shiloh Ohio.

webby3650 said:

They are NOT made to order. They have times when production is a little behind, but we almost always get stoves within 2 weeks. Unusually in 1 week. Or even better, we almost always have the stoves in our warehouse.

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That's not what I was told here...but hey....whatever. Too bad you aren't the nearest "dealer" here. No one seems to keep any stock on hand of these stoves here...even though all of the "dealers" are located in large cities. Thus....it's a "call and order" kinda thing here....and no one I called had any less than an 8 week wait time to offer. Because none of these dealers offer any real services/delivery/installs unless you live in close proximity to their store..., we have no loyalty and simply went with who was "closest" (aka, the least time/expense/hassle for us to travel to get the stove). Cost wasn't an issue, FWIW.

I emailed them 2 days ago to check on an ETA but heard nothing back from them. The wife called again yesterday. They said they would "check on the truck whereabouts" and call us back. That was the last thing we heard.

Hopefully something will happen this week. Thanks for the info/reply.

MtnBURN said:

That's not what I was told here...but hey....whatever. Too bad you aren't the nearest "dealer" here. No one seems to keep any stock on hand of these stoves here...even though all of the "dealers" are located in large cities. Thus....it's a "call and order" kinda thing here....and no one I called had any less than an 8 week wait time to offer. Because none of these dealers offer any real services/delivery/installs unless you live in close proximity to their store..., we have no loyalty and simply went with who was "closest" (aka, the least time/expense/hassle for us to travel to get the stove). Cost wasn't an issue, FWIW.

I emailed them 2 days ago to check on an ETA but heard nothing back from them. The wife called again yesterday. They said they would "check on the truck whereabouts" and call us back. That was the last thing we heard.

Hopefully something will happen this week. Thanks for the info/reply.

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Our products are not made to order. This past season we did average 4-6 weeks for delivery. Inventory levels have improved greatly.

Some dealers take advantage of programs we offer to put stock in the back room, others do not. If a dealer orders multiple units, they have much lower shipping fees.

Each dealer has to run their business as they see fit. And as you might imagine shipping costs can influence retail price.

Thanks for the reply BKVP.

As an ex-business owner...I realize shipping costs...whatever they are....will influence pricing. When the customer pays for such things outright the dealer often doesn't care what it costs...it's just a CODB for them...especially when that cost is passed on directly to the customer. Whether or not it was a good price for shipping...or they made $$$ off that aspect of the sale as well, we on other side paying for the merchandise never truly know.

What I do know is that the cost to ship the unit wouldn't have been all that much more...possibly even less (I am closer to WA than they are) if it were shipped direct to my home.

And....if it were delivered here to my home...I'd be far happier! Not sure if that is figured into the overall dealer/BK equation or not...but either way... if it was $500 to ship to the dealer...it wouldn't have been prohibitively more expense in total to ship it here than it will be for me to PAY FOR SHIPPING AND THEN drive the 4 hour R/T to pick it up from the dealer. And then there's that unloading thing. A delivery truck would have a lift. My truck just...um...doesn't.

FWIW, I own 3 of these stoves now....and not a one of 'em was purchased by walking into a store (dealer) and buying it or even looking at it. (they have none in stock...just a brochure!) I made my decision to go BK/Princess after reading (fanboy!!) reviews on Hearth.com and other reviews via Google....and ordered/paid for them them sight unseen/online. The dealer just made $$$ off the sale by ordering it online and taking it from one truck/putting it on another...just as I could have done.

Not that any of that makes one damn bit of difference on your end...but either way.... we're still waiting for "delivery".....7 weeks, 100 miles, and a day's drive/time/expense away.

be well and burn on.

FWIW...

The Princess arrived Wednesday at the dealer. It's now a permanent fixture in the back of my truck until I can figure out how to unload it.

Timeline: Ordered 12-16. Arrived at Dealership 2-8.

Happy burning, all...

MtnBURN said:

FWIW...

The Princess arrived Wednesday at the dealer. It's now a permanent fixture in the back of my truck until I can figure out how to unload it.

Timeline: Ordered 12-16. Arrived at Dealership 2-8.

Happy burning, all...

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Good news! I brought mine home in my 4wd f350. Unloaded myself by sliding the whole pallet down my little board ramps. They're just 2x10 lumber with little metal hooks on the end to set on the tailgate. I load motorcycles, mowers, etc. with these ramps. Stoves are much lighter.

Then get the pallet up onto a dolley and it's easy to move.

It's definitely one of the easier stoves to move around. It has a high center of gravity, easily maneuverable with a hand truck.

Thanks guys. We'll figure it out!

I brought mine home in 2500 Ram. I loaded it tight to the tailgate and strapped her down good. Backed right up to the front porch/door. Grabbed the appliance dolly and strapped it up and rolled it straight into its resting place..very easy project.

I got mine out of my truck and into the house by myself, because I'm not too bright. The door from my kitchen to my attached garage is about 30" off the floor, the distance from the ground to my tailgate is about the same. I have some baker scaffolding, and the walk board is good for 1,000 lbs. I set the scaffolding up at 30", and slid the pallet on to it right off the tailgate. Then I rolled the scaffolding up against the steps into the kitchen, put some cinder blocks on the stairs and a board across the kitchen floor to the scaffold. It slid right through the door, then I muscled it off the pallet onto one of those four wheeled dollies with the carpet on the ends. If there wasn't a handrail and a generator transfer switch in the way, I could have rolled the scaffold completely over the stairs, right up to the door. I would suggest getting help to get it out of the truck and into the house. If it gets away from you, you could end up with far worse than just a busted stove.