International Shipping

[Linda Cannell]

A customer ordering a paperback from Paraguay discovered her shipping cost would be about $40. I checked international shipping rates on Amazon and discovered them to be about $10. Why the huge difference. Is there a rate that doesn't show up easily in the shopping cart for international buyers. I have a LOT of international buyers.

[jhaines]

If its just one book, then I'm sure the standard international rate would not be anywhere near that, but I suppose the rates for the priority services are around that figure. You could ask your customer to do another 'ghost' order, just to check the price of the cheapest service, I'm sure it will be lower than this. As for Amazon, well, yes, they are cheaper, or at least can be, but I don't thnk the cheapest postal rates on here are that bad.

John

[steve obrien]

The shipping is handled by Lulu's printer.

I am under assumption that orders from Paraguay are serviced by US printer.

Int'l prices can be excessive. It does no good to compare them to Amazon or any other retailer because they can afford to have cheaper shipping and lose money.

Having said that, Lulu's prices for orders outside US whether to Canada, SA, or from Spanish printer to Far East or Australia are not exactly "compettiive."

[Peter Farrington]

But I am still confused by the lulu international prices.

I have just checked and I can send a 1kg parcel by airmail to Paraguay from the UK for £10, about $18 at the moment.

That is for just me walking off the street, without any special commercial terms.

Peter

[Haydn James]

If LULU are to really succeed internationally they need to sort out the international shipping rates, or maybe even shipping rates in general. I understand that the rates are determined by the printer? If this is the case then they're most likely ripping off both LULU and they're customers.

The amounts they charge are nothing like what it actually costs to ship a book, or a dozen books. And why do they charge rediculously more, the more copies you order? The majority of online retailers, charge less if you order in bulk!

LULU - you're putting ALOT of business in the way of these printers, isn't it about time you started to get alittle stricter on your contract terms?

[Paulo Sousa]

like, what about portugal? what are the shipping prices?

[Geo.]

Steve, aren't ALL orders other than US ones now handled by Spain?
Geo.

[Paulo Sousa]

That way, the closer the costumer is from Spain, the cheapier the shipment is, right?

[g.stephen]

Like many others, I’m as confused by the avaricious quotations for international shipping as I was by the carefree altruism of the supersaver program. Surely there’s a middle ground. It seems an obvious question, but can anyone attest that the fee cited on the order form duly appears beneath the cancelled postmark on the package?

[Shaun Finnie]

My understanding was that all non-U.S orders were handled in Spain at one price. So if you order a book from, say Australia it comes from Spain, just as it would if you lived in, say Holland. But the prices would be the same (i.e. very expensive), even though Australia is much fruther away from Spain than Holland is.

Isn't this the case? (and it seems very unfair to those living close to Spain).

Shaun