There have been a couple of small but important changes to international shipping this month.
CHANGES TO TERMS OF CARRIAGE
It’s always tricky shipping replica weapons. Most couriers are twitchy about carrying them and those that aren’t are phenomenally expensive. All of these companies maintain a list of prohibited items and due to a technicalitiy my prop weapons are classed as something I’m not supposed to be shipping.
This is a particular bugbear of mine as the vast majority of my products do not resemble actual weapons, have no x-ray signiature beyond the aluminium core inside them and pose no danger to anyone at all. They are essentially the melee equivalent of a NERF gun, which are also prohibited items because they are classed as ‘replica guns’ instead of ‘toys’! That’s how stupid this situation has become.
My feelings about courier companies and their prohibited items lists has been well documented and I’m absolutely convinced that there isn’t a single thing on the planet that they couldn’t crowbar into at least one category on that list to idemnify them against any responsibility. It’s utterly infuriating, it’s the part of the job that really sucks the joy out of the rest and it has caused me no end of anxiety and stress.
To that end I have made a couple of changes to international orders of prop weapons.
The Seller (Peculiartifacts) assumes no responsibility for items lost or damaged in transit.
Essentially this means that you agree to waive any and all rights to a refund or replacement in the event of your order going missing or turning up damaged. Your order will still be completed as normal, packed securely and shipped and will arrive just as expected. However, there is still a very small chance that something will happen along the way. It is highly unlikely, in the seven or eight years I’ve been doing this only one order has gone missing, but it’s a possibility and I feel you have the right to know, and I have a duty to explain.
This doesn’t change anything else, if your order arrives and it’s wrong I’ll take care of it. If it does go missing I’ll do all I can to help track it down.
The Buyer will be given the opportunity to arrange their own shipping of their order once the Seller confirms the order is ready to ship.
Because the previous point isn’t the best solution by any stretch of the imagination I am introducing an option whereby you can arrange your own shipping for your order. This means you have the choice of courier, level of protection and price you feel is fair. I don’t know about you, but there are some companies I wouldn’t trust with an empty box, nevermind something that represents hours of work and a sizeable chunk of your hard earned money. This option gives you the freedom of choice.
On my end, again, this doesn’t really change anything else. I’ll still complete and securely pack your order. Once it’s ready to go I’ll supply all the details you need to arrange the collection of your order and an email address to send your shipping labels to so I can label up your package.
ALL SHIPPING TO THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY
Due to the exobitant cost of shipping to the United States I am no longer able offer shipping to any address in the US. Since December 2022 the cost of shipping has almost tripled, I don’t know why but it has.
This pushes the cost of shipping far above what I believe is a reasonable price, far above the cost of any product I offer, and far above what I am prepared to ask my customers to pay. It has caused me many sleepless nights and hours of head scratching to find a solution but, alas, I have not found a way around this.
It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly, the vast majority of my work goes to the US and I don’t want that to stop. I am monitoring prices regularly, but I do not see a way forward unless the prices come back down.
FINAL WORDS
All of these changes apply both to my Etsy store and the store located within this website. It’s a stupid situation and I hate that it’s come to this.
Lastly, a note to my fellow denizens of the UK, none of the changes impact you either through my Etsy store, or directly through this site, or through my friends at Powder Monkey Gaming. Service as normal throughout the UK.