Update: 2010-03-19.  You should probably read the comments, as well as the post after this.  Adafruit fully refunded all shipping, something I never asked for, but much more usefully, they overhauled their shipping weights calculator.  This a Good Thing™  My original order now calculates out to 0.9 pounds including packaging, or 43% less than originally.  (Still a touch high, but nothing to complain about, and as long as they still want to work in fractional pounds, it’s probably as good as can reasonably be expected)

Original below…..

So, adafruit make some great products, and ladyada.net is a great resource.  That said, their shipping (at least internationally) is rather obscene.  I recently received a parcel charged for 1.6 lbs USPS shipping, $18.52.  Ok, that’s pretty much what USPS says for shipping with an allowance for packaging.  No big deal.

Until I thought about how much 1.6 lbs really was. And what the parcel actually weighed.  (I’m sorry, I don’t have a weight before I opened it up.)

• 2x XBee adapator kit, in packaging.  12g each  ==> let’s be generous and say 40g.
• 1x half size breadboard. 40g  ==> let’s say 50g
• 8xmagnets, wrapped in paper, another 50g  ==> let’s say 100g!
• 1x padded envelope ==> 50g, let’s say 100g again!

So, even being generous, I’m up to…..300g. 0.66lbs. not 0.75 lbs.  Not 1.  Certainly not 1.5, and one hell of a long way from 1.6!

So, really, this just pushes me to get my board designs finished up so I don’t have to use her xbee adaptor boards anymore.  And, adafruit just goes on the list of companies with rather less than ideal international shipping policies.

(digikey still takes the cake for screwing international customers as best they can though)