80s Gabe
AoE Knight
Star
Viking
Zane and Mercy
PAX East 2013
PAX Aus 10 years
and Balloon man.
Out of them all, I only got 2 Repeats, Balloon man and PAX Aus 10 Pin... and the Aus10 pin is my Third (I brought 2, so 2 are up for trade now ^_^)
I was happy with what I got, I'm only sad that I didn't get more... So much money will be spent on more Blind Boxes... Hell, money will be spent on Pins...
Broodax Gabe & Baby Gabe
Lookout (brunette) & Moonrise
Draken & 14 Pax Prime
Lookout (blonde) & Draken
Viking & 14 Pax Prime
Cat Guard & Strip Search
Binwin & Corrupt Garruk
Lookout (brunette) & Project Spark
Cardinal & 14 Pax Prime
Iron Guard & ETC
Fairly happy with the diversity as we didn't have half of them. Still not really sure why I had to pay $64.00US shipping for a 150x200x110mm box that weighs less than 400 grams
Well you should probably email the PA merch account, tweet at Brian Sutner, check your emails to see if you got tracking, see if it was cancelled, or something. Follow up on that shit.
Fairly happy with the diversity as we didn't have half of them. Still not really sure why I had to pay $64.00US shipping for a 150x200x110mm box that weighs less than 400 grams
I emailed PA Customer Service about this same issue and got a pretty Piss Weak reply (below) to be honest. I can understand a bit of a mark up 'Because it's like shipping to the Moon' but triple the amount that it costs to send a package like that from anywhere else in the USA is just flaming ridiculous.
"Dear Scott
The shipping charges are estimated by the website using a system that doesn't scale very well. If you order one set of pins the shop has the correct weight for that set and shipping materials for shipping that one set. If you order two sets the shop thinks you have ordered two sets and the shipping materials weight is doubled. This continues to scale up quickly the more items you order. Unfortunately there isn't much we can do to alleviate the issue without losing money on orders for single items. Hopefully that helps to elucidate the shipping charges.
Enthusiastically, Penny Arcade Merchandise Customer Service"
If you order one set of pins the shop has the correct weight for that set and shipping materials for shipping that one set. If you order two sets the shop thinks you have ordered two sets and the shipping materials weight is doubled.
So after this many years they can't work out a system that calculates package contents weight and shipping material weights separately? What garbage. Also, their actual shipping costs will consequently be much less than what has been quoted and charged, so what are they doing with the extra cash? Straight into the old back pocket huh? Australia tax strikes again.
Might just leave this here, seems a tad hypocritical all of a sudden...
PedroAsaniBrotherhood of the Squirrel[Prime]Registered Userregular
There are a couple of things about the store that need improving. One is the shipping, another is that you can't enter two discount codes at the same time, so when the KI Pins were happening that meant multiple orders, which means multiple shipping.
An overhaul of the store system seems due. Having worked on the Tesco system for home shopping I can tell you that shipping costs get awkward because stuff like posters can be bundled into a single tube, so you can't just have the weight of poster+tube in the Item_weight column. You need the system to know that IF [Order] includes Item_type=poster THEN Shipping_Weight+=[PosterTube] and you need to do that for each type of item and combination possible. So you are looking at first making sure the Item_weight for each item is correct (and from what I gather right now it isn't, because it is overestimated to include container weight) then you need to design the algorithm for working out just how everything is boxed and sent. So a database restructure and then plenty of coding and testing.
Adding in the function of multiple discount codes at that point would be simple. Right now it only allows one code per purchase because...I'm not actually sure why you would design it that way. It has a checking point in it to ensure the cart includes the appropriate item. The only thought is that it is to prevent multiple General discounts, but to stop those would be a subfunction where Discount_Item_Type is added to the database of available codes, and you can only have 1 of Type 0 (0=General, 1=item specific). There's another subfunction to prevent an item-specific code being used multiple times without multiple purchases, but it isn't virgin territory is the point.
I don't want to sound too harsh, but I think the answer is as simple as it seems: They don't have the man-months or desire to make it happen so far.
There's a lot they could do with the store and data analysis to improve the shopping experience, but it seems like they are functional enough at the moment to not feel rushed on said improvements.
I don't want to sound too harsh, but I think the answer is as simple as it seems: They don't have the man-months or desire to make it happen so far.
There's a lot they could do with the store and data analysis to improve the shopping experience, but it seems like they are functional enough at the moment to not feel rushed on said improvements.
I'm not saying the answer is simple. Just obvious. The shipping costs need to be calculated using a more accurate algorithm that better reflects how things are parcelled up and priced. Easy to write but difficult to implement.
Same with the discount codes. If I buy 5 items and have 5 "Free item" codes, it should be possible to get them shipped together rather than individually.
Both of these require large alterations to the code. But they aren't virgin territory, they have been done before.
I bought one of those funkywhatever bags, I get the feeling it's just going to be a t shirt and ten pounds of Lookouts 04 pins
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would buy those. Chances are if you want merch from the store you have bought it already. So the bag has to be filled with stuff you have already decided you don't want. I hope your new enjoy the Fruit Fucker statue.
I don't think "it's kind of hard work" is a good excuse for over charging your loyal customers?
It is a constant sore point every time I have to shop at the PA Store and for an organisation that has made so many amazing strides for Aus fans, it is particularly odd that they seem unwilling to even entertain the idea of fixing this. Something needs to change at some point, it just can't go on with this rate and with the Aus dollar ever slipping, this is getting worse and worse.
I don't think "it's kind of hard work" is a good excuse for over charging your loyal customers?
It is a constant sore point every time I have to shop at the PA Store and for an organisation that has made so many amazing strides for Aus fans, it is particularly odd that they seem unwilling to even entertain the idea of fixing this. Something needs to change at some point, it just can't go on with this rate and with the Aus dollar ever slipping, this is getting worse and worse.
It's not just that it's hard work. It's hard to get right and easy to get wrong. If I were told they had been working on it for a while but it kept screwing up, I could believe it. And undertaking that work means time and expense for what could be a handful of edge cases is probably not high on the priority list. Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just don't sharpen the pitchfork just yet.
The main site got an overhaul, but the store stayed the same. I'd be surprised if it wasn't on the 2015 to-do list. It's due.
I don't think "it's kind of hard work" is a good excuse for over charging your loyal customers?
It is a constant sore point every time I have to shop at the PA Store and for an organisation that has made so many amazing strides for Aus fans, it is particularly odd that they seem unwilling to even entertain the idea of fixing this. Something needs to change at some point, it just can't go on with this rate and with the Aus dollar ever slipping, this is getting worse and worse.
It's not just that it's hard work. It's hard to get right and easy to get wrong. If I were told they had been working on it for a while but it kept screwing up, I could believe it. And undertaking that work means time and expense for what could be a handful of edge cases is probably not high on the priority list. Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just don't sharpen the pitchfork just yet.
The main site got an overhaul, but the store stayed the same. I'd be surprised if it wasn't on the 2015 to-do list. It's due.
Oh yeah, I understand why there is a problem and that effort will be required to fix it, but the attitude shown in that email is what bugs me.
To me it reads like "Yeah, we know there is a problem, but you chumps keep spending money anyway so why bother fixing it lol"
Not good enough at all, and it definitely leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I mean, there are still a stack of pins in the store I need, but haven't bothered buying yet because I know I will get stung for postage...
I bought one of those funkywhatever bags, I get the feeling it's just going to be a t shirt and ten pounds of Lookouts 04 pins
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would buy those. Chances are if you want merch from the store you have bought it already. So the bag has to be filled with stuff you have already decided you don't want. I hope your new enjoy the Fruit Fucker statue.
I probably will, it's the same reason anyone buys any kind of blind item. Shits and giggles. There are plenty of things in the merch store I would love but never bother to buy individually. I like surprises, sue me.
Yeah, the store needs a bunch of changes real bad -- with shipping being the number one. It takes a commitment of resources -- but it's not like they're going to be building their own e-commerce platform from scratch here. There are a number of very good, very reliable platforms out there that can support the kind of advanced shipping rules they need to arrive at accurate cost calculations -- that take into account both the size and weight of individual products, the cost of shipping materials needed, and allows for special rules to be put in place for awkward items. The work required would mostly be about integrating and styling the new platform, and data entry for all the inventory.
The Australia situation sounds like a very bitter pill to swallow, but even here in the U.S. it could certainly be better. I am intimately familiar with how much USPS shipping costs, and it's clownshoes that going from one half ounce pin to three half ounce pins more than doubles the shipping cost the store calculates.
I understand that the extra profit from the inflated shipping costs may be baked into their business model -- and that fixing them may result in them needing to raise prices to maintain the same numbers -- but the way it is setup currently just has the Australians subsidizing us Yanks, which hardly seems fair.
I bought one of those funkywhatever bags, I get the feeling it's just going to be a t shirt and ten pounds of Lookouts 04 pins
I would take that in my fuku bag -- ten pounds would be about 640 individual lookouts by my estimation. That would cover heavy staff trading for years and years.
I don't think "it's kind of hard work" is a good excuse for over charging your loyal customers?
It is a constant sore point every time I have to shop at the PA Store and for an organisation that has made so many amazing strides for Aus fans, it is particularly odd that they seem unwilling to even entertain the idea of fixing this. Something needs to change at some point, it just can't go on with this rate and with the Aus dollar ever slipping, this is getting worse and worse.
It's not just that it's hard work. It's hard to get right and easy to get wrong. If I were told they had been working on it for a while but it kept screwing up, I could believe it. And undertaking that work means time and expense for what could be a handful of edge cases is probably not high on the priority list. Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just don't sharpen the pitchfork just yet.
The main site got an overhaul, but the store stayed the same. I'd be surprised if it wasn't on the 2015 to-do list. It's due.
Over charging your customers isn't a low priority item and if it is viewed this way, it would be disappointing. PA has been more candid about far less, their silence leads to dissatisfaction.
There's no pitchforks, this is rather civil critique I think, considering I'm still making orders despite my grievances.
If I buy 5 items and have 5 "Free item" codes, it should be possible to get them shipped together rather than individually.
This is one of the reasons I mentioned data analysis on their part. At worst*, they should be doing a better job of handling this on the backend when processing transactions.
* - Worst meaning that they continue to not implement it at the actual order transaction level
This is probably as good a time and place as any to give a breakdown of my adventures with ShopMate for all my Aussie based brothers and sisters.
To quickly recap, ShopMate is a new service offered by Australia post that provides you with an American shipping address for online shopping, and then ships your parcels to you in Australia for a fee.
At Christmas, I made an order for 1 Christmas pin set and 6 double secret boxes, just enough to get me over the $100 mark so I could get a Merch2.0 pin. The total quoted shipping cost from the PA store was in excess of USD $60. (DSB's are no longer appearing on the store page, so I can't recreate my order to get an exact cost.)
When I entered my new ShopMate US mailing address I was charged a total of USD $9.63 for postage instead.
I placed the order with PA on Nov 28th. I received my Shipping confirmation and tracking number from PA on Dec 5th. The tracking number confirmed delivery at my US address on Dec 12th. I received a delivery received email from ShopMate on Dec 17th. (This was a little longer than I'd have hoped, but it did fall over a weekend, and there was a notice on the homepage noting that demand was high over the Christmas period, leading to delays. I'd anticipate future orders would be a little faster in this step i.e. 1-2 business days rather than 3-4 business days.)
The package came to .8 kilograms, so my total ShopMate quoted shipping charge was AUD$36.85 ($24.95 base rate plus $11.90 weight charges). Using the Xmas promotion meant I could take 25% off the order for a total payable of AUD$27.64.
I paid the shipping charges on Dec 17th, and received a confirmation of shipping email with tracking number on Dec 18th. I was given an estimated delivery time of Dec 24th to Dec 29th. They made this window by the skin of their teeth, with the parcel arriving on Dec 29th. The eagle-eyed of you out there may have noticed that these dates fell across the Christmas period, which once again probably caused delivery delays. Once again for future parcels I would hope for hitting a date a little closer to the middle of the estimated delivery dates. Was happy with the speed of delivery in this case, given the circumstances.
IN SUMMARY
The total time for delivery was almost exactly 1 month, which I would expect to be at the absolute outermost limit of timeframes given the holiday period. (For comparison of wait times with a direct order from PA, I ordered a Halloween set only 2 days before this current order. It was ordered on 26th November, and arrived at my door on Dec 3rd, 1 week later. Suffice to say PA is much faster!)
My total shipping costs (PA+ShopMate) worked out to approximately $32 USD or $40 AUD. This turns out to be roughly half the cost of what it would have been ordering directly from PA. Keep in mind this total includes a discount on my US->Australia shipping charges, so the savings will be lower for regular orders.
Would I recommend it? If shipping charges are going to be > ~$35 USD, and you don't mind waiting, you should start seeing savings via ShopMate. Keep in mind this is working with just lightweight items like pins, and heavier items will incur higher Shopmate charges ($5.95 per 500g). If you need to have an item in the absolute fastest time possible, ShopMate probably doesn't offer enough savings to justify the extra wait.
Finally, to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, the USPS website quotes me a price of $24.15 for postage on a parcel of the same size and weight as this (which of course doesn't include packaging and handling costs PA incurs).
Finally, to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, the USPS website quotes me a price of $24.15 for postage on a parcel of the same size and weight as this (which of course doesn't include packaging and handling costs PA incurs).
I get $20.07 USD for a 1 pound 12 ounce (0.8kg) package via USPS first class international, but the bigger question in my mind is why shopmate charged you that much weight on 1 pin set + 6 DSB + merch 2.0 + a few bumper stickers and a Christmas card.
I tried to recreate your order:
- I get an exact weight of 2.2 ounces on the set, merch, and bumper stickers
- I weighed all 10 of my DSBs before opening, and the average was 0.6 ounces, so 3.6 ounces there
- We already sent the Christmas card, but I weighed in a similar card with envelope at 0.6 ounce
So I come up with 6.4 ounces of actual product. A box I had on hand that held all this stuff (and was actually a bit bigger than the little ones PA usually uses) weighed in at 4.5 ounces, and I know from experience that a label and proper taping on a box like that adds an ounce.
Even being generous with a number of my estimates, I come up with around 12 ounces out the door of the PA warehouse, which USPS will mail first class to Australia in 4-10 days or so for $13.41 USD. I wonder if shopmate overcharged you to the tune of an extra pound.
Aha. Apparently, they charge your parcel at either the actual weight, or cubic weight, whichever is higher. The cubic weight is the parcel's volume in cubic centimetres, divided by 5,000.
So the more stuff you order, the bigger the box will be, and the higher your shipping charge will be. Suddenly very nervous about the Fukubukuro I ordered...
Posts
Edit: Incidentally, it is also the first Moon pin we've seen, but that is a little less exciting.
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
WHAT COULD THE MORE BE?!
Trade me pins! - https://pinnypals.com/pals/TheAggroCraig
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
Trade me pins! - https://pinnypals.com/pals/TheAggroCraig
Or a tree ornament
You decide
Pins!
80s Gabe
AoE Knight
Star
Viking
Zane and Mercy
PAX East 2013
PAX Aus 10 years
and Balloon man.
Out of them all, I only got 2 Repeats, Balloon man and PAX Aus 10 Pin... and the Aus10 pin is my Third (I brought 2, so 2 are up for trade now ^_^)
I was happy with what I got, I'm only sad that I didn't get more... So much money will be spent on more Blind Boxes... Hell, money will be spent on Pins...
http://pinmash.info - Two pins enter, one pins leaves... then the other pin leaves with a lower Elo rating
Hatty Hattington plus Lookouts 04
Hatty was new for me so that's exciting.
Star
lookouts leader
hobby levin
omin dran
iron horde
baby gabe
coffee kemper
merch 1
Aus14 Omeganaut - Nef
Broodax Gabe & Baby Gabe
Lookout (brunette) & Moonrise
Draken & 14 Pax Prime
Lookout (blonde) & Draken
Viking & 14 Pax Prime
Cat Guard & Strip Search
Binwin & Corrupt Garruk
Lookout (brunette) & Project Spark
Cardinal & 14 Pax Prime
Iron Guard & ETC
Fairly happy with the diversity as we didn't have half of them. Still not really sure why I had to pay $64.00US shipping for a 150x200x110mm box that weighs less than 400 grams
“I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me. It was a battle cry.”
Lookouts 3 & Mummy Gabe
Lookouts 3 & Moonrise
Lookouts 3 & Tycho Tot
Lookouts 4 & Sunset Overdrive
Heh.
ouch......worst blind box opening ever?
Eek.
My Digital Pin Lanyard
And you guys suck, I haven't even gotten a shipping confirmation yet
Trade me pins! - https://pinnypals.com/pals/TheAggroCraig
Did you order them with the Strip Search Blu Ray?
Trade me pins! - https://pinnypals.com/pals/TheAggroCraig
Trade me pins! - https://pinnypals.com/pals/TheAggroCraig
I emailed PA Customer Service about this same issue and got a pretty Piss Weak reply (below) to be honest. I can understand a bit of a mark up 'Because it's like shipping to the Moon' but triple the amount that it costs to send a package like that from anywhere else in the USA is just flaming ridiculous.
"Dear Scott
The shipping charges are estimated by the website using a system that doesn't scale very well. If you order one set of pins the shop has the correct weight for that set and shipping materials for shipping that one set. If you order two sets the shop thinks you have ordered two sets and the shipping materials weight is doubled. This continues to scale up quickly the more items you order. Unfortunately there isn't much we can do to alleviate the issue without losing money on orders for single items. Hopefully that helps to elucidate the shipping charges.
Enthusiastically, Penny Arcade Merchandise Customer Service"
So after this many years they can't work out a system that calculates package contents weight and shipping material weights separately? What garbage. Also, their actual shipping costs will consequently be much less than what has been quoted and charged, so what are they doing with the extra cash? Straight into the old back pocket huh? Australia tax strikes again.
Might just leave this here, seems a tad hypocritical all of a sudden...
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
I had the exact same thought earlier
"Damn fine pins!"
An overhaul of the store system seems due. Having worked on the Tesco system for home shopping I can tell you that shipping costs get awkward because stuff like posters can be bundled into a single tube, so you can't just have the weight of poster+tube in the Item_weight column. You need the system to know that IF [Order] includes Item_type=poster THEN Shipping_Weight+=[PosterTube] and you need to do that for each type of item and combination possible. So you are looking at first making sure the Item_weight for each item is correct (and from what I gather right now it isn't, because it is overestimated to include container weight) then you need to design the algorithm for working out just how everything is boxed and sent. So a database restructure and then plenty of coding and testing.
Adding in the function of multiple discount codes at that point would be simple. Right now it only allows one code per purchase because...I'm not actually sure why you would design it that way. It has a checking point in it to ensure the cart includes the appropriate item. The only thought is that it is to prevent multiple General discounts, but to stop those would be a subfunction where Discount_Item_Type is added to the database of available codes, and you can only have 1 of Type 0 (0=General, 1=item specific). There's another subfunction to prevent an item-specific code being used multiple times without multiple purchases, but it isn't virgin territory is the point.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
There's a lot they could do with the store and data analysis to improve the shopping experience, but it seems like they are functional enough at the moment to not feel rushed on said improvements.
Pins!
Check out my YouTube Pinny Arcade Videos!
I'm not saying the answer is simple. Just obvious. The shipping costs need to be calculated using a more accurate algorithm that better reflects how things are parcelled up and priced. Easy to write but difficult to implement.
Same with the discount codes. If I buy 5 items and have 5 "Free item" codes, it should be possible to get them shipped together rather than individually.
Both of these require large alterations to the code. But they aren't virgin territory, they have been done before.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
Yeah I'm not sure why anyone would buy those. Chances are if you want merch from the store you have bought it already. So the bag has to be filled with stuff you have already decided you don't want. I hope your new enjoy the Fruit Fucker statue.
My Pinny Pal's Lanyard
"Players are artists who create their own reality within the game." - Shigeru Miyamoto
It is a constant sore point every time I have to shop at the PA Store and for an organisation that has made so many amazing strides for Aus fans, it is particularly odd that they seem unwilling to even entertain the idea of fixing this. Something needs to change at some point, it just can't go on with this rate and with the Aus dollar ever slipping, this is getting worse and worse.
http://pinmash.info - Head-To-Head battle of pins! Choose the most desirable.
http://pinnywise.com - iOS pin collection tracking app.
----
My Delicious Pins For Trade
It's not just that it's hard work. It's hard to get right and easy to get wrong. If I were told they had been working on it for a while but it kept screwing up, I could believe it. And undertaking that work means time and expense for what could be a handful of edge cases is probably not high on the priority list. Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just don't sharpen the pitchfork just yet.
The main site got an overhaul, but the store stayed the same. I'd be surprised if it wasn't on the 2015 to-do list. It's due.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
the store needs a change badly
Pinny Pal since PAX Prime 2013
To me it reads like "Yeah, we know there is a problem, but you chumps keep spending money anyway so why bother fixing it lol"
Not good enough at all, and it definitely leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I mean, there are still a stack of pins in the store I need, but haven't bothered buying yet because I know I will get stung for postage...
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
I probably will, it's the same reason anyone buys any kind of blind item. Shits and giggles. There are plenty of things in the merch store I would love but never bother to buy individually. I like surprises, sue me.
Check out my YouTube Pinny Arcade Videos!
The Australia situation sounds like a very bitter pill to swallow, but even here in the U.S. it could certainly be better. I am intimately familiar with how much USPS shipping costs, and it's clownshoes that going from one half ounce pin to three half ounce pins more than doubles the shipping cost the store calculates.
I understand that the extra profit from the inflated shipping costs may be baked into their business model -- and that fixing them may result in them needing to raise prices to maintain the same numbers -- but the way it is setup currently just has the Australians subsidizing us Yanks, which hardly seems fair.
I would take that in my fuku bag -- ten pounds would be about 640 individual lookouts by my estimation. That would cover heavy staff trading for years and years.
http://pinmash.info - Two pins enter, one pins leaves... then the other pin leaves with a lower Elo rating
Over charging your customers isn't a low priority item and if it is viewed this way, it would be disappointing. PA has been more candid about far less, their silence leads to dissatisfaction.
There's no pitchforks, this is rather civil critique I think, considering I'm still making orders despite my grievances.
http://pinmash.info - Head-To-Head battle of pins! Choose the most desirable.
http://pinnywise.com - iOS pin collection tracking app.
----
My Delicious Pins For Trade
This is one of the reasons I mentioned data analysis on their part. At worst*, they should be doing a better job of handling this on the backend when processing transactions.
* - Worst meaning that they continue to not implement it at the actual order transaction level
Pins!
To quickly recap, ShopMate is a new service offered by Australia post that provides you with an American shipping address for online shopping, and then ships your parcels to you in Australia for a fee.
At Christmas, I made an order for 1 Christmas pin set and 6 double secret boxes, just enough to get me over the $100 mark so I could get a Merch2.0 pin. The total quoted shipping cost from the PA store was in excess of USD $60. (DSB's are no longer appearing on the store page, so I can't recreate my order to get an exact cost.)
When I entered my new ShopMate US mailing address I was charged a total of USD $9.63 for postage instead.
I placed the order with PA on Nov 28th. I received my Shipping confirmation and tracking number from PA on Dec 5th. The tracking number confirmed delivery at my US address on Dec 12th. I received a delivery received email from ShopMate on Dec 17th. (This was a little longer than I'd have hoped, but it did fall over a weekend, and there was a notice on the homepage noting that demand was high over the Christmas period, leading to delays. I'd anticipate future orders would be a little faster in this step i.e. 1-2 business days rather than 3-4 business days.)
The package came to .8 kilograms, so my total ShopMate quoted shipping charge was AUD$36.85 ($24.95 base rate plus $11.90 weight charges). Using the Xmas promotion meant I could take 25% off the order for a total payable of AUD$27.64.
I paid the shipping charges on Dec 17th, and received a confirmation of shipping email with tracking number on Dec 18th. I was given an estimated delivery time of Dec 24th to Dec 29th. They made this window by the skin of their teeth, with the parcel arriving on Dec 29th. The eagle-eyed of you out there may have noticed that these dates fell across the Christmas period, which once again probably caused delivery delays. Once again for future parcels I would hope for hitting a date a little closer to the middle of the estimated delivery dates. Was happy with the speed of delivery in this case, given the circumstances.
IN SUMMARY
The total time for delivery was almost exactly 1 month, which I would expect to be at the absolute outermost limit of timeframes given the holiday period. (For comparison of wait times with a direct order from PA, I ordered a Halloween set only 2 days before this current order. It was ordered on 26th November, and arrived at my door on Dec 3rd, 1 week later. Suffice to say PA is much faster!)
My total shipping costs (PA+ShopMate) worked out to approximately $32 USD or $40 AUD. This turns out to be roughly half the cost of what it would have been ordering directly from PA. Keep in mind this total includes a discount on my US->Australia shipping charges, so the savings will be lower for regular orders.
Would I recommend it? If shipping charges are going to be > ~$35 USD, and you don't mind waiting, you should start seeing savings via ShopMate. Keep in mind this is working with just lightweight items like pins, and heavier items will incur higher Shopmate charges ($5.95 per 500g). If you need to have an item in the absolute fastest time possible, ShopMate probably doesn't offer enough savings to justify the extra wait.
Finally, to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, the USPS website quotes me a price of $24.15 for postage on a parcel of the same size and weight as this (which of course doesn't include packaging and handling costs PA incurs).
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
I get $20.07 USD for a 1 pound 12 ounce (0.8kg) package via USPS first class international, but the bigger question in my mind is why shopmate charged you that much weight on 1 pin set + 6 DSB + merch 2.0 + a few bumper stickers and a Christmas card.
I tried to recreate your order:
- I get an exact weight of 2.2 ounces on the set, merch, and bumper stickers
- I weighed all 10 of my DSBs before opening, and the average was 0.6 ounces, so 3.6 ounces there
- We already sent the Christmas card, but I weighed in a similar card with envelope at 0.6 ounce
So I come up with 6.4 ounces of actual product. A box I had on hand that held all this stuff (and was actually a bit bigger than the little ones PA usually uses) weighed in at 4.5 ounces, and I know from experience that a label and proper taping on a box like that adds an ounce.
Even being generous with a number of my estimates, I come up with around 12 ounces out the door of the PA warehouse, which USPS will mail first class to Australia in 4-10 days or so for $13.41 USD. I wonder if shopmate overcharged you to the tune of an extra pound.
http://pinmash.info - Two pins enter, one pins leaves... then the other pin leaves with a lower Elo rating
But by gum, you're right!
(Does some digging)
Aha. Apparently, they charge your parcel at either the actual weight, or cubic weight, whichever is higher. The cubic weight is the parcel's volume in cubic centimetres, divided by 5,000.
So the more stuff you order, the bigger the box will be, and the higher your shipping charge will be. Suddenly very nervous about the Fukubukuro I ordered...
Only a mere 136 pins to go!