Shipping

The shipping cost for an order is calculated by the website after it knows your country and the weight of your order. The easiest way of finding out the total cost to buy goods including shipping to your location is to enter it into the shopping cart on the website and go right through to the payment stage having given your address. You can do this before you commit to buying, and we won't spam you if you have entered your email address.

This also gives the website a chance to remove the 21% European sales tax (BTW / VAT) which you won't have to pay if you live outside of the European Union.

We do not seek to make profit on shipping. The price calculated by the website is that which we calculate will be charged plus a percentage to cover costs (tax and paypal). For very low value orders the shipping cost includes some allowance for time and costs to pack your order.

If there is a significant difference in what your parcel costs to ship relative to our website's calculation then we will normally process a partial refund.

Please don't ask why shipping is "expensive" for buying one relatively low cost but heavy item. The answer is simple: shipping costs depend on weight and size, not on cost. Because we sell some relatively heavy items for prices which are much lower than on other websites, sometimes the postage will seem high relative to the item cost. We know of some instances where other websites have exactly the same items for as much as four times our price. Would you rather that we increase the cost of the goods to make the postage seem relatively less expensive ?

If you buy multiple items then the postage rate per item is lower.

Who will deliver your parcel ?

It's not always possible for us to tell you which company will deliver your parcel in your country. For DPD parcels we expect the delivery to be made by the same company, but parcels sent with the Dutch post office will be delivered by whichever company has a contract with them in your country and that varies over time and sometimes also depending on the weight or shape of your parcel.

Notes written on parcels

If you want us to write on a parcel that it should be delivered nextdoor if you're not home we can do that. We cannot write on your parcel that it is a gift in order to avoid import taxes. If you have paid for insured postage then we can't write that the deliverer should leave it on your doorstep unsigned.

Britain in 2021

Unfortunately, we will not be able to send parcels to the UK from mid December 2020 onward. Quite apart from uncertainty due to Brexit surrounding the shipping cost, taxation etc. after that time, there is also a problem caused by the British government deciding to impose a unique taxation regime which will require every company in the world in every country in the world outside the UK which exports to the UK to apply and collect British taxes on behalf of the British government. For providing this service they intend to charge a fee to every company in the world in every country in the world which exports to the UK. Clearly this is ludicrous for one country, but imagine if every country in the world had the same idea. If every country decided to behave in the same way then we would have to pay 195 fees every year, keep up with the changes in taxation law for 195 different countries, keep accounts on behalf of 195 different countries and submit payments to 195 tax offices in 195 different countries, and jump through whatever hoops were required to prove that we were doing all of this honestly and without any error.

Therefore from mid December 2020 onward we ship to every country in the world... except the UK.

We have many customers within the UK and would like to be able to trade with them. Not being able to send parcels to the UK does not work in any way in our favour and it is not what we wanted. We are forced by British policy to stop dealing with British customers. If you're angry about this, and you may well be so, please contact your elected representative in the UK.