Shipping & Warranty Policy
Our liberal warranty and exchange policy
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 06:13
We pretty much want you to be a happy customer. There are only two things you need to keep in mind to do a effective return with us;
1) Item must be sent back in the box we shipped it in, packed as well as we packed it.
2) The item must be configured as we sent it to you.
We do not cover return shipping! Usually we need to be able to test the item we get back, it will influence decisions we make. We may at our discretion cover the original shipping cost if we believe the item was DOA. If the item we receive back still works we will gladly refund your money but we will not refund shipping costs.
For best results returned items should be returned in the box we shipped to you, with the packing we packed the item in, and configured the same as it was when we sent it to you.
We are generally quick about returns and we get very few!
Why we usually do not offer free shipping
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 05:27
Free shipping may be offered on high value items that are light. In most cases we will not offer free shipping because we just end up forced into rolling the shipping cost into the sale price and eBay gets a bigger cut of the pie. If the item is worth a good deal of money, we may offer free shipping as a bidding incentive.
For instance, we have a light item worth $20.00. Usually shipping on a light item is rounded to about $5.00 and added to the cost of an item with free shipping, so we now have a $25.00 item. eBay pockets about $0.20 for the $5.00 that was counted as a sale price and not a shipping price by its accounting system.
For the prices we charge, usually a light item is about $4.85 on the eBay shipping calulator fo your cost for the item would be about $24.85. eBay does not get a cut of the money you paid for shipping.
We believe that in many instances the real winner for the free shipping options is eBay and not the buyer or seller.
USA to Canada Shipping Considerations
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 05:03
We only ship USPS to internationial locations for the most part. For packages going to Canada UPS ground looks like a very affordable sevice, but there is a catch. Canada has what is called a Brokers Fee designed to take money from unsuspecting parties. The brokers fees start at about $50.00 from what we have heard, and they are generally only associated with UPS Ground.
For UPS ground there is no brokers fee is the packages value is less than about $18.00. You would have to call UPS to be sure.
Express shipments do not incur as many brokerage charges as Standard. The Express shipments have the fees worked into the shipping price, as do all USPS shipping options.
Heavy packages may workout to be best shipped Standard, yet lighter weight packages may be best shipped Expedited.
Returned Packages
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 04:37
Occasionally USPS will return packages to us. In almost all cases returened packages are USPS Internationial and they are marked as undeliverable to address. We can attempt to mail it again if you wish to pay shipping again. Usually we find that the address was correct, and for some reason the package just never made it.
Assume we do not understand your address system, so we can only print out what you or eBay/PayPal gives us. We will refund the item price but not the shipping if you just want a refund.
If you are in the USA ans the package is First Class, we will usually just remail it.
In all cases we will send you an Email explaining what is going on and asking for you to tell us how to proceed.
USPS First Class Internationial Mailing
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 03:45
First Class International is a Best Effort economy service offed by USPS and other government post services. First Class International can be used for packages weighing up to four pounds, but by the time you get to four pounds the faster Priority service starts looking attractive.
Generally from what we have observed First Class International takes 3-6 weeks, and the amount of time a package will take is pretty random too. First Class International has no tracking, the numbers provided are proof of mailing and delivery only.
If you are in a hurry, choose Priority Mail International or Express International, otherwise First Class International usually provides reasonable service at a good value.
USPS Parcel Post -VS- Flat Rate Priority Box
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- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 03:19
In some situations the Item(s) you purchased may arrive in a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box when you chose Parcel Post. Usually we will do whatever makes sense during shipping, so one of 3 things happened;
1) We are multiple USPS zones apart and the cost of Flat Rate is now less than Parcel Post, and (of course) your item can fit into a flat rate box. We are in Seattle, WA, USA.
2) We shipped the item in a Flat Rate Box and paid the additional shipping because it was what was easier for us to do.
3) The price is so close it may as well go Flat Rate.
Generally, the Flat Rate is better shipping, so we will select it if we can and it makes sense to do so. We will not refund differences in shipping either direction, we strive to give you the best service.
We frequently cannot offer specific Flat Rate options. eBay you can only select 3 different shipping options at once. We usually offer USPS Parcel Post, UPS Ground, and, UPS Overnight.