FREE Shipping deal

We currently offer FREE Shipping for minimum purchases of $150. This discount is automatically applied at checkout, unless competing automatic discounts and  discount codes manually entered at checkout by the buyer are detected, in which case, the highest qualifying discount will be applied to the cart (i.e. the most favorable discount to the buyer). 

Flat Rate Shipping

The Canadian Birch Company charges flat rates for shipping to make your shopping experience straight forward & predictable. We want you to know upfront the costs of getting product to your door so you can make informed buying decisions without any surprises at checkout**. 

In general, The Canadian Birch Company subsidizes shipping costs on larger orders under $300. Beyond $300, the weight of the shipment gets high (litre bottles of pure syrup excepted unless in large quantities) and we must assess shipping on a surcharge basis per order. Shipping fees increased in 2022 due to carrier rate increases post COVID. In 2024 however, Shopify introduced new shipping alternatives to merchants that have allowed us to lower our shipping rates as of April 19, 2024 by 25%! 

Regular Shipping Rates (last revised April 2024) 

All figures in the table above are quoted in Canadian Currency (CAD).

*Cart total before taxes, shipping & handling fees. Orders over $150 receive a discount at checkout for free shipping.

**A surcharge may be assessed on large packages and far destinations once the actual shipping fees are calculated by the carrier. You will be contacted and informed of the charge before it is invoiced. This surcharge must be paid prior to shipping taking place.

Our shipping rates will change from time to time and we do offer reduced shipping promotions periodically which we typically announce in the top header of our website so make sure to check there when you visit. For details on shipping and refund policies please also refer to our Shipping Policy and Refund Policy.

We are happy to respond to any comments or questions. Feel free to write to us using the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Why we charge shipping fees...

You may wonder why we charge shipping fees when so many retailers offer free shipping these days. There are several reasons for this, mainly due to the delicate nature of our products and how they need to be packaged, our business strategy and our company size.

Product Weight and Packaging

Firstly, all of our products are packaged in recyclable glass jars or bottles to ensure products maintain their high quality taste and freshness. We pack every shipment by hand, with care, using lots of padding to ensure your products arrive safely and intact. These factors add to the overall weight being shipped, which in turn increases shipping costs charged by shipping carriers who assess costs based on weight as well as package dimensions. 

The more birch products you buy, the heavier and larger the package so in order to weave predictability and discounting into your purchasing experience we have found the best method to be a flat rate shipping fee based on total purchase amount ranges. 

The more you spend at our Online Store, the heavier the package.

Example: In the $100 - $149 spending range, we provide the greatest discount on shipping charges at approximately a 25% discount. For example a package in this spending range typically weighs 1.5 - 3.0 Kg and charges by carriers can range from $20 - $35 depending on the destination. 

Our Business Philosophy

When it comes to shipping charges there are two general approaches taken by merchants to provide deeply discounted shipping rates or free shipping on eCommerce sites. Either merchant absorb all shipping costs in the hope of getting increased sales volume to compensate for the shipping costs or they increase the product price to cover the cost of shipping thereby masking the shipping fee as a hidden charge while optically claiming to provide "free shipping". Both methods are acceptable these days but it comes down to company philosophy.

In the case where shipping costs are absorbed, companies are usually very large, relying on their buying power to negotiate lower rates from carriers or perhaps the items for sale are large ticket items with wide profit margins, where the absorption becomes quite an acceptable cost of doing business. 

Our philosophy on this matter is to be upfront with our customers about how much they are paying for our products vs. how much is going towards the cost of delivery to their door. Your invoice will always outline how much your are paying for shipping vs. product. We don't scrimp on packaging materials, including lots of padding and take care in packaging your purchase. It's our way of saying that we value you as a consumer and we want to be completely upfront about costs.

Our Company Size

We do want to provide maximum value to our customers but as a small local crafter our ability to absorb shipping costs on behalf of our customers is much more limited compared to large chain stores. Not only are our operating costs higher, but we do not produce the shipping volumes carriers require to provide large scale shipping volume discounts.

Our products are not high ticket items with wide profit margins, but rather are low priced, low margin items with high package weights due to the glass packaging. As mentioned before, the more you add to your cart the heavier it is and the higher the shipping costs unfortunately.

We do our best to provide breaks on shipping rates to our customers because we want you to feel valued but the extent to which we can do so is limited because we are a small company. 

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

The Canadian Birch Company Ltd.