I went over to Key20direct to order a copy of Burning Wheel, and was somewhat dismayed/astounded to discover that the minimum rate for shipping the game to Canada is $11 USD. In fact, the UPS rate to which it defaulted was $60 in shipping. I admit I may have missed something, but that seems extremely high to me. Then again, I don't do a lot of international shipping. However, by comparison, I seem to be able to get some other games (Under the Bed, DitV, PTA) shipped for anywhere from $2 to $5.

So I'm curious: is $11 a reasonable rate, and I'm just clueless? Are these other publishers just hiding the true cost of shipping? And if it's not, is there some way I could get a hold of these books locally, without having to pay almost 50% on top of the (admittedly excellent) cover price? I'm in Vancouver. I'll be checking in with some local gaming stores, but I was mostly curious about the rates in general, since they seemed so outrageous.

UPS shipping to Canada is absurd, because they charge brokerage fees.  Normally those get applied at this end, not at the other, but who knows.  I know that after the first couple times, I just stopped ordering anything from the States unless they ship USPS.

Go to your FLGS and pester them to contact Key20 and bring in some of the games they carry.  :)

James

Ice,

That's about what I shelled out, yea. Lulu books are about the same. Anything that's heavy enough to go parcel post is killer. (Which is why Under the Bed and Breaking the Ice can ship for cheap, they're small enough to fly under the wire.) I've also been selling a lot of stuff on eBay recently, and people are paying more than that for me to ship the other way. (The Exalted lot I unloaded had something over $30 of shipping for 5 books.)

The good thing about both Key20 and Lulu is that I've never had brokerage fees applied once they get here -- which I've had happen for many shipments from bigger name companies and distributors.

don't ever ship UPS to canada. Always ship USPS.

$11 is about the minimum charge Key20 can offer for international shipping.

-L

Any shipping that comes in Canada costs a flat 5$ just for customs handling. Add the actual shipping cost plus tax and 11$ is a pretty standard shipping fee. I really often order stuff from the states and it's hard to get below the 10$ mark for shipping fees no matter the shipping company.

True if your shipping heavier parcels.

If the order comes in at 13oz or less it can be shipped first class letter to Canada for only slightly more than it would cost to ship it domestically.  When I was shipping Uni myself, I used letter post (it was only 6oz including mailer) and shipping to Canada was only about $1more.

Well I went down to the local gaming store to ask about ordering it in, only to find the very books themselves sitting on the shelf. There's nothing better than psychic retail.

I think people are right about the parcel vs. letter bit, as far as explaining the shipping differential -- these books are weighty. They have heft. I bet they have to make special envelopes.

Ice wrote:
Well I went down to the local gaming store to ask about ordering it in, only to find the very books themselves sitting on the shelf. There's nothing better than psychic retail.

What store did you find BW at? Is it in Toronto?

Did they have any other indie games?

Thanks
- Mike