1/1/2014
We make every attempt to ship orders received within three business days (that use FedEx Home Delivery/Ground, FedEx Smart Post, or USPS Priority Mail), but it may take four or five business days to process your order if we have a large number of orders to process, or if your order contains a number of Birdsafe Toys that are made-to-order. FedEx Overnight, 2-Day or 3-day Shipping can ship same day if received by 2PM (Eastern time), subject to limitations: orders with custom (Birdsafe) Toys or custom perches must be in by 9PM the night before for Express shipping, and depending on the size and complexity of the order, additional processing days may be required - in this case you will be notified and given options for splitting shipping or holding until custom items can be finished. Shipping charges are determined by actual FedEx and USPS rates, based on the combined weight of all items ordered. Please note that FedEx Express options do NOT include weekend days, nor is the day of order counted if the order is placed after 2PM EST. As an example, an order placed after 2PM on Wednesday using FedEx 2-day will not arrive until the following Monday (ships Thursday -- Friday is DAY ONE, Monday is DAY TWO).
These are BUSINESS days. Saturday and Sunday are not included in calculating Express shipping. An order that contains Birdsafe Toys over the weekend are considered a Monday order and therefor would not ship until Tuesday.
"Flat Rate" shipping - this option will show up for certain items, and shipping may be by USPS or FedEx at our discretion. So make sure you can accept packages by both carriers.
Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes -- while these options do not show as a choice in Shipping Options, there is a checkbox on the checkout page to indicate if you would like us to use Flat Rate Shipping if it will save you money. As an example, a 5lb bag of Harrisons will fit in a Medium Flat Rate box for $15.05 (or in some cases a Regional Box for less) Two bags will fit in a Large Flat Rate Box for $20.50. Please note: if you want to use USPS Flat Rate and require your order to be shipped to a different address, you MUST let us know to make the change by phone or email, or the order will be shipped to the address provided. Note that any savings derived from using flat rate boxes will be credited back to your account as Store Credit.
FedEx SmartPost -- FedEx SmartPost is a shipping option that sends your package by FedEx Ground to your local post office and then the postal service delivers your package. You can use SmartPost to delivery to PO Boxes, but make sure you get regular mail delivery from your post office to your shipping address. We offer this option as a lower-cost shipping option and does add 2-3 business days to shipment transit times and they deliver Monday-Saturday.
Commercial vs. Residential Rates. Please make sure you select the correct address type for shipping -- a "home based business" is NOT commercial but residential. Should you incorrectly mark the shipping address as commercial when it is not, there will be a delay in processing your order as we will need to authorize and capture additional shipping fees from you. Should you not respond to our requests for authorization, your order may be canceled, and you will need to resubmit, resulting in a loss of place in processing time and/or loss of sale period on items in order.
Any Direct-Ship item (Volkman 20lb bags, Roudybush and ZuPreem large bags, Goldenfeast & TOP pellet large bags MUST be shipped by UPS Ground or FedEx Home Delvery. Most Direct Ship items are shipped from Raleigh, NC, but TOP pellets are mainly shipped from Oregon. NOTE: Many of these items we are now stocking or can stock and get in every Monday - if we can and ship everything together, we can save you shipping costs.