Shipping Minimum Fees

We wanted to provide some details about an update regarding Shipping Fees.

Effective for all orders that require shipping placed on and after June 7th 2025, or with delivery dates on and after June 16th 2025, orders may be subject to a Minimum Shipping Fee.

For orders in Standard Shipping zones (Ship to you), The minimum fee will be $28.99.
For orders in Expedited Shipping zones, the minimum fee will be $58.99.

This minimum fee will be applied only when the calculated shipping cost falls below the minimum amount.
Due to system limitations, this may not show in your online estimate for small or light orders. The Minimum Fee will be applied manually during processing before final billing. A reminder note will be added to the shipping info section during checkout for future reference.

Will This Affect My Order or Subscription?

Orders that meet or exceed our minimums based upon calculated rates will not be impacted.

The minimums will apply only when the shipping rate is below the minimum amount for your delivery zone.

Areas with promotional flat-rate options: If your delivery zone is in an area that receives a flat-rate promotional shipping fee, your flat rate will be updated to the $28.99 rate as a minimum.
Only select areas qualify for promotional flat-rate shipping based upon order total.

This change and application of Minimum Shipping Fees will primarily affect small orders under 16 lbs of product. These shipments cost significantly more to process and deliver on a per-pound basis due to fixed baseline carrier and material costs.

Why the Change?

To give a bit of context—our minimum cost to ship a box
(not including packaging materials, insurance, or other costs) currently runs:

$28–$35/box
for standard ground zones

$56–$80/box
for expedited zones

In many cases, actual shipping costs per box are higher, depending on size, weight, and destination.

We’ve held off making this change for as long as we could, but after months of review, we’re implementing it to help cover baseline costs and keep operations sustainable.

For those needing shipments, we recommend ordering around 20 lbs or more of product to maximize your value.

Additionally, we also reserve the right to review very large orders and make rate adjustments as needed.

These changes will go into effect at the end of the day on June 6th, and impact shipping orders placed on or after the June 7th
(Or a delivery date set on or after June 16th.)

This will not impact Local Delivery or Store Pickup methods.

We appreciate your understanding and continued support.
If you have any questions you may contact us via email: at support@lazyjbeef.com.

Behind the Logistics:

If you’ve made it this far—thank you for reading! If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes costs and logistics of how we fulfill our shipments, here’s a closer look.

Why Shipping Is a Challenge

Shipping is tough for any business, but it’s especially challenging when you’re dealing with perishable products and running a small operation like ours where we don't get the power or discounts of large operations.

We calculate most of our shipping costs per box, not per order. That’s because shipping costs vary based on:

Packaging materials
Carrier rates
Amount of coolant needed
Seasonal temperatures
Other logistical factors

We also face overhead costs not directly shown in the product or shipping price, including extra labor for packing, additional storage time and space, and extra processing for some shippable items.

Per Box Limitations

We cannot exceed an actual weight of ~49.80 lbs per box, as this rounds up to a 50 lb shipping weight. Both UPS and FedEx significantly increase rates at 51 lbs or more. (Shipping weights are always rounded up to the next pound.)

Keeping boxes under 50 lbs also makes them easier to handle for both our customers and the carriers.

This means we can usually ship about 30–34 lbs of product per box. The remaining weight is used by the box, insulating liner, and gel coolant. In hotter months, we require more coolant, reducing that range to about 26–31 lbs of product.

Our packaging is tested to keep products safe for up to 72 hours, though we aim for delivery within 48 hours of carrier receipt for safety.

✔️ When your box arrives: if the contents are at or below 40°F, they are safe to store, freeze, or use.

⚠️ If your box is above 40°F or was delayed, please contact us immediately. We may request photos and details to file a claim with the carrier or insurance. Do not refuse delivery of any shipments as this will nullify our insurance and the chance of you getting any replacements. Review our Shipping policy and Terms for more details on that.

Packaging & Costs

In the past year we have tested and standardized our packaging into our Small Shipper and our Large Shipper. We get better overall space and thermal results from our new setup. Let’s break down the costs. These vary frequently based on a variety of variables such as order volume, transit temperatures, etc.

Box Sizes:

Small Shipper – Inner Dimensions: 16x14x12" (Usable: 13x11x9")
Large Shipper – Inner Dimensions: 24x14x12" (Usable: 21x11x9")

Small Shipper Costs:

Double Wall Box: $2.08–$2.20
Insulating Liner: $8.80–$9.25
Tape, Labels, Misc: $0.94–$1.50
Coolant: $2.33–$5.00
Total: $14.15–$17.95 per box

Large Shipper Costs:

Double Wall Box: $2.58–$3.00
Insulating Liner: $12.87–$13.00
Tape, Labels, Misc: $0.85–$1.19
Coolant: $3.50–$8.00
Total: $20.14–$25.85 per box

Since each box can only hold roughly 25–34 lbs of product, these costs add up quickly for larger orders.

Carrier Rates & Insurance

Carrier fees vary based on destination ZIP code, box size, delivery method, and weight. The rate estimates and averages we provide are with our business discounts, and are cheaper than retail listed rates.

Minimal Carrier Rates:

Ground: $28–$35 per box
Expedited: $56–$80 per box

Average Estimates:

Ground: $30–$40 per box (sometimes over $50)
Expedited: $60–$100 per box (can exceed $120)

Insurance: We typically spend $5–$60 per order based on order value, weight, address, and box count. Due to terms and agreements, we’re limited in what we can share about coverage details.

Summary of Costs

For every ~30 lbs of product, we may spend:

$50–$105 on Ground shipping & packaging.
$80–$160 on Expedited shipping & packaging.

And that’s before factoring in labor, storage, and overhead.

Why It Matters

If you’ve ever wondered why shipping costs more, or why shipped items may be priced slightly higher—this is why.

We aim to break even on shipping overall, working hard to keep things fair and affordable for all our customers. We also regularly review and adjust our rates based on recent shipping performance and actual costs.

Because low-weight orders still require the same materials and labor, we’ve implemented Minimum Shipping Fees to help cover these fixed costs and ensure long-term sustainability.

We hope this gives you a better understanding of what goes into safely delivering your order—no matter where you are in the USA. We appreciate everyone's understanding and support.