Plurabelle Books - Cambridge Bookseller for Secondhand and ex-Library Books

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Shipping and Postal Matters

Postage and Services:
The postman picks up our bags around 14:30, Monday to Friday. If we receive your order before lunch, we try to send it out that day. Later orders will go out the next day. If you have any special shipping requests, please let us know and we will try to oblige. We are pleased to offer reduced postage charges for orders of more than one book. Please see below for details. These prices are based on the weight of an average book (800g). If the book is substantially heavier than average, we will try to consult you before adjusting the shipping charge:
UK: First Class: First book � 2.60, subsequent books each � 1.80 Second Class: First book � 2.20, subsequent books each � 1.50 Over 2 kgs: We use a 48hr trackable delivery service for a charge of � 10.00 up to 30 kgs (Do make space on those shelves!) Europe: Airmail takes 3 � 5 business days. Average book costs 3.80 GBP Attention France and Italy: Because of high loss rate to those countries we only offer the signed-for Airmail service. Average book costs 7.50 GBP Airsure: Trackable, insured and a little faster than airmail - up to 2 kg � 2.60 per kg plus � 5.20 per parcel (available to most countries) International Signed-for: Trackable � (to all countries) 2.60 per kg plus � 4.50 per parcel Airmail M-Bag � A very economical method for packages weighing up to 10 kgs (e.g. 10 kgs to Germany cost � 13.50). This service is not trackable. DHL Road � (eg 30 kgs to Germany is � 30.00) USA: Airmail � Average book, 5 � 7 business days, � 5.00 (Not trackable) Airsure: Trackable, insured and a little faster than airmail - up to 2 kg � 7.60 per kg plus � 4.50 per parcel Airmail M-Bag � A very economical method for packages weighing up to 10 kgs, 5 � 7 business days, cost depends on weight � (e.g. 10 kgs cost � 23.00). This is not trackable or insured. We can also quote for DHL, UPS etc Rest of the World: Airmail � We charge according to weight of package: 5 � 7 business days (an average hardcover book costs about � 6.00) Airsure: Trackable, insured and a little faster than airmail - up 2 kg � 7.70 per kg plus � 4.5 per parcel (available to most countries) Airmail M-Bag � A very economical method for packages weighing up to 10 kgs, 5 � 7 business days. 10 kgs to Australia cost approx � 30.00) This is not a trackable service.

We too think about the post every day: Will it come, will it go, will our parcels arrive at their destination safely? We are a postal business, and we live with the ins and outs of postal communication every day. And every night.
Plurabelle's Night Train (after Auden)
This is the Night Mail crossing the Border, Bringing the book and the list in its order, Books for the rich, books for the poor, The boff at the corner, the student next door. Catalogues of letters , listings in math Offers on history, selections custom made Letters of refund and invoices to pay. All shall wake soon and hope for their book, And none will hear the postman's knock Without a quickening of the heart. For who can bear to feel himself forgotten
And is the post not a wonderful thing? You send us the order, we pack the book, and a few days later you have the book on your desk. Anywhere in the world. Marvellous really. Amazing. Today on our shelf, tomorrow on your's. And they almost always do arrive. Say after me: "Achievement of civilisation". But of course things can go wrong. The marvellous system of postal transport does have a few weak links, like the apparatus that is used to take in and deliver mail bags from and to trains in motion (London and North Western Railway at Bletchley, 1910).


Occasionally the wrong book will be sent to the wrong address, the postman keeps one for himself, and some simply do just disappear. Yes, it has happened. For this sad eventuality we have devised, right here, a little machine which may help to address such postal problems.



The approved general deity of postal traffic is Hermes with his winged cap. According to Ritter's Wörterbuch der Mythologie (col 2381 sqq) Hermes was originally responsible for the traffic of goods over the waves, hence especially for wind and weather. Hermes is still today the most appropriate deity to turn to in case of postal delivery problems. The St Christopherus of the Christian tradition does not have a good track record for postal problems. The classical god of traffic (and of traffic in words and understanding: hence Hermeneutics) it must be. If you want to apply to Hermes to achieve a favourable outcome of a postal problem, please make sure you are logged in with a valid email address and press "Where's my stuff?". We will then get back to you and issue you with an original Hermes Head stamp from around 1860 and printed from French plates. That should do the trick. If a book still does not turn up, we ask that you wait for six weeks from the date shipped for late and tardy parcels. If you have not received it by then, we shall give you a full refund and lots of sympathy.

Please note: Effectiveness not guaranteed. Requires Good Will (Ver. 2). Clients who believe we are in the business of fraudulently not sending their book are excluded from this offer. Your statutory rights are not affected.