- Are there less costly shipping methods available?
We have thoroughly explored all possible shipping methods. We use those which are most reliable and practical.
Within the U.S., we ship by Priority Mail for two reasons:
- It is faster and more reliable than other methods.
- The U.S. Postal Service furnishes packaging for Priority Mail. Less costly shipping methods are not much less once you factor in the cost of packaging. Even if we purchase packaging in bulk, the saving over first class or parcel post is only a few cents.
Using UPS, Fedex or other private carriers would cost much more.
- What is the "handling" charge?
Shipping charges also include handling. There are expenses beyond what the post office charges for shipping. There are processing fees. Credit card processing adds a minimum of $2.00 to each order. There are material costs, plus someone has to physically package each calendar order and take it to the post office for shipping. If you choose a shipping method other than Priority, there are packaging costs as well. Handling charges are not added to increase profits. On the contrary, we actually lose money on shipping and handling.
- Why are there no H2s or H3s on the Hummer Calendar?
After careful review of our licensing agreement, it would appear that we are licensed only to produce a calendar featuring photos of H1s and HMMWVs. The wording of the agreement suggests that it would not cover us for H2s or H3s. We do not wish to violate that agreement. Also, the Hummer Calendar started many years before there were such things as H1s, H2s and H3s. It's the original Hummer (H1) and HMMWV (Humvee) calendar and remains so.
- Why not do separate H1, H2 and H3 calendars?
Publishing 3 different calendars would require 3 times the investment in both time and money. It costs thousands of dollars and takes hundreds of man-hours to publish one calendar. It would simply be unwise to invest all it would take to publish 2 additional calendars with absolutely no indication that they would sell and the additional investment would be worthwhile. Also, our licensing agreement may not permit this.
- I placed a calendar order some time ago, but it has not arrived. Can you help me?
If you placed an advance order, it will be shipped as soon as calendars are back from the printers and in-hand.
We ship calendars promptly and in good faith. We have no control over a package once it leaves our hands. We use shipping methods which experience has shown to be the most reliable while still being reasonable in cost, yet nothing is 100% perfect. It's rare, but mail can get lost or stolen. There is nothing we can do to prevent this or to make a postal service deliver your package.
Many calendar orders are placed during the holiday season when postal services are flooded with packages. It may sometimes take a little longer for delivery because of this.
- Why are there ads on the Hummer Calendar?
It saves you money. 100% of advertising revenue goes toward offsetting some of the printing costs in order to keep the selling price as low as possible. Without that revenue, each calendar would probably cost at least $5.00 more than it does. We only carry Hummer-related advertisements, so no one has ever complained about them.
- Can I get Hummer Calendars printed with my company logo on them?
We have had many inquiries about this and have explored it thoroughly. Unless you have them printed yourself, it just isn't practical. It's not a matter of just slapping on a logo. It requires separate setup and printing, another entire run. For quantities like 100-200 calendars, the per-unit cost would be very high. The calendars would then need to be shipped, adding to that cost. For a small per-unit royalty, we could furnish the print-ready calendar on disc which you could could modify (add your own logo), then take to a printer if that is a possibility for you. The only alternative would be to purchase a quantity of calendars (quantity discounts are available), then printing stickers with your company logo and applying those stickers to the calendars. If you would be interested in doing something like this, please send us an e-mail.
- Can I get a photo of my Hummer on next year's Hummer Calendar?
We do accept photo contributions, but we can only use a small fraction of those we receive. Please see the Guidelines for Submitting Photos for the Hummer Calendar.
