Christmas Collectibles  |   Everyday Collectibles & Gifts   |   Halloween

Welcome to...                                             

Trinkets, Treasures & Opulent Trash!

Our customers often wonder what "Shipping & Handling" includes.

FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS, see below...

Shipping are the charges incurred by shipping either UPS (United Parcel Service), USPS (United States Postal Service), or FeDex (Federal Express Ground).  Their fees are based on what they call dim-weight (short for dimension plus weight).  In other words, all shippers now charge for the dimensions of a box (example: 18" long by 14" wide, by 13" deep) plus the weight (example 12.2 lbs).  Shippers typically charge up to the next weight if your box weighs more than a half pound.  (example 12.8 lbs goes to 13 lbs).

Please realize that your item may weigh only 1 lb., but the box itself could add 1 to 2 lbs depending upon the weight (thickness).  You wouldn't want a light weight, flimsy box to protect your collectible would you?  Depending upon the size of the item(s), the container box could be larger and weigh even more, unavoidably adding to the cost of shipping.  (It's just part of the shipping process!)

Shippers charge by zone, and how far across zones that a package must cover.  We are on the west coast in Oregon.  Shipping a large box from Oregon to the east coast will cost upwards of 15 to 20%.  Some shippers now have a fuel surcharge due to higher fuel costs, plus a home delivery surcharge to come into residential zones.

Shipping is just one factor in establishing your shipping total.  Handling covers the other expenses involved in the process of doing business. 

In spite of all the factors, we endeavor to keep all handling fees down to just a couple of dollars per sale.

Handling includes many things:

• packing materials, including cardboard boxes, packing tape, packing popcorn, and similar products.

• Shipping labels, the paper, the ink cartridge to print the label, tape to place the label on the box.

• fuel to take the shipped item to the shippers, including the employee salary to drive it there.

• There are many other costs of doing business from PayPal fees, Ebay fees, internet fees including email account, website hosting, website domain name registration, and salaries.

• Additionally, there are post office box rentals, and storage unit rentals (we have four storage units for all our products).

MORE SHIPPING INFORMATION
(For International, see below)

We do our best to find you the most economical and best shipping, whether it is with US Postal Service or Federal Express Ground.  We reserve the right to choose which shipper we use for any particular package.  Typically lower weights (3 lbs or lower) are more economical than Ground Shipping, however even that is not always the case. 

Due to the ever-increasing cost of fuel here in Oregon (over $3.80 for regular) we are making two trips a week to shippers – Tuesday’s and Fridays.  Depending upon when your payment arrives, we will ship on the next corresponding date.  Thanks for your understanding

We place a Delivery Confirmation on every package to ensure that the package is being delivered to the appropriate location.  Too many packages were getting lost, but with a confirmation we know you are receiving your collectible(s).

Sorry but we use our shippers and our own account number, and cannot use your shipping account number. 

We want to be real clear on Shipping/handling fees.  US Postal, Fed Ex and others base their fee structure on weight, and dimensions of a box as well as distance.  Shipping costs are pre-determined by an embedded PayPal formula.  Rates for low priced items are often high, because we have no way to determine if it a small glass ornament or a heavy ceramic item.  The cheapest shipping rate is when the total is over $100. 

If you are ordering directly with us, we will do our best to manually calculate less expensive rates.

International Ordering

• How much is shipping &  handling for Int'l orders (S&H)? We have shipped to nearly every country in the world.  The shipping and handling costs to your particular location will have to be calculated on a request basis.  (See below for additional handling fees information.)
• 7-10 day Air Mail rate is obviously much higher than 4-6 week Parcel Post land mail rates.  Be prepared, as international shipping can be costly.  (Additionally, 4-6 week delivery by boat often increases the risk for damage in cargo holds.)
• The buyer is responsible for any applicable import duty and local tax.  Please verify with your local customs before purchase.  Please do not ask us to lie to your customs and endanger our business.
• We are not responsible for any wrong or undeliverable addresses.  Because we are required to respond to whether or not to abandon undeliverable packages or pay to have them returned, we do not wish to lose the product to abandonment.  We will have to pay extra (typically double) to have the product returned to us here in the United States.  If this situation should occur, buyer is responsible for any additional shipping.
• We are not responsible for international shipping charges.  Those are set by US Postal based on the weight and size of the package being shipped.  If you first place an order and then change your mind due to shipping charges we will not be able to refund a minimum of $15.00 in order to cover our employee expense to drive to the warehouse (time and fuel), retrieve the product, and pack it for shipping. 

Handling Fees are independently determined by the type of product(s) and packaging required.  Fees are typically never more than a few dollars to defray the cost of shipping container, packing popcorn & other cushioning materials, tissue, tape, labels, and fuel surcharges. Note: For all cross-border PayPal transactions, we must pass along the 3% Cross-border fee charged by PayPal.  It will be included in the total.   For International shipments, handling fees are somewhat higher, to include extra costs of having to complete international forms, and actually driving to the Post Office, stand in line and confirm with postal workers regarding the contents of the shipment (rather than just pickup service).

In 2005, we experienced several instances of poor performance for insurance claims by Shippers.  By reading online auction chat rooms, we are not alone in this frustration.  In fact, in early 2006, we have reported one well known shipper to our State Attorney General for their confusing online insurance abuse of accepting payment for items valued over $100, while at the same time, setting a policy limiting claims to only $100.  We lost an item valued over $1,000 to this confusing policy and ended up paying our customer from our self-insurance proceeds.

For the protection of our customers and clients we self-insure for all losses through MailSafe. Those rates are as follows:

NOTE: INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE RATES ARE HIGHER depending upon the country being shipped to! (We do not set these rates - these are US Postal set)

                                Value $.01 to $49.99                    $1.75
                                Value $50.00 to $99.99                $2.50
                                Value $100 to $199.99                 $3.50
                                Value $200 to $299.99                 $4.50
                                Value $300 to $399.99                 $5.50
                                Add $1.00 per $100 value thereafter.

  All packages leaving our business concern are physically inspected prior to leaving our premises.