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News From Nowhere Radical & Community Bookshop

not-for-profit - a workers'co-op - committed to social justice | 96 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY - 0151 708 7270

Mail order & postage:

We post books to anywhere in the world! We send most mail orders by ordinary post (Royal Mail, the UK postal service), and we charge postage at actual cost, at current UK standard postal rates by parcel size, weight and destination.

View current UK domestic & international postal rates here (pdf of Royal Mail prices leaflet from October 2023

We often need to order books in specially for customer orders, and whenever you place an order with us we will tell you how long we expect this to take. If you order more than one book we will usually wait until all the books that you have ordered have arrived in stock and are ready to send.

UK delivery for parcels weighing under 2kg is by ordinary post at Royal Mail rates (as a rough guide, 2kg is about 5 or maybe 6 average-size paperback books)

  • 2nd class post is usually delivered 2-3 days from date of despatch and costs £3.49 for a 'Small parcel' up to 2kg
  • 1st class post is usually delivered next day after date of despatch and costs £4.19 for a 'Small parcel' up to 2kg.
  • If the parcel fits the size limits for a 'Large letter' then the cost will be a bit cheaper than the 'Small parcel' rates - our website charges the 'small parcel' rates, so for online orders we try to notice if the actual postage is cheaper and refund the difference if so.
For extra cost and if requested, orders can be sent by 'Special delivery' (tracked guaranteed next day delivery), or 'Signed-For' (ordinary post with proof of delivery). Ordinary parcels do have basic tracking on the Royal Mail website - we can use the reference number on the postal receipt to check if the parcel has been delivered, or has been taken back to a collection office. (Orders sent as 'large letters' can't be tracked this way though).

UK delivery for parcels over 2kg will be by UPS, for a charge of £6.49, because this is cheaper than Royal Mail for heavier parcels. and is fully-tracked. We have to give your email address to UPS when booking the parcel so that they can send you delivery updates, but it is only for that purpose.

December 2023 - sorry, bike delivery no longer available - Since 2020 Agile Delivery - a not-for-profit cargo-bike service, run by Peloton Co-op have been delivering mail-order parcels to local customers for us, as an alternative to post. Unfortunately it is no longer viable for them to provide this service. Thanks to all customers who've used the service. Please do support Peloton Co-op's other projects

International delivery (outside the UK) is by Royal Mail standard airmail for parcels up to 2kg, and by UPS for parcels over 2kg.

  • Airmail to Europe usually takes 3-5 working days from date of despatch - as a guide, postage for 1 or 2 paperback books might cost £9.45, £9.75 or £10.35 (rates for weight range 250g to 500g, to the 3 Europe postal zones)
  • Airmail to the rest of the world usually takes 5-7 working days from date of despatch - as a guide, postage for 1 or 2 paperback books might cost £15.45, £17.00, or £18.60 (rates for weight range 250g to 500g, to the 3 World postal zones)

The full range of standard airmail charges by weight and destination can be found on the Royal Mail website. Standard airmail is not tracked, but if you would prefer a tracked delivery we can send your parcel via UPS at extra cost instead. As it is expensive to send books internationally, you may wish to look for a local bookshop that can order the books you want instead.

If you order through our customer order website you can pay in advance by card during the checkout process, or select the Purchase order option to pay another way and tell us in the P.O. reference field what that will be (see options below).

    Sometimes there may be a difference between postage charged by the order website and the actual postage cost because the website charges postage based on number of books ordered and the typical weight of an average-size paperback book (250g-300g). Sometimes the actual weight of books ordered may be significantly different to that assumed weight, and also some parcels may fit the size limits for the cheaper 'Large letter' postal rate (the website only uses 'Small parcel' rates). A difference in postage cost can also arise when separate orders for the same customer can be combined into one parcel, or when changes are made to orders.
    • If you paid in advance by card during checkout, we will refund the difference if you paid too much postage, and if you paid too little we may ask you to pay the difference (usually no more than a couple of pounds - we would send you a Worldpay payment link).
    • If you selected to pay another way, we will charge you the actual postage cost when we request payment, so there may be a difference to the postage charge that was given by the website checkout form. We will specify the postage rate and parcel weight being charged for.

Other ways to pay - for these payment methods we will request payment when your order is ready to despatch. Please do not send any payment until we have confirmed the total to be paid.

  • Pay by link - we will email a Worldpay card payment link to you to pay by card securely online (the payment page will show details of your order)
  • Paypal - we will send you a Paypal payment link (the payment page will show details of your order)
  • Book Token - tell us the barcode number of your Book Token gift card (the number on the back of the card beginning with 6337 - please take care to type it accurately) We will take payment from your Book Token when your order is ready to despatch. We'll send you a receipt showing the remaining balance, if any. If the Book Token value is not enough to cover the payment, we will send you a card payment link for the difference.
  • Bank transfer - when your order is ready for despatch, we will tell you the total to pay and the account details to pay to. Please tell us when you have done the payment.
  • Cheque - when your order is ready for despatch, we will tell you the total to pay. Please make the cheque payable to 'News From Nowhere', and post it to us with a note that includes your name and address and which explains that the payment is for a mail-order order. Your order will be sent when we receive the cheque.

If you order by email we will usually request payment via a Worldpay card payment link, but tell us if you prefer to pay another way.

If you order by phone we can either take your card details over the phone and later charge your card when your order is ready (we then shred the card details), or arrange to call you when the order is ready and take payment over the phone then, or you can ask to pay by any of the methods above.

If you have a News From Nowhere Gift Voucher, you can use it for mail-order orders IF it has a voucher reference number in the top corner - this applies to vouchers issued from March 2020 onwards. If you want to use a NFN Gift Voucher to pay for an online order, then select the Purchase order payment option in the checkout form and put something like 'NFN voucher' in the reference field that appears, and in the notes section of the form, explain that you have a NFN Gift Voucher and give the voucher reference number. If your voucher is older and has no reference number then it is only practical to use it for purchases in the shop in person, sorry.

We can accept National Book Tokens for mail-order payment - we just need to know the barcode number (numbers on the back) of the Book Token gift card. If you want to use a Book Token to pay for an online order, then select the Purchase order payment option in the checkout form and put something like 'book token' in the reference field that appears, and in the notes section of the form, explain that you have a Book Token and give the barcode number from the back of the card (take care to type this correctly).

You can order books to be sent to someone else - tell us if the order needs to arrive by a specific date (such as a birthday). We won't send a receipt with the order but instead a note saying who the books are from - please tell us if you want us include an additional message.

To place a gift order via our customer order website:

  • Enter the recipient's details in the Shipping Address section of the checkout form, then tick the Use a different billing address check-box to enter your own details under Billing Address (so that the order is under your name).
  • If you would like a message included with the book or books, tell us this in the Order Notes section.
If the billing name and address on an order are different from the shipping name and address, then we always treat it as a gift order and won't put a receipt in the parcel.

We use recyclable or re-used packaging material to pack our mail-order parcels. We are happy to accept donations of padded envelopes and bubble wrap from local customers for re-use, BUT please check with us before bringing in a large amount of packaging, in case we have too much already.

Most orders are delivered without any problems, but if you have not received your order in the expected delivery time, please let us know.

If you are a UK customer and your order was sent as 1st or 2nd class parcel, or by courier or other trackable service, we can check the parcel's status and let you know what that is. It may be that the parcel is at your local post office or postal depot.

If you are outside the UK, and your order was sent by standard airmail, then it is not possible to track it, sorry. Please allow a bit more time, in case the parcel is just delayed, and if possible also check with your local post office or postal depot - or wherever undelivered mail in your area is returned to.

If necessary, we will re-send the order at no additional charge. This may involve re-ordering the books, and if so we will let you know how long this will take. If that is not ok with you, we will refund your payment. Undelivered parcels may well be returned to us eventually, and if not we are usually able to claim for the costs of lost parcels.

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