Franklin BBQ, Goldbelly and Ripoff Shipping Charges

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The Dark Bark
Good morning.

As a service to all members, I give you the following true story.

On Saturday I decided to try and order a brisket from Franklin's place. I learned that they work with a company called Goldbelly. Apparently, Goldbelly handles shipping for several dozen food companies, Franklin being just one of many. I click on "brisket" and they are charging - now hold onto your tongs everyone - $249 to ship a 5-pound brisket!!! I could drive to Memphis and get an entire brisket from the Rendezvous for less money. Being a New Yorker, I had to contact them to see if dementia had finally kicked in. Below is the verbatim (abridged) email exchange I had with Chelsea from Goldbelly.

Me: I want to be sure i am reading your order page correctly. I am looking to purchase the Whole Brisket + Texas Barbecue BBQ Sauce, which I know is currently sold out. Per your website, it states 4.5-5 pounds for $249. Am I reading its right? You are charging $249 for a 5-pound brisket? If this price is correct, how the hell do you have the gall to charge a price that is short of criminal?

Chelsea: Thanks for reaching out and sharing your thoughts. We've been in business for over 7 years now, and many of our customers know shipping can be expensive. Shipping perishable food across the country next day air is even more so! We fight hard to get the shipping rates down as much as possible, but unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of that markup goes into shipping fees (directly to UPS and FedEx) and packaging costs to keep the items cold.

But more than that, the food we're offering isn't just something you can walk into your local supermarket and purchase. For many of our customers, the taste of what we offer is connected to a memory of theirs. Maybe they had an amazing trip to NYC and ate at Ess-a-Bagel every day. Maybe it was a bite of BBQ that they had on a trip to Texas when they were in college. One of our
customers from California told us how they used to go to Sarge's Deli every week with their grandfather when they were young and biting into that pastrami on rye brought a tear to their eye thinking back on the memories.

We love food and are super thankful we get to help people explore the tastes they've always heard about or have always wanted to try. If you enter the code HOTGRILLSUMMER at checkout, you'll receive $15 off of a qualifying order (expires 9/15/21). A lot of the merchants associated with us also add BOGO and other sales to their items - keep watch for those over time. Please don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything I can do to help along the way.


Me: The shipping argument doesn't hold water. I order from Wild Fork. I get a 12-pound brisket, a rack of ribs, porterhouse and tuna steaks shipped to me here in NY. total cost $13.95

I have a 12-bottle case of wine shipped from Napa - the total cost is $19.95.

No 5-pound brisket is worth $249. How much does it actually cost to ship a 5-pound item to NYC? Well, I checked. To ship a 5-pound package from NYC to Kansas City, via USPS is $25.95. Two-day delivery. So even if you choose this method with dry ice, if that is how you ship it, the total wouldn't exceed $30.00. That means I am paying $220 for a 5-pound brisket. LMAO.

My guess is that 50% of the $249 goes right into your pocket. The other 50% goes to Franklin BBQ

Please remove me from your email list. You guys are a major ripoff.


They replied saying thank you for your email and you have been successfully unsubscribed.

I post this because I want to make others aware of just how blatantly this company is ripping people off. I don't care how good a brisket or any other food item is, there is no way on the world anyone should charge the prices they are charging. None. I ask that you re-post this as you see fit so that folks like us aren't taken advantage of by companies such as Goldbelly.
 
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But don't you have ANY memories that are worth reliving at any price?

Obviously they aren't charging for beef and shipping but rather an "experience" that will put a tear in your eye.
 
It’s like $250 sneakers.

A status symbol when you serve it too your friends.
To those of us who have a smoker and and can put out a passable brisket it ain’t a good deal.
 
Yes, DisneyWorld with my wife and kids, Hawaii on my honeymoon, Puerto Rico with my wife a few years back - all great memories and worth every penny. Nothing at any of those places, IMHO, was even close to being a ripoff as this. Actually, I have never seen anything so brazenly ripping off a customer like this. Never.
 
It’s like $250 sneakers.

A status symbol when you serve it to your friends.
To those of us who have a smoker and can put out a passable brisket, it ain’t a good deal.

I was expecting a 12-14 pound brisket, not a 5-pounder brisket. They are taking whole briskets and cutting them in half or thirds and selling them at these disgusting prices. And there are ignorant people who just fork over their money. Sad.

I sure as hell ain't comparing my cook to Franklin's. But I make some pretty damn good food. I owned a successful restruatnt here in NY for a number of years, not an easy thing to do. So I must have done something right and learned a few things along the way.
 
I think you need to send the email to Franklin - the shipping company clearly doesn't care.

Franklin, Arthur Bryant, etc., all have to sign legal agreements with this company, so I am sure they know exactly what they are getting into. So sending them this email exchange will do nothing at all because they agreed to the terms of their agreement with Goldbelly. And they too are making a ton of money off of it, so why make a change? It is not in their best (financial) interest to do so.

As I said in my post, they charge $249, 50% goes to Goldbelly and 50% to Franklin. Goldbelly gets a massive discount on shipping due to volume, and the rest of that $125 is pure profit (and greed).
 
Eh.. If you look at the other restaurants they work with and it's pretty clear it is an "experience" they are going for not a competitor to Wild Fork. You can get a Cheesesteak from Pats in Philadelphia mailed to you if you are feeling a little homesick.

I could see using this service to celebrate a anniversary or something but never on the regular.
 
I live in NYC, not Philly and I make better cheesesteaks than Poat's. I'm sure you and everyone else on these boards, can as well.

If I want an experience I'll go to DisneyWorld where I can get a great meal for $250
 
Franklin, Arthur Bryant, etc., all have to sign legal agreements with this company, so I am sure they know exactly what they are getting into. So sending them this email exchange will do nothing at all because they agreed to the terms of their agreement with Goldbelly. And they too are making a ton of money off of it, so why make a change? It is not in their best (financial) interest to do so.

As I said in my post, they charge $249, 50% goes to Goldbelly and 50% to Franklin. Goldbelly gets a massive discount on shipping due to volume, and the rest of that $125 is pure profit (and greed).

I just meant that Franklin may be a bit more sensitive if enough people are outraged vs. the shipping company. At the end of the day, I'm sure Franklin may also do it as a way of TOO many people buying and then being overwhelmed with orders. There is that sweet spot between charging too much and having too many orders.
 
While I agree that is a lot of money for a brisket, I don't think it's as simple as you're making it out to be. That 4.5-5lbs is the cooked weight for a 8-9 pound brisket that was trimmed down from a 14ish pound brisket. Franklin currently charges $34.00/lb for brisket at their restaurant.

Figure 5lb brisket and the meat alone is $170.00/brisket as the base cost. That leaves $80.00 for goldbelly, shipping, and packaging/handling. While high, that doesn't seem as exorbitant as the initial sticker shock may make you feel
 
Franklins Wife said it was expensive, but that it was the better option they felt.
You do not want to run a business off USPS I promise you. The rates they give you are for non guaranteed delivery, it says it at the PO. Branch. FedEx and UPS overnight guarantee is the only way to go. We ship overnight everyday of the week and for 21 years can tell you the Postal service is good for buying stamps Only.
 
12-14lb is average raw brisket. Cooked briskets range from 6-8lbs. I ordered a whole cooked brisket from a local pop up bbq guy and it was 6lbs. $180 for one brisket that I picked up. Honestly Goldbelly not that bad. Them being in business for 7 years should account for something.

I had eight people eat the brisket and still had leftovers. Figure $249 divided by eight on average isn't that painful.

I was expecting a 12-14 pound brisket, not a 5-pounder brisket. They are taking whole briskets and cutting them in half or thirds and selling them at these disgusting prices. And there are ignorant people who just fork over their money. Sad.

I sure as hell ain't comparing my cook to Franklin's. But I make some pretty damn good food. I owned a successful restruatnt here in NY for a number of years, not an easy thing to do. So I must have done something right and learned a few things along the way.
 
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