The cost of the tile was $254, so the shipping was 23.6% of the total cost

I've not had that experience. I would certainly want to be told up front about any "extra" costs, including a whopping shipping charge. Her failure to disclose that to you until she was writing up the invoice, was, imho, the equivalent of a 'hiding' it. Others store might very well absorb shipping charges into the sq ft price, but you should have been told the entire total up front, it does impact the final price. Just my humble .02, I don't like surprises like that.

Yes, this can be a common practice if something is not usually kept in stock and is a special order. I see wrong with it; however, given that it is special order, I would also inquire about their return policy to make sure there are no surprises.

It irritated me as well when I ordered a bunch of lighting stuff as well as plumbing fixtures for my remodel. I definitely found I had to ask them to quote on freight as well as the item cost. As they had been extremely helpful to me with my lighting plan I did not quibble--though they also gave me a business discount since I was buying in quantity and I was pleasantly surprised to see how closely they matched internet pricing. If I had to pay both shipping, tax and a higher unit cost, I think I might purchase a token amount from them and then purchase the rest elsewhere.

I was never charged shipping for tile orders, and all my tile was special order. I don't have a problem with that, but they should make it clear up front that shipping is not included.

I've ordered tile before and never had to pay extra for shipping, but I would guess that every store is different. I do think they were out of line not to tell you until you were ready to pay!

The only thing you could do, and maybe save a few dollars, is to return the adhesive and sealer when you pick up the tile. They shouldn't have any qualms about giving you a credit on those items and I would think you could find them for less at the big box.

If it's a tile you couldn't find anywhere else, then tell yourself it was worth it. $4.99 seems a little pricey, but it depends on what you ended up with.

Sorry this happened to you. I have made my share of split-second bad decisions when I was tired and frustrated from searching for something, only later to regret it.

Let's hope you are in love with the tile.

If you live in a bedroom community, they might be getting their tile from a larger supplier in a nearby area which charges delivery rates. That happens here, so I make the drive in my trusty pickup truck, to get the price and do the shipping myself. Just like I was saying in an earlier post, the price for delivering the marble I got such a good price on (even though I got it from the supplier and not here in my little bedroom community) charge when they deliver to our community. Had I gotten it here in my community, they would have marked the price up to cover the delivery charge.

It depends on the tile manufacturer. Some have deals with tile stores where they roll the cost of shipping into the price of the tile, others charge it separately and the tile store passes it on to the customer. As far as I know it's fairly common practice to charge for freight for things that tile stores don't get regular deliveries of. The charge for freight is not related to the price of the tile either, just the weight - so whether you spend $0.99/sf, $4.99/sf or $49.99/sf, the cost of freight is generally the same - so if your tile is less expensive it might seem like a lot as an overall percentage of your order. Fuel costs have sent freight charges through the roof, too.

If you want to hear something REALLY stupid, my local tile store has free shipping on American Olean products but a shipping surcharge on DalTile. They are the same freakin' company! I have to say that tile more often than not does have an additional freight charge though, so don't feel "duped" by it. They aren't cheating you. They could have been more up front about it but when pricing tile I've only had them point out the freight a tiny fraction of the time beforehand until it was time to actually order (I am an architect and we do a bunch of residential projects, often ordering the tile for the client).

You said that you found it online at a better price. But, what would the shipping charges have been for that purchase. Tile is heavy - and for all the reasons kgwlisa listed, I don't think you should feel ripped off at all.

Yes, I think it probably cost that much in shipping charges, but if you are going to pay it why is it not being delivered to your door?

I missed the part about finding it cheaper online. I'm not sure where you found it cheaper but I know I priced my tile out at fast floors and their minimum shipping charge is $150. I know this because I thought about ordering a single chair rail sample for them and yup, $150 for shipping. I don't think you would have made out that much better online than you did at your local store when all was said and done.

It totalled $400. I could have gotten it online for $300.
As I said, there is a price to pay for the assistance I received. She did direct me to a good color and I think I am going to be happy with it.
I know that many people shop the local stores, get all of their advice, then after sales people spend a lot of time with them, they go online and order it cheaper --- which is part of the reason many "mom and pops" cease to exist.
I would never stiff someone after they spent that kind of time with me. But I don't think her time was quite worth $100. Or maybe, I just get angry at myself for not being able to make split-second decisions. Somehow, I just couldn't tell them to cancel the order, walk out and then go online. Anyway, I am going to pick it up in a little bit.

I paid 200.00 for delivery of my tile. It was, however, delivered to my house. I think thats pretty common for special order. I do think they should have told you before placing the order. My tile place made it very clear that there would be an additional charge, but they did not know what it would be until the order was placed.

Next time maybe ask them if they can please waive the shipping, if not, can they split it with you? It never hurts to negotiate IMHO.

Delivery is often available to your home but at a higher price. It's just less expensive to deliver a whole bunch of stuff to the same warehouse where they have a loading dock and everything needed to easily unload versus sending it to a private residence. I often have larger deliveries sent to my office because there is a loading dock and I get a break on the shipping.

When I ordered my hex tile from a small local tile store, it was a special order rather than incorporated into their routine order from that distributor because I needed it sooner than their next routine delivery. I asked up front if there would be any additional charges for the special order, because that is very common; the store's policies regarding delivery, returns, special orders, etc. were posted near the counter per state law, but I wanted clarification. I'm stupid sometimes and want things explained in small words, with diagrams if necessary. :-) It was also printed (in admittedly small print) on my order sheet that the stated price was not inclusive of shipping and noting the restocking fee for returns or orders cancelled after a certain date. They could only guessestimate the shipping cost since it depended on what shipper the distributor used, and it turned out to be more than I expected, but they showed me the slip from the freight company and it was for exactly what they charged me.

Tile is very heavy and costs a chunk to ship - if it costs the store extra to have the product shipped to them I don't think it's fair to expect them to eat the cost of that shipping. When "free shipping" is advertised, the cost of shipping is baked into a higher per-square-foot price of the tile, it's not really free. It's not as if the tile had already been delivered and THEN you were hit up for a shipping charge, you were informed at the time you placed the order. I don't know how they could have given you the exact amount of the shipping cost without knowing exactly what you were ordering.

I had to pay extra for shipping too. It's a PITA that they don't tell you up front. And when I did my house, it was my first renovation, so I just didn't know any better.

I stand by your philosophy of not using the Mom & Pop and then taking your business to the net. Not only is it the right thing to do, when the $#!% hits the fan (tile comes in with problems or whatever) you'll be darn happy to have someone local, in the business, advocating for you. I think of the cost differential as an insurance policy. Expensive if you don't need it, priceless if you do.

Wow. I guess you need to chalk this up to experience, but maybe you could bring them the info from the on-line retailer and show them that you could have gotten the whole thing for $100 less, and see if they'd split the difference with you?

I've been on both sides of the coin, a consumer and a retailer, having owned a specialty retail business. When we couldn't do better on the price, we'd often throw in something to make it up to our customers. So I still ask if there is something that can be done when the deal is more than I bargained for, and when I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere.

I just came back from picking up the tile. I had pretty much calmed down, nice store yada yada.
I didn't see any sign about shipping while I was there.
Amy, that was one of the reasons I didn't buy it online - what if one was broken.
As I looked at the boxes, there is no way it could have cost $60 to ship three boxes.
Then I came home. Get this --- I drove about 22 miles south to pick it up (44 miles). I looked at the UPS tags.
It came to them from about 10 miles west of my house!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I could have gone there to get it, but that option wasn't offered. They told me it came from a city about 125 miles from here. Now just about when I had gotten over it, mainly thanks to all of you who shared your opinions, I am angrier than ever.
And as I again thought about it, how could they have known shipping would be $60.00? They just pulled that figure from somewhere.
I am going to call their main store tomorrow and express my displeasure, but then I will just chalk it up to experience.
Thanks again for your advice.

NGT, I don't think they let you go to the mfrs/distributors warehouses to pick things up -- believe I asked, too, as I had verrry long drives to the tile store that had my tile. They had regular shipping arrangements with their distributor also so that my tile would just hit their truck, no UPS. They probably did build shipping and handling charges into their retail price, but for the particular special-order I got there was no additional surcharge (and I had a few reorders due to color lots). I was dealing with a pretty big operation though.

If she was working closely with you and you were talking pricing, she should have mentioned there was also an additional S&H fee for that particular tile (or all their tiles if that's the case). Maybe she's new, maybe it just slipped her mind at the time. A sign would be good though to forwarn customers. I don't think it's unusual either, esp for special orders.

When I ask for quotes, I always ask for all other fees to be included as it's not uncommon for a good price to be quoted which really isn't the bottom line.

I'm sorry, but I really don't think these shipping charges are out of line. Part of it may have to do with insurance in case of breakage, etc. When I ordered a couple of glass medicine cabinets I was shocked at the very high freight as it was way beyond the weight, but I guess they have a higher incidence of breakage and then need to supply a replacement. As it happened, my DH chipped a corner when adjusting the cabinet and they did not hesitate to replace it. Yes, you pay more for customer service. My experience has been that many stores will be happy to price match if you ask up front--that is with another store. This is what I did with the plumbing supply place that I used since my order was well over $10K--still I had to pay frieght on some items and none on others depending on the volume of business the store did with each vendor. They will not however, price match with the internet since they do not have the same overheads of doing business that local stores do. Makes sense to me.

You had an opportunity when placing the order to inquire about these things, if there was a sale coming up, if they offer a cash price (sometimes they will sell for 5% less if you pay cash or write a check), business discount, etc. Yes, it is annoying, but it is just the cost of doing business and getting exactly what you wanted verses the limited selection of in-stock tiles you could've picked up at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Squirrel, you are probably right in that I couldn't just go to the warehouse to pick it up. And Val, I realize I should have inquired more. I just didn't know to do that.
I just figured cost of tile, glue, sealer, sales tax. I was surprised by the delivery charge and didn't know how to react, so I didn't.
And yes, the reason I went to this place was exactly because I couldn't find anything even close at HD or Lowe's.
I did find a few things that would have sufficed, probably at 1/4 the cost, but they would just be another version of what I have in there now - a peel and stick. I wanted something different - actually wanted ceramic tile. The floor is already raised because we had to put a new subfloor in and my husband refuses to take it out. He said it would be nearly impossible given the number of nails he put in it. So backerboard and tile would have raised that floor to almost a step up. I got something called dura-ceramic, which looks almost like ceramic, and is very, very thin. It can go over the subfloor without a backer. I read a lot of reviews on it. Some like it, some hate it, typical of reviews. When I stopped in the paint store I have purchased from before, they suggested I go to another of their stores where they have had it down in the showroom for three years. I actually got to see it down and that was a big help.
I do agree that you get what you pay for. I know I paid more than I would have if I had purchased it online, but I also got some help picking out a paint color (knew which direction I wanted to go, just needed a little help with exact color), so all is good.
Today I am off to a local textile store to look for drapery fabric for my bedroom. I just remembered about this place and hope they are still there! The only other source I have is JoAnn's and have already been there. Maybe there was something there, but I surely couldn't find anything, and of course, there was no one there to help. So if I find something today, it may be pricier but at least I will have it.
Thanks again for all of your responses. They really helped. I do appreciate this forum. It has helped me greatly with many things, not only questions I post, but I get help from reading what others post as well.
So all is well -- now if only it weren't so cold and snowy today. It's much easier to shop when it is warmer.

That's the problem, you learn all these things along the way. Even when you think you've learned what to ask, what to look out for, what's supposed to be done and how, something else always seems to happen. imo, that's why the pros are there :) So I can truly understand your frustration. So much time and money is wasted, too. It just all seems to be part of getting there.

Good luck with your shopping and projects !