PCB Layout for Musical Effects

[bluebunny]

I found my old Lulu order.  It mentions VAT registration details for the UK, France and Italy, but I'm not sure if that implies POD from those locations.  I guess you'd have to ask.  Postage for me for two spiral-bound books was £3.99 (five years ago).  Not exactly cheap, but not a showstopper.

[toybuilder]

I vigorously supported Small Bear's business model and ethics. As a result, the book was only available through Small Bear. I hate to see them shutting down. I wish Steve and all the people at Small Bear the very best.

First, the apology. I do not plan to offer the book as a pdf for "purchase". In my experience (and I have tried, several times) soft copy material is nearly immediately pirated and all sales stop. Sad, but true. I learned long ago that hard copy was the only viable medium that didn't just make me mad when stuff was stolen. Sorry - I know it's a PITA for you - and for me! - but hard copy is all that works for me. The second, third, and fourth editions would never have been done if it was sold as soft copy.

That being said, I've decided to see if the publisher for my books on Thomas Organ Vox amplifiers can handle this. I put PCB Layout up for sale at The Book Patch. Here's the link:
http://thebp.site/77462
Please tell me if this works well or not.

I just ordered a copy from the Book Patch. Looking forward to reading it. Approximately $40 shipped to a US address. I will update the thread with how well it worked when I receive my book.

[dubspecialist]

I'm glad people in the US are able to order. I'm still having no luck getting a copy to AU... The Book Patch are yet to respond to my incident request (aside from the initial automated responses). Real shame, hoping I can get a copy somehow 

[R.G.]

I do know that Book Patch is a very small outfit with a Xerox book printing machine. Or they were when I first checked them out. I'll get in touch with them and see if I can help.

[dubspecialist]

Thanks RG, I really appreciate it! Probs goes without saying but I'm v keen to grab a copy so if they get in touch and have a solution I'll be ready to order

[Jdansti]

I just ordered from The Book Patch. $40 shipped US Media Mail shipped in the US.

[Jdansti]

I'm glad people in the US are able to order. I'm still having no luck getting a copy to AU... The Book Patch are yet to respond to my incident request (aside from the initial automated responses). Real shame, hoping I can get a copy somehow 

The Book Patch says they ship worldwide on their website. Let me know if they say they can't ship to you and I'll ship you a copy if you'll reimburse the cost of the book, US shipping cost to me, and AU shipping cost from me to you.

[Phoenix]

Just checked out shipping to Australia on Book Patch, it's only slightly insane...
UPS Worldwide Express $180.40USD
UPS Worldwide Saver $176.96USD
UPS Worldwide Expedited $169.15USD

I'd love to get a copy, but shipping that's 5x the book+handling is a bit excessive, sorry!

FWIW I've had good experiences as a customer with Lulu (apart from when they closed their Adobe Digital Editions server and cut me off from my digital purchases - though I agree that digital distribution probably isn't a great idea for most authors and support you in resisting that).

Hope you can find a publisher that can serve most of the world with minimal complications/effort. Please keep us updated on any other vendors!

[R.G.]

Wow.
I don't go order my own books much, so I'm a little out of touch with their shipping costs.
[grind... rumble... crash... shriek... grind]
OK. I went off to Book Patch to see what shipping to Australia by postal service instead of UPS costs. Got the "can't communicate with our shipping provider" message. I'll keep trying. I've received books from Europe for much less than those prices.
I wonder if UPS isn't trying to use social engineering to limit how much they ship to Australia. I think the book rate for ordinary mail is much lower, though.
More info as I find it.

[Phoenix]

I don't go order my own books much, so I'm a little out of touch with their shipping costs.

I wonder if UPS isn't trying to use social engineering to limit how much they ship to Australia.

I fairly regularly have things shipped by UPS from the US, much larger and heavier than a book, at much lower rates than the Book Patch quotes I listed above. Of course prices are going to vary by account and volumes, but I suspect there's probably some sort of error in their price fetching system.
I wouldn't be shocked to see a price of up to maybe $50USD for shipping US to AUS for a book size item given what I've seen when internet "window shopping" at similar smaller retailers (though I'd still shop around for alternative sources with lower rates or try and make a larger purchase to better amortize the expense).

Thanks for looking into it RG, hope the effort is rewarded by more international purchases!

[PRR]

Just checked out shipping to Australia on Book Patch, it's only slightly insane...
UPS Worldwide Express $180.40USD
UPS Worldwide Saver $176.96USD
UPS Worldwide Expedited $169.15USD......

Yow! And yet, that IS what UPS charges. On the UPS site I was quoted:
Ship To: 2601 Australia (Acton/Canberra)
Ship From: ~~~~~~~~ United States
Customs Value: 40 USD
12 x 8 x 2 in.  Package Weight: 2 lbs.

UPS Worldwide Saver 168.89  USD *
UPS Worldwide Expedited® 154.67  USD *

I did not know the exact size/weight or use specific ZIP/Post codes, figuring the 11,000 mile run and the customs paperwork were the main cost.

This is entirely what most National Postal Services do (Sears catalogs etc) so Book Patch needs to patch-up their USPS link.
================================
US Post Office quote:
Large Envelope, weight 2 lb 0 oz (0.907 kg) to Australia
USPS GXG™ Envelopes**
USPS-Produced regular size cardboard envelope (12-1/2" x 9-1/2"),
Normal Delivery Time   1 - 3 business days to many major markets     $123.85
Priority Mail Express International™ Flat Rate Envelope
USPS-Produced Envelope: 12-1/2" x 9-1/2" or 15" x 9-1/2"
Maximum weight 4 pounds.
Normal Delivery Time   3 - 5 business days to many major markets1,2   $69.95

[vigilante397]

Yow! And yet, that IS what UPS charges.

Yes, I had to cancel a couple orders to Australia and New Zealand recently as USPS has suspended first class and priority international to that part of the world, so the cheapest way to send a single pedal (about 1 pound) is about $75. UPS quoted around $80, Fedex was $150, DHL was $170.

[R.G.]

I had a talk with author's support at Book Patch. Here's the short version.

They, like many internet shipping businesses, have built-in links inside their web site to query their shippers, which includes postal service, UPS, and Fedex. This happens automatically, in the checkout page code. The shippers respond and the checkout page offers only the shipping options which the shipping providers send back, on the fly. It's all automated.
If all their shippers send back errors or none reply, the page responds with the message that they are having problems with their shipping providers. This can happen if:
- the target country is not accepting USA shipments, or
- the shippers in the USA don't ship to that country;
Clearly, this is not an issue with Australia, although Canada was refusing USA shipments due to Covid for a while. In other countries, this may vary in real time, so it depends on the country.
Selectable shipping methods which are presented for checkout depends on the behind-the-scenes replies from the shippers. This can be an issue not only for the country and the state of interactions between the shippers and the countries, as above, but also if the address as entered has not  been recognized as a valid address by the shipper(s). For instance, an address may be missing some shipping code, or the street designation may be slightly wrong, or they don't serve that part of that country.
I really hope that this is not one of those systems problems where the machines are all doing what they've been told, but some magic combination of circumstances makes the combination of machines not work. I've seen those issues in my past professional life, and they are maddening. Every single machine is operating "correctly", and every machine owner is unable to find errors, because they don't exist in that machine. Everyone is absolutely right, but the end result doesn't work. I have scars from some of those systems issues. Ugh!!

In the case with Australia, my test order showed only the UPS options too. UPS is supposedly having some kind of difficulty with Australia, and apparently they were the only response. They are currently charging exorbitant rates for shipments to Australia.
I don't know why USPS media rate shipping didn't show up as an option, and neither did the Book Patch rep. I'm pretty sure they will deliver to most places in Australia, albeit taking a long time to do it.

I have started searching for a publish-on-demand service in Australia and Europe. I'm trying to find one with a similar structure to Book Patch, which works GREAT in the USA. I haven't found one yet, but then I just started.

[PRR]

There's even a lot of news about this. A LOT of news saying different things.

USPS has internal clogs and can't handle outgoing (to certain countries?).
USPS can't find flights, generally or to specific places.
NZ was closed for months, so no passenger flights, which is how small/medium mail usually travels.
Aus has been local quarantine open/closed for months. And few passenger flights.
Aus Post (also USPS!) has many workers on sick-leave.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/126562992/covid19-usps-stops-nz-mail-service-due-to-unavailability-of-transportation
https://powerretail.com.au/news/slower-than-in-the-70s-usps-temporarily-suspends-deliveries-to-australia/
https://blog.stamps.com/2021/09/02/usps-service-suspension-to-australia/
https://www.smh.com.au/national/consumers-fume-after-us-postal-service-suspends-australian-deliveries-20211001-p58wb8.html

[PRR]

A friend has a book small-published in the USA.

This UK bookstore claims to have it, and would Print On Demand and ship it to me (Maine) for US$ 18.14 plus US$ 9.60 shipping.
https://riachristiecollections.com/
I put a different book, £5.59 in my 'basket' and faked-up an Australian address. The quote said Standard Shipping: £6.93.

So POD in UK and ship to AUS? It may be $13USD to ship but that's way better than we see in the US.

However a lot of these online 'baskets' are unattended algorithms and may be out of sync with some Real World.

[R.G.]

I've dug into publish on demand services local to Australia. That's going to be about the lowest shipping cost and fastest service. I think. A couple of them are sending me quotes and setup rigamaroles that would be involved.

[PRR]

Shipping IS f*cked-up.

I was expecting a box via UPS. Around here UPS runs a fleet of the big brown vans. At the expected time (just now) a family mini-van appeared in the drive. The driver had a right-size box and a UPS safety-vest, so I just complemented his ride. But for UPS to NOT be running their custom brown rigs says something odd.

Saves wear and tear on the dog, though. She hates those big diesels! Minivan not so much.

(Yes, here FedEx runs company, subcontract, and temp vans, and can show up in anything.)

[DIY Bass]

Australia is also opening up more to international passenger flights over then next little bit, so mail might get through more easily too.

[R.G.]

I may have located a print-on-demand outfit in Australia. The printing and handling costs and hidden taxes are higher, but it will involve only postage and shipping within Australia. That is a lot cheaper than mailing from the USA.
A lot. 

We're still doing the dance on the deal and I'm trying to get up to speed on Australia's laws on printed works sold within Australia, registration, yada, yada, yada. But it's a possibility.

I don't know if using them to ship to Europe or other places would be cost effective and timely or not.

[Phoenix]

Thanks for the efforts RG, I hope it's worth your time investment and not just to satisfy a couple of us grumpy buggers down under!