After 12 years and 50,000+ books saved from the landfill, it's time to retire!
After 12 years and 50,000+ books saved from the landfill, it's time to retire!
Dear friends and subscribers,
I have news: After 12 years and 50,000+ reclaimed books made into safes, the time has arrived for retirement and reading books instead of cutting them!
The good news is that Secret Storage Books will continue with my sis-in-law Donna running the shop in the New Year.
You may have noticed the lack of stock online in 2023 as we struggle to keep up with demand. Bear with us as we transition, and look out for "Donna's Deals" in January as she learns the craft and turns out book safes with hollows that look like a loaf of bread, and other unique crafting challenges - practice makes perfect!
I am so glad we kept Secret Storage Books in the family to continue saving books from the landfill. You can still contact me here for any order/delivery issues.
Cheers and happy hiding!
Diane
... and it's blazing fast to help you scroll through the world's largest selection of book safes made from real books.
It was time for an upgrade and here we are! We hope you'll enjoy the faster speed and larger pictures on our new website, to help you find just the right book safe.
We'll be adding more features in the coming months such as a more robust search function to filter your results by depth and height of the hollow, to exactly fit that special something.
Thanks for looking and let us know what you think!
All orders are on their way.
Here in BC all our major highways east of Vancouver are closed due to washouts and mudslides from a series of heavy rain storms..
Shipments from Secret Storage Books will continue without interuption south to the USA, but EAST to anywhere in Canada outside Vancouver is closed at the present time.
Note: Shipments TO Vancouver are not affected.
Canadians east of Vancouver who order will get an email letting you know shipments will be held until transport resumes. You can cancel anytime with a quick phone call or email; but we do expect shipments to resume in time for Christmas :)
We will update as soon as we hear news. Stay safe!
(it's good news!!)
It's now our understanding that we can ship to the UK from Canada without collecting VAT at checkout. (Secret Storage Books is far too small a company to register for VAT collection in the UK!)
What does this mean for you?
AIR MAIL: When the Royal Mail delivers they will collect import VAT from you directly.
DHL EXPRESS: Will also contact you for VAT payment and also a service charge based on your order value. Call them at 02476 937 770 if you want to confirm the service charge amount prior to ordering.
NO Duties are payable on Book safes :)
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Please write if you have any questions and we look forward to welcoming back our valued UK customers!
SHIPPING IS BACK FOR
AUSTRALIA
We DO ship to the UK!
-- with conditions :)
Britain leaving the EU has meant some changes for us here at Secret Storage Books.
Here's the low down for our valued UK customers:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SecretStorageBooks/
Before Brexit, your book safes arrived with VAT owing no matter how many or few you ordered; now, you can order through Etsy for under £135 or from Secret Storage Books if you really want to go to town and stock up.
Stay safe and happy hiding!
Diane
but they're a necessary tool...
We are happy to introduce carbon offset shipping for Secret Storage Books for 2021!
Our website runs on the Shopify platform which allows Secret Storage Books to join in the fight to save the Amazon rain forest for future generations around the world. A percentage of every order we ship will be donated to Pachama, a partner chosen by Shopify for their accountability.
There won't be any changes to your pricing - the cost is our cost of doing business - and our commitment to sustainability.
We're glad you can join us!
and save the conversion fees on your credit card.
We are so excited to announce this new feature to the Secret Storage Books website!
Choose:
USD
CAD
EUR
GBP
and your payment will be processed in that currency.
This change could save you 2.5% or more in exchange fees on your statement!
PS: You can always see what currency you are in at the top of any page and change it back if you wish.
But once you CHECK OUT, the currency is set.
So, if you chose CAD, and live in Canada, you will be charged just what you see. In the past (and with MOST independent sites) you could SEE your own currency, but pay in US$ and also a conversion fee of roughly 2.5% on top of the actual exchange rate. (Banks... sneaky not in a good way!)
US customers - no change here, you'll continue in US$
Everyone else: Keep more money in your new book safe :)
Stay healthy, stay safe!
Diane, Jayne and Laurie
OUR MOVE IS COMPLETED AND WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
After a 6 week shut down, our move to new digs is complete and we are ready to start shipping orders.
After 10 years we outgrew our old location and needed some space; as a home-based business it gets a little awkward let me tell you! So the home and business moved up the road to twice the space and we are happy to spread out.
Because Secret Storage Books is a home-based business, we are able to work with physical distancing to safely to continue making book safes and shipping our orders.
The courier picks up outside the house in our drop spot, so that we can all do our part to stop the spread. And by the time our package gets to YOU dear customer, it is safe to handle the contents, although we would recommend washing your hands and safely disposing of the outer package of course!
Our stock ran quite low just before the move, so check back often, as we're madly making more :)
Stay healthy and happy hiding!
Diane, Jayne and Laurie
Our WET Coast has turned into our WINDY Coast
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Snow cleared on our West Coast, but very windy conditions today mean ferry delays.
Your order MAY be delayed by the courier for a day until normal ferry service from our island returns!
Currently there are several postal and transportation strikes causing delays when shipping to certain countries. The following countries may experience serious postage delays during the holidays:
These disruptions mean shipments sent before our 2019 Holiday Shipping Deadlines may not arrive by their intended date. Shipping estimates for these countries will not be accurate until these strikes are resolved.
Customer Service in an Online World
As I was checking for a reply to a request for refund this morning, I started thinking about the rise of "no-reply@blankety-blank.com" emails, which basically say "don't call us, we'll call you". Even worse, "don't call us, we'll WRITE you".
How many times have we all literally mined a website to find a phone number to talk to somebody - anybody - real? And then have to follow up - but first FIND the email etc etc. It's so disrespectful of our time; after all THEY made the mistake most of the time and WE have to spend precious time to put it right!
Here at Secret Storage Books, we answer the phone! We publish our number and make it toll free. We want to hear if something isn't right, because we know that if one customer isn't happy, they'll tell 10 people and never buy from us again. We're small enough to understand that's just bad business.
And we respect your time :)
We outdid ourselves today!
As I was photographing some book safes for an upcoming sale I heard the "Cha-Ching" of an order come in. We had just finished shipping for the day, but we hopped to it and got this order out in literally 7 minutes! ... and made the DHL pick up.
We are known for fast shipping, but I think the bar has been raised!
(Thanks for the order Trevor)
We'll be taking a break to celebrate the holidays this season!
No shipping from Dec 25th - January 1st.
You can still order online and your book safe will ship January 2nd.
We also want to take a moment to thank you for a great year here at Secret Storage Books!
In a world of throw away things and seemingly endless consumerism, we're proud to offer recycled, useful, (and thoughtful!) gifts, handmade with love.
New: Gift Wrap option
Ship direct to your gift recipient with quality wrapping and a saddle-stich ribbon. No bows to get crushed in transit ~ we'll even write a short message if you wish. Two styles to choose from.
Your gift will arrive with the sneaky address of "SSB" Campbell River BC Canada so they will have no clue what's inside.
Shipping direct saves time and money!
Although Secret Storage Books is located in Canada, we just can't find a way to offer free shipping in Canada. The cheapest way to ship a book safe is Canada Post. Our minimum cost is $17 and as high as $22 to Newfoundland! And that's with our discount.
We will continue to look for ways to save fellow Canadians from the high cost of shipping within Canada.
Until we do:
British Columbia: FREE GROUND SHIPPING
Rest of Canada - discounted shipping ($12 - 18 for ground) calculated once purchase is added to your cart.
BIG NEWS FOR INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS:
Secret Storage Books is now shipping to 45 countries with insurance and a tracking number. Best of all, the cost for this new ship method is half of the previous cost of un-tracked mail, in some cases even less than half!
Before August 1st, the only way to arrange your shipment was by Canada Post, which had weight restrictions, no tracking, and NO insurance. Delivery times were becoming unreliable so we began to look for alternatives that didn't cost all the money you wanted to hide in your book box!
We signed up for Asendia, a joint venture between Swiss Post and La Post of France. Packages are expedited within the US and sent to local mail carriers all over the world.
Delivery is between 6-21 days depending on your location, and includes tracking and insurance.
Want to see if we can ship to your country? Put something in your cart and check it out!
Excellent service! I like to give the Secret Storage books as gifts. Everyone loves them! They are well made and arrive super fast. I will absolutely continue to buy from this great company. 5/5 Susan W.
Effective July 1, 2018, Australia will now apply the 10% GST to all imports, including products valued under A$1,000.
Prior to July 1, 2018, Australian could purchase and have books safes imported duty and tax-free as long as the product value was less than A$1,000. (GST was already being applied to goods and services over A$1,000.)
This change comes at a time when deliveries of un-tracked packages have slowed down, causing concern for both me and my customers. The cost is a little more, but the peace of mind is welcome!
]]>So, in the interest of fairness all around, I will only be offering tracked shipping to Australia, which is more $ than Air Mail, but then both you, dear customer, and I, have clarity on the package status. Books are ANGELS but they don't have wings!
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