With the rising costs of crude oil, the price of *everything* seems to be climbing too! Since we cannot ship products telepathically, the fact that fuel charges have increased means shipping costs had to increase as well.
As most of us are aware the United States Postal Service has raised the cost of a domestic stamp for two years in a row now. It wasn’t just the stamp price that went up either. The cost of all of their services has gone up, including the International shipping services that USPS offers, such as Global Priority Mail (GPM) and Global Express Mail (GEP). All orders leaving the US still have to go through customs; that part hasn’t changed.
Here at Photodon we charge the lowest price we possibly can to ship our products!
The price our customer pays for shipping often times barely covers (or sometimes does not even cover) the amount of the postage that it takes to get the order to them let alone the cost for packaging and handling. We try to only charge our customers enough to cover what we pay for postage. We know firsthand what a bummer it is to pay for uprising costs on services and goods! We would like to offer you, our valuable customer, as low a price as we can afford to submit.
The prices that USPS charges for these services are not only based on weight and distance, but also on dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is when the shipper is also charged for the actual size of the box. So even if the contents shipped are light, if the box is a long rectangular shape it will be charged for its dimensions. Something else that is good to know: shipping weight starts at one pound and go up with each full pound. So if your package weighs 1.25 pounds you pay for a full 2 pounds instead.
For our Canadian customers:
We know that it is so hard to make sense of such high shipping charges when you’re physically not that far away from Northern Michigan. All the same international rules apply to you as well and we really don’t charge you anymore than what we are charged for shipping costs.
The USPS Global services that we use, Global Priority Mail (GPM) and Global Express Mail (GEM), offer a tracking service. When your order has been shipped we will email you a confirmation number that you can track at USPS.com.
We can ship FedEx International using your FedEx account!
To use this shipping option, you will need to contact us to place your order as our website is not set up for this shipping method. When your package reaches your country you will be charged for custom duty fees. It is the customers reasonability to pay for any and all custom duty fees (in full) that apply. We do not charge you for custom duty fees.
Please also note that even though we try to ship as economically as possible that we don’t skimp out on how products are packaged! We will ensure that your order is well packaged so that it is delivered undamaged and promptly to you!
If there is anything that we can note on the outside of your parcel to let the carrier know that there is a special place, door, deck, etc. you would like package to sit/be delivered to, please make a note in the comments box when you place your order on the web and we will be sure to write that note in an eye catching way so that it won’t be missed.
If you have any further questions about shipping please see the FAQ section of our website. Want more to read? Learn about how we try to be green with our packaging (as often as we can be).
Have a question that I didn’t cover in this blog?
By all means please post it below! Or if you’re on FaceBook feel free to ask any questions you may have on our wall.
I’m outta here for now! Take Care!
~Lisa Marie
