1) The UPS rates shown on the cart are the retail rates. Our rates are lower, especially on international shipments (we get 40-50% off the official rates to most countries), and the discounted rates are what we will charge you.
For example: UPS ground, 1 lb from Portland, Maine to New York City. The
cart (as of March 2009) shows $9.16. Actual cost from our UPS software to a commercial address
in New York City: $5.42. Residential address: $7.59. Add on insurance and priority mail often costs more than UPS ground.
Someday we hope that UPS will set things up so that our shopping cart displays our actual rates
from their servers. So far, no luck. We keep asking.
2) Postal shipping charges shown on the cart now include insurance (this is a change). Postal insurance is substantially more expensive than UPS insurance. This can quickly make priority mail shippng more expensive than UPS.
3) If your package is damaged or lost, UPS will process the claim and refund the money quickly, usually within 2-3 weeks at most. Getting a refund for a lost international postal package can take 3-4 months. And postal shipment tracking is pathetic.
Thank you for reading this far. Further details below:
General Information: We charge you what it costs us
to ship.
Reminder: the shipping charges (both UPS and Postal)
that the cart shows are estimates from the UPS and USPS
servers. Actual UPS charges will usually be lower and
postal costs almost always higher than what the cart shows.
We prefer to use United Parcel Service (UPS) because of:
Our daily UPS pickup is around 4pm eastern time.
• Orders received by noon will often ship the same day (unless your order is very large or we are exceptionally busy).
UPS shipping methods are: Ground, 3-Day, 2-Day, and Next Day. (If you need Saturday delivery or other special services, please contact us.)
Remember: The UPS charges you will see as you check out are ESTIMATES.
• The actual charge will almost always be lower than the estimates.
• Shipping to a commercial address is less
expensive than delivery to your home, so if convenient, have it shipped to your business or your office.
SHIP CHEAPEST WAY: If you'd like us to choose the most
cost effective shipping for you, please indicate this
at the bottom of the Order Info checkout page.
PRIORITY MAIL: There have been recent (May 2007) changes to Priority Mail rates, and some of them have increased drastically. As with UPS, the rates quoted on the cart are ESTIMATES from the USPS server, and do not include insurance. We insure all priority and express mail shipments.
We normally use priority mail for shipments to Hawaii and Alaska (depending on the location).
Again, please let us know if you want us to compare UPS ground vs priority mail to see which will be less expensive for your order.
The best UPS shipping method is UPS Expedited. (UPS Express is also available--and is the only option to a few countries--but Expedited is almost as fast and costs less.) Please remember that the rates quoted by UPS during checkout are estimates. We get a substantial discount on UPS international rates--usually 40% or more--and your final shipping charge will be the discounted cost.
The other option for international customers is postal shipping via Express Mail or International Priority Mail. The International Priority flat envelopes will hold six 250 gram bags of Miyuki beads. We limit the value per envelope to $100. Note that there have been several changes to international postal shipping recently so please contact us with questions, or take a look at the USPS website. While postal 'tracking' exists for Express & International Priority Mail, it is not the detailed sort of tracking offered by UPS.
If an international postal shipment is lost, we have to wait 45 days before we can file an insurance claim. UPS tracking is much better than postal tracking, and UPS settles insurance claims very quickly.
Checking Order Status: To check the status of an order, click the Your Account link in the menu bar at the top of each page and login to your account. Orders that are awaiting shipment are defined as Pending while orders that have shipped are labeled Closed. You can also track UPS shipments from your account on the website. We also enter your email into our UPS software, so you should receive an email from UPS after your order goes out. (Please make sure your email address is correct in our system--check the Your Account Link on the cart to verify it.)