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Showing 1 of 483 conversations about:
Pando
62
Jun 26, 2017
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THIS is how you differentiate Massdrop. Brilliant drop. My first drop...ordered.
JonasHeineman
5987
Jun 26, 2017
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PandoGreat to hear, welcome and thanks for the feedback!
Dr.Oetqer
218
Jun 27, 2017
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JonasHeinemanGreat drop indeed, the only real ugly thing here is the exorbitant shipping costs, $14 are you for real?! What is the reason?
In the past I paid normally something between the 3 and 6 US dollars. Even now there is so much difference between the different drops, it's not funny anymore!
@JonasHeineman please take some time and answer my question. I already asked several times before but never got an answer. Thanks.
JonasHeineman
5987
Jun 27, 2017
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Dr.OetqerOkay, lots to unpack here so I will try to address it all individually...
I don't know the point of reference that you have for shipping items from the US to your country, which appears to be somewhere other than Canada, but putting stuff on planes and flying it around the world isn't cheap, despite what Amazon might have people believe.
In the past, you may have joined any number of drops where shipping was free or reduced - I'm not sure - but our policies about which drops qualify for this have changed a number of times in the 2+ years I've been with Massdrop, as have our parcel carrier partners and the contracts we have with each of them.
Additionally, the cost of packing and shipping Blue Boxes is significantly higher than standard drops; that's one thing I think we could do to improve messaging around this, because it's not just postage that you're paying for - it's the box and packaging and at least one person's time in the warhouse. Our team has to do the random number generation that results in upgrades, and the same for prizes. Then we have to communicate this to the warehouse team, who then has to pack each box with the correct goods. As opposed to a normal drop, the size and type and packaging for each box varies, depending on what's in it.
That being said, the alternative is for us only to have Blue Boxes ship within the US; this has been proposed, mostly because we get a handful of people who get upset about having to pay customs duties on the fair market value of the upgrades or prizes, even though 1) they are basically free and 2) we're obligated to state the actual value of what's inside the box...because laws n stuff. In the past, I've advocated for continuing to make them open to international members - like the 25ish of 145+ who have joined this drop.
I've also advocated ad nauseum for our logistics team to find cheaper, faster ways to ship goods overseas - it's something they work on all the time, but it's not as easy or simple to achieve as most people think - especially for a company that doesn't have stock on hand. But it is something that Massdrop thinks about and works toward every single day. I see that you've asked about this before, but I think it's the first time I've been tagged in your comment, so apologies for the delay but I hope you now have some good context and reasoning.
Clearly, we have a ways to go yet. Growth helps. Comments like this help. Someday, when we have ten million more users and all the carriers are tripping over each other to give us the best rates, and we have warehouses on every continent and our own jets that fly on a low-cost mix of biofuel and unicorn farts, maybe we can get it done for a price that makes all drops easy to say "yes" to. In the meantime, we'll understand if you have to say "no" to some of them and thank you for reminding us that it's an important thing to keep working on.
I don't know the point of reference that you have for shipping items from the US to your country, which appears to be somewhere other than Canada, but putting stuff on planes and flying it around the world isn't cheap, despite what Amazon might have people believe.
In the past, you may have joined any number of drops where shipping was free or reduced - I'm not sure - but our policies about which drops qualify for this have changed a number of times in the 2+ years I've been with Massdrop, as have our parcel carrier partners and the contracts we have with each of them.
Additionally, the cost of packing and shipping Blue Boxes is significantly higher than standard drops; that's one thing I think we could do to improve messaging around this, because it's not just postage that you're paying for - it's the box and packaging and at least one person's time in the warhouse. Our team has to do the random number generation that results in upgrades, and the same for prizes. Then we have to communicate this to the warehouse team, who then has to pack each box with the correct goods. As opposed to a normal drop, the size and type and packaging for each box varies, depending on what's in it.
That being said, the alternative is for us only to have Blue Boxes ship within the US; this has been proposed, mostly because we get a handful of people who get upset about having to pay customs duties on the fair market value of the upgrades or prizes, even though 1) they are basically free and 2) we're obligated to state the actual value of what's inside the box...because laws n stuff. In the past, I've advocated for continuing to make them open to international members - like the 25ish of 145+ who have joined this drop.
I've also advocated ad nauseum for our logistics team to find cheaper, faster ways to ship goods overseas - it's something they work on all the time, but it's not as easy or simple to achieve as most people think - especially for a company that doesn't have stock on hand. But it is something that Massdrop thinks about and works toward every single day. I see that you've asked about this before, but I think it's the first time I've been tagged in your comment, so apologies for the delay but I hope you now have some good context and reasoning.
Clearly, we have a ways to go yet. Growth helps. Comments like this help. Someday, when we have ten million more users and all the carriers are tripping over each other to give us the best rates, and we have warehouses on every continent and our own jets that fly on a low-cost mix of biofuel and unicorn farts, maybe we can get it done for a price that makes all drops easy to say "yes" to. In the meantime, we'll understand if you have to say "no" to some of them and thank you for reminding us that it's an important thing to keep working on.
SamKaar
0
Jun 27, 2017
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JonasHeinemanI'm wondering if you guys are open to the idea of marking shipped items as gifts in order to avoid excise when shipping to the UK?
deeoh
Jun 27, 2017
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SamKaarDid you read his reply? Paragraph 3, end of run-on sentence 1, "because of laws n stuff." So, no, I don't think they're open to the idea of bringing legal action against themselves.
neida
1
Jun 28, 2017
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JonasHeineman"That being said, the alternative is for us only to have Blue Boxes ship within the US; this has been proposed, mostly because we get a handful of people who get upset about having to pay customs duties on the fair market value of the upgrades or prizes, even though 1) they are basically free and 2) we're obligated to state the actual value of what's inside the box...because laws n stuff."
I haven't checked with any other country's customs regulations, but for Norway the correct way to declare value on a Blue Box drop would be: - Upgrade: the actual PRICE PAID is the correct customs value, no matter how expensive the upgraded item is. An upgrade would be considered a price discount, and in the case of discounted goods (as with all goods that are paid for) you are only liable to pay duties and taxes for the amount actually paid. - Prize: the "fair market value" is the correct customs value. This is in effect a gift, and should be taxed at its actual value.
So for example: Black FRN customs value: 86.99 Fluted Titanium customs value: ALSO 86.99 Manix customs value: Either full MSRP or Minimum Advertised Price would be correct.
That said, I really appreciate Massdrop's customer support. In the few cases where there has been an error with the customs value, Massdrop has been extremely helpful (this is my work PC account with no drops).
I haven't checked with any other country's customs regulations, but for Norway the correct way to declare value on a Blue Box drop would be: - Upgrade: the actual PRICE PAID is the correct customs value, no matter how expensive the upgraded item is. An upgrade would be considered a price discount, and in the case of discounted goods (as with all goods that are paid for) you are only liable to pay duties and taxes for the amount actually paid. - Prize: the "fair market value" is the correct customs value. This is in effect a gift, and should be taxed at its actual value.
So for example: Black FRN customs value: 86.99 Fluted Titanium customs value: ALSO 86.99 Manix customs value: Either full MSRP or Minimum Advertised Price would be correct.
That said, I really appreciate Massdrop's customer support. In the few cases where there has been an error with the customs value, Massdrop has been extremely helpful (this is my work PC account with no drops).
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