Hello Everyone,
As we are sure, most of us know by now, USPS has raised shipping fees once again as of the new year, straight across the board. It doesn’t seem to matter what way we ship, fees are ever increasing. Domestically, the increase has been mildly elevated, but for our International customers, the increase has not been so kind. Even our uninsured flat rate international shipments have increased.
Canada and Mexico are now $14.00
All Other International destinations are now $18.00
Insured methods have gone up considerably. An example for the UK, one of our major territories we ship to, went from an average of $29.00 to $37.00 +. Unfortunately, our hands are tied as we truly cannot control these rising costs.
This newsletter today is only to serve as a reminder that due to the rising costs of shipping, especially international, the different shipping benefits we offer, will help to keep your costs down, and for most, this rise in costs won’t affect you.
We still offer the Free shipping domestically for those achieving a qualified purchase, and reduced international insured shipping for achieving the same. For those living abroad and wish to try our products, there is always the lower rate of Uninsured shipping flat rate, with of course the assumed risk of a loss or stolen package.
We can honestly state, that in the all the time we have been operating, not a single package has ever been stolen or lost domestically, and when it finally did happen to us this past Christmas, it was over in the UK where a parcelforce van was stolen containing, what else, a shipment to our customers, fortunately all insured. So this is still an option if willing to risk the loss, or perhaps join a friend in ordering and share the cost of insured shipping.
With the increase in freight, we researched FedEx and UPS, but alas, they are actually more money than USPS. Plus they don’t offer the benefit of rapid delivery. Same or more fees with an average freight time of 1 week or more unless you happen to reside in a neighboring state to us, then typically 2 days, but for more money than USPS.
So this has become a love, hate relationship with shipping entities, as we are at their mercy to get our packages to our beloved customers in a safe and timely fashion, and bottom line, they are still less expensive to that of UPS and FedEx.
You can Click on the link below to review our updated chart of new fees. Please remember, these are averages on some fees, subject to weight and dollar amount of insured items.
Shipping Policy
Express Delivery and Global Express: we are probably going to do away with these services altogether since we have been advised by USPS that the delivery timeframe will be the same as priority with a guarantee of second day, instead of overnight for domestic. So we figure what is the point of offering this delivery service. And international, the costs are so expensive, it won’t warrant the cost for packages that can be delivered via priority within a week typically. On this we’ll keep you posted and update accordingly within the shipping module and on our policy page.
Thanks and hope everyone has a great and prosperous week.
We ship our products all over the world and have had great success with virtually zero problems. Never a lost or mishandled package, so we give props to the excellence of our USPS for successfully delivering each and every package we send out to our beloved customers. It is just about a 99.99% success rate, which is almost perfect!
Though it is quite rare, on occasion we receive a request by an international customer to mark the package as a “gift” in order to avoid paying duties/GST or VAT on the items shipped. As much as it pains many of us to have to pay our fair share in taxes, it is the name of the game when ordering products from one country and receiving them in another.
As a professional retail business, all shipments are labeled electronically with USPS, whereby we are required to state value of shipment and list each and every item inside the box. It may seem to be an innocent request, but it is asking us to falsify a federal document, and this would be a violation of the law, U.S. Code: Title 13: Section 305, and would make us subject to severe financial penalties and / or jeopardize our ability for continuing to export our products to overseas destinations. Plus it may also cause seizure or automatic return of the shipment. And of course, if this should happen we would not be responsible for these additional charges, they would fall to the recipient.
We also cannot collect these fees in advance, nor quote what the fees will be. This needs to be checked with the local postal service or customs office to see what the fees are, and we advise this be done prior to placing an order. Each and every country is different and how they collect fees is subject to their regulations. For example, sometimes they hold the package for collection of fees, or they send an invoice after delivery to be paid directly to the government. In the case of a delay of a package, definitely check with customs since collection of fees could be the cause.
If businesses have done this in the past for someone placing an order, then this would speak volumes to their business ethics, and it is also a matter of time before they eventually run into trouble.
Wanting us to mark shipment as a gift, is asking us to put our company at risk. We are required by law to supply three invoices with the package for customs. These invoices must precisely match the customer copy inside the box, not only in case of inspection by customs, but because our shipping carriers will only reimburse us for the amount listed on the invoice in case of property loss or damage. If this request accompanies an order placed with us, the order could be subject to cancellation to avoid confusion once shipment is received in destination country, such as a refusal to pay duties, taxes or fees based on that request.
This information will be updated on our Ordering / Shipping Policies.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Special Announcement: We are forced to switch to a registration process for participating at Beauty News and Events due to us being inundated by spammers. The numbers have been growing exponentially based on the fact we wanted to allow our customers the ability to gain quick access to any specific article and leave a comment without the overture of registering.
Unfortunately, the unscrupulous are shamelessly sending us hyperlinks in mass numbers and we are sad to say that those few that practice this type of unethical behavior ruin it for the rest of us.
However, for those that have not used Word Press before, it is like so many others and is simple to do. When wishing to comment and begin to participate in our daily activities it is as easy as providing only your name and preferred email, and word press will send you an email with a temporary password. Once you gain access you then can change your password to whatever you choose. It is our sincerest hope that this process will not discourage you from becoming an active participant in sharing your ideas or comments with us.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. But in the long run it will also provide a safer environment for us all.
We have received emails and phone calls from our customers asking us not to put anymore samples in with their orders since they already have more than they can use.
Even though we were doing this to show our gratitude to our returning customers, we appreciate and respect their requests. In order to honor these requests in the future, we have decided to change our sample policy for everyone due to the fact we are not able to place reminders or monitor which customers wish to opt out of this service.
Our new free sample policy will be in effect as of 4/19/2010. Please click on our Free Shipping Link on the left hand side of our main menu of our home page for complete information as to how getting your free samples will work in the future. Eligibility requirements for Free Samples has also been updated.
We have thoroughly enjoyed providing this service to our customers, however due to growing time constraints with an increasing customer base, their feedback has assisted us with making a decision which will be conducive to the needs of our customers and staff.
So for those that wish to continue to get their Free Samples, we are here to serve you in the future with some minor changes!
Thank you for your anticipated understanding as we try to accommodate everyone who shops with us.
