Since asking via email was fruitless and time is running out for subscriptions (1 week ago)
I have two questions regarding subscription shipping.
1. Currently my shipping cost is "Shipping & Handling $0.00" if I select "ship with my subscription". I have four subscription items added to my cart with two of which shipping on next available shipment, I want to know if that means that these two items won't incur a shipping cost or if I will be charged when they ship.
I am in Australia, so free shipping is not something I expect and eye with caution.
2. When does the Paizo advantage apply? Is it only after the first payment of each subscription has been processed?
3. What sort of packaging are the hardcovers sent in, I was subscribed to the AP and module paths in the past. But I am not a fan of receiving damaged books so bubblewrap parcels like amazon uses are a no go (you should see how wrecked my CRB is)
Since asking via email was fruitless and time is running out for subscriptions (1 week ago)
I have two questions regarding subscription shipping.
1. Currently my shipping cost is "Shipping & Handling $0.00" if I select "ship with my subscription". I have four subscription items added to my cart with two of which shipping on next available shipment, I want to know if that means that these two items won't incur a shipping cost or if I will be charged when they ship.
I am in Australia, so free shipping is not something I expect and eye with caution.
It’s not free, it just doesn’t cost anything to put it in your sidecart. When the subscription generates, the entire order will be bundled up and shipped according to your shipping preferences.
Fwiw, it will be expensive. I’m in Australia also and Paizo do not subsidise their shipping/handling costs at all (beyond a $10 discount if you order more than $100 of stuff in one order). I shop here by preference, but resign myself to paying higher freight costs than any other rpg site I’ve ever used.
You can estimate the cost by placing all the items you’re going to get in your sidecart and then proceeding to step two and change your shipping method - the various options will show there.
2. When does the Paizo advantage apply? Is it only after the first payment of each subscription has been processed?
If you are subscribed to at least four lines and they all ship in the first month then the discount will apply to the first shipment. If only two or three ship, then it won’t kick in until the others have also shipped something.
3. What sort of packaging are the hardcovers sent in, I was subscribed to the AP and module paths in the past. But I am not a fan of receiving damaged books so bubblewrap parcels like amazon uses are a no go (you should see how wrecked my CRB is)
They are in cardboard boxes full of packing peanuts. Damage is rare and if a book is significantly damaged on arrival, Paizo will sort out replacing it. I’ve had half a dozen damaged books in a thousand or so orders - the warehouse crew do a stellar job.
I don’t remember if this displays, but Paizo are across the gst stuff. So you’ll pay the 10% on top of the price but the package won’t get held up at the border.
Buying from Paizo is generally more expensive. The free PDFs you get as a subscriber may offset that for you. The other advantages are sending a greater share of profit to them (no distribution costs and they get the retailer profit too), plus they have sensational customer service in case of issues arising.
Thank you, yeah I thought it would be too good to be true regarding shipping. Since it said that two items were shipping ASAP I was hoping that may not be the case, ah well.
And yeah that is why I stopped in the past, the freight cost is way higher than anyone else. And I collect a rather large number of RPGs, generally purchasing from their sites directly.
The weirdest thing was seeing how preorder shipments would pan out from the Paizo site, if I ordered one of every release product it was cheaper than just ordering one of every hardcover at release. But if I ordered one of every hardcover and a GM screen it was cheaper again (by a good $20 margin), and then if I ordered the combat pad it kicked it up to the same shipping as the all in.
Hmmm, that way of doing the paizo advantage means it couldn't even help with the shipping costs... hmmmm.
Good to hear that they are using proper protection when it comes to hardcovers though. What courier do they use to deliver the last leg over here (it isn't fastway is it?, Aus post is managable, but fastway...)
And yeah, I want to support them directly, but between buying everything twice (for fantasygrounds) and potentially buying the deluxe edition in addition to the core line. I will probably pass on it thanks to the unknown shipping values and our drowning dollar atm.
You’ll always be warned about the shipping cost before they settle (so they won’t be unknown). You can also bundle everything into your cart ahead of time and generate a reasonably accurate estimate way before the subs are run.
The cheap option is generally USPS or mail innovations international (who both hand on to Australia Post once it reaches Australia, I believe). The quickest is UPS who handle it the entire way, but those costs are eye watering and they don’t ship to P.O. Boxes.