Shipping

Domestic orders ship in padded envelopes by USPS First Class Mail, without tracking, or USPS Ground Advantage (or occasionally Priority Mail), with tracking.  The default shipping option is free, but I choose the method.  For an additional $4, I will guarantee at least USPS Ground Advantage, with tracking.  Spending more on shipping will not result in faster processing or even faster delivery in most cases, but it will provide tracking.

If your order does not arrive within three weeks from the date it is marked completed, I will send a replacement.  The postal service is pretty reliable.  Over the years, I have found that I replace about 1 in 80 orders.  Many of those still arrive at some point, after being lost in the USPS maze for weeks or even months.

Canada Shipping

The default option for shipping to Canada is USPS First Class International Mail in a small padded envelope.  This costs an obscene amount of money (currently about $19), considering that I am closer to most of southern Canada than to much of the USA.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a cheaper option.  I also offer to ship seeds in regular letter envelopes for free.  There is a lot of risk with letter envelopes – they often take ages to arrive, sometimes they get lost, and seeds are sometimes damaged.  I ship up to four packets per envelope.  If you order more than that and select this shipping option, then I will divide the order into as many envelopes as necessary.

If your order does not arrive within six weeks from the date that it is marked completed, I will send a replacement.

Order Status

I always send an email when I ship your order.  If it has been more than two weeks and you haven’t received an email, please check your spam/junk emails.

In addition, there are order statuses that you can see if you log in and look at the order through the web site:

  • Processing means that I have received the order but haven’t looked at it yet.
  • Completed means that your order has been packed, postage printed, and either has gone or will soon go to the post office.
  • Ship prep means that I am preparing your order (locating items, cleaning, packaging, etc.).  This doesn’t necessarily mean that the order is shipping soon, just that I have looked at it to make sure that it is shippable as is.
  • Contact means that there is some problem with your order and I have either attempted to contact you or am planning to.
  • Hold means that I am waiting for your payment to arrive (if you paid with a check or money order) or that something unusual has happened with payment (for example, if Paypal has opened a dispute about the order).

Packaging

Seeds are shipped in plastic bubble mailers.  In vitro plantlets are shipped in boxes.