Postal Rates Changed

Hi everyone,

The United States Postal Service raised their prices at the start of this week. They advertised it as "a one-cent rise in the cost of First Class Mail." This is true. But what they didn't talk much about was the huge jump in international packages. Perhaps they are trying to make their Priority service look more attractive, but I've seen a HUGE jump in the cost of sending a whistle to Europe, and an even bigger one to Canada, because Canada used to cost less than Europe, but now all international shipments cost the same.

For example, I used to charge $8 for an international shipment, and I would win some and lose some depending on the country. On Tuesday when I sent a whistle off to Germany, it cost me $12.58. Yipes!

So, to allow room for the packaging etc. I have raised the shipping from $8 to $14 for international orders of whistles. Racks, since they are heavier and larger, cost even more.

I use the PayPal shipping calculator and base the cost of the order on the weight of the items being shipped, so several whistles might cross a weight boundary and jump the price a bit. But I try not to make money on the shipping. The reason I don't build the shipping into the price of the items is by charging according to weight, the second whistle in a domestic order ships for around twenty cents as compared to $2.41 for the first one, so it wouldn't be fair to build three or four dollars into the price of each whistle and give free shipping, even though that probably feels better when you are purchasing.

Someday I'll be able to email whistles to you, via 3-D printing, just like a fax machine. Well, maybe the next generation of whistle makers will be doing that. But until then, we're stuck with the post and other even more expensive carriers. Feel free to come to Florida for a holiday, have some tunes with us and pick up your whistle without any shipping cost at all!

Play on!

Carey