November and December 2024, I took a bit of a break from my magic blog to focus on other projects, like reorganizing my tiny home office to create space for product storage! My Mac and my iPhone both decided to quit on me at the same time, so I fired Apple! After getting a new phone and computer, I’m finally starting to get everything back on track. Android, it's good to be back. Hopefully by Feb 1, I will be able to offer a solid update of stock and availability of cigars, eggs, purses and all other things that ran low while Steve was doing the ho-ho-ho thing!
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Here's Steve's latest read! 
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Last year, we made the difficult decision to discontinue international shipping.
Unfortunately, we've encountered too many issues with direct international shipments to continue offering this service. As a small homegrown proprietor we don’t have access to the bulk shipping discounts that large dealers do. We’re just a small mom-and-pop shop, creating everything ourselves—no customer service department, no shipping department, no procurement team—just me and Steve handling everything. The materials we use for our products are costly, and the niche items we create require a lot of time to produce. As a result, the profit margin is quite slim. Because of this, we do not engage in wholesale. Wholesale typically benefits businesses that mass-produce or offer low-cost items, which is not the case for us. In essence, we're not dealers in the way that most magicians envision.

To give you an idea of the international shipping challenges, here is an example. A customer orders two cigars and one Malini egg for $72 and asks about shipping costs. I quote them $22 for First-Class shipping, and they pay a total of $94. Fast forward three weeks, and the customer emails to say the package is missing. The issue here is that First-Class packages don’t come with insurance, so we’re left to cover the cost. We ask the customer to wait, hoping the package will turn up, but two weeks later, they’re frustrated and demanding a resolution. Now we’re faced with two choices: either refund the full amount and lose the shipping cost, packaging, and the product, or reship the items at our own expense. Either way, it’s a financial hit for us. Some might argue this is just part of doing business, but as a small maker, we simply can't absorb these costs anymore.

For a time, we did try offering international Priority Mail shipping only, since it comes with insurance, but the cost often outweighs the value for many of our customers. Most buyers aren’t spending enough to justify that higher shipping cost. Many international buyers want us to value their items much lower so they pay less at customs, but unfortunately that is against the law, as well as more trouble if the package goes missing. In which case the customer wants to be refunded the full amount but we cannot get back more than the stated value. 
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If we were a larger operation like Murphy’s, or Penguin this would be a different story. But as a small, handmade business, we need to protect ourselves from these risks to stay sustainable.

Finally, and I mean this with the utmost sincerity - We live in Salisbury, Maryland. America. That is where our hand made goods are. If you want them, you will find a way to make it happen. We recommend the international shipping services of SHIPITO. 

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