Quick update on packages!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 14, 2020 at 04:18:38 PM

Hi everyone! 

Hope that you are all doing well and are safe these days. 

We wanted to give a quick update on packages and stuffs . . .

-Just about all the Domestic Shipments have been sent off. We are down to our last few, which are larger heavier packages with lots of extra stuff in them so they have taken a bit to put together and get through the shipping process. But, they are heading out now! Wahooo! 

-Final Canadian and Mexico shipments are being sent off and are making their way through the USPS international shipping system.   It is exciting to see them making their ways to their destinations! 

-We are making good progress on the Overseas International Shipping with each and every overseas backer! it has been a good process toward solutions with all of you awesome backers.   We just sent out a big batch of Overseas Reward Packages to a bunch of locations and we will be sending out another big batch in this weekend's shipments.  

Thank you to EVERYONE that have been so helpful, understanding and encouraging during this process. It has been a crazy road and your words, comments, posts and email messages have been so wonderful and nice. You all have been so kind and so awesome.  THANK YOU!! 

Be well and take care. 

all the best in everything,

Mike . . .

Domestic and International Package Shipping
over 5 years ago – Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 04:00:38 AM

Hey everyone,

First off... We do hope you and yours are all well and safe.  We wish lotsa goodness to each of you.   

Second...we are so grateful to be hearing all the wonderful messages for all the rewards that have arrived out to everyone so far. Thank you!   

And third...we have here a BIG UPDATE on the final shipments and packages going out into the world:  

DOMESTIC Shipments: 

We’re very happy to say that we juuust about have all the Domestic Shipments sent out. There are still some larger ones that still need to be sent, but we are packing those together now and hope to have those completed his week. (Commissions/artwork will be sent separately). But for the most part, Domestic packages are almost all completed and sent out!  :) Whew! 

----------------

INTERNATIONAL Shipments:

Now we get to the tricky part . . . 

With the craziness of the World these days, it has been quite a large hurdle to solve the international shipping and begin getting theses packages sent off globally. And there are differences with each country/locations. . .   

 -CANADA/MEXICO : 

The costs for shipping to these countries has definitely risen a bit from what was originally planned for.  However, because these are still accessible over land and don't need to be flown,  we have been able to navigate the shipping solutions and have begun shipping these Rewards out to their Backers.  There is still a delay to the tracking and deliveries once they are sent, but we're happy to say that the first batches are arriving safely and the rest should start arriving little by little SOOON as well! 

________

 -GLOBAL OVERSEAS International: 

Here’s the hardest shipping hurdle we’ve now encountered.  Things are very unpredictable these days.

Shipping to OVERSEAS INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS has become extremely difficult to predict/track at all and is also now massively more expensive than ever.

 -The FIRST OPTION :  is using USPS Priority Mail. However, to ship ONE Herobear Heritage book overseas through the post office now is costing nearly as much as the book itself.  If it was just a lightweight tshirt bag/small box it would be kinda within reason, but it's not.  It's a big book that needs to be packed safely.  Specifically: a single 1 Book Package sent through USPS is now averaging $70-95 per Overseas shipment. . . AND we are also running into an unpredictable tracking from USPS once it leaves the states.   It’s quite frustrating.  Currently they are telling us it is an estimation of between 30-45 days to potential delivery. We say “potential” because we’ve had some initial overseas reward packages lost and a couple that have yet to arrive.  The tracking lately drops off completely after it leaves the states to overseas destinations, unfortunately.

-NEXT OVERSEAS DELIVERY OPTION : is to upgrade to other reliable shipping companies/options. This helps with tracking and swifter delivery . . .BUT that is resulting in giant raises in the shipping costs of nearly 2-3 times as much.  SOME ACTUALLY INTO THE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS PER SINGLE BOOK PACKAGE.  Specifically, a single 1 Book Package sent through UPS or FEDEX is now averaging $200-$240 per Overseas shipment. Staggering.     

And, we’re encountering that EACH Country has its own unique situation currently. Some are huge delays. Some are blocked completely unfortunately. 

_______________

 SOLUTIONS:  

So . . . moving forward from here, our next line of action will be to contact EACH of the International Overseas Backers directly and individually with a specific plan for them. . .

 SOON . . .you will receive a direct EMAIL from us at the The Astonish Factory email . . . [email protected] . . . with your specific info for YOUR unique package/reward. 

We will explain what each of your specific options are for your unique delivery of rewards.  We are exploring ALL CHOICES and we will lay them out for each Overseas Backer individually.

Our absolute goal is to do everything in our power to find a satisfying solution for EACH and EVERY single backer and solve this in the best possible way.   Absolutely.

We thank you all so very much for your understanding and for your amazing patience through this journey as we continue. You are all awesome.

 take care, be well and all the best in everything,  

Mike . . .

Making good progress!
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 11:36:05 PM

Hi Everyone! 

Just a quick update that we just delivered a HUGE BATCH of reward shipments to USPS today. Nearly 100 packages went out.  It's certainly difficult during this crazy time and being basically it's me and my family putting it all together, we are SO EXCITED and like to celebrate every bunch of fun rewards sent off to you all.  

Wahooooooo! 

Next . . .we are now putting together the larger rewards and bigger packages  . . .these are taking a bit more to pack up, but they are our focus next.   AND we're getting to theInternational Rewards little by little.  We'll have another update on that soon. It's still a difficult process getting shipments out internationally, but we're working on potential solutions to the 3x more shipping and also countries that are being blocked.  

In the meantime, we are so happy to hear back from everyone in the comments and emails that the packages are arriving safely and they are getting to enjoy the fun of this project. Thank you for all the wonderfully kind words and we are so thankful to ALL OF YOU for being part of this. 

Stay well and safe. 

take care and all the best in everything always,

Mike . . .

Shipping and Labels!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 01:09:42 PM

Hi Everyone! 

Just a quick update on the latest shipping batches. 

Because we are limiting our visits to the Post Office these days,  we usually drop off large batches of packages.  This means we use our shipping/postage company to create labels a little bit ahead of things and they sometimes take a bit to get into the Postal Tracking System because it may be a delay in getting all the packages packed up and all to the post office. 

Recently, we had a bunch of labels created for a new batch of packages, but unfortunately we didn't realize there was a mix-up with some of our shipping supplies.  We are really trying to make sure every package is wrapped and protected to make sure it is shipped well, and that means getting very specific boxes and packing materials.  Unfortunately, we mistakenly didn't realize the mix-up of items and had to re-order some from the suppliers, and that created a delay in a batch of shipments that had already been created for the system.  WE are SO SORRY for any confusion an delay with tracking and the shipments getting sent out.  

We finally got our new supplies(YAY:) ) and we are hard at work getting the next batch of shipments sent out ASAP! 

Thank you all for understanding and for your patience. EACH package is very important to us and honestly, each package is very unique. WE have so many different items to go into each package.  We want to make sure each one is sent out the best possible way. 

So, thank you again for being part of all of this and little by little all the fun is getting our there to you all.  :) 

We hope you are all safe and doing well.  take care and all the best,

Mike . . .

Flow of Shipping Rewards
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 05, 2020 at 04:35:24 AM

Hey Everyone,

We hope everyone is doing is well and safe. With all that 2020 has put on the plate, we want to encourage you all and let you know we how awesome you are.  We are wishing goodness to you and your families. 

Thank you to everyone's kind words about the packages arriving and the enjoyment of everything delivered. 

Just a quick update on the shipping and flow of reward packages. We've hit some bumps here and there(as this project has seen through its process), but we're working through it all positively and getting the packages off one by one.. . . 

-PACKAGES:  We are packing up as fast and as many packages at a time as we can.  They just take a bit of time with ALL of the stretch goals and specifics for each individual reward.   We want you to know that each package is important to us and we take the time to check and double check contents and the quality of packing all around the items.  

- SHIPPING NOTICES:  You will receive a shipping notice when you package is being packed up and is going into the system. This will give you a Tracking Number yo can use once it is officially sent off.  

-DOMESTIC SHIPPING:   During the Pandemic we have been needing to do limited USPS dropoffs with the post office without going there too often.  BUT we are making the dropoffs large quantities of packages. 

-INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: Because of the state of the World, we've run into an issue with our INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING being completely blocked to certain countries for a while recently AND the cost for International Shipping being doubled, even tripled, to certain countries.  We're looking for the right solutions that deliver the best delivery service/tracking/quality for the rewards. The shipping cost ranges have been from $60 to nearly $230 per each individual international delivery of reward packages.  With this being a problem we're trying to solve in the best way possible, we have been focused on Domestic(US) Deliveries first and then we will tackle International.  We care about ALL of our backers . . . domestic AND international, as we put together a plan strategically to get these rewards out to everyone in the best and fastest possible way.  

As of now, our hope is to have nearly all domestic shipping done in the next two weeks, while starting to approach the delivery of all of the International Rewards as fast as possible. We'll have a news in our next update on those shipments. 

We thank you for understanding and being patient with us.  You are all so amazing and we are so grateful for your wonderful support for this project on its journey and through its obstacles.  Again, thank you  . . . we are so happy to continually hear back from everyone as they get their packages and the joy that is shared.  

THANK YOU!!

Be well and be safe. 

Take care and all the best,

Mike . . .