Thank you for tackling your surveys -- over half of them area already answered! A few questions came up that we thought we'd answer here quickly in a brief FAQ:
- "Where's the Early Bird bonus poster for pledging in the first 48 hours?"
Sorry for that delay -- we had to figure out how to export all of the backer data with pledge timestamps, but figured it out and added those to those pledges that qualified. If you backed early, you should see them now. 😊 If you thought you qualified but don't see it in your basket, send us a message at [email protected]and we'll check it for you.
- "I'm a returning backer but don't see my $2 shipping credit."
That was another item we had to figure out how to assign, but figured it out with Backerkit's help -- you should see that credit on your pledge page now, too. Please note: these are only awarded for PHYSICAL pledges to help with shipping costs... digital-only pledges don't receive this reward. (If you upgrade from a digital tier to a physical tier or add a physical add-on to your order, let us know and we'll credit you accordingly once we confirm your return status...)
- "I pledged for a single book at the $35 tier, but see that LOST LETTERS is only $30 as an addon... why was the tier more expensive than the book?"
The first part of that answer is because the pledge tier includes a digital copy which is a $15 value, so you're saving $10 with that tier package. 😊 (MY DEAR PIERROT is $35 -- it is a bigger book -- so if that is your tier selection, you're getting the digital copy completely FREE!)
- "Why is US shipping so expensive? Media Mail shouldn't cost this much..."
The simple answer is: we aren't shipping by Media Mail, which hopefully can be appreciated. We've been shipping books for years now, and have come to the consistent conclusion that USPS does not treat Media Mail with any respect whatsoever. Other shipping levels can be fine, but MM is a risky venture. Packages shipped by Media Mail get tossed around like junk mail, regularly suffer damages from handling, can sometimes take weeks to arrive, and frighteningly frequently simply disappear with no effort given to locate them. Every package we ship has tracking and arrives within 5-10 days of leaving the warehouse.
We know shipping is expensive these days (particularly international), but there is only so much we can do to combat the rates set by the various carriers. We also have to take the packing materials and warehouse manpower into account, but we do what we can ease the burden wherever possible -- combining campaign orders, offering more add-ons to amortize the shipping costs over more items, and occasionally offering shipping credit as a special reward (as we were able to do this time). Believe me: we feel your pain -- it's eating away at us, too! (Times x1000!) 😉
If you have any other questions, feel free to email us at [email protected] or ask in the comments here (although we may be slower in responding in the comments, since those notifications are easier to miss...)
