Anybody from Germany with up to only 100 keys who wants to combine shipping?
I will get around 130 keys.
Would it be cheaper if you send all keys for germany to germany and we redistribute it here?
if shipping from DE to DE is say 10 and you have 4 people joining:
60 / 4 = 15 + 10 = 25
25 < 60
cheers
I think that was a "yes".
Seriously, you have no idea -- and neither did we -- how complicated the shipping and cost calculation really is. Over the past several days, Matt3o, me, more experienced GB-sponsors and not one but two tax professionals have been working on these calculations for something like six hours per day. Then Matt3o puts it into code and the results pop out.
We don't have the DSA keys here yet (obviously) but we have lots of other keys. And we have a few DSA keys. So we weighed them to estimate that, I personally placed sample volumes of keysets into actual USPS flat-rate boxes, and did everything we could do to ensure that (a) everyone would actually
get their keycaps and (b) the organizers wouldn't be left with a big financial hole.
Also, the order form and many of Matt3o's posts contained the message that the numbers
were the raw numbers from SP before any of the other costs. Since we know that PayPal adds fees, SP adds sorting fees and freight, packing supplies aren't free, some people will have to pay Sales Tax, and somehow the keycaps have to be sent around the planet, perhaps it was a mistake to use a
lower-than-possible cost in the pricing page. This exposed all of the actual extras that make this
non-profit event seem to be expensive.
Also, I've already stated that we have to work out special costing and payment for large orders, including, for example, vendor shipments to Vietnam. We will do so, but in the meantime, the pricing calculation treats those as enormous personal orders. They won't be.
This is apparently the downside of transparency. Nobody on this end is trying to make money or lose money. We are trying to get spiffy keycaps custom-made and shipped to enthusiasts around the globe safely and quickly.
Sorry for the rant and good morning all!
- Ron | samwisekoi