ChildBook's Freight Charges:

• Free Shipping available for US orders.
• Fair Shipping Charges for Priority and Next Day based on actual cost
• Per item shipping vs. per pound or price.

Free Shipping - US delivery addresses only.
1-14 Days via Media Mail (third class).  Minimum order of $25 required.

Regular Shipping - US delivery addresses Only, 1-14 Days via Media Mail (third class).
$2 + .95 per item.

Canada/Mexico via Airmail (7-10 days).
$4.95 + 2.95 per item.

International Shipping 1-4 Business Days
$30 + 5.95 per item.

International Air Mail (Except Canada and Mexico).
$5.00 plus $6.95 per item.

Bundled and Overweight Items:

items that are bundled (like a set of 24 books and CD may be listed as 10 items, why 10 instead of 24, my attempt to be fair) will have a slightly higher shipping cost to reflect their actual shipping cost.  So a set of 4 books may count as 4 items.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is your shipping Fair?
Short answer is yes, I believe so.  

Longer answers: 

• Childbook offers free shipping as service to customers and with the increases in freight it's hard.
• If a customer opts for US Priority Mail (2-3 days) or ships internationally, I charge the same amount for shipping a DVD that weighs 6 ounces, as the latest Harry Potter book.  Even if the cost for shipping is considerably different.  ChildBook also charges the shipping charge for a customer in California that is local, as one in New York.  
• What I have done to make this fairer is increase the price for items that are bundled on shipping (unless a customer chooses free shipping) with the goal of just covering the cost on shipping.  The goal is to make shipping break even, and not be a profit or loss area.  In practice, sometimes I make money on shipping on an order and other times lose money.  It usually evens out.

Free Shipping - Why not International?

Cost, unfortunately even to Canada the cost of shipping is much more than within the US and I can't be losing money on shipping orders, or I won't have a business for long.

Free Shipping - Why $25

There is this large company that set the minimum order at $25, so I just copied them for ChildBook and it makes sense.  Below $25 there is not enough profit to be used to cover the free shipping.  My lowest actually shipping cost is $3 within the US for shipping a CD, which reflects my shipping charge for one item of $2.99,

Shipping Costs?  It's more expensive than you think...

1. Cost of actual shipping from UPS, FedEx, US Post Office, etc.  This has been increasing due to the price of oil increasing.
2. Cost of the box (around 50 cents each), except if you use priority mail, then it's free.
3. Cost of material (bubble wrap tracks the price of oil, so it's increased).
4. Costs vary depending on zones (how far it is from you) and weight.
5. There is a labor cost.
6. Label cost

Tariffs

Any tariffs that the country you live in charges for for goods shipped from ChildBook.com are your responsibility.  Please do not request I mark an item as a gift, unless it is a gift on custom forms.  All information on the customers form is filled in per the invoice on what you were charged.

EliteDresses.com

EliteDresses.com  Is a separate site (run by my wife) that sells Girl's Dresses including Girl's Chinese (Qipao) Dresses.  She does charge a shipping charge because she ships out Priority Mail which costs.  Plus she checks each dress before it ships to make sure all the flowers look great, zippers work, irons if needed, wraps it in tissue paper, then seals it in a plastic bag.  This adds up to extra labor that a small charge is added in the shipping and handling cost.