On shipping costs

[Dave1442397]

UPS charges the recipient extra fees for "handling" the custom fees or VAT type charges, too. Not sure if that was accurate or still true, though.
Brian

That's definitely true for Canada. I see people complaining about it all the time on timezone.com when shipping watches.

[srboone]

I did find a book I wanted from Tasmaniac Publications down under, but I ordered it through CD in order to avoid shipping costs. It took a lot longer that I had anticipated, but it did eventually arrive.

[JDar.]

I did find a book I wanted from Tasmaniac Publications down under, but I ordered it through CD in order to avoid shipping costs. It took a lot longer that I had anticipated, but it did eventually arrive.

Are you sure you don't have that turned around? I just checked CDs site for a simple chapbook - although the book was the same price as the publisher, CD charged $7.25 S/H - $4.30 more than the publisher. Never saw CD provide "free shipping" for another publisher's book.

Tasmanic sends me books with "free S/H" to Michigan. You may want to send Steve an email next time.

Jan

[Brian James Freeman]

Never saw CD provide "free shipping" for another publisher's book.

Yep, we've done it a couple of times now for certain books where the publisher worked with us to improve the discount we were getting.

Brian

[JDar.]

Yep, we've done it a couple of times now for certain books where the publisher worked with us to improve the discount we were getting.

Brian

Cool - I'll keep my eye out for that in the future . . . me likes free S/H.

[srboone]

No shipping costs from CD for Bone Marrow Stew. honestly, I didn't check to see what they would have been from Tasmaniac, I just figured they'd be pretty high and ordered from CD.

[JDar.]

No shipping costs from CD for Bone Marrow Stew. honestly, I didn't check to see what they would have been from Tasmaniac, I just figured they'd be pretty high and ordered from CD.

Although Tasmaniac is located Down Under, the books are printed and distributed in the USA. I always joke with Steve that we get to fondle his books before he does.

[srboone]

..........

[peteOcha]

Let me talk to Richard about doing another Free Worldwide Shipping promotion and we'll see what's possible. I'd rather you be able to spend your money on BOOKS and not POSTAGE, but the USPS seems to think differently!

Brian

Did he say yes? Tell him that if he says yes, he doesn't have to sign the sheets Brad is always nagging about!

[th3l0rd]

I'm in Italy and any USPS priority shipment takes at least 3 weeks (often 4 or 5), not because of shipping times but because customs checks everything and there are huge delays . Surface mail however is cheaper and takes the same time (4-5 weeks) and the chances to get into customs are far smaller ...
Also there should be something called m-bag that can be used for printed things only and is comparable to surface mail but with extra discount

[Antmusic]

th3lord, "surface" (what I've called "slow boat") and the m-bag/mailbag options aren't available to US senders sending overseas anymore. They took those away from us.

[th3l0rd]

Antmusic, are you sure ? I've got knowing darkness traycase in june 2011 from Jared and he shipped using surface mail... Thing could have changed though

[Dave1442397]

Antmusic, are you sure ? I've got knowing darkness traycase in june 2011 from Jared and he shipped using surface mail... Thing could have changed though

They definitely don't offer it as an option at the Post Office. Maybe it's still available if you ask for it, but the USPS is trying to maximize its income at the moment, and all the counter staff in my area seem to be trained to upsell you to the most expensive service available.

[th3l0rd]

They definitely don't offer it as an option at the Post Office. Maybe it's still available if you ask for it, but the USPS is trying to maximize its income at the moment, and all the counter staff in my area seem to be trained to upsell you to the most expensive service available.

Same here... There is a discounted shipping method for books send to a national addres (about 1.28€ up to 2000 grams instead of about 7€) but at the front desk no one will admit it exists unless you (the customer) actually explain the employee how to use their software to mark the shipment correctly and point them to the web site page with the details.

What's about sending out by pigeons ? And I mean really big pigeons that can bite your head off if you don't give'em enought seeds when you get the books

[Dan Hocker]

Antmusic, are you sure ? I've got knowing darkness traycase in june 2011 from Jared and he shipped using surface mail... Thing could have changed though

They still offer the M-Bags. But in most instances (at least with our books) it's going to be cheaper to ship it as a first-class package option. As the cheapest M-Bag is $28 and depending on the weight and where it's going to first class is anywhere from $7 to $33, which is significantly cheaper than Priority Mail. The downside is that you can only ship up to 4 pounds via first class.