We will be closed Thursday, June 19th in observance of the Juneteenth remembrance
Handpicked by Haley
It is bittersweet for us to bid Haley a very fond farewell. As her post-baccalaureate studies at KU have now come to a close, so to has her time in Lawrence. We are so excited to see what her graduate studies at Southern Illinois University bring.
In the meantime, she leaves us with these favorites:
"I will be demonstrating how I make textured mugs from soft slabs, using tar paper templates and basic tools. I will share tips for preserving slab rolled texture, seam aesthetics and how I combine methods to make textured handles."
We now have the video available to view on our YouTube Channel! Learn the basics of ceramic jewelry making including how to use nichrome wire, roll and cut tiny slabs, and sculpt tiny animals.
Shop for your classroom - Buy 5 pints of Teacher's Palette glazes, get 1 free PLUS get a bonus $20 gift card to treat yourself to some fun clay supplies this summer!
#howiamaco #ceramics #teacher #clay #classroom #kidsneedclay #teachersneedclay
We created a complete collection of great glazes so you can TRY THE TREND of the popular Peacock Technique. Save 15% on any 3 selections. Get 5 or more and save 25% on them all!
Artist credit: @callistoceramics
Did the April Showers bring a mess to your studio?
Don’t miss out on our awesome sponge sale happening in the last five days of April! Soak up the savings...
#studiocleanup
#clay
#pottery
It's time for some spring cleaning, and we're clearing out our stock with a bonus coupon for $10 off all clearance items! (minimum $20 purchase)
Use code: 10offspring to claim!
#clay #discount #clearance
Cups of Kindness are ready to go out and create joy with our upcoming Mass St. Muggings.
Which cup is your favorite? VOTE NOW!
All cup makers will be receiving a Good Earth Gift Certificate, but the top vote getters will get bonus bucks! Help us chose!
You can vote by commenting number 1-8, or send your vote privately to our DMs. All votes received on Instagram, Facebook and in store will be combined. Watch our story during the last week of the month for our exciting reverse "muggings"
We keep much of our pottery collection on display. If you visit, be sure to plan for time to view it!
Teabowls
Our growing collection of Teabowls is on display any time we don't have a seasonal show
The Cone Box Show
The Cone Box Show is an ongoing example of the legacy of William Bracker
Piece shown here by Karen Kohtz, best in show, 2020 Exhibition
Our web site is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for your convenience. However, the rest of us need to to sleep occasionally, and play a little. We try very hard to maintain and promote a healthy work-life balance. Our store hours change seasonally based on demands of the business and available staff levels. Hours are posted on our main homepage, and we also try to provide plenty of notice when we will be closed for extended holidays.
HOW TO PLACE ORDERS:
If you have never placed an order with us before, please do read our "what to expect section." We accept order online or by phone, mail, fax, or e-mail. When picking up an order at Bracker’s (in Lawrence, Kansas) please allow sufficient notice for materials that need to be weighed out and assembled. For a small order (for example: a couple of weighed out chemicals or 500# of clay) we might only need 15-20 minutes, but as orders get larger and more complex, we need more advance notice. Our website now allows you to select a pick up date, but please still wait for the email letting you know your order is ready. We try very hard to have it ready by the day and time you select. Please consider giving us a day or two warning to prepare large orders during busy days or the back-to-school busy season (mid-July to mid-September). As of Jan 1, 2022, we are requiring all orders to be paid at the time of the order. This is due to high order volumes coupled with extreme supply challenges. If you submit an order with call me back as your payment method, we will not begin processing your order until we receive payment. Thank you for your understanding.
HOLD HARMLESS/Errors on posted pricing (aka the Cassella Clause)
We try very hard to keep prices up to date on all of our items, both here online as well as the prices posted in our physical store. However, we are all human beings who occasionally make mistakes or (more likely) may not be able to keep up with the rapid changes on the 5,000+ items we sell, which come from 50 or more vendors. It would be a bad and unsustainable business practice for us to sell things below cost or at a profit below the amount needed to pay our rent, utilities and hardworking staff.
Here's our policy: If the discrepancy is less than 10%, the posted pricing will be honored. However, . Significant price differences will be disclosed to you prior to processing your order and you may chose to pay the correct current price or cancel the item. Please note, we do apply this policy in BOTH directions. If a price listed on our website is too high, or if an incorrect weight on an item results in a really high shipping cost (or if we can find a cheaper and better alternative), we will reduce your total prior to charging your card. We consider this fair, equitable and common sense business practice.
BULK DRY CLAY COMMENTS:
Most of the bulk dry clays are available in 50# or 100# bags (there are a few exceptions, like 55# bags). Please order the number of bags you want.
SALES TAX:
The State of Kansas requires us to collect sales tax based on the destination of the order, so if you live in Kansas and we ship to you, we will charge your local sales tax and YOUR community will get the benefits of those tax dollars. If you shop here in our store, we charge Douglas County sales tax.
INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO SCHOOL ORDERS:
If you are ordering for a school or institution, include a purchase order number. In most cases, we cannot do anything with the order when a purchase order number is not given. Some schools now issue purchasing credit cards to their teachers or administrators. Most schools, as well as other organizations such as PTOs or PTAs are sales tax exempt by statute. Check with your state Department of Revenue if you are unsure. School orders are only exempt when the payment comes from the school (a check or purchasing card issued by the school or district). If you pay for a school order with personal check, cash, or a personal credit card, we will have to charge sales tax. Although we trust you, apparently the government doesn’t. Sorry!
CANCELING ORDERS:
We don’t often have to deal with this, so we don’t have a real set policy. If you need to cancel an order, please contact us as soon as you can. If we are able to cancel it, we will do so, no problem. If possible, we will void your original payment as well. If it has already been “settled” (subject to the processing time frames for various providers), then we probably will need to convert that payment to a store credit for future use.
EXCHANGES & RETURNS:
Here’s our official policy: A minimum 15% restocking charge may be levied when the order was filled correctly following the customer’s instructions and return is requested by the customer. Please take the time when you receive your order to verify that it is correct immediately upon arrival. If you have a question or problem with any shipped or delivered order, notify us within 10 days of receipt of your order to make appropriate, authorized arrangements for return. A return authorization number must accompany any returns or exchanges. Returns made without an authorized number will be refused. Returns need to be made with the receipt within 60 days for store credit only. No monetary refunds. We reserve the right to determine the validity of exchanges and returns. Special order items are non-returnable. Large equipment such as kilns, kiln shelves, wheels, slab rollers, extruders, pug mills or mixers are non-returnable.
Here’s the reasonable person version – let us know what’s up and we’ll work with you. Returns are pretty infrequent around here, so we are able to be fairly loose with the official rules. Sometimes there are good reasons to return things even outside of the “normal” window.
PRICING, DISCOUNTS & BIDS:
We welcome the opportunity to submit competitive bids for institutions and qualified dealers on any or all of the equipment, materials, and supplies for your ceramic needs. Our prices and the availability of materials are subject to change without notification.
PRODUCT LIABILITY:
All descriptions, advice, or information, written or verbal, is given for general guidance and to the best of our abilities. Any guarantee, with the exception of warranties or guarantees specifically offered by manufacturers or suppliers, is not implied. Bracker’s Good Earth Clays, Inc. does not guarantee the merchantability or fitness for purpose of these products, and is not liable for any injury, loss or damage (direct or consequential) arising out of the use or misuse of these products. Caution should be taken with most ceramic materials as they may contain toxic or siliceous materials and can enter the body through inhalation, ingestion, and/or absorption. Material Safety Data Sheets are available upon request for all materials purchased through Bracker’s Good Earth Clays, Inc. Testing is recommended for all materials. Use of a NIOSH approved dust/mist respirator (dust masks) is strongly encouraged and recommended when working with any dry materials or when spraying glazes.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS:
Due to OSHA specifications for toxicity, we reserve the right to substitute items that do not comply with regulations.
IT IS A FEDERAL LAW THAT ONLY AP NONTOXIC PRODUCTS BE USED IN SCHOOLS WITH KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 6TH GRADES.
LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO: This is where we should place a stern warning about copyrighting our web site and describe the gory details of any consequence if you try to use anything without permission. But basically, we trust that you won’t use anything from our web site for nefarious, dangerous, or otherwise untoward uses and that you are generally an honest person who understands how hard we worked to create this site. If you want to copy information for your own use, that’s fabulous, go right ahead. We even encourage teachers to use whatever they want as handouts for classes or teaching materials. If you want to use something on our site for other purposes, contact us. And if you’re one of those types who uses this type of stuff willy-nilly without any regard to gory consequences, you probably aren’t even reading this in the first place. However, keep in mind that if you do use our information or products in the aforementioned willy-nilly style, you may be subject to fifty (50) lashes with an extruded, wet, noodle of clay. Said lashes will be carried out within fifteen (15) days of the violation by staff members or a contracted security firm. If the violation is not punished within the allowed time frame, the violation is forgiven and you will be placed on indefinite artistic probation.
We don’t sell, give, or auction our mailing list (nor any other personal information you provide to us during the usual course of doing business) to anyone else, nor do we provide specific demographic information – not even if someone asks us really politely, offers us tons of money, or gives us lots of chocolate (although our own e-mail addresses can easily be bought with Godiva chocolate). Any information that you provide to us is for our own sordid and sundry uses, such as figuring out what items to stock or finding new potter’s toys to carry. However, if you really, really feel the need to have your e-mail account flooded with spam, just send us your e-mail address and we’d be happy to forward you all of the junk mail that we get.
Shipping
Row content
We ship nationwide via FedEx, UPS or USPS. Our website is not set up to handle international orders, but we often can arrange this on a case by case basis. It's just a little too complicated for us to trust a computer/website to get it right. Generally, we prefer to send packages via FedEx for most packages because it is automatically insured up to $100, it's trackable, reliable, and in MOST cases, it's the most economical for the service method. USPS is often the cheapest method, but even if it's insured, it might as well not be, because it's almost impossible to get them to pay a claim on a broken or lost item. Our website actually is set to not allow USPS for orders over $60. AND, we can't guarantee the package will get to you, and if it does get lost, we can not replace the items. It's kind of risky, but for things that are small and inexpensive, it can be a good choice. Also, damage or loss is RARE. it's just a pain when it happens. Our website is also only set up to return priority mail rates. We have a very small number of products that can ship in a padded envelope via regular mail for a dollar or two. We can do that, but our website doesn't understand that. If you are ordering somethign you believe can be sent regular mail, and you're ok with the risk, just add a note and we'll manually adjust your shipping cost down to regular mail before finalizing your payment. UPS can also be a good choice, especially for commercial locations.
We also ship by truck...usually FedEx Freight. They have a service called Freight Direct which includes lift gate and residential (or school) delivery charges all wrapped in to one reasonable rate. There are actually different levels of this service as shown below (copy/pasted from this webpage). As of writing this, our website doesn't provide all of these different service options, instead, it returns the basic fedex freight rates for economy and priority, and we have manually set up discounts within that calculator to APPROXIMATE the freight direct basic charge. Lately, we have seen quite a bit of inaccuracy especially with heavier orders or orders further away. We are working on solutions, but getting two sets of IT people to talk to each other is hard....did I mention we humans can do things websites can't? Right now we have a disclaimer up alerting shoppers to the excessive rates, and when we process your order, we get the actual FedEx Basic rate and if you got caught by the shipping gremlin, we will update your shipping rate before we charge your card. BUT, please do note these options. If you need more than basic, we can get you a rate for the upgraded service until our website learns how:
Basic — delivery to the ground level (front or back door) or to the garage without an appointment3 (no signature required)
Basic by appointment — delivery to the ground level (front or back door) or to the garage with an appointment3
Standard — to the first ground-level room in the home or business with an appointment3
Premium — those requiring a two-person delivery, and/or placement in room of choice with an appointment3 (with the options of packaging removal4)
Customer pickup at a FedEx service center
Great, so now that you have figured out what you want and how to get it shipped to you, what happens next?
Here's what you can expect after you place your order:
Email notifications will come from sales@brackers.com or shipping@brackers.com and will contain your order number in the subject line
• First email lets you know we're looking at your order. Sometimes we have a question or note for you, so do watch for that.
• Next, we'll let you know we are preparing your order (and we may have notes or questions at this stage too, so watch for that)
•••If we have a crucial question, you will get an email that will really directly tell you in the subject line that we have an important question about your order, so definitely read that one.
• Once we have it all packed up and ready to go, you will get an email letting you know and also telling you what day we expect it to be picked up (it's usually the same day, but if it's later in the day, and past our pickup time for the service you selected, it may be tomorrow. Sometimes, we may switch your order from UPS or USPS to FedEx so that it gets picked up the same day and gets to you faster. If we ever do that, we will still charge you the lower rate).
• Finally, we'll let you know when the order IS picked up by the carrier. For Freight shipments, we will also send a picture of your order along with the tracking number separately, usually this comes from warehouse@brackers.com. Please do verify the shipment looks the same upon arrival and inspect for damage before signing for the shipment. For small package orders, you will receive a separate email with the tracking number from our shipping software, "shippo"
You can always respond to any of the message you get at any time with questions or concerns and we will address them to the best of our ability!
