
Shipping,
Insurance & Costs
The shopping cart will give you a
rough estimate on the shipping - however, the
actual cost will be calculated by us at the shop
when the order is ready to go out. If not
otherwise specific, we ship items via the U.S.
Postal Service, either as First Class Mail® or
Priority Mail®. You may select other
shipping methods - which can be changed before
final checkout. We do recommend UPS for large packages
and those that require closer tracking.
All shipping methods include
insurance.
- Full amount for all US Domestic packages -
the first $100 is included in the First Class
Mail® Parcel rates in the catalog. Priority Mail
includes $50 and Express Mail includes $100
insurance with the USPS. We will add extra insurance if the
parcel's value is over that amount.
- First $100 for all International US Postal
Service packages. If you wish a different amount
please note it in the Special Instructions.
- We insure most USPS packages, except those above, with a 3rd party.
Please note that all US Postal Service
International packages must carry a customs form
regardless of weight or value and the insured
value is listed on the customs form.
UPS has insurance included of $100 by default and
insurance over that amount will be added if
needed.
None of the companies will cover packages that are marked as Delivered but you cannot find. If you are concerned about package loss or theft in your area, please request that we have the package sent with Signature Confirmation so someone has to sign for it. It is available for USPS Priority Mail, UPS and FedEx at an additional charge.
When we ship the order you will
receive an e-mail notification if you have given
us a valid e-mail address.

US Postal Service Tracking & Time Estimates PRE COVID-19
Typical delivery times for USPS is 2-3 days for Priority Mail and 3-7 days for
First Class. International orders can take anywhere from 7-21 days depending on country since it all depends on your country's postal service as well as ours.
Please note that for international packages, only Priority Mail International (including Express) is trackable once it leaves the US. First Class Package International is only trackable within the US.
COVID-19
The times above no longer apply during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Within the US double to quadruple the time for packages in transit. And the USPS is not scanning packages at all of the points it used to so you might see it scanned when it's pickup from us (see below) and then not again until it's delivered. If you have porch pirates this is an issue as shipping insurance does not cover stolen packages, only lost or damaged ones. Consider having us ship Priority Mail with Signature Confirmation, UPS or to an address where someone is around to receive the package.
For International packages delivery times is now on the order of 4-12 weeks if not longer. There are fewer planes flying to put the cargo on. So if you order is time sensitive, plan for a 3 month lead time.
You can receive text or e-mail status updates on your package once you have tracked it through the USPS website. If you are a residential US customer, you can also sign up for their Informed Delivery service.
If for some reason your US bound package is delayed (e.g. you have
tracked it and it appears to be stuck somewhere), call the USPS directly
(1-800-275-8777), contact your local Post Office or use their online tools for Missing Packages and ask them to put a Tracer on it.That usually shakes it loose within a couple of days.
If you feel you need to file an insurance claim, please contact us. We use a 3rd party insurance company for most postal insurance, not the post office.
If
your package tracking shows "Your shipment was received" it means they
picked it up from us (they are supposed to scan them when they pick up,
but even that's not always happening). "Acceptance" happens when
it's scanned at the distribution center, but we are finding that a percentage of our packages are not getting scanned along the route. So
putting a Tracer on it after 4-5 days for Priority Mail and 7 days for
First Class is the best option. During COVID-19 double that time.
If the USPS says that "shipment received" but not having "acceptance" means we didn't give it to them, don't believe them. We use a master SCAN form for our shipments and when it is scanned by our postal carrier, it tags all of them as "shipment received". Since they don't always scan them after that, we have had the USPS claim it means we didn't give them the package. But it's them misunderstanding their own tools. Contact us to confirm when we handed it to the USPS if you need to.
If your package shows as delivered but you cannot find it first check with neighbors in case they mis-delivered it to another address or with other members of our household. You would be surprised the number of times we get a report of package like this where a family member put it away and forgot to tell the recipient. If you still cannot find it contact either your postal carrier or your local post office to ask them what they did with it. Unfortunately insurance does not cover stolen packages. If you have concerns about that you can select to send the package Priority Mail and make a note to have us add Signature Confirmation, which is an additional charge, but means someone has to sign for it.
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