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!