Shipping times and printing times

[goldblattsamatgmaildotcom]

I published my book on Lulu explicitly because of the offer of 3-5 business days shipping time. nowhere on the Shipping FAQ did I see estimates of printing times.

I am now ordering 50 copies of the book, Obscuropa, which has these qualities:
Page Count 68 pages
Size Comic Book
Binding Saddle Stitch
Interior Color Black And White

And I find that, not only does it say, 6-8 days printing time, then 3-5 days shipping time on top of that, at the Shipping section of checkout, it says in red "May not arrive by 25 December."

Does anyone know how long it might take for these books to actually arrive? I published on Lulu specifically because of the offer of 3-5 days shipping time, and now I feel that that estimate was very misleading.

I need my books before Monday, November 30, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Can anyone advise?

[Carol_Housel]

Hello,
Maybe I can help clarify things for you a little bit.

When you order a book from Lulu, it has to be printed before it can be shipped.
http://www.lulu.com/en/help/shipping_faq
Orders of more than 25 may take from 6-8 business days. After the books are printed, they will be shipped to you. The amount of time it takes to arrive depends on the shipping option you have chosen.

Best wishes,
Carol

[lidleida]

Wow, Not only is their shipping information hard to find, but their "Super Editor" is super condescending. Oh? They have to be printed first? Well, that clears everything up. Also, that link you provided leads to a search that does not provide a link to your shipping FAQ. So, that's also super helpful.  

[Peter May]

Dear Lidleida

Have you considered that the link you complain about may have worked 2 years ago in 2009 when the helpful Carol posted her reply.

The link - that is working when I post this - is http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Shipping/Shipping-Times-and-Options/ta-p/33707

Note that shipping time will also depend on the distancebetween the printer and the customer, and printing time will depend on how busy the print factory is.

PS: When you say

Wow, Not only is their shipping information hard to find

Its not that hard if you scroll to the foot of the page where you see these links

Shipping & Pricing
Shipping options
Shipping help
Pricing info
Return policy
Bulk Printing
 

[greenbird]

Hi there,

Slightly off tangent but Im moving over to Lulu from CS, as Im needing my titles distributed UK/Europe/Australia.

If I order on behalf of my customers, so effectively use Lulu like a drop ship printer, what information is disclosed on the receipt my customer gets?

CS dont disclose any prices so I can set my royalty etc, does anyone know ?

Anaya

[Ken Anderson]

They get just a basic shipping note.

Book description, shipping address.
No prices, no other details. 

[jemoyer]

This is still a problem and I think Lulu.com needs to be more up front aboput printing times and shipping times and not bury it in the shipping FAQ's.  It needs to be explicitly stated up front at checkout.  Otherwise it seems like a subtle form of fraud.