For a limited time, the United States Mint will offer free standard shipping and reduced expedited shipping for all domestic web orders. The promotion will run from July 26, 2013 9:00 AM ET through September 30, 2013 5:00 PM ET.
The standard US Mint shipping charge is typically $4.95 per order, and the expedited shipping charge is typically $12.95 + $4.95. For the duration of the promotion, the free standard shipping will apply to domestic orders placed on the web site catalog which normally carry the standard shipping fee of $4.95. The expedited shipping charge will be reduced to $12.95.
The free standard shipping will also apply to subscription orders generated during the promotional period. The free standard shipping will not apply to international shipments, including those to Canada.
The promotion is designed to encourage customers to purchase products online and may recur in future promotions. The Mint is seeking to encourage more web-based sales to enhance the overall customer experience as they continue to develop a new, comprehensive, state-of-the-art order management system. In August, redesigned and simplified shopping cart pages will be launched to make it easier for customers to complete the check out process.
The free shipping sounds great, but for anyone who already place an order and didn’t get free shipping will think twice and not order so quickly in the future.
This year I cancelled the six subscriptions I had with the U.S. Mint realizing that if I place the order at the end of the year I would only have one shipping charge and not the six separate charges for each of my subscriptions.
If the Mint wants to encourage an increase, and early ordering, of their coins, proof sets and mint sets it should provide free shipping to all subscription orders. This would encourage early ordering of all their products.