Post by captsueb on Dec 3, 2014 1:57:59 GMT
Here's the info I've put together. Sorry I didn't get it online by yesterday. But doing anything on the internet on Cyber Monday was almost impossible. Internet in my area was at a crawl. Should have expected it.
Posted under this board since this is where the conversation started.
The Chair
I checked into shipping The Chair back to England and this is what I found.
Shipping by Fed Ex, UPS, or DHL is cost prohibitive. Looking at $750 plus depending on the carrier. It's not because of the weight. The chair with case is only about 17 pounds. It's the size. Once you go past certain dimensions the package becomes "cargo" and the prices increase astronomically.
The only cost effective way is via the US Post Office.
I went to my local UPS store and they were incredibly helpful.
They can properly package the chair for shipping for about $40 US. Then I can bring it to the US Post Office and ship it for approximately $105 US.
The shipping cost is based on measurements and weight I put into the USPS online calculator. The chair comes in at 17 pounds but with the box and bubble wrap the UPS store said to use 20 pounds to be on the safe side. Again the issue is the size, not the weight. The post office has a limit on the size package it will ship. The chair will JUST make it under their guidelines. I'll have to fill out some customs forms and declare a value for the chair. I was going to use $100 US. Technically THIS chair is irreplaceable but I have to put in some value. Don't want to make it too high. The USPS website mentioned possible "customs fees" upon delivery to the final recipient. I don't want PTP to get stuck with any extra fees so I'll keep the value at $100.
But the UPS store manager did give me fair warning.
Once the Post Office has it, the package will most likely be placed on a commercial airliner to be sent to England. That's why the Post Office is so much cheaper than the other carriers. They "subcontract" the job. Once the package is on the plane, there is NO WAY to track the package. But since the postal service in England is very reliable they don't see any problems. But shipping to other countries, they've had issues where packages disappeared without a trace and no way of tracking them. Again, THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO TRACK PACKAGE IF IT GETS LOST.
PTP, I want to make sure you're ok with this. Though I don't see any other option at this point.
I was going to try to go by the actual Post Office to talk to someone to confirm everything. I don't want any surprises when I show up with this big package.
At this point we're looking at a minimum of $145 US dollars to ship it back. I will go in person to the post office to confirm the amount. If it changes, I'll let you know.
Several people have volunteered to make contributions to the return of the chair. If you let me know what you'd be willing to contribute, then PTP will know what balance she has to cover. Just post here to let me know. I'll then message you to let you know how to send your contribution. Most likely Paypal.
HH Convention Items
Also I have inventoried the HH convention items. I've taken photos and put them in a Photobucket slide show. In the beginning of the slide show, the title and number show but then disappears. If you move your mouse over the picture, it will come back. If something is DEFINITELY yours, let me know the item name and picture number and I will set it aside for you. After a time, I will let you know which items are UNCLAIMED. Anyone interested can then ask for them.
If there is more than 1 item of the same item available, the quantity is listed.
A few things:
1. The White Naval Flag is pretty much Academic Fangirl's. Posting it so she can give me final confirmation.
2. The HH Press Kit - I can scan the press kit into a PDF file if several people were interested in reading the material. I could then email you the file.
3. Paul Copley photos - Paul has been very generous in providing signed photos. I've put a description and qty available of each one. If you're interested let me know which ones. Give me a least 2 of your favorites. If there's a great demand for them, then I'll just send 1 photo so everyone can have one.
4. Solomon and Gaenor posters - these are from my personal collection. I thought I gave most of them out at one of the cons but found more. I'd have to see if I could find some small shipping tubes or just large envelopes to ship if you're interested in one. I also have a few HH personal items but did not post them yet. I missed place my camera and have to find it to take photos! Once I do that, I'll add the photos to the slide show.
Requests for Paul Copley signed photos and S&G posters can be made NOW.
Once the items are identified, I'll message everyone to get addresses so I can figure out postage. Since there are SO MANY items, I'm going to have to ask everyone to cover their own postage. Once I know costs, you can just send me the money via Paypal.
I will not ship anything until after the holidays. I don't want anything to get lost in the holiday mail.
Here's the link to the slide show:
HH Con Items
Post here about both chair donations and HH item requests.
If there's anything else, I'll let you know.
Posted under this board since this is where the conversation started.
The Chair
I checked into shipping The Chair back to England and this is what I found.
Shipping by Fed Ex, UPS, or DHL is cost prohibitive. Looking at $750 plus depending on the carrier. It's not because of the weight. The chair with case is only about 17 pounds. It's the size. Once you go past certain dimensions the package becomes "cargo" and the prices increase astronomically.
The only cost effective way is via the US Post Office.
I went to my local UPS store and they were incredibly helpful.
They can properly package the chair for shipping for about $40 US. Then I can bring it to the US Post Office and ship it for approximately $105 US.
The shipping cost is based on measurements and weight I put into the USPS online calculator. The chair comes in at 17 pounds but with the box and bubble wrap the UPS store said to use 20 pounds to be on the safe side. Again the issue is the size, not the weight. The post office has a limit on the size package it will ship. The chair will JUST make it under their guidelines. I'll have to fill out some customs forms and declare a value for the chair. I was going to use $100 US. Technically THIS chair is irreplaceable but I have to put in some value. Don't want to make it too high. The USPS website mentioned possible "customs fees" upon delivery to the final recipient. I don't want PTP to get stuck with any extra fees so I'll keep the value at $100.
But the UPS store manager did give me fair warning.
Once the Post Office has it, the package will most likely be placed on a commercial airliner to be sent to England. That's why the Post Office is so much cheaper than the other carriers. They "subcontract" the job. Once the package is on the plane, there is NO WAY to track the package. But since the postal service in England is very reliable they don't see any problems. But shipping to other countries, they've had issues where packages disappeared without a trace and no way of tracking them. Again, THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO TRACK PACKAGE IF IT GETS LOST.
PTP, I want to make sure you're ok with this. Though I don't see any other option at this point.
I was going to try to go by the actual Post Office to talk to someone to confirm everything. I don't want any surprises when I show up with this big package.
At this point we're looking at a minimum of $145 US dollars to ship it back. I will go in person to the post office to confirm the amount. If it changes, I'll let you know.
Several people have volunteered to make contributions to the return of the chair. If you let me know what you'd be willing to contribute, then PTP will know what balance she has to cover. Just post here to let me know. I'll then message you to let you know how to send your contribution. Most likely Paypal.
HH Convention Items
Also I have inventoried the HH convention items. I've taken photos and put them in a Photobucket slide show. In the beginning of the slide show, the title and number show but then disappears. If you move your mouse over the picture, it will come back. If something is DEFINITELY yours, let me know the item name and picture number and I will set it aside for you. After a time, I will let you know which items are UNCLAIMED. Anyone interested can then ask for them.
If there is more than 1 item of the same item available, the quantity is listed.
A few things:
1. The White Naval Flag is pretty much Academic Fangirl's. Posting it so she can give me final confirmation.
2. The HH Press Kit - I can scan the press kit into a PDF file if several people were interested in reading the material. I could then email you the file.
3. Paul Copley photos - Paul has been very generous in providing signed photos. I've put a description and qty available of each one. If you're interested let me know which ones. Give me a least 2 of your favorites. If there's a great demand for them, then I'll just send 1 photo so everyone can have one.
4. Solomon and Gaenor posters - these are from my personal collection. I thought I gave most of them out at one of the cons but found more. I'd have to see if I could find some small shipping tubes or just large envelopes to ship if you're interested in one. I also have a few HH personal items but did not post them yet. I missed place my camera and have to find it to take photos! Once I do that, I'll add the photos to the slide show.
Requests for Paul Copley signed photos and S&G posters can be made NOW.
Once the items are identified, I'll message everyone to get addresses so I can figure out postage. Since there are SO MANY items, I'm going to have to ask everyone to cover their own postage. Once I know costs, you can just send me the money via Paypal.
I will not ship anything until after the holidays. I don't want anything to get lost in the holiday mail.
Here's the link to the slide show:
HH Con Items
Post here about both chair donations and HH item requests.
If there's anything else, I'll let you know.
