If you are reading this page, there's a good chance you're from outside the US and interested in buying one of our books but are surprised by the shipping cost. Let's take a look at why shipping costs what it does, and how to save serious money.

To understand international shipping costs, you need to know both parts of the calculation:

• The base cost of shipping anything, no matter how small and light
• The cost of each additional unit of weight, e.g., lbs.

This first item is responsible for a huge portion of the final cost. Let’s look at a real-world example: shipping a 10x10x1-inch box weighing 1 lb. from New Orleans to Paris (Picture a paperback in a tiny pizza box)

If you go to a UPS store, it will cost $132. Oof! (See for yourself here.) Now imagine you send the same box, but weighing 5 lbs. The cost is $235. While very expensive, each additional lb. only adds $25 to the cost.

Fortunately, eCommerce sites purchase shipping at highly discounted rates. Using the above scenario (a 1 lb. box going to Paris,) the cost is $45; a 5 lb. box costs $52, and a 10 lb. box costs $67. Each additional lb. increases the cost by only $3.

With this understanding you can save significantly on shipping. In brief, the more you ship, the lower the effective rate.

Imagine that you and two friends all want a copy of our book. If you order separately, you will all pay $46 in shipping. But if you made one order for three books, the shipping cost is $64. Assuming the cost is split evenly, it’s $22 per person, a dramatic saving! To recap:

• 1 book: $46 per book
• 2 books: $28 per book
• 3 books: $22 per book
• 4 books: $18 per book

Pro tip: this magic math works no matter which books you buy. If you visited to buy one of our books, adding a different book only marginally adds to the shipping cost. Minimalist Tiki and Polynesiacs make a great bundle - just saying!

Wonk Press makes no profit from shipping. We'd rather sell you books than markup shipping rates.

Should bundling orders not be an option, there is another option in some countries:

International Retailers

Wonk Press sells books to carefully selected retailers outside of the US who then resell the book in their home country.

Customers may wish to compare the costs of purchasing from these retailers to the cost of purchasing directly from us with international shipping. Your best price depends on many factors, including whether the book is shipped to you from the retailer.

Our current list of international retailers is here: Wonk Press International Retailers.

Why Don't You Sell via Amazon?

We couldn't afford to stay in business if we did. Our printing cost is substantial because we use the highest quality materials. However, Amazon pays small publishers around 45% of a book's cover price. Our profit margin wouldn't allow us to stay in business.

Instead, we sell directly or through trusted retailers. This also lets us pay our authors far more than they would receive from a traditional publisher.