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Shipping
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Important Announcement |
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Shipping Charges for Small Orders will increase as of May 18th, 2009 |
Shipping is always a challenge. Most orders will ship the day after receipt, as we use the Postal Service's Next Day Carrier Pickup, to avoid trips to the Post Office. If you need us to ship the same day as the day of order receipt, please be sure to let us know in the Message Box.
Best way to ship is almost always via the US Postal Service, Priority Mail, using their Flat Rate Boxes. We can ship up to 70 lbs. in a Flat Rate Box, although the practical limit is around 50 to 55 lbs. Beyond that, and the boxes tend to self-destruct in contact with the Postal Workers and their equipment, regardless of how much reinforcement we use.
Flat Rate Boxes and Flat Rate Envelopes are a good deal for small but heavy items. We often reinforce the bottom of the box with a piece of cardboard or thin plywood, so the box doesn't self-destruct so easily in transit.
Light-weight orders can sometimes be put in Flat Rate Envelopes, with stiff cardboard reinforcement. We are now using the new Small Flat Rate Boxes for most of the smaller orders. As a rule of thumb, the smallest quantities of most small-diameter items will go in a Flat Rate Envelope.
We do whatever it takes to make shipping more cost-effective for the customer.
| What we're charging, until May 17th: |
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What we will be charging as of May 18th, 2009: |
| Order values from: |
To: |
Shipping: |
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Order values from: |
To: |
Shipping: |
| $0.01 |
$19.99 |
$5.50 |
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$0.01 |
$49.99 |
$10.50 * |
| $20.00 |
$299.99 |
$10.50 |
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$50.00 |
$299.99 |
$10.50 |
| $300.00 |
$449.99 |
$14.50 |
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$300.00 |
$449.99 |
$14.50 |
| $450.00 |
$599.99 |
$21.00 |
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$450.00 |
$599.99 |
$21.00 |
| $600.00 |
and up |
$31.50 |
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$600.00 |
and up |
$31.50 |
* $5.50 shipping plus a $5.00 Small Order Handling Fee. We have long resisted instating a handling fee for small orders, but the reality is that small orders take an inordinate amount of time to process and pack. This year, our percentage of small orders has literally exploded, and it has become necessary to try to recoup for some of the time spent.
We value all our customers, and have always catered to smaller orders, by not imposing large minimums, either in total invoice value, or in individual line item values. This will not change; we do not foresee minimum order requirements as part of our business model.
The Shipping Charges for your order will automatically be adjusted for the destination country of your address; this is now a standard PayPal feature.
We have added a field to the transaction form asking for your telephone number. It is an optional field. A contact phone number is only mandatory when we are shipping internationally to a PO Box (per US Postal Service requirements), but may also be helpful if we have a question about your order. Please provide a phone number if there are time-critical items involved.
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Payments
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The security of your financial information is something we take very seriously. Because it is important to us, we have chosen to use PayPal to handle our financial transactions. PayPal has one of the most secure transaction gateways on the web, and they are constantly up-grading their level of security.
We never see your bank account or credit card account numbers. These numbers remain within the PayPal system, whether you pay with your PayPal account, or if you use any major credit card.
Your information is safe with Paypal.
There is no cost to the buyer for using Paypal; all transaction fees are borne by the seller, as is the case with any credit card merchant account.
Anyone can use a major credit card through the PayPal checkout system, whether they have a Paypal account or not. If you don't already have a PayPal account, PayPal will ask you if you would like to have one, but having one is not required.
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International Shipping
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International shipping is now accomplished mostly by International Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes. To most countries, we are allowed a maximum of 20 lbs. per box and 5 different items. For our many Canadian and Australian customers, this is the case, please take note.
An example would be an order for 100 Lag Bolts, 50 Machine Bolts, 50 Square Nuts, 100 Carriage Bolts, and 100 Flat Washers, all weighing 20 lbs. or less, packaging included.
For the purpose of filling out the Customs Forms, we can often combine items, so that [nuts and washers] or [bolts with nuts] or [2 or more items of the same type] are grouped together, to avoid exceeding the "five-item rule", which appears to be tied simply to the number of lines available on the form (5). In any event, we will do what we can to keep the shipping as affordable as possible.
As is the case with Domestic Shipping, most minimum quantities will ship Internationally via Flat Rate Envelope. The theoretical weight limit of a Flat Rate Envelope is 4 lbs., but the practical limit for most headed fasteners is a bit over 2 lbs. A lot of large heads will make the envelope too thick. The Small Flat Rate Box will hold 4 lbs.
Customs Forms, in addition to and integral with the postage for shipment, are now all accomplished online. Actual invoice amounts are used on all Customs Forms.
We are currently trying out a PayPal feature that automatically inserts the proper Flat Rate Shipping costs for selected destination countries. We are including a table below for some International Priority Flat Rate Shipping Costs:
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Country |
Flat Rate Envelope or Small Flat Rate Box |
Medium or Large Flat Rate Box |
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(limit 4 lbs.) |
(limit 20 lbs.) |
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Australia, New Zealand |
US$15.00 |
US$45.00 |
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Canada, Mexico |
US$12.00 |
US$26.00 |
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U. K., Europe |
US$13.50 |
US$42.00 |
The US Postal Servive now requires that a destination contact phone number be included on the shipping label/customs form when shipping internationally to a PO Box, and we have accordingly added a field to the PayPal transaction page for your phone number. It is an optional field, and if you do not use it, we have to insert our phone number in order to print the shipping label. Our phone number doesn't get you notified when it arrives in your PO Box, however, so please fill in your phone number if you are using a PO Box for international shipping.
Thank you for your business!
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