FAQs/Terms & Conditions / Tips on Ordering:

(1)  If you live in North Carolina, you will be charged sales tax.  The only alternative is to arrange to have a friend of yours who lives in another state place your order for you.  When it arrives at his house, he can then ship it to your home in NC.  He can also bring you cakes containing steel files on visiting day in the slammer.  My suggestion -- pay the tax or go for the plea deal by being the first to rat him out.  Can you say win-win?

(2)  If you live overseas (or in the case of Canada and Mexico, over the border), the good news is you don't have to pay sales tax (unless you arrange to have a friend of yours who lives in NC order it for you).  The bad news is that the postal services of both countries charge as if their planes are using premium unleaded gas mixed with Kentucky's finest.  The okay news is that you may wish to experiment due to the miracle of flat-rate boxes.  While a single volume of The Trapdoor costs $42.25 to Canada and $61.75 everywhere else, you can purchase two volumes for the same cost because I can fit two volumes into the same flat-rate box.  Three volumes jumps to $80.50.  (June 2020 update: These were the prices before the recent price increase.)

Another Strategy to Cut Costs: Once your order is in excess of (about) six pounds, the marginal cost for each pound is MUCH lower.  Your costs may drop dramatically.

     To experiment, fill your cart with different combinations and click on "estimate shipping cost" followed by "update shopping cart."

     My recommendation - try to get volume discounts by hoodwinking a bunch of your magic friends into ordering with you.  They don't even have to be magicians.

(3)  Credit cards are processed through PayPal.  You do NOT have to have a PayPal account to order with your credit card.  Simply fill your cart, choose "proceed to checkout," and you will be brought to PayPal's website.  Once there, click on "Open PayPal Account" and it will give you the option of paying with your credit card -- without opening a PayPal account.  What they lack in clarity, they make up for in convenience.

(4)  If you have money left over after placing your order, you have done something terribly wrong.  Please drop a few more products into your shopping cart and proceed to checkout.  I can spend the surplus money better than you.  Remember, if you don't own one of everything on the website, the terrorists win.

(5) Please do not burn calories asking us to change the value of the books shipped internationally.  Those calories can be better burned learning new card tricks.  Waiting for the negative response will only delay your order and the weight loss you could already be enjoying.

(6) Books are lovingly packaged and then shipped via USPS only (media rate in the U.S.) unless the order exceeds $1000 and then you can choose the carrier within reason. Heck, I'll strap them into a first-class seat on the Concorde if you pay the cost.  For an additional ticket and travel expenses, I'll accompany the package to ensure it arrives.  If you would like double packaging, there will be an additional fee to cover time and cost of materials.  

(7) If you request a signed book, I will gladly sign it.  If you request an inscribed book, I will gladly inscribe it.  Please understand the difference.  A signed book will arrive with a signature (and perhaps a date), suitable for your later dumping on eBay.  An inscribed book will arrive with an inscription to whomever you request, plus a signature (and perhaps a date)... suitable for my later finding out that you dumped the book on eBay and tracking you down.  It's all the same to me -- except for the time involved tracking you down.  I just want to make sure you get what you want. 

(8) I have found the USPS does a good job generally and tracking numbers have improved.  During the year of COVID (which we seem to still be in) that has not always been the case, especially internationally. Some countries close borders, airlines have cancelled flights, etc.  It's only natural that packages would be delayed.  The record so far was 10 weeks for a package that was supposed to go to Portugal. After 5 weeks sunning on a beach in Miami, the package went to South America. After 10 days touring that continent, they realized their mistake and sent it to New York.  Another week, and it found its way back down to Miami where it sat for another 10 or so days before leaving for Portugal where it took a while once the Portuguese post office took possession until they actually delivered it.  I have only had 3 obscene examples like this.  When I take the tracking number to USPS, they blame it on COVID with no additional information forthcoming.  All packages made it and nothing terrible has happened recently. However, I mention this only to suggest that if you are ordering internationally, you should mentally allow for the worst case. Since I never had this problem before, I assume that the COVID excuse is valid and everyone is learning as they go. (Similar problems were had with other carriers, some of whom unilaterally canceled their guarantees.)

(9) Minimum postage charged is $7 (except for some pamphlets).  Books in the U.S. are shipped via Media Rate by USPS.  The minimum postage includes approximately $3 in packaging materials and mileage. If you would like to upgrade to priority mail in the U.S., e-mail me for a price.  The *minimum* additional cost will be $10 which reflects the actual cost plus a small manual handling fee.  Media rate is the USPS's gift to magicians who read. It includes tracking for no additional cost which makes it the best deal on planet earth. Seriously, it costs me more to drive to the post office than it does to ship your book to the other side of the country and deliver it to your door.  Use media rate.  Your heirs will thank us both.