One of the problems is that Ellusionist just flat out lies. As an example, when asked about shipping prices, Jake said: "Due to the weights, amounts we ship and other factors, we're excluded from USPS flat-rate. We instead deal with account rates, which while better than over-the-counter, are not awesome."
Well, I just got my USPS order in a Small FLAT-RATE box (my cost $5.15 online) and paid $13.65 shipping. Since they lie about this it's not a far stretch that they'd lie about everything else. I just wish they would be a little more upfront. Maybe a "we just can't be bothered to adjust shipping" would be sufficient.
Just look at the Red Artifice/Red Arcane screw-up. Instead of contacting people to either say "Computer mistake - sorry the offer isn't valid" (which they wouldn't do, due to fear of losing a sale), or saying "Sorry, we're out of Red Artifices, would you accept a Red Arcane?" (same issue), they just throw in another deck and make you take it, since most people don't want to aggravation of complaining or returning the stuff (and eating the postage).
I'm just irritated because they could be such a better company than the liars they are - and the slippery slope is that this "Giveaway" was just run illegally.
Speaking as someone in the United States, it can't be a weight limit that excludes them from using USPS flat rate boxes. So long as a package is under 70 pounds (which you couldn't even fit into a large flat rate box- you can fit roughly 6 well bubble wrapped bricks in one of those), you can ship it. International could be different, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's confusing as to why USPS wouldn't be a valid option. UPS Ground is usually the go-to option when I order from them, and it's never less than about $20. It's part of the reason I order from them so rarely. theory11, on the other hand, offers USPS Priority Mail in flat rate boxes, and the shipping rarely comes to more than $10. The sad part is that USPS Priority Mail is usually twice as fast as the more expensive UPS Ground option, usually 2-3 days for USPS Priority and at least a week for UPS Ground. Granted I do live much closer to the theory11 warehouse than the Ellusionist warehouse, but still, USPS has always been faster and cheaper, from my experience with purchases and trades.
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Idk about the price... I currently am holding two pledges on Kickstarter both including an AIP bottle and both are over $200 (granted, on of them includes an additional deck and some other goodies), so I can't really argue on the price. 