Buying Fantasy Craft in Canada

[Kaptn_Lath]

I am wondering what my options are for buying a Print Book of Fantasy Craft in Canada (Calgary, Alberta). I went to order one through crafty games - studio 2 publishing website the book is $50 but the cheapest shipping is $23 (49% of the book price). Anyway to get my hands on a Print copy of the second printing and not pay $75 ?? I then went to Amazon.ca and found a FLAGS that had one for $38 and shipped to Canada for an additional $35 which brought it right back to $70-75. I defiantly want to support the company but $75 is a bit much. Any other options? If i went to a local FLAGS (One of the biggest in western canada is on the other side of Calgary) could they get me one for cheaper? What can I do?

[Crafty_Pat]

Sadly, not much. We've been grappling with this particular issue for months now and there doesn't appear to be a way to get past the insane shipping fees out there.

What you're seeing there is, I'm guessing, Priority Mail International, and if so that price is actually just about right. You can check for yourself...

Here's the U.S. Postal Service's pricing to Canada: Fantasy Craft weighs ~5 lbs. with packaging.

UPS? It's worse. I can't set that up for you without knowing the specifics of the destination, but you can run it through if you want to be shocked. Studio 2 ships directly from Knoxville, TN (37921).

If anyone knows any secrets we haven't learned, we'd love to hear them!

There are several lessons here. One of them is that we need to make smaller products. Another is that everyone (we and you) need to work harder to get our books into stores - because if our friend Kaptn_Lath can get the book in an FLGS, shipping wouldn't be an issue (for him).

Kaptn' - Have you tried that? Visited your FLGS(es) and asked for the book? 

[Kaptn_Lath]

On my way out now actually, just had to wait for the kids to get home and finish their homework. Since its not a wizards of the consortium book I know the odds aren't the best that they will have one IN STOCK, but I thought I would research how much to get one sent to me, and ask the company (and the community) any other options before I drive across town (45+ minutes). Also from what I hear its cheaper to ship to the states than from the states (NAFTA my a$$). There are a few FLAGS here but the big one across town is one of the largest (18,000 sq feet) in western Canada so if anyones got it they might. Thanks for the quick reply & wish me luck.

[TheTSKoala]

Kaptn,

You could also ask the FLGS if they can order it for you.  I know our (now extinct) FLGS would do that for customers.  Outside of that, you could try the PDF.  (I actually prefer the pdf now.  Erratas = auto updated!  Printed = me scribbling on dead trees.)

[Desertpuma]

An almost equally expensive alternative might be to see if one is in Toronto or Vancouver or take drive south of the border to pick one up in Minneapolis or Milwaukee or somewhere closer in one of those two states.

[Crafty_Pat]

On my way out now actually, just had to wait for the kids to get home and finish their homework. Since its not a wizards of the consortium book I know the odds aren't the best that they will have one IN STOCK, but I thought I would research how much to get one sent to me, and ask the company (and the community) any other options before I drive across town (45+ minutes). Also from what I hear its cheaper to ship to the states than from the states (NAFTA my a$$). There are a few FLAGS here but the big one across town is one of the largest (18,000 sq feet) in western Canada so if anyones got it they might. Thanks for the quick reply & wish me luck.

Good luck! We recommend that if they don't have it in stock, you first ask them to stock it through their distributor(s) of choice. The more stores carry our products as a general rule, the better off everyone is. Failing that, see if they can special order it for you through their DOC.

If they claim their distributor is out of stock, please report back here with contact information for your store(s) and their distributor(s), as we can and will follow up with them directly.

Thanks again!

[Kaptn_Lath]

I am now the proud owner of a Second Printing Fantasy Craft book, yay! Took a 45 min drive in rush hour but its worth it (getting to a three story FLGS 5 minutes before closing time was a bummer tho) They had a first printing on the shelf which made me sad, but I asked if they had the second printing and the manager took a look in the back and low and behold second printing (dwarf - kick and swim are restricted not banned is how I could tell the difference quickly). I also told them about studio 2 publishing giving them a new second printing by taking a picture of the back of the one on the shelf so they could get it replaced. Made the manager happy enough to give me 5 bucks off the one i bought, and said if he gets the other one replaced he will put it on hold for me to pick up free next time i am in, so double #winning for the trip. So all in all $47. lot better than $73.

@ TSKola - I already had a "arrr matey" version of the PDF (first print) but wanted to support the company and get a print copy. Now me, crafty games, and the FLGs is happy!

[TheTSKoala]

@ Kaptn_Lath - Yar!  Welcome to the ..oh bloody hell.. Canada uses HMCS for her naval ships, right?  er.. regardless.. the HCMS Crafty! 

[Kaptn_Lath]

Tis a lovely ship, tho we should pick up more hands next time we are in port. I will start spreading the gospel on the CBG (Campaign builders guild) and the Cartographers Guild where I am a member. Anyone need a map made for their campaign? I do professional maps on a cheap rate for GMs for private use, and I have done a couple maps for companies so Crafty if you need a map for an up coming book  (i recognize the map for Sunchaser, Pasis on the Cartographers guild developed the style and released a tutorial for people to reproduce, even the textures on the Sunchaser map are the exact same)

[Crafty_Pat]

I am now the proud owner of a Second Printing Fantasy Craft book, yay! Took a 45 min drive in rush hour but its worth it (getting to a three story FLGS 5 minutes before closing time was a bummer tho) They had a first printing on the shelf which made me sad, but I asked if they had the second printing and the manager took a look in the back and low and behold second printing (dwarf - kick and swim are restricted not banned is how I could tell the difference quickly). I also told them about studio 2 publishing giving them a new second printing by taking a picture of the back of the one on the shelf so they could get it replaced. Made the manager happy enough to give me 5 bucks off the one i bought, and said if he gets the other one replaced he will put it on hold for me to pick up free next time i am in, so double #winning for the trip. So all in all $47. lot better than $73.

@ TSKola - I already had a "arrr matey" version of the PDF (first print) but wanted to support the company and get a print copy. Now me, crafty games, and the FLGs is happy!

Unduva! That's great news. We're so glad you scored yourself a copy, and that your store is pleased and stocking as well.

Many thanks for the update!

[Crafty_Pat]

Tis a lovely ship, tho we should pick up more hands next time we are in port. I will start spreading the gospel on the CBG (Campaign builders guild) and the Cartographers Guild where I am a member. Anyone need a map made for their campaign? I do professional maps on a cheap rate for GMs for private use, and I have done a couple maps for companies so Crafty if you need a map for an up coming book  (i recognize the map for Sunchaser, Pasis on the Cartographers guild developed the style and released a tutorial for people to reproduce, even the textures on the Sunchaser map are the exact same)

Pasis = Jared Blando, I presume?

We're always looking for qualified cartographers. Drop me a line and we'll get you onto the roster!

[Reef]

When I got mine (here in Canada as well), I just ended up ordering it from Amazon.com.  Shipping was cheap, and went through Customs without a hitch.  Fast, too.  Much easier than trying to get it through my local game shop, unfortunately.

[Crafty_Pat]

When I got mine (here in Canada as well), I just ended up ordering it from Amazon.com.  Shipping was cheap, and went through Customs without a hitch.  Fast, too.  Much easier than trying to get it through my local game shop, unfortunately.

Sometimes that's the case - but it also doesn't help us (or other fans) as much, unfortunately.

[Kaptn_Lath]

Pasis = Jared Blando, I presume?

We're always looking for qualified cartographers. Drop me a line and we'll get you onto the roster!

I think so, not sure since he released his tutorial just about everyone knows how to do that style of map in PS. I use GIMP and a slightly different style, I will email you with my portfolio of map work, and a couple extras for writing crunch (Eventually i will kick down a door that budges).

[Nova]

There are several large gaming stores in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and probably other major cities. Now I KNOW I've seen the v1 Fantasy Craft book over at 'le Valet de Coeur' (one of the larger, if not the largest, in montreal), but that may have been in the secondhand section. L'Imaginaire, in Quebec City, is absolutely massive (at least as far as canadian stores go), although it also deals in manga, comic books, wargaming and the rest (as is fairly common here at least). I don't live there anymore, however.

Most local companies I've worked with/for have their own shipping or get absolutely massive shipments all at once to counter the high per-unit cost of shipping anything across the border. A few cases also make good use of minimum wage employees with rented (or the employee's own) trucks, having them get the stuff personally as a "non-buisness" trip but that has (and should) cause problems, what with it effectively being smuggling.

I can't tell you much beyond "They just mostly take the hit and overcharge to compensate six times over", but that's not a good idea when your customer and his accounting department are the actual same person, and not several cities (and technical degrees) apart. But it may be easier to just get a one-shot large shipment across to a major city, and distribute out from there as a seperate order.

Or find one of the various conventions and take all the books yourself, with a highly coincidental date and time for everyone to pick up their orders... Of course perhaps printing locally might help too; no weight, just files to shift. If you can find a trustworthy printer of course, and that might still leave shipping to be figured out.

The size of your products is perfectly fine, unless you can get a cheap source of light graphene to replace all that heavy paper. In my case, it was easiest to grab the PDF, one of those many cheap printers where the whole deal is less expensive than ever replacing a single ink cartridge (bloody terrible system though, that) and then it was holepuncher and binder all the way.