| I started writing The Best Page in the Universe back in 1996, and began publishing it in 1997. It was a place for me to vent and to spite my close friends and family. After a year of writing on my own, I gave out the URL to few people and the site spread quickly. The readership base went from fewer than 5 people per month to the highly concentrated vortex of awesome it is today by word-of-mouth alone.
The purpose of my site has never been to make money, but the purpose of the site hasn't been to lose money either. There are a lot of costs associated with running a site of this caliber: hosting fees, software, licensing, etc. The reason I gladly pay for this out of my pocket without begging for donations is because: A) I can, and B) I enjoy writing. Since I can thankfully pay for hosting on my own, I don't need to sell anything to keep my site going. This includes banners and advertisements, which you will never see on my site. So why am I opening the store now? Two reasons:
1. The costs associated with this site have gone up over the years, and I'm hoping to break even. The only safe way to make money on the Internet is to offer people a service they want. Nobody wants pop-ups, and selling stuff on a store like this isn't intrusive. You don't want it? Don't buy it. It's just that simple. If I break even, that's all I ever wanted. If I make enough to sustain myself, you will see more frequent updates on my site. By selling stuff on my own, I never have to worry about self-censorship because there are no repercussions from advertisers if I write something they find offensive. As for the products themselves, all of the images have been painstakingly re-drawn in high resolution which has resulted in superb print quality. I didn't go through anyone like CafePress, so these shirts don't have to be marked up 300-500% like every other online store out there. I didn't outsource this through some huge faceless corporation, and I didn't hire anyone to set this up. Just about everything you see was done by me personally. Most online stores sell shirts for around $17-$20 (plus shipping), so I'm clearly not milking you for these items, and frankly you're not doing me a favor by buying them. Everything on this site kicks ass, and if the shirts don't sell, I'll wear them all myself. I'm doing you a favor by selling them. Shipping Rates (Inside US):
All U.S. orders will usually be shipped within 5 business days (next business day on holidays and weekends). USPS orders inside the U.S. will be shipped using USPS Priority and will usually arrive in 2-3 business days after the shipping date. There is no expedited service at this time, however, if you have an unusual circumstance and require an expedited shipment, there may be something that can be done so send your request through email. You will NOT be billed until your order has been shipped. Shipping Rates (Canada):
Shipping Rates (International outside Canada*):
*Available to most countries; check to see if your country is listed during checkout. If your country is not listed when you check out, send an email to find out if shipments can be made to your country. You may still place an order, but your credit card will not be billed until the items are shipped. All international orders will usually be shipped within 5 days (next business day on holidays and weekends) using USPS Air mail and will usually arrive in 6 business days after the shipping date. Although USPS states that a package may arrive in 6 business days after the shipping date, please allow for up to 2 weeks due to the shipping distance and additional time required to process customs forms. There is no expedited service at this time, however, if you have an unusual circumstance and require an expedited shipment, there may be something that can be done so send your request through email. Comic books: For shipping prices for comics and other items, add the items to your cart and click "checkout." You can see the shipping cost on the checkout screen (you will not be charged until you confirm the order). Payment:
Money orders, cash, checks, or PayPal payments are NOT accepted. This is due to tax and inventory reasons: if you send me a money order, there's no guarantee that an item will be in stock. The only time you can know for sure if an item is (or will be) in stock is when you can order it from this site. For example, if I have 1 shirt in stock and someone orders it from this site before your money order arrives, then the item will be out of stock when I receive your slow-ass money order in the mail. Some items may be offered in a limited quantity only, so NO MONEY ORDERS. Please. As for PayPal, currently there's no way to tie this store's inventory into PayPal's system that I'm aware of (without requiring days of coding, and frankly the few bucks I get for this isn't worth it). |