Cost and method of shipping:

I think all PBS members know that we do everything we can to keep member costs down. After all, that's the whole point of PBS - low cost books! We examined the shipping costs for the PBS Store items and realized that Priority Mail is the best value in shipping. Here is an illustration to show what we discovered:

PBS Store purchases: 1 Tote Bag, 1 T-shirt, 1 set mugs (Weight: 5 lb 2 oz)

700 miles
$ 8.10 - 2-3 day Priority flat rate
$ 8.30 - 4 day Parcel post
$12.37 - 2 day UPS

1600 mi
$ 8.10 - 2-3 day Priority flat rate
$10.89 - 4 day Parcel post
$13.35 - 4 day UPS

3000 mi
$ 8.10 - 3-4 day Priority flat rate
$12.57 - 7+ day Parcel post
$29.99 - 4 day UPS

40 mi
$ 8.10 - 2 day Priority flat rate
$ 6.39 - 4 day Parcel post
$10.44 - 1 day UPS

Surprised? We were, too! So once again, our friends at the USPS are providing us a favorable rate for shipping PBS stuff around the country! (Yes, we realize that parcel post would be cheaper for very short distances. Unfortunately, we cannot program the PBS Store for multiple shipping methods.)

Now you understand why we are using Priority Mail and have only the two flat rate Priority Mail costs for shipping. (A single T-shirt will use the smaller USPS flat rate container and will cost $4.05 for shipping.)

As you already know from shipping books, combining more in a package results in less shipping cost per item. Here are a few examples:

1 set of mugs = $8.10
2 sets of mugs = $8.10
2 sets of mugs + 1 T-shirt = $8.10
1 set of mugs + 1 T-shirt + 1 Tote bag = $8.10
1 set of mugs + 2 T-shirts + 1 Tote bag = $8.10

We conducted this experiment in 2007. We continue to check periodically to ensure that we get the best deal by using USPS. As you can see, the smart shoppers will order everything they want to be included in one shipment. The savings is significant!