OUR POLICY ON COVID-19
Your safety and the safety of your food is our utmost concern.
As a food supplier and distributor, we adhere to rigid standards to ensure the purity and safety of the packaged vanilla beans and bottled vanilla extracts we sell for consumption by you, your family members and any guests for whom you prepare foods using our products. If you have any questions concerning the measures we take to ensure your food safety, please feel free to call our offices or fill out the contact form to e-mail us.
Q: How do your shipping options work?
A: We give you several options for shipping, and link electronically to the actual shipping rate schedules (called a “tariff”) published for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (FedEx). (*) So the shipping charges reflect the actual, posted rates by the carriers for shipping your orders.
We now have a USPS First Class® Package Service option for smaller, qualifying orders, which
does provide a tracking number for our shipments; however we strongly recommend you use USPS Priority
Mail®—it is usually a little more expensive than first-class mail, but it will get to you faster and may be a bit more secure.(!!)
We are also now offering a “Flat Rate” Priority Mail® option for orders weighing 2 lbs. or less, so check that
out in your shopping cart, as it may be less expensive than the standard “tariff” rate for USPS Priority Mail®.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The FedEx Ground® tariff schedule we are linked to for U.S. domestic and international orders is only
available to COMMERCIAL addresses! For RESIDENTIAL addresses, we recommend USPS Priority Mail for mailing in the U.S.
(it's faster and cheaper!) or UPS (they more commonly serve residential addresses and so are also more cost-effective than FedEx)
or USPS Priority Mail International® for shipping to international destinations. If you select FedEx Ground® shipping to a residential address,
your order may be delayed while we contact you for shipping instructions. If you still desire FedEx ground delivery
to your home/residential address, please include a “Note” with your order, fill out a Contact form
or call our office so that we can arrange for payment of the surcharge for FedEx Home® Delivery service.
Q: Is there a bulk shipping rate for larger orders?
A: YES! Due to recent increases in USPS postal rates, we now offer FREE USPS shipping for all orders of at least $150 in product value. (Shipping, excess insurance and handling charges are not included in calculating the order value.) This special offer applies to domestic, continental U.S.-based addresses only. Sorry, due to the cost of shipping to Alaska, Hawaii and international addresses, we are not able to offer free shipping for these orders. If you want to ensure your order is shipped by Priority Mail®, rather than First Class mail we may use for the free shipping option, for orders of 2 lbs. or less of vanilla beans only, you can take advantage of the “flat rate” shipping option we discuss in the first Q&A above. For further information, please feel free to contact our office - or see below for telephone information.
Q: Why do you include a $4.95 handling charge for orders under $25.00?
A: We do not have a fancy, automated warehouse and pack all our orders by hand. Because our prices are so low, our profit doesn't even cover the cost of handling small orders. So we include the $4.95 handling charge for orders under $25.00, so that we at least cover our costs with what we make on these orders.
Q. How long will it take to receive my order?
A. We try to fill orders within three business days of being placed over the website.
(Please note: we do not process or ship orders on weekends or U.S. national holidays.) Shipping time varies according to distance from our offices.
For mailed orders, we generally use USPS First Class® Package Service or Priority Mail®, so that we get tracking
information - these services will often get you your shipment just as fast as FedEx (and almost always faster than UPS Ground service for orders outside California,
unless you pay for expedited shipping)! So you may want to check
the USPS website for delivery times.
Once your order ships, you will receive a tracking number that you can follow by entering the tracking information on the appropriate website.
You may want to check your email “spam” folder if you haven't received a notification within a few days after placing your order;
sometimes our shipping confirmation emails get re-directed there. Please refer to either the
USPS website,
UPS website or
FedEx website for exact shipping times
and up-to-date tracking information. The ZIP Code of our local post office is 90045.
We cannot guarantee that your order will reach you within the estimated time frame. For example, due to recent issues
with the U.S. Postal Service that have been highlighted in the national media, it is possible you may experience
shipping delays. You may check on the status of your order using the USPS website and tracking number provided in the body of the shipping confirmation e-mail you receive.
We do not get any better or different information than the USPS provides you with this service.
We regret that, in spite of our best efforts, packages are sometimes delayed, damaged or lost in transit,
especially to international destinations where delivery cannot always be fully traced, even with a “tracking number.”
In particular, foreign Customs offices occasionally put a “hold” on international orders and may not even notify you,
the recipient, that they are holding your package. So if your international order doesn't arrive within a couple of weeks after we send you notice
it has been shipped, you may want to first check with your local Customs office, to see whether they might be holding it there for some reason.
You should also put a note on your order if you have special delivery requirements or need us to meet a particular delivery deadline. If you don't let us know up front, we can't make sure your needs are taken care of.
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING INSURANCE AND OUR LIMITED LIABILITY: IN ANY EVENT, WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE
FOR ANY DELAYS IN SHIPMENT, OR DAMAGED OR LOST-IN-TRANSIT SHIPMENTS.
Unless you make special arrangements with us, USPS First Class® Package Service and USPS Priority Mail® shipping includes
NO insurance for orders lost or damaged in transit. [As of July 10, 2022, the minimum $50 value insurance
formerly provided automatically for USPS Priority Mail® shipments was discontinued.] If you wish to insure your USPS Priority Mail® or USPS First Class® Package Service shipment, look for the link we now provide in the
“shopping cart” to add insurance coverage to your order. To obtain insurance coverage for a UPS order sent to
a residential address, or a FedEx Ground® commercial order, or make other, special shipping arrangements, please fill out a
Contact form, or phone our office.
Lastly, the import/export business can be difficult to predict. Sometimes our own shipments imported from overseas are delayed in transit,
or held for inspection by customs or FDA officials - none of which is in our control.
As a result, we sometimes run short of supply unexpectedly. We do our best to keep our site updated for out-of-stock items,
and to notify all customers who may be subject to a “back order.”
But due to our limited staffing, we may not be able to send a notice for a couple of days or take an item “out of stock” on the website fast enough.
When that happens, we appreciate your understanding and patience with us!
Q: What is your policy for international orders?
A: We generally use the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to ship all international orders,
including Canada - they are cost-effective and efficient. The USPS Priority Mail International® level of service
will get to you within 6 - 10 business days from the date of shipment. We do not offer the cheaper USPS First Class Mail International®
level of service, because there is no tracking information provided to help us assure delivery;
however, if you wish to use this option, please contact us
or call our office.
For orders of 2 lbs. or less of vanilla beans only, we are able to use a special, “flat rate”
USPS envelope, so please note that shipping option is provided in the shopping cart, or contact us if you wish
to take advantage of this option and have any problems finding it in your cart.
However, if your order is for greater than 2 lbs. of vanilla beans, or includes vanilla extract,
this option is not available. You must click on the link for the U.S. Postal Service and choose the Priority Mail International® rate.
Important note: USPS Priority Mail International® and the flat rate option include insurance
in the minimal amount of $50 only, to help avoid Customs duties. If you want to insure your shipment for a greater value,
please contact us or call our office to make special arrangements.
We can also ship using international expedited services through the USPS or other private courier services, such as FedEx or DHL. Again, please contact us or call our office for these special services.
Q: Do you have a retail store where I can buy your products or pick up my order in person?
A: We do not sell through retail locations or distributors - that helps keep our costs and prices as low as possible.
However, if you want to pick up your order, we can make special arrangements. We just need a minimum of 24-hours advance notice, so that we can make
sure your order is packed and ready for you when you come by.
Contact us or call our office to make arrangements.
All orders are COD - you will need to bring cash or a check with you. Unfortunately, we do not have a credit card machine,
so we are unable to accept credit cards for pick-up orders.
