People have complained about shipping costs from mailorder suppliers for years. You can try to find the same items elsewhere for less shipping, or you can try to find them locally. Awhile back gas was 4 dollars per gallon. It will be again.

Territorial has had seed packets available from local garden centers in the past. Maybe something you want will be offered this way again. Does the catalog mention them continuing to have seed racks at garden centers?

I was just looking at buying something from them as I live here in Oregon...but between the shipping costs and just some of the pricing on something else (I bought elsewhere for 1/2 the price and FREE SHIPPING) I was turned off. I may have ordered anyway, if I had a long list of wants--they do have some unique offerings.

Look around. I know sites that offer $2, $3.95 and $4.95 shipping on seeds. I'd list them, but I'm not sure if it violates the rules of the board.

Many other similar posts have been made - I wouldn't worry about it.

And they are not the worst - at least it's a flat rate of $7.50 S&H for seeds. Seeds of Change charges an escalating rate based on total $$ of the order - the more you buy the more expensive it gets.

briergardener, assuming you DO live in Brier, there are local retailers that carry Territorial Seeds - Molbak's, Sky, Central Market, various hardware stores. Just input your zip code into the search feature to locate one close.

My philosophy is never order by mail what you can find easily locally and with plant stuff in this area, that doesn't leave too much unavailable :-))

One of our local nurseries carries Territorial Seeds and will include packets of whatever you want from Territorial in their next order so you don't have to pay the crazy shipping costs. You could try asking around your area to see if they'll do the same for you.

If you do live in Brier,
Manna Mills / Natural Food Warehouse in Mountlake Terrace has carried some Territorial seeds in past years.

It is interesting to see that Nichols (Oregon) charges flat $3.95 for seeds, Stokes (NY) charges $6.95 no matter how many pounds are ordered. I order most of my seeds from them Johnny's or Pinetree. I consider under $4.00 for a small order reasonable because of the handling time and actual shipping costs.
Some of the nurseries, if they carry Territorial will order a couple of packs of seeds from Territorial for you without charging for shipping. I have done that for Willamette tomato seeds.

I recommend looking locally. Territorial seeds and Seeds of Change are sold in my local metro area shops/nurseries. The websites for these companies should say where you can purchase them if not I wouldn't mind recommending them to you.

I have also ordered seed through a store that carries them. They just have us fill out an order form and they send it off with their order and I pick them up when they come in. If you find a store that has them, but doesn't do this, you might bring it up to them.

Although I order from Territorial (among others) I do find their shipping to be ridiculous for small orders. If you want basic stuff for just $2 shipping (unless you get a book or something) I suggest Ed Hume Seeds. Also, Pinetree Seeds charges $3.75 for orders under $20 and John Scheeper's (good veggie catalog) only charges $4 but it goes up with orders over $7.50. Cook's Garden and Jung Seeds only charge $4.95 for small orders.

Most of the stuff I want from Territorial isn't on the seed racks I see around town and I don't feel like negotiating with store staff for co-delivery so I often get my seeds elsewhere.

I bought seeds from FedCo this year for precisely this reason. I get the impression that Territorial either sees its market as a bit more high end than other companies, or figures it has a niche market of people in the PNW who want to be absolutely sure they get the right plants for their climate. FedCo had a good selection of vegetables (including oriental vegetables and many varieties that perform well in colder weather/shorter growing seasons) and a good reputation, so hopefully I wont regret switching sellers this time around.

This year I bought most of my vegetable seeds from Fedco for the same reason even though I've patronized Territorial for many, many years. Fedco had several of the varieties that I like and there's no way to beat free shipping (for orders over $30). To me, they seem like a company that knows how to treat their customers, and I feel like Territorial has forgotten that.

Territorial ain't so great as a wholesaler either. Happy to hear that I'm not the only one thinking this way.

I Live in South Seattle and also dislike Territorial's high shipping cost. I found FedCo and ordered from them one year. All was good. I then found another one 'Sunrise seeds' http://www.sunriseseeds.com/ Check them out and see what you think. Best shipping rates I've found. Lower than all those mentioned above. I'm growing their seed this year and everything is just fine.

I'm glad you mentioned this, Territorial's flat shipping rate has been a subject of great irritation for me. Glad to see recommendations to other cheaper suppliers.

It just shows you how out of touch, the company's management is with its customer base. They charge a premium price for their seeds, why not just charge actual shipping costs. Are they in the shipping business or the seed-selling business?

In the long run, they loose so much business. They lost me as a customer for that very reason.

Beat the high cost of shipping by doing a group order with friends or family or ???

Interbay P-Patch has a seed-order party and they put together group orders to several different seed suppliers. They also have folks sharing packets of seeds and they can buy seeds by the pound if lots of folks want the same seed.

This is a win-win solution. You get more seeds, the opportunity to try more plants & varieties, and plant current year (fresher) seeds for less money.

I order most of my seeds from Sandhill Preservation. There is no cost for shipping for orders over $10.00. Orders less than 10.00 has a $2.00 charge. You can check out their catalog online by going to sandhillpreservation.com.

trade Winds Fruit has lots of varieties of hard to find tropical plant seeds but they also have a selection of vegetable seeds too. They offer FREE shipping on orders of $7.50 or more. I choose their seeds over other companies because of the free shipping. They ship quick (I have always gotten my seeds 2-4 days after ordering) There have been other companies I haven't ordered much from because I can't see paying $5.00 or more shipping for $3.00 worth of seeds

I think Territorial's shipping IS too high. For vegetables, I have found FedCo, Seed Saver's Exchange, Evergreen Seeds, Sandhill Conservatory and others offer better deals on shipping (and lower prices for seeds) for anything that you can't find locally. They probably need the shipping costs to make back the money they spend on their fancy catalog (which I admit I read, since it gives one a good idea of how well certain varieties grow in the PNW); or it may be that they are targeted at more affluent people than me who don't care about a difference of ten dollars or so.

Seeing as how this post is close to 2 years old, it's disappointing to see Territorial Seed is not very responsive to its customers.

Would it kill them to offer a 1-2 packing shipping rate of say $2.50?

I live in Seattle and the idea of spending $7.50 for one $3.95 seed packet is ludicrous and very telling about how this company views my business. And the seed packet I want is not stocked in any seed rack I've seen locally.

Territorial Seed Company, here's your chance to think outside the box and offer a 1-2 seed pack rate. I just can't justify spending $11.45 for one pole bean seed packet. Disappointed.

I wouldn't assume anyone at the company is aware of this discussion.

Packaging and labor costs are much higher for a small local-type business on tiny orders, and when they charge the real costs it may sometimes seems unreasonable. When you say 'would it kill them', you know that goes both ways, lol. ;)
Perhaps you weren't aware that in Maritime Washington you can't hardly go to a grocery store or home center without passing by a Territorial retailer. They even have several locations in the islands.
- Tom

True, that, about the local retailers. However, TSC certainly does not sell every variety of seed to retailers and it appears the company is sending fewer and fewer each year. Check out Molbak's display this year versus 4 or 5 years ago.

I've become quite disenchanted with the company for a variety of reasons and prefer to give my business to Renee's and others with outstanding seed selection and service.

Rain (who sounds grumpy but that's coz even her favorite April in Paris sweet peas haven't bloomed yet in this blasted weather)