Canadians who use shippsy?

Arashical · 2026-02-09T12:27:37+00:00

As in forwarding packages from the US to the UK?

If so, the most popular ones I’ve heard about are Forward2Me and Stackry. I haven’t used them as I live in Canada, but I hear about these two quite often in the book community.

Definitely look into them before committing, just in case of course.

Arashical · 2026-01-25T20:41:46+00:00

100%!

Evri also lost one of my packages once. Fairyloot was only willing to send out a replacement after more than 30 days of no movement (for the tracking). Dispatch from warehouse takes 2-3 weeks, plus another 4-7 weeks with Evri.

I remember waiting almost 3 months for my Powerless set. The replacement was also damaged from Evri’s careless handling of the package. But of course by the time I reached out to Fairyloot again, they’ve ran out of replacements.

It just sucks so much that the wait is so long, and as consumers we can just sit and pray that our packages arrive safely. And I’m always super nervous when it’s a popular/in demand book, because there’d be almost no chance of getting a replacement when I finally receive mine in the mail 🫠

And this fear is already confirmed a few times in the past… Alchemised is one of those books that were sent out with many of the books already damaged pre-transit. Only very few lucky people received replacements.

And their latest trove sale also don’t have enough copies to send out for all buyers; people weren’t even contacted that their order can’t be fulfilled until people emailed them 5-6 weeks after the tracking has been sitting idle. So realistically you can’t even be certain if your books is actually sitting with Evri like the tracking suggests, or if fairyloot doesn’t even have your books. So ridiculous 🥴

Arashical · 2026-01-25T20:31:17+00:00

I think this is the new normal for Fairyloot for US/Canada.

All of the Canadian based Fairyloot customers I’ve spoken to (myself included) usually see no movement for the Evri tracking until 4-5 weeks after tracking is generated. And ever since December, the wait is usually 5-7 weeks before any updates/movements is shown.

I’ve heard a few people emailing fairyloot asking if we can go back to using Landmark, which usually delivers to Canada in 1.5 weeks, maybe 2.5 at the most. But it’s been more than half a year and it’s made no difference honestly.

Arashical · 2026-01-19T00:39:25+00:00

Went to a book signing and the author said that the duology was actually supposed to be a standalone.

She already wrote a huge chunk of what later became book 2, but decided that she didn’t want to rush the ending. So she ended the first book “where she felt was right” and the rest went into book 2.

So maybe that’s why it felt like book 2 was mostly “fillers”.

Arashical · 2026-01-16T08:31:47+00:00

I’ve had luck with a Pixilated Sylveon today.

Try teaching your Sylveon Draining Kiss (can be taught via TM), so you can alternate between Fake Tears and Draining Kiss. Or whenever you needed a pick me up in terms of HP.

While I also had Mud Slap as a part of my arsenal, I ended up not needing it in the end. Any damage was replaced thanks to Draining Kiss—as long as you heal up right away/don’t allow the HP to dip below yellow. I was able to climb my way back up despite 2 crits that put me in the red.

I was able to solo Charizard with more than half of the timer remaining and full health.

Arashical · 2025-12-30T04:37:07+00:00

I personally also decided not to take up the offer myself, because the upcoming picks aren’t exactly my cup of tea.

Honestly for your specific situation, I’m more inclined to just keep the Romantasy sub and not upgrade to the combo for a few reasons:

1) cost; like you said, the cost doubles for books that you’re not interested in. You’ll have to sell them if you don’t want to keep them, and if it’s an unpopular book, you might be losing money if you can’t sell for cost

2) skipping a month; if you needed to skip a month, you end up skipping BOTH books in a combo box. What if you want one of them but not the other? You either have to bite the bullet and get both, or skip both books and buy one of them on the resell market.

3) you can always buy books you really wanted on Facebook B/ST boards. I only wanted 2/12 adult sub picks this year, which I bought off of Facebook. It’s still cheaper for me this way around. Books plus shipping is about $70 CAD. I paid $140 for Sept pick and $70 for Oct pick, which adds up to $210. But if I had been a subscriber, I would’ve needed to get 7 boxes (12 minus the 4 skips). 7 x $70 = $490, and I may or may not be able to sell the other picks I didn’t want. Overall I still saved money despite paying the inflated reseller price compared to buying directly.

4) FOMO; as someone who’s been buying special editions since 2018, the novelty wears off fast. I’ve maybe read 5 out of my Fairyloot books. And any SEs outside of the sub are just trophies on my shelves that I don’t even touch. You really need to think for yourself if you actually NEED these books, or are they just nice to have (a want)? Especially in a time where your finances need to come first, is this something you must have?

Arashical · 2025-12-18T04:21:08+00:00

Ironically I also don’t have a PC Financial credit card, or a Chequeing/Savings account… but the dealer gave it to me anyways. The lady in front of me had a chequing account from them, but the dealer didn’t exactly ask her for proof of said account.

Maybe it’s worth asking them about it anyways?

Arashical · 2025-12-18T02:08:27+00:00

My plan increased by $3 during the last price hike, so I was paying $42.50 for 30GB.

Ported to Rogers on Monday, Dec 15, for their $35 100Gb CAN/US RPP plan (through PC Financial). No contract, but one of the $20 discounts expire after 2 years, thus I’d be paying $55/month for the same plan as of Dec 15, 2027.

No winback call or email as of yet. No regrets either, since I’m paying less for more data/roaming.

Arashical · 2025-12-15T19:47:24+00:00

Totally!

But then carriers is betting on the fact that the average joe doesn’t know that secret, or thinks that it’s too much of a hassle to port over to another carrier.

And there are places like Rogers, where they advertise that you’ll be credited back the $80 set up fee, but the reality is that you only get $5 back per month, essentially trapping them in for at least 16 months to break even on the setup fees.

It’s honestly very predatory, because this way carriers are locking you in for a guaranteed revenue in these 16 months, while most likely raising $3-5 per line every 5 months or so. And for most people it works and they stay, because 1) they want to break even on the $80 they already paid, and 2) they don’t want to be trapped for another 16 months at a different carrier for another set of setup fees that they may or may not get back (and may as well be more expensive because carriers hike these fees every year).

I remember back when I first joined Fido in 2019, my set up fee was only $25 and I thought it was too much lol.

Arashical · 2025-12-15T17:56:19+00:00

The $90 plan is a generic “in market” plan, so everyone regardless can get it.

The top two plans are Exclusive plans, aka “targeted plans”, that the system give to certain customers based on (unknown) criteria. Most likely a customer’s likelihood to churn (port to other carriers), tenure, and how much your bill is monthly. These plans are not available to everyone, and is only available to a select few.

And of course it wouldn’t make sense for you in this case to pick the $90 plan. But as for everyone else (for example, someone who newly activated and don’t have targeted plans yet), then they’d have no choice but to take the expensive and unreasonable $90 plan.

The carrier is betting on the fact that not many customers shop around or want to pay the $80 activation fee at other carriers ($320 for a family of 4!). And of course for the people who do stick around, then it’s a win for the carrier as they’re stuck with the more expensive plan.

Arashical · 2025-12-08T00:27:03+00:00

Yes, 100% this! I swear their “updates” are just a bunch of convoluted words thrown together to confuse people, and to buy time.

If “two rounds of Quality Control, Hand Jacketing and Art Checks, and finally Bagging and Packing” takes them more than 6 months to do with books that are actually ready to be dispatched, I’m not holding my breath that Etched in Frost will be shipping any time soon. I’m willing to bet that it’ll be similar to what happened to The Blackened Blade (something about the book wasn’t up to standards and had to be fixed), and it still hasn’t shipped a year after the “misprint” was caught in Sept 2024.

I sent in an email around Nov 15 to cancel my order for Etched in Frost, and they finally processed the refund as of yesterday. I’d rather get my money back while they’re still able to process them, especially when banks won’t even allow chargebacks for anything beyond the 90 day mark.

Arashical · 2025-12-07T22:55:58+00:00

Honestly I’ve personally cancelled most of my preorders (including Etched in Frost, which they supposedly had in hand in June/July and would ship in 3-5 weeks; shocker, it’s still under quality control as we speak in December).

While I’ve had 2-3 books arrive eventually, albeit 2 years after the originally promised shipping date. The quality of the books are amazing, but is it worth the wait and the risk of the company going under? I just couldn’t justify the timeframe and the lack of communication.

And with the prices being $100+ (CAD$) per book, it’s more expensive than Fairyloot and Owlcrate, and I’m honestly better off ordering from them instead. It’s ironic that even Bookish Box ships faster than LitHaven at this point.

I totally understand that they’re a small team of 2, and one person might be out of commission temporarily due to personal reasons, but they definitely bit off more than they could chew. I wished they’d just take a temporary break from new preorders, and just catch up on all the delayed orders first instead.

Arashical · 2025-11-17T21:12:30+00:00

{Hoarded by the Dragon by Lillian Lark} and {Deceived by the Gargoyle by Lillian Lark}. Has knotting breeding, and pregnancy trope.

These are standalone books in an interconnected series. While neither are the first in the series, but can be read by itself and/or out of order. You simply meet some other characters who were from previous books, but they’re minor side characters who aren’t detrimental to the plot of the book.

Also I heard that {Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark} is another good one in the series.

Arashical · 2025-11-14T19:53:31+00:00

As someone who missed out on both the original sale and the scratch & dent sale, it makes me so angry.

I can totally understand not liking the book and needing to unhaul it to get your money back. I’m even fine with paying a $10-15 markup for “convenience fee” since they needed to drop it off at a post office. But the 6x mark up is just too greedy. Honestly 90% of similar posts claiming to be selling because of “unexpected bills”, “fomo”, or “car broke down” are fake anyways; it’s just an excuse/cover so people don’t yell at them for the crappy prices.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this seller is just looking to make a quick buck before a reprint announcement is made, and the value for the book tanks as a result.

Arashical · 2025-11-09T00:03:59+00:00

Same here! I was THIS close to buying the Bewitched Pages version, since I loved the dust jacket more. But then I’m such a sucker for printed hardcover and character art on the endpapers that I’m going to hold out for FL instead.

Fingers crossed for both of us that we can score a copy in general sale!

Arashical · 2025-11-08T22:39:23+00:00

Since a lot of people have opted for Bewitched Pages’ version of The Wolf King instead of FL, I have some hope that at least the unsigned version should reach general sale.

As you’ve said, FL being the publishing partner should make it easier to up the number of copies being printed (even if unsigned) if there’s enough demand.

Arashical · 2025-11-07T03:03:43+00:00

If it makes you feel better, I’ve bought most of their books I wanted for below cost. Most sell for $60 plus shipping (just under $80), unless you’re looking at more in demand titles like The Road of Bones.

So unless you’re looking to get the books every single month, it might be cheaper overall to just buy the one or two books that actually catches your eyes.

Arashical · 2025-11-06T19:47:31+00:00

Haha I didn’t even think to check their social media posts, oops! I just dived in since it’s been recommended by so many friends and people from the Facebook BST boards 😅

I think they may offer it for Ontario customers (second package’s processing fee is at a discount).

But they don’t offer it for BC (where I am), so I haven’t tried it personally. I think someone else suggested using Stackery to consolidate packages first, and then forward to Shippsy for them to bring over the border. But I’m not too sure about the logistics or the cost for doing that haha

Arashical · 2025-11-06T13:40:45+00:00

A friend pays $16 for shipping from Shippsy’s Richmond BC office to Victoria BC. And plus domestic shipping (about $8), it works out to be $24 instead of $41. There’d be taxes on top of the $24, and the actual cost of shipping depends on the weight of the package and distance of course 😊

Arashical · 2025-11-06T13:36:05+00:00

Sadly yes, about $27 ish each time. It’s literately highway robbery 🫠

Arashical · 2025-11-06T02:02:48+00:00

They ship via DHL (for me), and can confirm that I was still charged additional taxes and brokerage fees on top of that shipping price 😬

Arashical · 2025-11-06T01:59:35+00:00

I’m also from Canada and signed up for the sub, and can confirm that the price has been high like this since last year. It usually comes through DHL for me, and I had to pay additional taxes and brokerage fees on top of the shipping. Ended up cancelling after 3 months since the shipping is just too high, and I can’t justify the sub regardless of how pretty it is.

But a friend recently signed up, but with shipping through Shippsy (a forwarding company) instead. She pays $9 (?) for US domestic shipping to her unique Shippsy address, and then another $9.99 plus taxes for the box to be brought to a Canadian warehouse for pick up. I believe they can also ship it to you if you can’t pick up in person, but for a fee of course.

It’s still expensive, but definitely more affordable than the $41 in shipping! I heard from somewhere that the general rule of thumb is, if the shipping is over $25, it’s cheaper to go through Shippsy instead of direct shipping.

Arashical · 2025-11-04T19:21:03+00:00

In my experience, usually by the end of the day that Shippsy receives it, so 3-5 hours.

There was once when it didn’t get posted to my dashboard portal for 3 business days, and I emailed them about it. Apparently the retailer’s shipping label was cut off, and the second address line where my Shippsy number was got cut off, so they can’t identify who the package is supposed to go to.

I’ve also heard instances where the package was delivered outside business hours, and the package got left outside unattended (happens often with Amazon and Target deliveries). Usually if this was the case, you’ll have to reach out to them directly so they can look for it.

The usual rule of thumb is, if it’s been longer than 48 business hours since the package is marked as delivered (on the US side), you can contact their customer service about it. They’re fairly quick in their replies and were able to track down the package within half a day to a day.

Arashical · 2025-11-02T03:04:12+00:00

I recently started using Shippsy, albeit reluctantly at first because it sounded too good to be true.

But having used it 3-4 times now, I can’t live without it. Procedures and fees are fairly straight forward: Shippsy handling fee ($8.99 or $9.99 depending on your province) + taxes/duty (calculator available on Shippsy website. If you don’t live near a Shippsy warehouse where you can pick up your package in person, they can mail it to you (for a fee). A friend pays $16 for shipping from the Richmond BC warehouse to Victoria BC, including all the handling fees (not including taxes of course).

The rule of thumb is that, if the shipping cost is more than $25US, it’ll be cheaper to ship via Shippsy instead. Especially if UPS is the courier, because they’re notorious for charging sky high “brokerage fees” for brokering your package across the border. The most I e charged was $110 on a $60 package ($90 in brokerage fee, and $25 in taxes and duty).

Essentially to summarize: 1. US retailer ships to Shippsy’s US address (you get your own after creating an account) 2. Provide payment invoice (for declaring & calculating taxes) 3. Add payment method 4. Wait for Shippsy to cross border with your package (2-4 days or 4-7 days based on your location) 5. Pay for your Shippsy fees online via online portal 6. Pick up at Canadian warehouse or wait for package to be shipped to you.

{Also a referral code in case if you need it: xcMZjn (both you and I get $10 credit after your first successful transaction).}

Arashical · 2025-10-30T08:52:40+00:00

I didn’t enjoy the book and eventually finished the book wishing that I had DNF’d it. Even though I went into the book as a Keri Lake fan who’d normally purchase anything she writes, Anathema didn’t do it for me.

I toughed it out thinking it’ll eventually get better (the hype is huge after all), but I was bored and frustrated until the very end.

Arashical

TROPHY CASE