i recently purchased a book from the UK (link below).  the invoice sent to me said GBP 40.00.  ok, heavy book, understandable, i guess.  i'd heard the prices where going up for s/h from the UK.  i still haven't received the book, but got a message today from the seller:



Sorry for the delay in sending the book out. I have had some problems with the post office. Basically, the book is too heavy to send via normal post, and will have to be couriered to you. This means the postage will cost, in total £65, meaning that I need another £25 from you to cover the postage costs. Sorry for the confusion, but now that I have recieved a definite answer from the post office, I will get the book out asap.



what do the member's here from the UK think, is this reasonable?  i already paid GBP 80.00 for the book, plus the original 40.00 shipping.  is it really that much to ship something over to the U.S.?



LINK:  
** expired/removed eBay auction **

Well, if you want my opinion, 40 GDP seems to bery high let alone 65 GDP.  This book is only 420 pages, so thats like 2 or 3 hardcover AD&D books.  Sounds like to me like the seller was hoping to get a lot more for his auction than he did and now he is trying to screw you on shipping in order to make up the difference.   Here is the Royal Mail service rates for Airmail shipping:

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/cont ... aId=400347

Note that he can send books that weigh up to just over 10 lbs this way at a rate of 20.51 GDP(for 2 kg) plus an additional rate of 9 pence for every 20g over the first 2kg which comes to a total of 34.01 GDP.  Thats for shipping on a book(of which he can send at Airmail rates as long as its less than 5 kg or just over 10lbs)

NOTE:  Wow, I really do not like the Royal Mail website at all, its not very user freindly.

Maybe seller wants to courier it for paypal?

mbassoc2003 wrote:I suspect the seller is trying to make proffit on his shipping. Even his UK shipping cost is about double what it would actually cost to ship fully trackable on a next day delivery.

There is a threshold of about 4.4lbs after which UK inland shipping escelates quickly. I imagine it's the same for international shipping but I doubt the book reaches that.

last year I sent 12 Dungeon mags to the US Royal Mail International Signed For (which was fully trackable, requires a signiature upon delivery, and was also fully insured) which meets Paypal's requirements for £18.60. It's the most I have ever had to pay.

I think he's picked a number and doubled it.

I agree with Ian.  It sounds like a shakedown, pure and simple.

If he screwed up the shipping, he's obliged to ship it at the price he quoted, period.  He needs to eat the difference.  If not, I'd ask for a refund.

Mike B.

I know that UK postage is crazy high compared to the U.S., but this is simply unbelievable. More than $100 to mail that item cannnot be right. I would almost bet that FEDEX is cheaper...

Is there a possibility he could ship it some other way than postal services  (i.e. UPS, FedEx, Airborne, DHL, etc.) for cheaper rates?  
How much does that book weigh anyway??

hopefully the seller will respond by tonight and let me know how much it weighs.  if not, i have a friend that works for GW that could probably get the information for me.  thanks for the help so far

got a response from the seller this morning regarding weight and dimensions:

The dimensions are as follows:

14¾ x19x7½ inches

38x48x19 cm

weight 5.6kg

The wight is the problem, as 5kg is the limit for the ordinary post, and that would have to be printed matter, which may present a problem with the perspex and chain etc. The other possibility is to send it as two separate parcels, the book in one and the perspex, nuts and bolts and padlock and chain in the other; or the book and perspex in one and the padlock and chain in the other.

http://www.interparcel.com/quote/

as low as £45