Shipping to APO and Canada

[lmsolonynko]

I am very discouraged by what I just discovered today. I have the new version of mp and I have been planning my book for a while. Then I discovered the issues about shipping to Canada (being charged brokerage fees). All Canadians should be aware that duty fees should not be charged under NAFTA (if merchandise is manufactured in USA, Canadians do not pay Duty. Assuming the books are printed in USA, no Duty is paid). The brokerage fees are a different story. Sadly, mp seems to be dropping the ball here by allowing fedex to charge this. I rechecked the mp shipping info and it still says that these brokerage fees are included in the price of shipping. I have also not seen mp address this in the forum.

I am in a unique situation. I am a Canadian UN Peacekeeper in Cyprus. Thankfully, I have access to the American Embassy's APO address in order to receive goods from North America. I was extremely disappointed to see that mp does not allow for shipping to APO addresses. I understand that Fedex will not do this, BUT regular USPS will. Why not just use USPS? An APO address is a domestic mailing address. These days, it is rare to see a company who refuses to mail to an APO address. It is really quite disturbing.

My original thinking was that I would order my books through the APO and then sort out the shipping to Canada when I get back home (July 2009). Now it looks like mp is making it impossible to use their service period. It is a real shame because I was going to sell my books to the other UN people here on the island. I had already gotten people interested in ordering. With over 1000 UN members here, I had a great opportunity for sales (which is sales for mp). Now I have to find another solution. I have investigated many of the other photobook makers and my head hurts. If anyone has ordered from another and likes what they got please let me know. Feel free to email me privately if you like.

Lisa
:confused:

[lmsolonynko]

Hello??????? A response would be much appreciated.

[dasani]

I think the issue of shipping to Canada is just repeatedly ignored.
Please if the mod would answer this question i would really appreciate.

[corporallouis]

Doesn't being totally ignored for over two months tell you something about how Canadians are looked upon in the grand scheme of things at MP ? I wish to hell someone would wise up and offer a USPS shipping option ! I detest paying these border bandits 2 cents for supposedly handling customs papers. I bet you a dollar to a donut they just stick on the coins and use MP's information and never fill out a paper through Customs. :mad: I'm not positive at the moment, but I think Blurb now offers U.S.P.S. as a shipping option.

[lmsolonynko]

Yup, I am amazed that they are not even responding. What is the deal? They have no problem filling my email with ads for their fantastic books (of which I would not know).

It is a bit late now to put together something for christmas. I guess we are all loosing out.

I was really really disappointed that they do not ship to APO addresses. I guess they are one of the few online companies who do not care about the hundreds of thousands of US military people out there serving the US. I speak from experience when I say that receiving a momento like a photo book from home would be a wonderful thing at Christmas.

I would still appreciate an answer from mp. Anyone? Hello.......

Lisa

[mypublisher]

Hi All,

I'm so sorry you feel MyPublisher is ignoring this issue. Rest assured we are not ignoring our Canadian customers. Unfortunately MyPublisher cannot adjust the additional shipping fees imposed on orders shipped to destinations in Canada. Likewise we currently have a shipping agreement with Fed Ex that we can neither adjust nor break in this instance.


We are truly sorry for this misunderstanding.

Best wishes,

MyPublisher

[corporallouis]

Please inform us Canadians just "what" this agreement entails . . . YOU can charge a brokerage fee and so can they ? I'd like to see what my final delivered cost of a book will be including brokerage fees. I DO NOT want these parasites banging on my door trying to collect more brokerage fees for doing absolutely nothing to warrant it. If I pay one amount for brokerage to you and then another brokerage fee to them, does this not sound strange to you ?

[fotojuraj]

I am in Ontario, Canada. So far I've published about 15 books. Here is my personal experience:
If the order from MP contains one book, that is not too expensive (lets say 50 pages, Classic Book), there are usually no additional fees at the Canadian border.
If the book contains close to 100 pages, then there is addional fee collected, but not always (it probably depends on a mood of brokerage clerk).
If you order 2-3 copies of the same book (now making it more expensive), the additional fees are collected.
Here are the figures from my latest 3 book order:
MP declared the value of 3 books to be $90 US.
On FedEx receipt, they used 1.29 as exchange rate (even though it is actually 1.21 today), that made Value for Duty at $116.72 Can.
Fees collected are:
Customs $0
Sima $0 ??? unknown what this is
Excise Tax $0
GST $5.84
PST $0
ROD Fee $10.00 ??? unknown what this is, but guessing "Handling Fee"
ASF $0 ??? unknown what this is
GST $0.50 probably on ROD fee above

Total collected by FedEx $16.34

My personal opinion is that some imaginary dollar figure of the book order "triggers" GST calculation (which goes to Canadian Federal Government) and that the ROD Fee is something that FedEx keeps for their trouble, providing receipt and collecting this tax.
A total Rip-Off!