|
Hello. I have been a regular at the store since 2007 but lately I have cut down on my purchases because of the shipping charges.
To illustrate how it has become so expensive, consider that in my shopping cart is: Creatures Anathema for Dark Heresy ($33.96) plus the Tu'narath City Guide PDF ($1.70) a subtotal of $35.66 yet the Order total is $65.77, or plus $30.11 in shipping and handling. As only Creatures Anathema will be shipped then my total cost for that book is $64.07, or almost twice the listed sale price.
Any help on the matter will be highly appreciated.
|
Radavel I'm guessing that you aren't in the US... I'm getting $5.95 for shipping Creatures Anathema from one side of the US to the other...
Unfortunately USPS international postage stinks, since they did away with the cheapest method of transport. They DO try to use flat rate boxes, so if you add a few more books. You may find that the shipping stays the same, not sure if this helps or not.
|
I have no real help to offer. I doubt there's much Paizo can do either. I mean, Paizo isn't Amazon, so they can't negotiate really cheap rates with the shipping companies based on Amazon-like shipping volume. And they can't build shipping and distribution centers all around the world so that shipping is localized instead of everything coming from Seattle.
When you get down to it, someone has to pay for the shipping. It's unfortunate, but I'm sure Paizo isn't really happy with the shipping costs either since it becomes a barrier to you buying products they sell. Unless Paizo gets some kind of deal, or does such good business that they can eat some of the hipping costs, I don't see things changing.
-Skeld
Chief Technical Officer
|
Hello. I have been a regular at the store since 2007 but lately I have cut down on my purchases because of the shipping charges.
To illustrate how it has become so expensive, consider that in my shopping cart is: Creatures Anathema for Dark Heresy ($33.96) plus the Tu'narath City Guide PDF ($1.70) a subtotal of $35.66 yet the Order total is $65.77, or plus $30.11 in shipping and handling. As only Creatures Anathema will be shipped then my total cost for that book is $64.07, or almost twice the listed sale price.
Any help on the matter will be highly appreciated.
Radavel,
You had selected USPS Priority Mail as your service, which is fast, but expensive. Switching to Standard Postal Delivery brings the shipping cost down to $10.44. I've changed it for you.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Radavel,You had selected USPS Priority Mail as your service, which is fast, but expensive. Switching to Standard Postal Delivery brings the shipping cost down to $10.44. I've changed it for you.
Thanks, Vic.
Now to order some more products to save on the shipping.
Actually, if you were shipping by Priority, you'd probably be using a flat-rate box, which means you could add some products without increasing the price.... but Standard goes by the ounce, so shipping will go up a bit as you add weight.
Maybe we need an FAQ for minimizing shipping costs. :)
Maybe we need an FAQ for minimizing shipping costs. :)That was really nice of you to volunteer, Sean. Thanks!
D'oh!! ^_^
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well a "Calculate Shipping" button is fairly standard.
Or at least it's what people have grown to expect from Amazon, Ebay and Half.com, so it comes to much the same thing.
Yes, USPS is really expensive. The problem is when you attain a given weight for an order, it's USPS only. And so I need to make multiple different orders.
Wowser that is expensive.. when are we going to see Paizo Prime? Give Paizo $70 a year and we get 2 day shipping for free or next day for $4. (Hehehe, god bless Amazon Prime.)
I've seen that on amazon.de, but thought it as unnecessary as their express shipping, since here in Germany, their standard shipping option pretty much is express already. Order today, receive tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.
Maybe we need an FAQ for minimizing shipping costs. :)That was really nice of you to volunteer, Sean. Thanks!
You guys are so helpful to each other. In our office, people would only give suggestions for new features, not volunteer to do the work! :P
Maybe we need an FAQ for minimizing shipping costs. :)That was really nice of you to volunteer, Sean. Thanks!
Sorry, too busy writing RPG Superstar round rules. Bye!!!
*ninjasmoke*
Yes, USPS is really expensive. The problem is when you attain a given weight for an order, it's USPS only. And so I need to make multiple different orders.
Did shipping costs go back down when gas went back down to $2? They went up when it hit $4.
|
Director of Brand Strategy
|
Yes, USPS is really expensive. The problem is when you attain a given weight for an order, it's USPS only. And so I need to make multiple different orders.Did shipping costs go back down when gas went back down to $2? They went up when it hit $4.
I don't think it did. The USPS doesn't typically reduce prices. Nor do most companies. It's one of the reasons for inflation.
|
I don't think it did. The USPS doesn't typically reduce prices. Nor do most companies. It's one of the reasons for inflation.Yes, USPS is really expensive. The problem is when you attain a given weight for an order, it's USPS only. And so I need to make multiple different orders.Did shipping costs go back down when gas went back down to $2? They went up when it hit $4.
What is sad about that, is that many companies raised prices because of raising gas prices, and never lowered them when gas prices went down...
|
|
What is sad about that, is that many companies raised prices because of raising gas prices, and never lowered them when gas prices went down...
Many large companies (like airlines) negotiate price contracts on a single or multi-year basis to set their fuel prices. The price you and I pay at the pump might go down, but their cost doesn't necessarily change.
When prices typically go up year-to-year, it works great. When prices go down, not so much.
-Skeld
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Why cant they be shipped media mail?
Media Mail™
...Contents are limited to books, manuscripts, sound recordings, recorded videotapes, and computer-readable media (not blank). Informally called "Book Rate," Media Mail cannot contain advertising, except eligible books may contain incidental announcements of books...
Nearly every book we sell contains some advertisement beyond "incidental announcements of books" that disqualifies it for Media Mail.
living in Italy, shipping costs are really a barrier for me. Buying PDF from Paizo and phisical copy from amazon UK cost me far less than having a subscription with Paizo with free PDF. There is nothing that can be done?
Thank you very much
I'm trying to work out whether to go for an Adventure Path subscription or just buy from Amazon UK. If the postage costs are correct for the subscription, each shipment would cost about 70c* more than getting it from Amazon, but with the bonus that I get the PDF.
The question is do Paizo make the same amount of money whether I buy from Amazon or subscribe from Paizo? If Amazon are paying the full cover price, is it actually better for Paizo for me to buy it from Amazon than to subscribe?
*Actually, I expect my bank will stick a surcharge on for a foreign currency change, so that 70c might become closer to $3.
Vic Wertz of Paizo had a post on this somewhere, but I am too lazy to search for it.
If memory serves me correctly,
a) Subscription - Paizo gets 13.99
b) Via other (ie Amazon) - Paizo gets 8.00
If you think it is going to cost you 3.00 more thru Paizo, the question for you: Is the pdf worth the 3.00?
-- david
Papa.DRB
That certainly sways me towards the subscription, but as you say, begs the next question. I wouldn't be starting getting the Adventure Paths until Skull and Shackles starts, so I have a little time to think about it.
Found it...
Buried in the middle of THIS post on a semi-related topic is the following:
A given AP volume has a cover price of $19.99; let's call it an even $20 for simple math. We sell to distribution at 60% off cover price, or $8. Retailers normally buy from their distributor at about 50% off cover price, so they generally pay the distributor $10, and make $10 when they sell that copy. To sum up: for a normal retail sale of an AP volume, Paizo gets $8, the distributor gets $2, and the store gets $10.Now, paizo.com subscribers pay $13.99 (let's call it $14) for an AP volume.
etc....
-- david
Papa.DRB|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Vic Wertz of Paizo had a post on this somewhere, but I am too lazy to search for it.
If memory serves me correctly,
a) Subscription - Paizo gets 13.99
b) Via other (ie Amazon) - Paizo gets 8.00If you think it is going to cost you 3.00 more thru Paizo, the question for you: Is the pdf worth the 3.00?
-- david
Papa.DRB
Exact distributor discounts may vary slightly, but that's generally correct.
Even though we make more money on direct sales, it's important to note that retail sales are still very important to us, so our recommendation is for each customer to buy it wherever it makes the most sense for you personally.
Does anyone know if you can elect to have your AP shipped all at one time? If so, approximately how much would shipping cost?
If this is an option would you pay for all of them when they ship? If so, then I assume you could download the PDFs at that time as well?
Does anyone know if you can elect to have your AP shipped all at one time?
I would SO love that. Even hold all my releases during the AP until the end of the AP.
I've seen it suggested before. I believe the reasoning for not doing that is it's a storage/logistics nightmare.
How does one check the default postage setting on subscription orders? I see things like address etc - does that mean to NZ there is only one method that can be used?
Cheers,
S.
On your My Subscriptions page, there should be a drop-down list containing your shipping options. For international customers, the options should be 'Cheapest Possible', 'First Class Mail', and 'Priority Mail'.
On your My Subscriptions page, there should be a drop-down list containing your shipping options. For international customers, the options should be 'Cheapest Possible', 'First Class Mail', and 'Priority Mail'.
Yay! I've been asking for this. That's awesome!
|
|
On your My Subscriptions page, there should be a drop-down list containing your shipping options. For international customers, the options should be 'Cheapest Possible', 'First Class Mail', and 'Priority Mail'.How does one check the default postage setting on subscription orders? I see things like address etc - does that mean to NZ there is only one method that can be used?
Cheers,
S.
It would appear I'm cheap. This won't come as a surprise to those who know me and also explains why I've never had an issue with postage costs.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction to check Ross.
Regards,
S.