The Great Zazzle Overseas Shipping Rip-Off: Which domain should you order from?

Bah. I posted about this in the Zazzle forums and it was promptly deleted, by which I assume my calculations are accurate, and my concerns valid, as if I was mistaken it would have been easier to correct me. If they'd left it up, I wouldn't have bothered posting here, but now they've deleted it - and I was hoping for an actual response - I'm writing it up for the world.



There's a free shipping deal running on the Zazzle.co.nz site until December 6th; I was planning to take rampant advantage. There are also a LOT of deals - often up to 50% - running on the main .com site

I just checked the differences on a keychain to take advantage of the free shipping - turns out that the total cost including shipping to NZ costs nearly twice as much.


Here are my calculations (I had two tabs open, and was testing on one off my own keychains, so default price; conversions are rounded and exact exchange rate varies anyway so pfft)

NZ
keychain = $5.54 (US$4.12)
Shipping = $9.35 (US$6.95 )
Total= $14.89 ($11.07 USD)

US
keychain = $2.95 ($3.97 NZD)
Shipping = $3.99 ($5.36 NZD)
Total= $6.94 ($9.34 NZD)

The actual product is almost the same price, allowing for slight variations in conversion rate. The difference gets a lot more marked at higher prices (a $42 iPhone = $54ish NZ, while on the NZ site, it's $63) by the shipping is very different.

The total cost is $6.94 on the US site, and $11.07 on the NZ site.

There is NO REASON for the shipping to be marked up like that! The item itself is marked up, allegedly to cover import taxes and local market value, which is partly bull, depending on where you live and how much you order. And the internet is global now - creating artificial country divisions doesn't work with anyone halfway internet savvy.



After playing around a bit more, I found that I could use one of the coupons that was active at the moment - 50% off keychains, hence my experiment - to place an order for $23 NZ, that would have cost $49.86 NZ, with the free shipping. The US deals are way better, frankly.

I also found that the point at which the bulk discount on products kicks in is the point it jumps up to the next tier in shipping, so it's worth playing around with your cart, and possibly placing two orders (e.g. 2x9 keychains at $3.99 shipping, rather than 18 keychains, with a 17% discount, and $12.99 shipping).

The bulk shipping is probably one reason for the 'high' shipping prices - you are much better off shipping in bulk than singly. The fact that different products ship separately is real pain, though. That's the one place where the free shipping would be worth it. That, or just stalking the deals and placing separate orders.


What does it mean? It means be really careful, doublecheck what you are about to pay, don't be afraid to order from overseas - and check if there's a better deal on that site.

And if you're selling... well, take the time to go through and find out what shipping will cost and how many you can buy before the shipping increases. Have a look at the exchange rates, and remember that the .com site usually has the best and the most. Having to faff around figuring out what would cost what is one of the things that's put me off so long.

I did order some keychains, though. From the US domain, with the 50% off code. I'll order some more stuff, probably, while the deals are going. The NZ free shipping doesn't expire until Monday, after all... and it came out of my pending Zazzle earnings for this month anyway, so it would only have sat in my Paypal until I spent it.


Update: my keychains arrived, and my cat approved.

Autumn Art, A Sale and A New Bujold Book!

I actually sold an iPhone case on Zazzle! I am very surprised, as I was just making them for fun - it was this one ^_^ I remember painting this in the UK after visiting lots of art galleries in France and Germany. And it was the first time in a month I'd been able to sit at a computer and play with ArtRage (I carried my tablet with me. A possible addiction?). And I was looking forward to visiting Dartmoor again, which is probably my most favourite place in the world.

Autumneve by Flynn_the_Cat
View other cases for the iphone

So, a mix of Der Blaue Reiter and impressionism (I actually got to see the Kandinsky exhibition in Munich) and cats, because I like cats. And the moors.

I've been getting all ambitious, with the release of iphone/iPad cases on Zazzle, and trying to make cases of all the pictures in my gallery. It's... did I say ambitious already? Oh, I did. Well, it's ambitious! I've been compiling them into a Squidoo lens - mostly only the iPhone 4 section has much to look at.
And I've been setting my mother up on Zazzle with her photography of Barcelona. So far I've done all the work, but she's very pleased with it ^_^ And adding slowly to the lens about Eyam I started for her.

Also, been rereading the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, and I still love them. They are brilliant, engaging and awesome. I attribute unto them my highest praise.And... OHO? There's a new book! Cryoburn just came out! I know what I want for Christmas!

Three Postcard Paintings: Sketchblog

Painted these two days ago, to send to relatives.They're on watercolour postcards - I picked up a tin in a sale. The paints are acrylics though, because I keep forgetting that my watercolours are ancient and too solid to use. I should buy more... I recently bought some better brushes - so much worth it.

The fieldmouse is from a photograph in the book Minibeast (Hand-Made Habitats) (which is an out-of-print but very good book about setting up projects and things in schools/gardens in the UK). The whiskers are annoying - too thick, but that's too late to change. Long Tailed Field Mouse, or Wood Mouse Apodemus sylvaticus

The fish is a discus called Wanda that was swimming around over my head when I was looking around for something else to paint. It's a bully, and male,  the largest in the tank. Also my flatmate's favourite ;D

And this is a black stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae), or Kakī (Maori name). They're delicate, graceful little birds that are also endangered, in fact they are the rarest wading bird in the world. I remember studying them at University - attempts at handraising them, and the methods of doing so. They tend to stand on one leg, and hide the other in their feathers.


The mouse is my favourite and so has gone up on DeviantArt

First Person In The World To See Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

I just got back from the first midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, and as I am in New Zealand, I am officially the first person to see it in the cinemas. Entirely thanks to my sister, who gave me her ticket as she couldn't go, and I may even pay her back for it XD

...well, fine, me and five theatres full of people at that cinema, as well as goodness knows how many over the rest of New Zealand!

I'm all awake now (it's nearly 4am) so I figured I might as well write about it. How was it? Well, I hadn't reread the book since it first came out, and I liked the last one the least (too much drama, death and whining) so I was well-placed to enjoy the film.How much did I enjoy it? Well, I never got the bar of chocolate out of my bag that I brought! (Fair trade chocolate, of course).

The teenage angst was toned down a bit, and made believable, Ron got over himself believably, Hermione was all around awesome, some of the events seem to be skipped past a bit fast early on, and the whole 'quest for the Deathly Hallows' and the Horcruxes made a lot more sense (in the book it was '...okay. So they've decided that They Must Do This Quest' whereas in the film it made slightly more sense, as they were bounced around by events, and were often very much alone and/or the only ones free to act.) The soundtrack was again very awesome and at one point there's a feature from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds over the radio and a brief attempt at cheering up.


Definitely one of the better films in the series though, and I'd happily go watch it again. And it was long, so I wasn't too sorry when it ended, but it was good enough that I rather wish Part II was out already!

Some gory bits - lots of darkness (death of Bathilda Bagshot, and the muggle-loving teacher, George's clever catching of a curse with his head was played for both gruesome drama and laughs... ). When Bellatrix tortured Hermione was very intense as well. Dobby turned into a Deus ex Machina, but the film quickly fixed that. Also a lot of regular tension relievers and laughs. Ron getting splinched was pretty ick.

Summing up the entire series best was the ending... Voldemort hovering over (dead) Dumbledore, reaching for the elder wand... perfect moment to end the film (and lead on to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II). But no, we have to have a couple more minutes in order to have a dramatic magical lightshow, which wasn't half as impressive and creepy and as much of a 'hook'. That's what most of them have been like - something really well done, followed up by a cheesy whizbang ;D

Agreements? Disagreements?

Spider Paintings: Sketchblog

Two Spidery paintings - neither is finished, both fun, may never be finished.

This one's probably Drow inspired - a female headed giant spider. Just called Spider at the moment. The hands are definitely not staying - was having fun with the gloop pen. The only 'properly' painted bit is her face, the rest is all random sticker tools.

....and I just saved this version over the full one *headdesk* sleeping times, methinks.





Currently titled Spider and Bird. Going for a Dreamtime sort of feel. Had fun with the background - just threw paint at the screen then attacked it with a palette knife ^_^
A continuation from the Hanging Around quick sketch