Shipping Rates and Delivery Time

We Ship Orders Tuesdays and Thursdays

We use the US Post Office only, and use Media Mail or Priority Mail. 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 rates for books, Media Mail which is slow and cheap, Priority Mail which is Fast and not that expensive. Always use Priority Mail if you need the book within three weeks.

MEDIA MAIL is the usual method of shipment for books. Rates are $5 for the first item and .95 each additional item to the USA. Delivery time is 1-2 weeks. Large format books may cost a few dollars more. We charge a modest $2 extra for Media Rate on some large books to the USA.

PRIORITY MAIL is faster. Rates are $10 for the first item and $7 for each additional item, but as some items may be very heavy or very light we may increase or decrease that. Delivery is usually 2-5 days. All books on this website that will require an extra postage fee for Priority Mail or International Mail 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. For posters and larger Rare Maps we use a bomb proof poster tube that weighs over one pound itself for posters!

If 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 First Class or Priority Mail.

Shipping Rates to Canada, Europe and Asia

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

INTERNATIONAL AIRMAIL is $30 for the first book and $15 each additional book, but sometimes it is less and sometimes more as a 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 charge.

Mail to Canada is slow, but usually dependable. Most parcels take two weeks. Mail to Europe and Asia takes 2 to 4 weeks. Both Canada and the rest of the world can occasionally take much longer. The USA no longer offers a book rate or cheap International Surface Mail. 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 like the appearance of enhanced security and service. Tracking protects them, and 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.

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. We have had to replace a ''lost order'' fewer than four times a year out of thousands of orders, and that has remained steady for over thirty years.

Domestic orders by Media Rate take 5 days to 2 weeks. Since the USPS got hammered by increased volume in 2020 we have seen a few parcels taking 3 - 4 weeks. Parcels to Canada, Europe, Asia normally take 7-30 days, but can sometimes take longer. We have seen some delays at European customs. We usually do have tracking for international orders, but our experience is that talking or emailing the post office or customs has no effect as they often do not notify us, you or even your country's tracking feature.