INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 09:30:23 AM
Greetings Renegades!
There are conspiracies in the game, and some in real life, but one of the things that's not a secret is how expensive international shipping has become. (For more information that is about "postal conspiracies," check out the links at the bottom of this post!)
The cost of producing these Chronicles of Darkness books has already gone up a bit, but the real impact will be felt by backers like myself – non-US residents that fall under the umbrella of “International Shipping.”
For the past few years, Onyx Path has tried to keep shipping charges as affordable as possible, including subsidizing the shipping charges using the margin from the books that were being created and shipped! But that way is untenable, and will lead to disaster.
So, with the cost of shipping looking to increase again, Onyx Path has unfortunately had to follow suit and increase the additional shipping costs on the kickstarter rewards sent to International backers.
For some, this may prove a difficult hurdle to overcome. To that end, I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware up front and early in the process, and to provide a list of alternative ideas and considerations. (Onyx Path is working on alternate programs and investigating alternate printing and shipping plans, but for this project, we absolutely need to rely on the tried and true to ensure it all works out for you.)
PDF ONLY – I’m an old-school, physical book fan – my copies of many rulebooks are covered in sticky notes marking often-referenced sections throughout the rules. I like being able to flip through physical books when building my characters.
But, I’m also running out of shelf space. And, though I often own the physical book, I end up using the PDF version as my go-to reference during play, especially when most of my gaming lately has been online and I’ve got two screens already up and running for the game. Going digital not only saves shelf space – and trees! – but also saves shipping charges with instant download delivery. If you’ve been thinking about going digital only, perhaps this project is the tipping point for that direction.
MULTI-BUY – acting as the point person with a partner or for your whole gaming group will allow you to pledge to the Manticore Companion or Cohort reward tiers, and have multiple copies sent in a single shipment. While it’s still expensive to ship, dividing the cost between 2 or 5 books (and players) may bring it down to a manageable level.
RETAIL ORDER – If you have a friendly local gaming store, perhaps you can pre-order a copy and get them to back at the Node reward tier, which provides retailers with 5 copies to sell to their customers.
ORDER THE HARDCOVER LATER – You could hold off on getting the hardcover version now, hoping that your local store will carry the book. The goal for this campaign is to fund at least one print run and get it into the game & hobby trade so that retailers not participating in the kickstarter will still be able to order it as part of their regular business. You may have to remind the store owners and get them to order it for you, but if you've got a solid store that you regularly visit, this is a solid option.
PRINT-ON-DEMAND - Onyx Path’s partners at DrivethruRPG.com use various PoD companies to create their Print-on-Demand versions, and these companies may have locations closer to your home and charge less for shipping. The other Chronicles of Darkness game lines are available as PoD items, as are most of the other Onyx Path lines. Eventually, Deviant: The Renegades will be as well. You could back at the Renegade reward tier level and wait for the eventual PoD release to order a physical book, which will possibly have lower shipping costs depending on your location.
FREIGHT FORWARDING – Another option is to join up with a freight forwarder or global shopping company. If you join up with a company like ARAMEX, for example, they provide you with a US address for Onyx Path to ship to. Once they receive your package, they provide different options to ship from their facility to you. I believe you can even combine a few shipments from different vendors, so this may be an idea for someone looking to purchase multiple items from the US. (See below on more information on freight forwarders).
YOU HAVE TIME TO DECIDE – This campaign has just started and will run for 4 weeks. Backing now allows you to follow along with our updates and manuscript previews, but you don’t have to make your final backing decision now – you can click on any reward tier and change your options up until the campaign ends.
Additionally, we will be running a post-campaign pledge manager with BackerKit after the campaign has ended, which will allow kickstarter backers to shift their pledges to a higher tier (and pay for the adjustment) up until the books are ready to ship, allowing you to contemplate all options before committing any further dollars.
While none of these solutions is ideal – personally, I can’t wait for teleportation technology! – there are more options than a simple binary choice. And there’s time to think it through. And know that I’m right there with you – shipping to Canada is TEN TIMES the cost of shipping within the US, and likely to get more expensive in time.
Good luck, fellow International Backers, and please share any other ideas you may have in the comments.
Additional information:
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) set to leave the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on October 17
Planet Money Podcast Episode 857: The Postal Illuminati
15 Best Parcel Forwarding Services for International Shoppers