Bamboo Terms & Conditions
Bamboo is a natural forest product, grown in the wild, and subject to all manner of processing steps before it is packaged. Once packaged it is stored in open warehouses in China prior to be packed into a shipping container, and through these steps, and many months, it is subject to a an uncontrolled variety of environmental conditions, to include variations in temperature and humidity. Only after it arrives at our warehouse can we clean the culms, grade them, and store them in a warehouse where we control the temperature and humidity. While we do our very best to sort these culms fairly into the three grades we sell, we make no warranty, express or implied, that the culm you receive will be meet your expectations. As a natural product, we can almost assure you that there will be some flaws such as leaf nodes, water marks, mottling, splits, mold, and grower’s marks. The higher the grade, the fewer issues, but no culm is perfect. Relative to each grade, we do our best to ship culms that will meet your rodmaking needs. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have so many repeat customers. However, by purchasing bamboo from Golden Witch & Peak Bamboo, you acknowledge that this is a natural product, with assured natural defects, and you understand that we not issue refunds, offer discounts, or ship free replacement culms. If you like our bamboo, please buy more. If you purchased A- or A grade bamboo and want better stuff, step up to the A+ while it is available. Thanks for your business and your understanding.
Note 8/24/20 – this note is dated because you can expect shipping expenses to rise over time, so these numbers will not be accurate in August of 2021 or further into the future, though the other info presented will still be accurate.
A shipping expense question from one of our Rocky Mountain region clients asks: I just saw it [the Paypal shipping invoice]. It’s $269 for shipping?
To offer a frame of reference, this invoice was for a 12 For 10 pack of A grade bamboo. For a straight up 10 Pack, it’s usually in the realm of $200-$260 depending on how far we’re shipping inside the continental United States.
Here’s my response:
To address your note, yes, that is a real figure for shipping. Shipping is dreadful and the expenses have been getting worse (our freight shipper for crate quantities of bamboo – 60-80 culms – just last week sent us an email warning that freight costs are jumping yet again). I always ask makers – especially makers who are past the Mississippi, into the Rockies, or the whole way out on the west coast, to compare the shipping expense with the cost of driving to our warehouse for pick-up. Only when you make this comparison and think about your time and fuel & lodging expenses does the figure start to look reasonable to many makers. That shipping invoice covers a lot of ground: actual UPS charges to move over 80 pounds of material (culms & packing supplies) in two boxes over 6’ long; the cost of the packing supplies; Drake’s labor to cut, label, bundle, & pack the bamboo; shop time to create invoices & labels; and the merchant expenses associated with PayPal. We make our profit on the bamboo and we aim to break even on all the shipping expenses.
On the flip side, the bamboo was on sale when you made your purchase, so between the sale price and the 12 For 10 deal, you probably came close to breaking even on shipping relative to our regular retail pricing. That’s unusual as we’re not typically running a double sale, but summer is sometimes slow enough that we need to in order to generate cash flow. What I normally do to help balance shipping expenses is send the pack of vintage components, plus the several coupons, that are in your Peak Bamboo Thank You Pack. Many makers find that if they eventually use the vintage guides and if they put the coupons to maximum use in the short term, they can gain enough financial ground to comp themselves (or their shop) for the bamboo shipping expenses. I really work to create win-win scenarios that keep our business going forward while benefiting our clients sufficiently that they return year after year.
Kind regards, Russ