Shipping info

I ship orders Monday through Friday (and usually Saturday before noon). Sometimes I'm able to ship the same day (if you order in the morning), otherwise the following day. If you order on the weekend I probably won't be able to ship until Monday. Yes, everything I sell is in one location!

Most customers choose Media Mail which takes around 4 to 10 days (and up to 2 weeks around a holiday). [Media Mail rates went up again in January 2023.] You can also choose USPS Priority (estimated 2 to 5 days depending on your distance from Philly) or UPS Ground (very fast to Mid-Atlantic states; pretty fast to the Midwest/South; as many as 7 days to the West Coast). In my experience UPS is the safest.

All the shipping methods include tracking and Shopify will send you a tracking number. Occasionally (often?) the post office neglects to scan a package, causing it to appear to be in limbo. 99.9% of the time it is still traveling through the system. One tip is to sign-up for tracking updates at USPS -- it seems to help.

If the carrier shows an estimated delivery time during checkout, note that those estimates do *not* include my processing time, which is usually 12 to 24 hours.

USPS Priority note: occasionally USPS wildly underestimates the cost of priority shipping to the West Coast. If this happens I will usually request switching to UPS or Media Mail.

International shipping: I ship to many countries via the US post office, DHL, and UPS [update: 1/18/23, I removed UPS as an option for most countries because their surprise brokerage fees resulted in customers refusing packages - contact me if you want me to ship using UPS]. Art books are expensive to ship, unfortunately. You can contact me if you don't see shipping options for your country. Please note: Most of my international customers are hit with customs fees on their end (definitely if you live in Canada or Europe). UPS and DHL may also add a brokerage fee. This can all add a significant additional fee to your order.

Canadian customers: Apparently USPS does not charge any brokerage fees, which can add up when shipping by UPS or DHL. Some of my Canadian customers have used Shippsy and maybe that is an option for you to save on shipping. 

Contact will [at] 50wattsbooks.com with any questions.