Cheaper international shipping
zoopydogsit
Posts: 174
Hi Folks,
I love Parallax products, you do incredible things, the Propeller is amazing. I'd love to by more product from you. But please do something to reduce the cost of international shipping. I don't need the items in 3-5 business days, and have huge difficulty justifying the additional US$50+ just for shipping on every purchase when it is for a hobby. If I was a business I could try and pass that onto my customers, but as a hobby I wear it. Which means I have to buy less, buy less often, or have someone buy with me to share the costs (which costs me time negotiating what others want).
For example, I'm currently looking at buying 1 Spinneret Web Server, a Prop plug, a TSL1401 line scanner and some QFP prop chips, I'm quoted $60+ for one type of shipping, and $50 for another type. Which adds a huge cost to the order. I now have to rethink whether I really need these things now, or whether I should hold off until I phone around my friends to see who wants to share the shipping by adding something to the order. And if I don't find someone to share the costs, then I have to discuss the extra expenditure with the wife :-(
I noticed that Gadget Gangster was able to ship for $10 and get a packet of 10 boards to me in 2 weeks. The cost was reasonable and I was happy to wait.
Please do something about the International shipping costs.
I love Parallax products, you do incredible things, the Propeller is amazing. I'd love to by more product from you. But please do something to reduce the cost of international shipping. I don't need the items in 3-5 business days, and have huge difficulty justifying the additional US$50+ just for shipping on every purchase when it is for a hobby. If I was a business I could try and pass that onto my customers, but as a hobby I wear it. Which means I have to buy less, buy less often, or have someone buy with me to share the costs (which costs me time negotiating what others want).
For example, I'm currently looking at buying 1 Spinneret Web Server, a Prop plug, a TSL1401 line scanner and some QFP prop chips, I'm quoted $60+ for one type of shipping, and $50 for another type. Which adds a huge cost to the order. I now have to rethink whether I really need these things now, or whether I should hold off until I phone around my friends to see who wants to share the shipping by adding something to the order. And if I don't find someone to share the costs, then I have to discuss the extra expenditure with the wife :-(
I noticed that Gadget Gangster was able to ship for $10 and get a packet of 10 boards to me in 2 weeks. The cost was reasonable and I was happy to wait.
Please do something about the International shipping costs.
Comments
I can see USPS listed at the Parallax checkout, which for other US suppliers I often find reasonable. But with Parallax it comes in much higher.. 64usd versus about 10usd for my regular supply of weighty drill bits from another US supplier.
Maybe it is the "Express Mail" option offered.... not sure what the different USPS options might be.
Nor wishing to insult Parallax for what is their business choice with perhaps sensible logistic reasons. (like employing someone just to queue at the postoffice 2 hours a day to send stuff when other courier services offer to collect..etc..etc....). But if it can be looked at, it would get my vote as I would also like to take advantage of the various offers and new products!
As it is, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Singapore outlets are all more expensive than buying direct. I do see we now have Taiwan Digikey and they seem to be extremely reasonable in price, maybe the same as Parallax. But I haven't tried them as I have doubts that they really have inventory in Taiwan at a lower cost. Besides, the payment of the transaction in Taiwan Dollars and delivery from the U.S. may result is a rather convoluted transaction. (I have to order in Chinese, cannot pay with a US credit card, and so on.)
Things seem to be slowly improving for local outlets, so keep an eye on buying closer to home.
Where I "miss out" though is on the daily deals and new products. Obviously no reseller can justify getting me some 1 off items in a hurry (read 3-5 weeks), as they also need to make profit.
Although this could be a business issue for Parallax. Perhaps their resellers would be upset if Parallax-direct from the USA undermines their own local supply, thus leaving their business redundant. I can understand why the daily deals can only be practical for local US customers.
That said, my local reseller does often have discounts on Parallax parts which are very attractive, and also Parallax themselves have been very generous with gifts and support (not to mention this forum), so really in the whole scheme of things I have nothing to quibble with - Parallax happiness all around!
Hello zoopydogsit,
Thank you for taking the time to give the background. Your enthusiasm is contagious. The last thing we need is for customers to view Parallax orders as something requiring spousal approval.
As Maxwin pointed out, when we have a quality distributor this is really not much of a problem. He's particularly fortunate to have our Hungary dealer ChipCad to look out for his interests. ChipCad is proof that a small company can distribute for reasonable prices for many years - we've worked with them for 20 years now.
The type of low-cost international shipping you're requesting is known as USPS Priority Mail International http://www.usps.com/international/prioritymailinternational.htm (USPS PMI). USPS PMI is very low cost but it includes no tracking or insurance for flat-rate envelopes or flat-rate small boxes. This has proven to be a problem for customers in Italy, Argentina, Philippines and Mexico among other countries. Whether it's lack of agreement between USPS and mail agencies in those countries or another problem with corruption I'm not certain.
We currently offer only USPS Express Mail International (USPS EMS) because it has tracking and insurance. See http://www.usps.com/international/expressmailinternational.htm This service is substantially more expensive than USPS PMI but our packages make it to their destination.
If we enable USPS PMI it will be available to all countries. Parallax will take no responsibility for the package since there is no tracking or insurance. This is risky for a company who you appreciate for their service, isn't it? Inevitably - no matter how we state the rules - we'll be in situations where packages don't arrive and we end up sending them again at our cost. What are you supposed to do when a favorite customer [all of you] who regularly order don't receive their USPS PMI delivery?
Enabling USPS PMI will take your support to be successful. But depending on where you live and the value of your order you are probably willing to take this risk. Sending a dozen Propeller chips to Sweden would be fine, but I wouldn't send a couple of Boe-Bots to Mexico with this shipping method.
I'll answer your question now.
Yes, we will enable USPS PMI as a shipping option. I'm working with our IT, web and sales team to make this happen perhaps as early as next week. We have a few minor technical issues to resolve, some notations to be added to our sales policy web page, and then we'll be set to enable a new option for international delivery.
Thanks for your patience,
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Hanno
I haven't laughed so hard in ages, with your statement about spousal approval. "The last thing we need is for customers to view Parallax orders as something requiring spousal approval."
I truely understand and agonize with you on the shipping dilemna. I haddn't realized that complexity. As a company with an outstanding reputation for quality (from the products, support collateral, web pages, online store, forums, and e-mail response (people)) then this is a challenge. Even if you spell out the shipping issue to someone and have them tick a box indicating they are willing to take the risk, when their order doesn't turn up then they will be very disappointed, feel cheated, and have a poor overall customer experience. As a business you can not afford to re-ship when the shipping company looses the order, especially when it may be several hundreds of dollars of non-self sourced materials.
In my case I'd appreciate having the option of being able to select the cheaper shipping method with no tracking and no insurance and take the risk. As I'm in Australia I believe the liklihood of loss would be extremely low.
Though I do expect that other customers may feel frustrated at the outcome of non delivery. Which would tarnish your wonderful reputation in their eyes. And likely cause your staff significant consternation when not being able to resolve the issue, make it a less fun place to work, etc. etc.
If you are to proceed offering USPS PMI then I'd suggest the following;
- Set expectations by clearly displaying a risk statement that it is not tracked, and not insured and that although your company will make the best effort to ship the item, they take no responsibility for non-delivery should this occur.
- Indicate the list of countries where you allow this type of shipping. Indicate that it is due to non-delivery issues of other countries. Update the list to remove locations based on customer non-delivery feedback.
- Have the customer tick a box that they are willing to take the risk, and record that they did in the order.
- Reserve the right to refuse to ship to countries where risk has been realized.
- E-mail the customer after it leaves your company (in your shipping process you'd have an indication when it physically leaves). This sets expectations and may reduce the follow up e-mails.
Personally I'd be delighted, and feel more empowered to buy more Parallax product if you provided this option. As it is likely at some stage with someone's order to become a problem, this option is not for everyone, and that ultimately the decision is up to your company.
Thank you for your consideration and taking the time to explain.
I would like to thank you for your time and add a little note as an Italian buyer.
I agree we have an horrible mail service, and it usually is extremely rough on the packets.
Anyway delivery statistics are probably dependent on the area (bigger cities are worse than small towns), and as long as you issue a big warning about the risks I thing a USPS option is welcome.
Not all is available locally, and for a handful of components I think the break even between delivery cost and risk is acceptable.
Moreover all my USPS packets arrived safely.
Massimo
The internal web, sales and shipping team met this morning about USPS Priority Mail International. It looks like this will be activated before the end of this week. Some of the discussion was about adding insurance of $4-6 per shipment (apparently some kind of insurance is available for USPS PMI), but the impression I've got from the forums is that you want the cheapest possible bare-bones rate and you're willing to skip the insurance, so I've told our Sales Manager to eliminate the insurance fee.
I'm expecting some problems with this addition, just to be honest. The expectation from our customers is that we provide the highest level of service possible, which puts us in the position of replacing their lost shipments even though we all agreed to the terms of "no tracking, no insurance". I don't think I could bare to have unhappy customers, even if we both agreed to the terms.
Anyway, we'll see how it works out and adjust the program as necessary. Getting started has been the biggest issue - and at least that is almost behind us.
Thank you for making the point to Parallax. We hear you and we'll respond! If you're happy so are we.
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Would it be feasable to provide both options? One without insurance for the cheapest possible rate, and one with Insurance for people to use if they live someplace with less reliable service?
It sounds like both options would be much cheaper than the current option.
Hey Roy, good question - I wasn't present for the discussion so I didn't have a chance to understand the various operational & programming issues.
I'll ask and get back to everybody.
Ken Gracey
Excellent work. Thank you for driving this empowering outcome.
As a compromise I'd be happy to pay the extra few dollars for insurance on each order I make if this makes Parallax more comfortable that they are covered in an inadvertant loss. $15 for shipping is still far more friendly than $50. I certainly don't wish to see Parallax out of pocket for a lost delivery, you have a business to run, and we want to continue funding the innovation.
Again, thank you for the hard work from you and your team for the consideration and outcome.
I look forward in doing a purchase at the end of this week/early next week :-)
Regards,
Dave
In my case untrackable packets usually avoid customs too (it means I don't pay a fixed fee + VAT) while trackable packets pay customs (for a 50$ order we are close to 20$, due to the fixed part).
Massimo
We do have a distrubuter, I used to buy my BS2E stamps, but they don't carry the really interesting stuff like the Spinneret or the TSL1501 linescan Imaging sensor.
http://www.nollet.com.au/products-page/parallax/
Unfortunately it appears they are having problems with pricing on their site.
Regards,
Dave
Well, it's really a great news for us international customers. Many times I wanted to
purchase some items from Parallax, but high postage prices, made me think again!
But now, with low postage prices, I can just purchase whatever I like to, great.
He just got in a shipment of spinnerets (I got 2 for $115 incl postage).
I've found with Ron - just send him an email asking how much and how long to get (ignore his web site - it's rubbish).
I've been very happily surprised at his responses..
HTH
Paul
If all goes well, we will have this available in the next day, or two.
Hey everybody, just want you to notice that this is Jim Carey's third post on the forums. Jim is our Sales Manager and a really productive person in our office. He doesn't normally spend time on the forums but you're seeing a bit more of him the last couple of days. If there's something that's important to you regarding sales issues - or anything else for that matter - I'll be sure to get our key Parallaxian on the forums to reply to your question.
Welcome to the forums, Jim.
Ken Gracey
http://www.parallax.com/Company/PoliciesOrderInfo/tabid/383/Default.aspx
Within the International Section:
USPS 1st Class International Mail - Alternatively, we now offer a USPS 1st Class Internationl shipping option; however this service does not include insurance, or tracking. Customers accept full responsibility for any lost, or damaged orders. These orders will not be replaced or refunded by Parallax.
You will also notice the warning on the cart page as you checkout.
Enjoy!
I'm a New Zealand student looking to make my first purchase of Parallax products.
I wish to use this 'First class international mail' option but it is not available to my order. I have found however that by removing the Propeller starter kit form my order it does allow the cheaper postage.
https://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/PropellerProgrammingKits/tabid/144/CategoryID/20/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/651/Default.aspx
Have I exceeded a price or size limit?
I am very excited to become involved with propeller but cant afford the $80 for shipping!
Thanks
Thank you Parallax, you are a five-star company!
There is a 20 pound max. If your order is under 20 pounds, there should be no problem? If you send your address and items you would like to purchase to jcarey@parallax.com, I will check into it with a test order on my side. Take care, Jim Carey
Today I opened my front door and saw a familiar Parallax box on my doorstep. My first USPS Priority Mail International order arrived safe and sound. I was happy to take the risk as I didn't believe there would be any. The box arrived in perfect condition.
Thank you and the team for acting on customer feedback and delivering a timely solution. Well done to the whole team for making this happen.
Warm regards,
Dave
(A very happy Parallax customer)