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.
