outback books & greeting cards
Book & Greeting Card Ordering Information
This is a one–person show so you receive personal service. However during particularly busy periods such as the weeks leading up to Christmas, I don’t have the resources to efficiently handle large numbers of phone enquiries. So if you have any questions please refer first to the information contained here and in related pages. Then please do contact me if you have queries that are still unanswered.
Email is most efficient, because during busy times I can respond at times when you might not want a phonecall returned (eg middle of the night, or at the crack of dawn). If you telephone me, please do so within the standard business hours mentioned below. Current Queensland time is found up the top of the home page. Please note, Queensland does not have daylight saving.
Queries answered on this page:
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Sending direct to Gift recipients
Will I get a discount if I order a large amount?
'Life as an Australian Horseman' & 'A Million Acre Masterpiece' books
Fascinating books of Australian outback photos that are ideal personal or corporate gifts, especially for those who are hard to buy for.
There are good discounts for purchases of 2 or more books and 5 or more packets of greeting cards. These discounts are calculated automatically when you place your order.
If you are purchasing full boxes of books (12 copies of 'Life as an Australian Horseman' & 16 copies of 'A Million Acre Masterpiece') or 10 or more packets of greeting cards, please email me for a quote as there are larger discounts for these larger orders.
What does ‘signed’ book mean?
One of the prime advantages of buying your book direct is that you can ask for it to be personally signed by the author. Signed books are more highly valued by collectors and they make a gift more special.
It is usual for me to write ‘best wishes’ with my signature and date in the front of the book. Indicate ‘yes’ on the order form if you’d like me to sign your books for you. If you would like someone's name written in too, please let me know when ordering (make sure the name is clearly printed & spelt correctly).
Please bear in mind that particularly personal messages are much better if handwritten by the person who is giving the book. Don't ask me to write 'love from mum' for you because I know your son or daughter would much prefer to see your own handwriting. Sorry but I do not write personal messages into books unless I know the person well myself (and pick my own words), nor do I write personal messages with someone else's name under them. If you're having books sent direct to someone else, I recommend you send a card to them with a personal message in it, or write a personal message into the book when you visit at a later date.
And bear in mind that if you want perfect printing, it's best to write the message yourself (try to be neat though I do, I don't claim to have beautiful handwriting).
Books cannot be pre- or post-dated either; however of course the month and/or year can be left off when I sign your books.
Whether or not you ask me to sign your book, if you are giving it as a gift I encourage you to handwrite a personal message for the person you are giving it to. Handwritten messages in books become increasingly special and appreciated as the years pass - especially when the message writer is no longer around to do so.
How long will it take for my order to be delivered?
Your order will normally be sent out within a few days however during extra busy times it make take longer due to the volumes being processed. And because this is a one person show, orders are not sent out when the office is closed (see below - 'office closures'). Pease note that orders are mailed out strictly in the order in which they are received, with the exception of online orders, which receive priority (as no administration is involved, such as banking and cheque clearance time). So in the lead up to extra busy times, such as Christmas, order well in advance to ensure you are at the head of the queue. And order online, because online orders receive priority - and supplying a current email address ensures any order queries can be very quickly attended to.
Delivery within Australia:
Small, domestic orders are sent by Australia Post's efficient 'Express Post' system so usually only take 2–7 days to arrive, depending on the frequency of your local mail delivery. Larger domestic orders (approximately 8-10 books) are usually boxed and sent out by bus freight, which helps to minimise the risk of parcel damage. If bus freight is not available they may be boxed and mailed by ordinary mail, which can take longer to be delivered. These packaging & postage cost savings allow me to offer good discounts for larger orders. If your large order is urgent and you would prefer to waive the bulk discount in order to have it all individually wrapped and sent to you by Express Post, please let me know when ordering, so it can be arranged.
Please note that Australia Post has an extra day off in-between the Christmas/Boxing Day public holidays, and the New Years Day public holiday - to compensate for the very long hours Australia Post employees and contractors work over the first 24 days in December. On the Australia Post holiday (usually New Year's Eve), only LPOs (Licenced Post Offices) and some corporate post offices are open. There are no mail deliveries and no mail sorting on this day, and standard post offices are shut. This means that for most years, there is only a couple of actual mail days between Boxing Day and the 2nd of January. So mail that is not delivered by Christmas Eve will usually not be delivered until early January.
Delivery to overseas addresses:
These orders are sent by Australia Post's standard airmail service, which usually only takes 7-14 days to arrive anywhere in the world. However, please note that pre-Christmas delivery can no longer be guaranteed for orders placed less than 6 weeks prior to Christmas Day. Unfortunately in recent years some orders mailed in December have not been delivered until late January or even early February. The most likely explanation for this delay - which has been experienced in the U.S., Canada and some European countries - is that customs inspections have tightened up so much that a huge backlog of parcels to be examined builds up over Christmas, that takes customs inspectors weeks to clear (combined with after-Christmas holiday breaks for postal staff). So if your order needs to arrive overseas prior to Christmas, you must place your order by early November - preferably by October, to be on the safe side. A priority airmail service is available however it is approximately twice the cost of ordinary airmail.
Delivery to some specific countries is slower, all year round, due to sluggish local sorting and/or delivery systems. Some orders have taken 4-8 weeks to be delivered in some African and South American countries, for example Botswana, Argentina and Brazil. If you have had problems with mail disappearing or being delivered very late, you may prefer to pay the extra cost for the traceable, priority airmail service. Please enquire if you have any concerns or a significant deadline to meet.
Office closures:
During the mustering season (April to October) I have to be away taking photographs sometimes and am occasionally away on other business. The office is also closed when I have time off - standard public holidays plus several other weeks annually, most often in January (to recover from 7 days/week work & long hours, in the lead up to Christmas). When I am away for more than a couple of days an 'office temporarily closed' notice is posted up the top of the home page of the website, and if I am away for 2 weeks or more there is a special 'office closed' prize draw for buyers who ordered while the office was closed. Orders are sent out as soon as I return, in the order they were received. If you have an urgent deadline please email or telephone me. It is best not to leave ordering for a special occasion until the last minute.
Due to the volume of orders received before Christmas, all Australian-delivery Christmas orders should be made by early December or even earlier; and overseas-delivery orders should be made by the end of October, to assist timely delivery and to help reduce the overload on postal staff.
Can I order now and have the books sent at a later date?
Unfortunately due to the volume of orders received, delaying the mailing of a specific order until a customer-specified date is highly likely to go awry - and end up being accidentally sent later than specified. If you have a particular reason for placing an order with a delayed mailing time, then I will do my best to help; but please be aware that I am not able to guarantee that your order will leave exactly on the date specified.
How can I make sure my order arrives as soon as possible?
If you wish to make sure your order is received and processed A.S.A.P. then order online. Online orders are often processed on the same day they are received as much less administration is involved. Sometimes people who order online receive their order in the next morning’s mail, when they have a quick local delivery. Of course December is an exception - the volume of orders received often makes it humanly impossible to send out all the orders received straight away, but the orders are be sent out as soon as possible, by working extended hours.
Online ordering is also the most secure way of paying with a credit card. If you pay online you are taken directly to the National Australia Bank Secure Internet Payment Service (NSIPS) website which uses the industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. Your card numbers are encrypted so that hackers (people illegally intercepting electronic information) can’t decipher the numbers. All your card details go direct to the bank so I don’t get to see these numbers at all, and I have no record of your card details on file. The bank just sends me a message to let me know whether the payment has been accepted or declined. Paying a reputable retailer via a secure online website like this is actually safer than handing your card over to staff in shops.
In addition, everyone who orders online is entered into the annual prize draw for the framed limited edition photograph worth more than $1,000.
When do I pay for my order?
For administrative reasons all orders must be paid in full before they are sent. Otherwise I’d spend half my life matching up payments. It would be a nightmare.
What payment methods are accepted?
You may pay with a credit card, or if within Australia, a cheque or money order. Sorry I do not have the administrative resources to handle other payment methods, such as direct bank transfers, except for bulk orders (full boxes of books).
Credit card payments:
MasterCard and Visa are accepted. Payment can either be made online, by mail or by fax. I prefer that credit card numbers are not emailed to me - while the risk is low, ordering online is far more secure.
For fraud prevention reasons, only the actual owner of a credit card can make a purchase using that card. If someone else is paying for your order with their credit card, then they must place the order for you. For security reasons I cannot accept orders that are paid for with someone else’s card. I also need the complete contact details of the person placing the order, not just the postal address of the person the purchase is being sent to.
Cheque and money order payments:
Cheques and money orders are accepted from Australian Post Offices and Australian banks (in Australian dollars). Please make cheques or money orders payable to Fiona Lake. Bank clearance usually takes several business days and orders cannot be sent until the transaction is finalised. Unfortunately cheques and money orders cannot be accepted from residents in other countries due to high bank charges, exchange rate complications and clearance delays, so MasterCard or Visa card are the only payment options.
Who is charged the Australian Goods & Services Tax (GST)?
GST is not charged on postage or goods that I mail direct to an overseas address.
10% GST has to be charged on postage and goods mailed to an Australian address. If the purchase is a legitimate business expense then the purchaser can claim the GST back from the Australian Tax Office through their next Business Activity Statement (BAS).
Overseas orders - import duties
Some countries do charge import duty on books and gifts over a certain value, however most do not. But if your purchase is a gift then please let me know on the order form so that your parcel is clearly marked as a gift on the customs declaration form.
Please note that any import duties levied by the destination country are the responsibility of the person that the freight is addressed to.
Overseas orders - currency exchange rates
If you live outside Australia, you simply place your order online and pay the total in Australian dollars. When the transaction is processed, the banks involved convert the Australian dollars into the currency of the country you bank in. So the currency exchange is not something you (or I) have to be tangled up in. My bank charges me a small fee (approx 1%) for currency conversions every time payment is accepted from a credit card that is not Australian, but this cost is not passed on to you. Please note that some credit card companies do charge customers a fee for purchases made in other currencies, eg MasterCard charge their Australian customers 2.5% for purchases made in currencies other than AUD. This is information that would be spelt out in your credit card provider's terms & conditions. However this overseas transaction rate is not likely to amount to much - for example 2.5% of $100 is only $2.50.
How exactly does currency exchanging work?
For example - if you are in the U.S., you pay $84.00 Australian dollars to have one copy of the book 'A Million Acre Masterpiece' mailed to you. The bank I use (the National Australia Bank) then asks the bank that issued your credit card, for $84 Australian dollars (AUD). Your bank pays the National Australia Bank $84 AUD, which is credited to my account. Your bank then charges your credit card account with the amount of US Dollars that it had to use to buy $84 AUD. Because the Australian dollar is consistently valued below the American dollar, it will have cost your bank less than $84 USD to buy $84 AUD. For example, when the exchange rate is 0.67 USD in return for 1 AUD, I receive $84 AUD but your credit card will only be charged about $56.10 USD. If the AUD exchange rate for your country's currency is lower, then purchases will cost you more when converted. Exchange rates constantly fluctuate, however the value of the Australian dollar is not usually very volatile, and the value usually rises far more slowly than it falls. Currencies are exchanged at the official rate that applied when the transaction was made.
There is a link to a currency converter in the shopping cart/order page, so when the total of your order appears on the shopping cart/order page you can just click on the currency converter and enter the total to be exchanged, to view the exact amount you will be charged in your country's currency, at that time. Or you can type AUD and the code for your country's currency (eg 'AUD into USD') into Google or one of the many other currency converters that are online.
Comprehensive lists of the standard 3-letter currency codes used for all countries can be found at Wikipedia (with other code information) and XE Currency Exchange (in order of code or country). The currency codes for the countries I most often receive orders from are: EUR - Euro, GBP - Pounds Sterling [UK], DKK - Danish Krone, NZD - New Zealand Dollar, CAD - Canadian Dollar, USD - US Dollars, ZAR - South African Rand, ARS - Argentine Peso, BRL - Brazilian Real.
Can I pick up orders in person?
This one-person show is only feasible as a mail order business. If people were calling in I'd never get anything done, so staff would have to be employed. This would necessitate raising the price of books, cards and photographs by at least double, in order to raise the money required to pay wages. I do not have a retail outlet or art gallery - this website is my 'shop' - open 24/7, worldwide.
Can gift purchases be sent direct to recipients?
Sorry I don't do gift wrapping, but I can send your purchase direct to the recipient/s. Just fill in the recipients names and addresses into the 'shipping address' section of the online order form, or write it onto the back of the printed order form.
I receive many orders from customers who would like their purchase sent direct to the person they are giving the book to - either somewhere else in Australia or overseas. Having a book sent direct saves you time (otherwise spent re-packaging, and in post office queues), the recipient receives the gift sooner, and you save money as well (you're not paying for a second lot of domestic postage, goods sent directly overseas are not charged GST, and the overseas postage rate I charge is well below standard postage rates). There is no extra cost charged for packing or mailing gifts direct to recipients.
Please note that for all sales that are not face-to-face sales (i.e., they're mail, fax, phone & online sales) I do need the complete mailing address of the person placing the order & paying for it, even if the purchase is being sent elsewhere. This is primarily for financial security reasons - to help ensure that no-one else is using your card or cheque book fraudulently. But providing your postal address also means that if the parcel is undeliverable to your gift recipient, for some reason, I am able to send your purchase on to you.
If you want a particularly personal message written inside the book I recommend you do this yourself, or mail a card direct to the recipient with your personal message inside it. They can then keep your card inside the book (cards often end up being used as much-appreciated bookmarks).
I can include a note advising the recipient who the present is from, if requested, however I recommend that the gift giver notifies the recipient in person, prior to delivery (the gift can of course be kept anonymous if you prefer, also).
Can you help keep my gift a surprise?
If your purchase is a gift, please tick ‘gift’ so that I know not to let the cat out of the bag if I have to ring up with a query.
Online order receipts are emailed direct to you, they are not sent with the books. However please note that by law the value of all goods being sent out of Australia must be clearly stated on the accompanying documents. This means that if Uncle Cyril in London reads the fine print on the customs declaration form, he’ll know how much you spent on him.
How do I get a tax invoice/receipt?
Online orders:
An automated order confirmation notice with GST and purchase details will be sent to you within minutes. If you do not receive this order confirmation notice, my website may not have been notified that your payment has been processed by the bank. So please contact me so I can manually check banking records to ascertain whether a payment has actually been processed. If you do not contact me, I may not realise that you have placed a completed order and it will be sitting in an 'unpaid' folder, and not sent out.
Please ensure you enter your email address precisely when ordering - because if the email address you provide is not correct, your emailed order confirmation notice cannot be delivered to you.
Orders by mail, fax & phone:
Please note that during December tax invoice/receipts cannot be supplied for orders other than those made online, due to the volume of orders received, so if you need a receipt for an order made during the pre-Christmas period - order online.
Can I return my purchase for a refund?
If you are dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason you may return the books or cards to me for a refund*, providing they are in perfect condition and sent back within 5 days (they must be suitably packed, because if damaged on the return journey, they cannot be refunded). * Books signed with special messages are however exempted (as they cannot be resold).
The cost of the books or cards will be returned to you immediately providing the goods are still in saleable condition, however because the refund is due to a change of mind any postage paid, in either direction, cannot be refunded.
In order to receive an immediate, cost–free replacement of goods damaged in transit, damaged goods must be returned with the original packaging material within 5 days. Please refer to Refunds & Returns for further information, prior to returning an order for any reason.
Everything leaves here in good condition and fortunately I’ve had very few items damaged in transit over the years. But of course accidents are always possible so if your purchase is damaged then I will make every effort to rectify the situation as quickly and easily as possible.
Tips to ensure your order is delivered as soon as possible:
For the fastest Delivery & Prize Draw entry
For fastest delivery & prize draw entry, order online with a credit card now:
Order books online » Order cards online »Online payments are securely processed directly through the National Australia Bank.
Or pay by cheque or money order by mail:
Download order form »- If ordering online, when you have typed your credit card details into the bank payment form, please do wait a moment until the bank completes the payment processing. If you wander off elsewhere before the bank has sent a message to my website to advise your payment has been accepted, then your payment has to be matched up manually with banking records. This is no great drama but it does add processing time on, particularly during extra busy times (such as before Christmas), when there is not enough time to check banking records to ensure orders recorded as 'unpaid' are actually unpaid.
- If your credit card payment is declined by the bank please contact me to let me know what you’d like to do, eg pay by another method.
- Use the speediest payment method. Apart from extra busy times and when I am away, the following processing times apply:
- Online Orders -
- The order can be mailed the next business day, or possibly even on the same day.
- Faxed Orders — Paid by Credit Card -
- The order will usually go within a couple of business days.
- Mailed Orders -
- A letter may take 7 or more days to arrive here from southern or western Australia, and 1-2 weeks or more from overseas. Credit card payments will only take a couple of days to process however if you’ve mailed a cheque you will need to wait a few more days until it has been banked and then cleared, plus the time it takes for the order to reach you. All up an order paid for by a cheque in the mail may take a couple of weeks to reach you. If you have a specific deadline, please remember to allow for this extra time, if you are ordering by mail.
