Alternative payment options:
Western Union: Western Union is safe, reliable, fast, and easy for us. Under Payment Options in the shopping cart, choose (Credit Card Transaction Via Telephone or FAX, OR Western Union). We will email to confirm stock & shipping. You then go to Western Union and email us the transfer control number. We collect the money, ship the goods, and send you email confirmation.
International cheques & money orders. We gladly accept checks (cheques) and money orders for US money, drawn on a US bank. In practice, this means the name & address of a US bank should be printed on the check itself. The US (ie, New York) branch of your national bank usually works fine. You can get these from your local banker, who will be happy to sell them to you. You then send them to us. We ship on receipt.
We also accept all International Postal Money Orders for US money.
Pay Pal: I regret that a standard PayPal account is not suitable for our business. Sending PayPal to an email address (such as ours) is not a good idea. Too many emails are mistakenly labeled spam & eaten by anti-spam programs. Also, I have at least once in the recent past mistaken such a PayPal notice as spam, and trashed it. Each and every day I get many phony "PayPal" messages. This makes the real ones hard to identify. I am eager to hear a solution to this problem.
Wire Transfers: Domestic wire transfers, from your US bank to mine, are a snap, but seem to be unnecessary. I regret that my bank does not handle international wire transfers very well. They take 2-3 weeks to arrive and bear $20.00 US in fees, which you must pay. They are NOT RECOMMENDED.
Cash. US paper money (greenbacks), well-wrapped in an envelope, have in the past arrived safely, but they are sent at your risk and we are not responsible if they do not arrive. If you include your email address, I will confirm receipt the day the money arrives.
If two weeks pass and your package has not arrived:
Ask at your post office if they have a package for you. Sometimes delivery notices go astray, sometimes the usual crew is absent, sometimes the system just breaks down. Every year, one or two international packages are returned, unclaimed. The return voyage never takes less than a month, and once took an entire year. When packages are returned, you can pay to have the packages reshipped (the fault was not ours, apologies), or we will happily refund the price of the books: your choice. But first: Ask the post office!
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Additional shipping information:
Priority Mail International: In May, 2007, the US Post Office replaced Global Priority Mail with Priority Mail International. Unlike Global Priority Mail, Priority Mail International is an airmail service to all countries, a great improvement. Canada still has its own rates, which are slightly cheaper, and I still advise Mexican shoppers to use Express, not Priority.
Canada: Small packages that look as if they cost $20US or less, generally escape the notice of Canadian Customs, which means no taxes on arrival. (Actual value of contents may be different. Astrology books are more expensive than most, which means that orders up to about 1 kg may be classed as "small".) Larger packages are usually taxed ($5.00CAN minimum, or so they tell me) and are often handled slowly by Canadian Postes. Both of these are Canadian national policies, there is nothing any US shipper can do about them. Canadian domestic mail, packages from elsewhere in the Commonwealth, are handled differently. Solution: Avoid tax, avoid delay. Ship large orders in several small packages, for a slight increase in shipping.
Mexico: Regular airmail and surface mail seem unreliable. Use Express, instead.
DHL, FedEx, aka Countries with unreliable mail: Generally speaking, if you believe you need DHL or FedEx (or UPS) to get your mail safely, there is an alternative. I have found Express Mail to be safe, reliable and fast. Countries in need of such service are marked above. The cost is typically half what FedEx or DHL charge. My research suggests the underlying problem is not the mail service itself, but the cheap grades of mail. In every country where I have first-hand experience, I have found the expensive grades of mail ("express", "courier", "overnight", etc.) to be reliable. US Express mail gets you into that grade of service.
Express Mail (International customers): Express mail is more secure than standard airmail. It is NOT faster. (There are grades of international mail that are faster, but they are a lot more money.) Express mail is intended for countries where ordinary mail is not secure. Express mail requests to western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (etc.) will be honored only if you include some comment asking for the service. We will otherwise reduce shipping fees to standard airmail (Priority Mail International), and ship. We see no reason for unnecessary charges.
Belgium, Denmark, some other EU countries: Some EU countries have recently started taxing imported books, adding not only expense, but delay as well. So far, all packages labeled "documents" have escaped these taxes, and have arrived quickly. If your country taxes imported books, please let us know.
Surface mail ("sea mail"): As of May, 2007, no longer offered by the US Postal Service. It wasn't cheap, it was extremely slow & often lost or damaged. I stopped using it years before.
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