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View Full Version : Can someone help me understand something?



Sherry
05-13-2008, 06:20 PM
I came across the cutest little stamp sets tonight and was about to purchase them until I saw that it would cost $16 to ship to Canada.

http://www.penguinpantsrubberstamps.com/animals/around-the-farm.gif

http://www.penguinpantsrubberstamps.com/words-letters/made-by.gif

Can someone enlighten me on how things work in the US? I know that I could ship these to the US for $2.17 so why does it cost so much to ship the other way around? These are flat, clear polymer stamps.

scrapsoon
05-13-2008, 06:30 PM
Sorry i can't help you but i will look to their site also.
They are really cute stamps indeed.

GrammaStamper
05-13-2008, 06:35 PM
Sherry, I would contact the company and ask why. Surely they would be able to provide you with an answer and maybe, if they changed their policy about shipping to Canada, they would find more Canadians buying from them. It's worth a try, I think.

My3Ds
05-13-2008, 06:38 PM
Would it be cheaper to have it sent to someone in the states and then have them ship to you?

ellie
05-13-2008, 06:55 PM
I don't know...that seems pretty steep to me.

Vintagegal
05-13-2008, 07:10 PM
Are they sending it via UPS? Some companies will only ship UPS, and if they go that route, the shipping shoots up astronomically.

Also, depending on the total cost of your purchase, you (the buyer in Canada) has to pay for customs tax. I went through this with Jennifer (inkinupstamps). I sent her some stamps to borrow, but the value of what I was shipping was $200+. She ended up paying something like (Canada) $60 in customs taxes.

ETA: The cost of sending a small, flat package (not a letter) to Canada has cost me just under $1. So, I don't know why you're being charged so much for two flat, polymer stamp packages. That looks like it would cost me roughly $3 to ship, from my zip code to your home.

Christie
05-13-2008, 08:00 PM
That does seem really high. I would email and ask them why is it so much. Might be cheaper to have someone here in the U.S. to buy them for you then ship them to you.

Sherry
05-13-2008, 08:09 PM
Thanks guys. I emailed the company to ask why the shipping rates are so high. Perhaps they do ship UPS as Ethel suggested...I dunno. I do know that I won't be purchasing their products unless the shipping cost goes down.

CharityHand
05-13-2008, 09:13 PM
I saw two things that I might order. It would cost me $6 to ship and even listed a $16 charge to ship to Canada (which I thought was weird since I put in my address first). One set that I had in my basket was $19.99 and the other was $12.99. I sell stuff on eBay and I barely notice the cost difference when mailing to Canada. Really, we're talking pennies here.

I even noticed that some people charge extra to ship to Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska, but my post office told me that as long as it is considered part of the US, the charges are the same.

It's must be a ups thing.

tesschap
05-13-2008, 10:03 PM
Sherry - I'm not sure if you've ever logged into the US Postal service website - www.usps.com. You can put in the shipping zipcode and your address, etc. and will give you the service options to your area and the cost. You may want to arm yourself with this info for your response from the stamp company ... and if they tell you its for handling for all of the 'forms' they need to complete they are wrong. We all know it takes seconds to fill out the little customs form!

Good luck - I hope they can accomidate you. Do keep us posted.

threefriends91
05-14-2008, 06:53 AM
Sherry l have been hit with some outstanding shipping charges from the USA and have learned the hard way..now anytime l order from the USA l ask the to ship it postal or not at all..
l agree with you l would do without before l would pay these outstanding shipping charges.

emmcee
05-14-2008, 07:05 AM
Sometimes I think these companies make their money on shipping & handling, you know beef up the s&h for driving to the post office and packaging and all that crap. I'll never do that in my shop, whatever the po charges me is what I'll charge my customers. I've always thought s&h at some places is crazy.

Sherry
05-14-2008, 08:23 AM
I heard back from the company and they are very friendly. Here is their response:

Hi Sherry,

Thanks for the feedback. We set our Canadian shipping on the advice of our webmaster who also ships to Canada. I guess the postage will depend on what items you order; small items would not be as heavy (just as you said). However if someone bought larger heavier items that cost just about the same it would be more for shipping. That is a problem when you base your postage on the cost of the merchandise. We are new at this and still working out the kinks. What part of Canada? I think that would make a difference. I know when I sold stuff previously on Ebay it was about twice as much to send to Canada as it was to ship in the US ( of course depending where the package was going).

I would be happy to weigh the stamp sets and give you an actual postage quote. We want to cover our shipping but really don't want to take people to the cleaners!! Obviously we have some work to do...

Again we really appreciate the feedback. I am glad you like the stamps...

At least now I know how a company comes up with their shipping costs. Without a system that calculates shipping based on the weight of their individual products, they really have no idea what sort of shipping cost to apply. So, to cover their butts, they charge a higher amount in case someone were to order a large lot of items or a single heavy item. I definitely get it.

Erin K
05-14-2008, 09:13 AM
It sounds like they will only charge you real shippping. I mean YOU because you are in contact with them, I doubt they will automaticly recalculate it. But anyhow that's good of them to do it for you.

I know a few companies I've bought from just say, "contact us for non US orders so we can quote your shipping" and I think that's fair, although it does have the extra steps for everyone.

I'm sorry you Canadians get bad shipping costs. And price on books. I guess because books are what I SEE it on mostly but even new books yall are still paying more and it makes my head spin because you shouldn't right now.

Erin K
05-14-2008, 09:13 AM
ps, those farm animals are stinking adorable!