Shipping Rates and Delivery Time

We Ship Orders Tuesdays and Thursdays

We use the United States Post Office only, and use Media Mail or Priority Mail. Media Mail has improved recently. We ship orders on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We do not offer One Day or Overnight Delivery. We do not use UPS or FedEx.

Book Orders to the USA, Rates and Time

You have a choice on shipping methods, Media Mail which is cheap, or Priority Mail which is Fast. Always use Priority Mail if you need the book by any specific date.

MEDIA MAIL is the usual method of shipment for books within the USA. Rates are $5 for the first item and $1.50 each additional item to the USA. Obviously if you order a set of magazines it may cost more to mail.

Delivery time is 1-2 weeks. Large format or heavy books may cost $2 - $5 dollars more.

PRIORITY MAIL is fast, 2-3 days. Rates are $10 for the first item and $7 for each additional item. All items on this website that will require extra postage will say, ''This book is large and extra postage will be requested for Priority Mail or International Mail.'

SHIPPING RATES FOR NON-BOOKS: POSTERS, RARE MAPS, ICE AXES, PITONS, for USA, CANADA AND INTERNATIONAL

Posters, rare maps, and some other items will be shipped in a separate parcel from the books you order, and not all the rates can be programmed into our website. Postage is usually listed in each item's description if it does not fit our standard formula.

Ice Axes are $35 Priority Mail to USA addresses, and $75 Airmail to most foreign addresses.

Posters are $6-$10 postage. For posters and Rare Maps we use a bomb proof poster tube that weighs over one pound itself!

When there is an extra shipping charge, and if you paid us by PayPal, we will ship after you pay our subsequent invoice. Heavy non-book items like Pitons, Ice Axes, Climbing Boots or Climbing Ropes will be sent as Priority Mail.

SHIPPING RATES TO CANADA, EUROPE AND ASIA

International postage is expensive. It is Airmail only, with no surface mail option.

INTERNATIONAL AIRMAIL is $35 for the first book and $15 each additional book, but sometimes it is less and sometimes more as a 10 page pamphlet can weigh a few ounces and a large book as much as 10 pounds. Additional books are programmed at $15 each, but we may charge more or less than that. Delivery often takes one or two weeks everywhere in the world, but can take longer.

Postage to Canada is $25 First Item, $15 Each Additional. When we say in the book description, ''Large format book requires extra postage for Media Mail, Priority Mail and International Mail,'' it may double the website's formula charge.

Mail to Canada is slow, but usually dependable. Most parcels take two weeks. Air Mail to the EU, OZ and NZ takes 2 to 4 weeks. Both Canada and the rest of the world can occasionally take longer.

Recently a new pattern on slow delivery to Europe is the Customs Examination in your country. There is no duty on books anywhere, but if your country has a VAT or GST Tax you may be asked to pay it.

Tracking Orders

We do not use tracking on orders to the USA, we do use tracking for orders to Canada, Europe and Asia

We do not provide tracking numbers. Tracking will neither speed up your delivery or replace a lost order. We do concede that it does provide some entertainment value.

Amazon popularized tracking because they were getting many claims that packages did not arrive, or arrived open or damaged. Then they found that people liked the appearance of enhanced security and service. Tracking protects the shipper, not the customer. It tells you what you already know, that it's in the mail somewhere. The Post Office will not look for a delayed parcel even with a tracking number.

If you are expecting a parcel for us and you think it is late, ask at your Post Office. They often hold book orders at the PO as they are might be too heavy for their mailmen.

LOST ORDERS

Lost orders are a myth. We have had to replace a ''lost order'' perhaps twice a year out of thousands of orders, and that has remained steady for forty years.

Like most reputable mail order companies we replace or refund lost orders. US Postal Service Mail shipments are not considered lost by the postal service until thirty days from mailing. Many 'lost' parcels are often being hold at your post office, or may have been delivered to your neighbor.

Domestic orders by Media Rate take 5 days to 2 weeks. To their credit the US Postal Service has actually gotten faster since the pandemic.

Parcels to Canada, Europe and OZ/NZ normally take 7-30 days, but can sometimes take longer. We have seen delays at European customs, with no notification and not stated on tracking.