# A great online order experience



## BobF (Dec 18, 2009)

We often see reports when things go bad, but people seldom share their good experiences. Here's my good experience.

Monday evening I placed an order with High Gravity in Tulsa. I visited Tulsa this past year and shopped their retail location, so I had a good feeling about their legitimacy.

They have a no exceptions flat-fee shipping deal (9.99), so I ordered my cache of 3 gal carboys from them along with other goodies.

Unlike other places that have flat-fee shipping, they also had better or as-good-as pricing for the things on my list.

I was expecting slow-boat-from-China shipping, but my full order arrived yesterday evening - 48 hours after I placed the order!

Good experience in person. Good experience online. No, I don't work for them, nor am I affiliated with them in any way other than being a satisfied customer.

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/


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## arcticsid (Dec 18, 2009)

Sure good to hear that kind of report Bob, just recently someone was in here talking about a nightmare experience with an online vendor. I hope high gravity knows you speak of them highly. I trust you took a moment to drop them a note expressing the same as you wrote in here. We all, as humans need to know we are appreciated.
Troy


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## wyntheef (Dec 19, 2009)

as a newb, i'm interested in getting some good vendors bookmarked, so thanks for sharing bob.


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## Wade E (Dec 19, 2009)

I just looked at that sight and it does look like a good place. I have not dealt wth them though but did bookmark it. I am in the process of really setting up good for making All Grain beer so Ive been checking out almost every site and there are a few that their site is a real PITA to go through to find what you need and some that dont even have search aress for when you cnt fond what you need. That site seems to have most of what I would need. Here are a few I would have no problem with dealing with according to many recommendations of HomeBrewTalk.com

FineVineWines.com
Austin HomeBrew Supply
Midwest Supply
BrewMasters WareHouse
Bargain Fittings
Keg Connection


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## smurfe (Dec 20, 2009)

They are a great place and I have ordered a few things from there as well. When I first started making wine it was between High Gravity and Fine Vine Wines from where I would make my first initial equipment purchase. What is amazing about them is they are still in business as home brewing last I knew was still not legal in Oklahoma and they have been there for a while.


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## deboard (Dec 20, 2009)

High Gravity looks promising, good prices and the flat shipping is nice. One 5 or 6 gallon carboy would make that shipping worthwhile! It does tend to make you want to get more stuff though! It would suck for buying small supplies like tannin and chemicals however. 

I think that's the problem with online home brew shops, the stuff is generally heavy (carboys and kits for example), and so the shipping ends up getting you. I found one place that had a great price on 5 gal carboys, but after shipping was added it was more than eckraus (since eckraus generally has higher prices but free shipping). 

I don't really have a good home brew shop nearby. Lexington, KY is a pretty big town, and the BIG liquor store in town (liquor barn) sells supplies, but they don't have a lot of things (and no one there knows anything). Only plastic carboys for example (and not better bottles), only a small selection of kits. Either they have run all the small better shops out of business, or they never existed.


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## Wade E (Dec 20, 2009)

I just ordered this from them as Ive never seen it before on any other site except for maybe Sabco which is much more expensive. Again thatnks fpr that link. 
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/Prod...tric-Brew-Kettle-w-3500W-Element-157p2352.htm


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## smurfe (Dec 20, 2009)

If you have to order small supplies online always look at a place that actually charges shipping and try to find one that charges ACTUAL shipping charges like Midwest or Fine Vine Wines. There really is no such thing as free shipping. On some really heavy orders these places can save you some bucks but always remember, buy the vendor not the cheapest price. Normally the "Cheapest" price comes at a "Price" normally meaning customer service or not the freshest products. 

I find that Midwest and FVW on average has the same price or lower than almost every place that has free or discounted shipping. Also pay close attention to shipping from the free or discount places. Many exclude heavy items such as sacks of grain or carboys. I know one place that sells a sack of grain for $30.00 and you pay shipping of like $20.00 a bag. If you want free shipping you have to buy it for the per pound price which is .99 a pound. You essentially just paid $35.00 for that free shipping of that 55 pound bag. 

I do shop from a few of the "discounted" shipping retailers though as a few of them are really great people and support project I support like The Brewing Network. More Beer (Beer Beer and More Beer) and Norther Brewer get a lot of my online business. On average I actually spend more to shop there online. If you are lucky to live by their retail stores you get to save some jack.


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## Wade E (Dec 20, 2009)

The shipping at High Gravity is flat rate. $9.99 to ship that monster to my house. austin HomeBrew and some others do flat rate at $7.99 which realy cant be beat.


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## BobF (Dec 20, 2009)

smurfe said:


> If you have to order small supplies online always look at a place that actually charges shipping and try to find one that charges ACTUAL shipping charges like Midwest or Fine Vine Wines.


 
My initial equipment supplies order was from midwest. There were also pretty good, but the shipping on 1 gal jugs hurts.

OTOH, they are the only place I've been able to find the liquid tannin that includes chestnut extract.

I have yet to place an order anywhere that doesn't include something heavy. If I do, then flat-rate shipping will obviusly be a problem. Maybe those orders will go back to midwest ....

I hate to sound like a cheap bastard, but this stuff really adds up quick. A few bux here and there could easily add up to hundreds in a few years.


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## smurfe (Dec 20, 2009)

Wade E said:


> The shipping at High Gravity is flat rate. $9.99 to ship that monster to my house. austin HomeBrew and some others do flat rate at $7.99 which realy cant be beat.



Austin is a great place as well but watch the overall price to get that flat shipping and I believe they may be one of them that excludes certain items from their flat rate shipping. On average for what I order, AHB is normally the highest priced shipped to my door. Before we had a local shop I did order a lot of yeast from them as they were about the closest place and I got the stuff in a couple days still cool to touch. They do have some great sales to and are supporters of our sister forum Homebrew Talk. They have a lot of forum sales. Like I said, buy the vendor not the cheapest price. Many have got burned, myself included buying from the cheapest place on everything.


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## TheTooth (Dec 21, 2009)

I've ordered from High Gravity a few times and have been very happy with the service.


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## Wade E (Dec 21, 2009)

Hopefully everything goes through good. Someone on the Homebrew forum(the sister site to this one told me they had a 13 gallon unit like the 15.5 gallon that lists for $259. So I called Dave there today and he said he'll give me a deal on that 13'er for $189 shipped. So I paced the order for the 15.5 as he said he;ll manually switch them when the order goes through but when I clicked to place my order the sight crashed so I had luckily had the 3 in my cell phone still and spoke to someone there and he said the order did go through and that he would have Dave do the order fix but Im just not sure all is good cause there was just too much going on. I spoke with them 3 times today all in all and they seemed nice but if that order gets screwed up Im going to be pissed off and so is my wife cause that would make that order way over the amount I want to spend!! Can anyone else get on that sight right now?


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## Wade E (Dec 21, 2009)

Well the they fixed the sight and I can see my order now, he didnt really do what he said he would but close enough for me. He said he was going to ship the slightly smaller unit out for $189 to my door but he actually entered it in as $189 + $9.99 which is still fine with me. When i heard he had this slightly smaller unit I was expecting like $20-30 off the $259 module so imagine my surprise when he told me $189 shipped!  It feels like  to me!!!!! I also bought a bunch of other stuff to bring the price of the order back up to $256 so he aint complaining either!


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## joshua (Dec 22, 2009)

I hope high gravity knows you speak of them highly. I trust you took a moment to drop them a note expressing the same as you wrote in here.


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## 1st Timer (Dec 22, 2009)

I too have used Midwest but recently started buying from www.winemakersdepot.com. They have a very educated staff to answer any questions you may have. All my orders have shipped complete, usually the same day ordered.


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## phermenter (Dec 22, 2009)

I'm surprised to see so little mention of Northern Brewer. Smurfe gave them a little shout-out, but that's all, I think. I've used them almost exclusively for more than a year, partly because of their $7.99 flat (almost) shipping and have nothing but good to say about them.

Even ordering three kits and other stuff spread out over three deliveries (Nov., Jan. and Feb., the latter two being limited edition releases) it was still $7.99. I wrote them a note saying if they wanted to save my whole order to ship in February when the last kit came out, that was OK with me. They wrote back saying thanks for thinking of them, but they'd just send everything out asap.

I've come close to ordering through High Gravity before, and may still do it sometime. But until then, I'm mighty happy with Northern Brewer.

Jim


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## Runningwolf (Dec 22, 2009)

I started a thread earlier this week for a place to buy wine bags to give your wine away in for gifts. I ordered them late thursday night and they came today. Awesome service and they are really cool. Plus this site sells some other wine misc stuff that is really reasonable. Be sure to list the name of your wine cellar to get the retailer discount. This is the web address www.wholesale.truefabrications.com .


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## Wade E (Dec 22, 2009)

I can say that I have used http://finevinewines.com/ many many many times and have nothing but great experiences there. He pretty much has the best selection of kits out there anywhere and almost always in stick, hes branching ut into beer now so hopefully I can get everything there soon. I also Moderate for his forum which is another great forum of only a fe out there. I went lookinh on many many brew shop sites lately to get stuff and most of them were sold out of the stuff i really wanted to complete my brewing system. I did place an order with Midwest which also has $7.99 flat rate shipping and looking at the FED EX tracking its going to take quite some time this way. It was shippd on the 21st and is schedlued to arrive on the 29th. maybe thats just because of the Holiday but thats quite some time, I get it shipped from Fine Vine Wines in 3 days with standard shipping. Thas all right though cause Im in no hurray, just saying. I will post good results on the companies sites when i get the product in my hands and all is good! I dont leave good feebak until all is good! Ive been burned before!


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## surlees (Dec 22, 2009)

1sr Timer,

Seeing you're from eastern NC (I used to live in Greenville & Wilson), let me suggest *www.grapestompers.com*. They're really nice people, very knowledgable and have great prices. Since they're in western NC, you could probably get your orders in 1-2 days.

I also agree w/Wade that *www.finevinewines.com* has an excellent inventory of kits and supplies and I use them occasionally. If I was closer to FVW, I'd use them more.

Fred


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## Wade E (Dec 24, 2009)

Just got my order in from Midwest and all is good, Fed ex must have screwed up when eneterd my delivery date as it said the 29th originally and I ordered on the 21st. I was wondering why it would take so long as I usually get stuff in 3 days and thought 4 possibly with the holiday but 7 was a little riduculous. I checked again last night and they had changed it to the 24th. It was right on schedule to wha Im used to and everything was there and in great shape. Im very happy with http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ .


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## BobF (Dec 24, 2009)

Wade E said:


> Just got my order in from Midwest and all is good, Fed ex must have screwed up when eneterd my delivery date as it said the 29th originally and I ordered on the 21st. I was wondering why it would take so long as I usually get stuff in 3 days and thought 4 possibly with the holiday but 7 was a little riduculous. I checked again last night and they had changed it to the 24th. It was right on schedule to wha Im used to and everything was there and in great shape. Im very happy with http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ .


 
Good deal, Wade. OTOH, I went to highgravity to look for more stuff and it appears they've done an across-the-board ~12% price increase since I ordered last week.

Oh well, I'll have to check out midwest again for the next batch.


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## Wade E (Dec 24, 2009)

Looks like I placed mu order there just in time also!


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## cbw (Dec 27, 2009)

Jeese guys ... I have had wonderful luck ordering wine kits and equipment from http://www.harringtonpress.com/.

His prices on wine kits is a lot lower than most and since he's an award winning homebrewer, his knowledge is great. 

Tell him Charles sent you.


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## Wade E (Dec 27, 2009)

Ik not big on WineXpert kits but The US. Elite would be of interest to me. Dont see much for Homebrew there though!


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## cbw (Dec 27, 2009)

Wade E said:


> Ik not big on WineXpert kits but The US. Elite would be of interest to me. Dont see much for Homebrew there though!



My bad. Harrington is a home winemaker. He used to carry a lot of beer ... but has transitioned to mostly wine.

http://www.harringtonpress.com/ is one of the few places online that offer the smaller U.S.Elite kits. I've tasted the US Elite Voignier and it was great! US Elite is one of the few series developed (and certified) for commercial wineries and now available to home wine makers. We plan on ordering a couple after we recover from the Christmas bills.


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## Runningwolf (Dec 27, 2009)

cbw said:


> My bad. Harrington is a home winemaker. He used to carry a lot of beer ... but has transitioned to mostly wine.
> 
> http://www.harringtonpress.com/ is one of the few places online that offer the smaller U.S.Elite kits. I've tasted the US Elite Voignier and it was great! US Elite is one of the few series developed (and certified) for commercial wineries and now available to home wine makers. We plan on ordering a couple after we recover from the Christmas bills.



I took a look at this site. Prices on kits are excellent but take the shipping into consideration also. I like to look at several items overall to compare prices. I stopped after looking at the Buon Vino Mini Jet Filter and noticed he he was about $80.00 higher than other places on such a common item.

Buon Vino Mini Jet Filter (Motorized) 
A filter for producing clear wines with self-priming pump. Can be used to transfer from vessel to vessel. Filters 20 litre jug (approximate) in 15 minutes. (Don't forget to order your Buon Vino filters!)
FREE SHIPPING! 
PRICE: $261.95


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## Wade E (Dec 27, 2009)

Its like shopping for food, almost every place will have some good deals and then sell some other products for way over another places price. Its hard to find a place that sells everything at the best price. Even the place I usually link here can be high on some items, you just have to shop around for what your buying but remember what smurfe said again, its not always price, make sure the seller is reputable also cause there are places out there that arent there for us if you know what I mean an dont care about customer service!


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## Runningwolf (Dec 27, 2009)

Your absolutely right Wade. I am also going to look at those US Elite kits.


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## Tom (Dec 27, 2009)

If looking for the Moni-Jet here is a great price
http://www.musca.com/store/cat52_1.htm


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## Runningwolf (Dec 27, 2009)

Tom, That is where I got mine for Christmas. It ended up costing $125 with the exchange rate. That is a awesome deal and they were also great to deal with. To be fair I was not using this price for comparison as they usually begin at about $179.


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## Tom (Dec 27, 2009)

Thats where I got mine also. Thats why I posted it


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## BobF (Dec 27, 2009)

And then sometimes you find great deals on stuff right around the corner. Yesterday I found 5 gallon food grade buckets locally for $6.50 ea. The place also has citric acid for $3.96/lb


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## deboard (Dec 31, 2009)

Just got my 2 3 gallon carboys from high gravity, I definitely to give the experience a thumbs up. Very quick and well packaged. Got an autosiphon as well.


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