TOPIC: (Lori Please Read!) Token Pre-Ordering: Shipping & Sales Tax?

So there I was, ready and about to place my standard $500 (60-pack) pre-order of True Dungeon tokens. But then, when I'm about to process through the PayPal screen, I get the ugly ugly message that on top of the $10 shipping and handling (which is reasonable), there is the evil State Sales Tax: (7.750% in Illinois) of $38.75. A few quick things to note:<br /><br /><br />- Last year I didn't have to deal with IL sales tax because I was studying in California and had the tokens shipped to Cali<br /><br />- I am officially a CA resident, though my parent's home is in IL and that's where I'll probably be during the summer. Since I am currently studying in the U.K., I thought it would be easier to have it sent to IL (though I won't be back in the States until late June or early July).<br /><br />- I tried toggling around the shipping options and the shipping costs are $10 regardless of whether I get it shipped to IL or CA. So ironically enough, it looks like it would be *cheaper* to simply get the tokens shipped to California (probably to my brother's address since he's actually in Cali right now) and have him *RESHIP* the tokens to Illinois later on. As long as the RESHIPPING costs are less than $38.75, this would actually be cheaper! (Note once again that I won't be around until June/July so the extra time delay isn't an issue).<br /><br /><br /><br />Few quick questions/issues:<br /><br /><br />#1. So I assume True Adventures is headquartered or has operations in Illinois then? (Which is presumably why there is sales tax there). <br /><br /><br />#2. Is it pretty standard for a package that size (60 token bags) to cost $10 for shipping or is that through a special business rate? I remember from last year that it was pretty heavy. Lori, is that normally how much shipping would cost (i.e. if I have my brother reship my order to my parent's house)?<br /><br /><br />#3. Are there any other options out there that I haven't considered? Maybe there is a simple solution that I've just glossed over. But since there are only a few more days left for pre-ordering, please let me know ASAP.<br /><br /><br /><br />Once again, this isn't simply an issue of trying to "skirt around" sales tax (since I'm a CA resident and I'm currently in the U.K). Suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!<br /><br />

USPS has a flatrate box for 8.95. I've always wondered how much weight you could get away with stuffing in there. I've even pondered possibly going out and filling one with ball bearings. I figure I can get it up to at least 50 pounds that way. Depending on the material, maybe even 100+. Hmmmm. That might be sorta interesting. Mailing a 100 pound package from person to person and seeing what happens to it.

Yup - True Adventures is located in Illinois.<br /><br /><br /><br />And as far as the whole sales tax on the internet thing - some New York lawmakers are trying to push (again) to have sales tax charged on items no matter what state you buy from, and what state it is shipped to...  bleh.

PM Sent.  (I don't want you guys thinking I'm ignoring him!)<br /><br />Yes, TA is located in Illinois, so by law, any sales on our website that are shipped to an Illinois address are subject to Illinois sales tax.  And, any sales that we do at Gen Con are subject to Indiana sales tax.  The state's gotta have their piece of the pie too, guys!<br /><br />Regarding the shipping question....we normally use the USPS Flat Rate boxes for shipping.  Many times the order has to go into 2 boxes.  The flat rate we currently use is in the $8-$9 range.  The USPS has come out with a new, larger box that is around $12.  We'll see what we can do with those.  Most of our orders end up being over $10 to ship, but some are under.  We just set it at a flat $10 and hope that it all balances out in the end and we're not too far in the red on shipping.  We're not making money on shipping.<br /><br />You can get quite a few pounds in those flat rate boxes, but you have to make sure you tape and package the box well.  We had some of those last year get demolished in shipping.  Gary is one that comes to mind...one of his packages was mutilated by the time it reached him, and many of the tokens were gone.  Tape, tape, and more tape.  Henry, if you try your experiment, let me know how that works out for ya!<br /><br /><br />If anyone else has shipping questions, feel free to post them and I'll try my best to answer them.  We use usps for several reasons...free boxes, click and ship postage, carrier pickup and online tracking being the main ones.  It's the easiest method for us right now.  Remember that our "shipping" department is Jeff and I packing and labeling boxes in the office (or in our kitchen!).  As always, if anyone has suggestions for improvement, we're open to hear them.<br /><br />Lori<br />

Lori: As a long time and faithful USPS employee, thank you for choosing the Postal Service for your mailing needs. I liked how you put several smaller Priority Mail boxes inside the Flat –Rate boxes. If you could address those smaller boxes also, in case they fall out of the larger flat rate box, that may help. I can send you some of the new larger flat-rate boxes, if desired. <br /><br />Like all delivery companies we are striving to improve our service and your business is very important to us. If there is anything I can do to help just me know and I’ll try to assist in any way possible.<br /><br />God bless,<br /><br />Larry Anthony<br />

Flat rate boxes are definitely the way to go. I used to work as an ebay dealer, and discovered the joy of the flat-rate system. No griping, no negotiating - if it fit in the box, I knew the cost <br /><br /><br />Incognito: It will definitely be cheaper to reship from CA to IL than to pay that sales tax.

Isn't everything cheaper by UPS ground nowadays? I remember hearing something about the price points finally reversing.

Big light items are cheapest UPS.<br /><br />Big heavy items are cheapest Fed Ex<br /><br />Small items of any weight are cheapest USPS.<br /><br /><br />

Decided to do some research and I finally found a site that compares across the 3 major shippers: shippingsidekick.com<br /><br />Wish I had found this back when I was shipping those damn Wii's. Would've saved myself at least $50.<br />

Sometimes you can even get a better rate from one of these big shippers -- I can ship via FedEx using the discount my company gets.  As long as we don't abuse it, they're cool with it.

That sounds great . What time do you think you can make it over each week to pick up the packages I need mailed?

Hey.  I drive down to Carbondale once a month (12+ hours, round-trip) and that costs me plenty of gas money.  If you expect me to drive to Jersey, I better get something good out of it.