Shipping policy

Shipping Costs

Shipping is automatically calculated based on the item weight, shipping method, and destination. Economy shipping to the USA begins at $4.90 and standard shipping at $8.65. International shipping begins at $17.

Order Processing Times

Our orders are normally processed within 1-3 business days. During peak times such as Black Friday and Christmas, order processing can take up to 5 business days. The order processing time is separate from the shipping time. We appreciate your patience while we prepare your order.

Shipping Times

We ship from our business location in California, USA. We currently ship to the USA and worldwide to most countries.

• Standard shipping within the USA will normally arrive within 3-4 business days after date of ship.
  
  
• Economy shipping within the USA will normally arrive within 5-8 business days after date of ship.
  
  
• Express shipping outside the USA (with UPS or DHL) will normally arrive within 5 business days after date of ship.
  
  
• Economy shipping outside the USA (USPS First Class Package International Service) will typically arrive within 8-15 business days after date of ship, but some international shipments may take much longer. International shipping times up to 10 weeks should be considered normal.
  

These shipping times are estimates and are not guaranteed. Shipping may be slower during peak periods.

Tariffs, Foreign Taxes, Import Duty, and Brokerage Fees

Shipments outside the USA are sent DDU, meaning the buyer is responsible for paying all import duties, taxes, VAT, tariffs, and other customs-related costs at the time of delivery. Customers in Canada, the European Union, and other locations outside the USA may be required to pay VAT, GST, tariffs, brokerage fees, and other similar costs. Any applicable tariffs, taxes and fees are not included in the product price or shipping and handling cost. Such charges are the buyer's responsibility as we are only charging the handling and transportation fee for your order. You may check with your country's customs office to determine if there will be additional costs.

Your country's postal service or shipping courier may contact you to arrange payment of taxes and fees. It is important to provide a correct phone number and email address when placing your order, so that the postal service can contact you. The postal service may send communications by phone, email, or a paper letter. If the tracking information shows that your package has reached the destination country, but you have not received any communication from the postal service about VAT payment, contact your postal service or your local post office and provide them the tracking number. If the postal service is unable to contact you after several weeks, the package will be returned to sender. 

International Package Tracking

International shipments sent by USPS First Class Package International Service will only provide limited tracking information. If a mail item shows on USPS tracking that it has left the United States (the last scan is from an International Service Center or ISC), the US Postal Service has no further visibility on that item until the destination country provides updated tracking information to its system.

The destination country’s postal system may not always scan the USPS tracking number. Any tracking scans typically only occur when the parcel enters a country’s customs facility, and at the local or regional destination locations. It is common to see limited or no updates to the tracking information after the package leaves the United States. The package could be moving, even though the tracking information doesn’t change.

Sometimes it is possible to get more updated tracking by using the destination country’s postal service online tracking tools if the item has entered the country. (See this list from Wikipedia of National Postal Services) This is especially true if the shipment has delivery or routing errors, delays, or exceptions as the comments on the country’s postal system may provide more information on the status of the mail items than the update transmitted back to the USPS.

For international shipping that provides detailed end-to-end tracking, please select an express shipping method such as DHL or UPS.

International Shipping Delays

The current international shipping environment is very challenging, and the coronavirus COVID-19 emergency continues to impact shipping operations. We appreciate your patience. Between a shortage of commercial airlines to carry mail, customs clearance backlogs, and local destination transit service and postal system restrictions, most international carriers are experiencing major service disruptions and longer than normal transit times on many shipments.

For shipments sent by USPS First Class Package International Service, these disruptions can sometimes cause unexpected delays of weeks or even months, and FCPIS shipments to some countries have been halted entirely. Unfortunately these delays are outside our control. For faster international shipping, please select an express shipping method such as DHL or UPS. Thank you for your understanding as we cope with this difficult shipping environment.

Lost or Damaged Shipments

If the expected shipping time has passed and you still haven't received your package, or your package was received with damage, please contact us so that we can investigate and help resolve the problem. Buyers are responsible for notifying us of shipping problems in a timely manner, within 90 days of the date of mailing. In the event that your shipment is permanently lost or destroyed, we will replace it or refund your order.