Hasegawa Price Increase
We have been advised that Hasegawa prices are to increase by approximately 30% effective September 1, 2008. If there are any Hasegawa items you have been thinking about getting, you may want to make re-evaluate your timeline for obtaining the Hasegawa items and get them before the price increase.
Lower UPS Shipping Rates
We have just completed negotiations with UPS and secured rates now that are approximately 10% lower, on average. Our webstore has been programmed with the new rates.
Please be aware that if you qualify for half price shipping (orders with the merchandise totaling between $100 and $200 shipping to a continental US address) the shipping cost shown by the webstore is BEFORE the half price discount (to determine what the shipping total will be if you qualify, just divide what the website shows as a shipping cost in half). The half price discount is given when we pack and ship your order (the final total is included with the shipping notification email). We have to do it this way due to a limitation with our software. If you pay with a credit card, we will revise your total before charging your card. If PayPal, we will refund the difference within 1 business day of shipping your package.
How To Search
We have received several requests/comments recently about difficulties searching for particular items on our webstores. In most cases it was due to unfamiliarity with how our search functions work. We have prepared a one page "lesson" on how to use our search functions. To go to the Search "lesson", click here.
SprueSALE - We just started a new ongoing sale called the SprueSale and the sale discount will be usually be at least 10 to 20% off and sometimes more. This sale will include items that may be overstocked on, are being discontinuing, a special purchase that we are able to pass on extra savings to you, or something that Gordon comes up with on a whim, etc. The sale items will go on sale without any notice and may end at any time, so check back often. These sale items will be listed in the Bargain Bin; and also may be found by searching for "SprueSale" on either of our site search methods (i.e. either the search pop up window or the search page). To get this started, we just put 65 various items on sale.
International Customers (May 14, 2007) - Please be advised that the US Postal Service has discontinued Surface Mail service. As a result any restricted shipping items (mainly certain glues and paints) we will no longer be able to ship outside the USA.
USPS Parcel Post - Effiective immediately, we have programmed our systems to use USPS Parcel Post shipping for lightweight packages (under 2lbs) containing items that are considered to be hazardous (certain paint lines, glues, etc.). Parcel Post is lower in cost (approx $2 to $5 lower than UPS Ground depending where you are located) however the main drawbacks are that Parcel Post is a little slower than UPS Ground and tracking is not available (only delivery confirmation). We decided to make this change to allow customers wanting to buy only a few bottles of paint or glue to have a much more reasonable shipping cost (some customers in rural areas were having UPS Ground charges in excess of $11 for a few bottles of paint). If you prefer us to use UPS Ground instead, just tell us in the checkout comments and we will be glad to ship your order by your preferred shipper (this is true anytime for any order - just let us know if you want to use someone different). If you have any thoughts about this, please feel free to let us know - email us at sales@spruebrothers.com. NOTE - We would prefer to list all of the shipping methods together and let you choose the one you want, however we are not allowed to do this by UPS and USPS which is why we have to pick one.