I didn’t care that it took so long to ship, but did want to point out that what Paul said was not true in my case, nor in at least one other case reported on the forum.
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I guess there should be some way to check on the order once placed but I have no knowledge of mass shipping systems so cant offer any constructive criticism.
I did get a notice from PSA’s system saying they received the order and it seems like it took 10 days or so for the package to get to MI. via US mail.
I do know that the previous administration gutted the postal system for some political reason and it has wreaked havoc on USPS delivery times. In our area Amazon has stopped using their own delivery vans and has gone back to using USPS, UPS, and FEDEX which has slowed their delivery on certain items and also overloaded my mail carrier.
I purchased my download late at night and fell asleep thanks to the download being over 8 gigabytes. Woke up 5 hours later. I dragged the whole thing on my server but I don’t need 4 copies. Every other site I’ve ever bought music from gives me the option to buy the copy in the format of my choice. I just want to buy one version for maximum $20, which is the most I’ve ever paid for a download.
I gave this a try as it was the first original Octave release I thought I would enjoy listening to, and I did. I was going to buy the Otis Taylor album, but it was $29 and half of it was a needle drop from the vinyl master, so I bought the DMM vinyl from Amazon for $25 delivered.
I do hope these are teething problems and that the quality of the product will continue to improve, because there are plenty of successful independent labels outside of the streaming services. My only request is to be able to buy a single download at the normal market rate.
Actually in my case it took more than twice as long for my order to ship as it did to arrive after shipping. So I have no issue with USPS with this order at this time. Last year and January. . . USPS was an adventure to follow on tracking. I had packages that would sit in a post office 100 miles away for as long as 11 days. I had one package that made it to the big postal center in Cleveland about 40 miles away, then was sent from there to Louisville KY for three days, then sent back to the Cleveland center to chill for a few days. One order was mailed from Japan in January 2020 and arrived here February 2021–but that I think was because it was dropped into the mail in Japan right before the Japanese postal service stopped sending to the US and then was found when they did resume.
Hopefully the worst of the postal mess has stopped for a spell.
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Thanks for the eye opening discussion here, everyone.
In our digital world of current times, it seems that shipping never works as flawlessly as we would like it to, with or without pandemic.
The background info on how overloaded the PS Audio’s shipping team currently is sounds more than a reasonable explanation to many aspects of this discussion. FWIW, I’ve ordered quite a many things from Schiit Audio during the last few years, and it seems that they have managed to somehow finetune their operations to handle large amounts or relatively small items quite well; perhaps Paul could give a call to Jason Stoddard and ask how they have managed to do that so well 
I would just like to emphasize that for me, as the original poster, the problem is not so much in shipping time. I’ve used to waiting for things to arrive. It seems that even if everyone else in the shipping chain does a remarkable job, the Finnish Post Office will save the day and ensure a sufficient delay of week or two for the last mile delivery 
The main thing for me would just be to be able to combine multiple items into a single package. On top of the checkout costs, I will have to pay additional Finnish VAT tax of 24 % for the whole total price, plus 2.90 € (about 3.45 USD today) for a customs handling fee. So in the end, a single SACD will end up costing ($29 + $15 + $3.45) * 1.24 = $59 for me, which, well, feels a bit expensive
FWIW, in comparison to the experience of ordering for example from the Amazon US: shipping costs are combined for multiple items, Finnish VAT % is included already in the Amazon checkout process/price, shipping via a courier is really fast, and I don’t have to pay for any handling fees or wait for weeks while the package is in customs (because everything customs-related is already handled on Amazon’s side).
Well, Paul already mentioned that combining of items should happen soon. I just hope there will be some of those precious SACDs still left when it happens.
In the end, let’s not forget the most important thing: Thanks to all of you at PS Audio for all the hard work you’re doing to make Octave Records happen
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Shipping costs + US tax plus Uk tax and final insult our local PO charge a £7.95 handling fee. This SACD IS THE LAST ITEM I ORDER FROM OVERSEAS. Cost is too high and value is poor. Small suggestion, US taxes should not be included when sending overseas. When I make a purchase in the US, and I have on many occasions I get a tax refund at the airport.
US taxes? We don’t charge US taxes. I wonder where that came from. We can’t control your local PO, obviously, but you certainly shouldn’t have to pay US taxes.
Thanks. Indeed, we will figure out how to include multiple Octave recordings in one package.
Hi Paul
I apologise if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick but I was under the impression that the price PS Audio charge is the same when you send within the US with state and sales Tax and export. If I’m wrong then once again I apologise.
Your perfectly correct that UK tax +handling charges are not your responsibility but a SACD imported direct is comparatively very expensive at very nearly double the price as in US.
Paul…perhaps it would be best to drop the USPS as delivery
carrier for the Octave Records. Might be best to choose FedEx
or UPS for stateside delivery where package tracking is functional
without the USPS ludicrous claims that they can’t see a track
number even though a track number has been generated and package in transit
and neither can guarantee it was delivered…Phooey on the USPS for their
lack of competency…
Give your clients the choice of delivery carriers and speed of delivery…
That would be the best solution…
Best wishes Paul
Great idea but we cannot afford to do that. I wish we could. The $7 we charge to ship just barely covers the USPS cost, plus the package, plus the $1 we pay for fulfillment. I think we’re like at $6.70 or something close. If we went FedEx it would be 3 times that.
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Paul please help me understand…would FedEx or UPS charge you
for a commercial account?
You already use FedEx for shipping gear…
If so …far smaller items like those from Octave records include
an uptick $$ for shipping (for delivery time options) in the shipping
price…
When I order stuff from small but well known audio on line stores
they offer these choices and am sure that any fee they pay…is
included in shipping price to consumer…and often times I just go
ahead and pay the few extra $$ for either next day or 2 day service.
Which I find far more efficient than anything usps could ever offer.
Thanks
Best wishes Paul
Paul, Clive is probably correct as there is no de minimis for VAT and duty, usually charged on the total price paid by the customer. So $29 + $15 = $44, probably add 23% for VAT and duty = £41.63 + £7.95 handling = £50.
That’s what I pay for a Kevin Gray Blue Note “Tone Poet” top quality pressing double album, delivered. Single albums are £35.
We certainly have a commercial account and we’re one of their bigger “small” accounts.
I can check to be certain but I believe it would cost within the US between $15 and $20. I would have to check to be certain. USPS runs us just under $4 for mail.
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Doesn’t seem to make sense to send these discs overseas unless it can be done through Amazon Seller Central, but it would need some volume.
Thanks Paul…
Wow. Thanks, Steven.
You get a text or email and have to pay these charges before they can deliver. I’ve had a £12 charge for very small items. I sent something to a forum member in Germany last week and he got hit with a crazy handling fee of 30% the insured value of the goods. Years ago I sent a pair of speakers to a forum member, London to Chicago in 36 hours and no charges through US Customs. Next time I come to the USA I’ll send myself in a box because it’s cheaper and a lot easier than passport control.
The good news is that our domestic postal system is pretty much all next day delivery and most couriers are the same (except Hermes). We used to have Amazon Same-Day, that went with Covid.
Paul, just to give you an idea, here is an independent label SACD by one of our favourite artists, due to be released in a few weeks, it will be a top quality recording, $15 for the multichannel SACD, $1.70 local delivery and $8 worldwide.
The download (mp3, 16/44 and 24/96) is $18, $29 for the multichannel download.
And yet, here in Maryland, Amazon shipping , if delivered by Amazon, is great. I’ve had orders delivered within 2-3 hours after placing them.