Page Intro: We have an online shop on this site through which you can order all of the products we carry in our catalog and more. This page is devoted to helping you understand the process if you happen to have questions or need extra help. On this page you will learn how to add an item to your cart, how to update your cart, empty your cart, continue shopping, and start the proceed to checkout (including info about the checkout form). Also get info about the confirmation screen, final checkout at PayPal, and the thank you or success page (or cancellation). Then we’ll tell you about what follows after that.
Add to Your Cart
Each item for sale in our shop from which you can get and do the following:
- See the name of the item.
- View a larger image by clicking on the thumbnail (where available).
- Read a short item description.
- See a link to get more item info. A couple of these links lead to a “not-listed” page. Sorry.
- In brackets you’ll see a one letter link/code. This is the shipping class and leads to related info.
- Select a size or unit from the menu, where applicable; many items come in a single unit.
- Enter your desired quantity. This can be edited or amended at any point in the process.
- Click “Add to Cart” button.
Once you click “Add to Cart” you will be taken to your shopping cart page. Once an item is added to your cart you will be given a cookie so we can remember your cart items and your info once it is given. If you have privacy concerns (as you should), please review our Privacy Policy. Once you add an item to your Cart, you’ll see a new “Cart” link at the top of the site while on any page other than the Cart page itself. This is an indicator that you have a cart started. [Intro]
Update Your Cart
On the Cart page you will be presented with a button prompting you to “Update Cart.” This would be used if you change the quantity of an item being ordered. You will see small inputs on the table allowing such changes to be made. Once you “Update Cart” the “Continue Shopping” link will return you to the Shop section main page (see “Continue Shopping” below) instead of back to the last item. [Intro]
Empty Your Cart
On the Cart page you will also be presented with another button prompting you to “Empty Cart.” If you click this the world may implode, so please be careful. Okay, just kidding. This would be used if you change your mind. Once you “Empty Cart” the table will be removed from the page and a message stating that your cart is empty will confirm your action. [Intro]
Continue Shopping
On the Cart page you will see a link that states you can “Continue Shopping” that will take you back to the item you just ordered so you can continue shopping from there (unless you’ve Updated your cart in which case you’ll return to the Shop Main. [Intro]
Proceed to Checkout
Once you’re satisfied with the contents of your Cart you may “Proceed to Checkout” at which point you will be presented with the cart table once again followed by a form asking for your address, contact, and order info. You will not be asked for payment details yet. On the Checkout page, at the bottom of the form, you will be presented with a link allowing you to go back and edit the cart or shop some more. [Intro]
The Checkout Form
The checkout form will ask for the following details. Those which are required will be mentioned here but marked with an asterisk * on the form page.
Mailing address
- First name (required) *
- Yes, as it says, enter your first name or ordering contact/credit card holder.
- Last name (required) *
- Yep, as it says, enter the last name of the person above.
- Company (optional)
- If you have a company name and are ordering on its behalf, please enter the company name here. Else leave it blank.
- Email (required) *
- Enter an email address that we can use to get in touch with you. This will only be used to communicate with you about your specific order and nothing else. (See our Privacy Policy)
- Phone (required) *
- Enter an day time phone number that we can use to get in touch with you. (See our Privacy Policy)
- Address (required) *
- Enter mailing address. We will use this to send you a single catalog at the beginning of the following year. (See our Privacy Policy)
- Address (continued) (optional)
- Department, apartment, whatever you need it for, if you need to continue your address. If not, just leave it blank.
- City or town (required) *
- Self-explanatory, right?
- State (required) *
- Select your state from the menu. Not listed? We only accept on-line orders from the 48 contiguous states, and the District of Columbia (DC) due to import/export regulations, permitting requirements, and shipping costs. We can ship to Alaska, and do so often, even in the winter, but the order must be called in.
- Zip code (required) *
- Enter the Zip code for the address you entered above.
Additional information
- Reference or PO (optional)
- Using a purchase card and need to have a PO number of your package? No problem. Just supply the number and we’ll reference it where ever we can.
- Comments or special instructions (optional)
- As the name implies… what’s on your mind? Do bear in mind, if this applies, that while we can write “leave it around back by the trash” on the box, we have little control over how the delivery driver on your end will respond. We recommend calling your local UPS office and making arrangements locally, or simply try speaking one-on-one with your delivery driver. Leave a note perhaps. You have more control over the situation than we do.
Shipping address (if different)
- All fields (optional)
- The instructions applicable to the fields on mailing address part of the form above apply here, but we need your street address as that is what UPS delivers to. We cannot send most of our products to a Post Office box or other mailing address. Thus, if your mailing address and street address are not the same, please fill in these fields as well.
Once you’ve filled in your information, click the “Proceed to Confirmation” link to move on. The order will not yet be finalized and will still be editable (if you go back to do so), but now that we have your address in addition to your items we can tell you what the shipping will be. We offer flat rates based on the item class and the zone it’s shipping to (we made up our own). The more you order the more you save! [Intro]
Confirmation
Here you will see an overview of your order in your cart table, including the shipping amount you will be charged, and once again being able to see your address information — just to be sure. At this point you can go back to Edit your Cart or Continue Shopping, or you can Proceed to Checkout. This is a good page to be on if you want to print a copy of your order using your browser or the print link at the bottom of the page. The details, however, will be mailed to you by our system and by PayPal so there’s no real need. [Intro]
Final Checkout
If you’ve chosen to Proceed to checkout, you will be brought to the PayPal site via a brief redirect page. All of your information should already be at PayPal when you arrive with exception to any “Additional Information” you offered. If you want your reference or purchase order number on the PayPal receipt, you will have to add it there. To complete your order follow the instruction there. You will be to use your credit card (and you don’t have to be a PayPal member), or, if you do have a PayPal account, you may write an eCheck bank transfer or PayPal transfer from your PayPal account. We opted for this route because the rate was acceptable and your transaction security is in better hands. You can still change your mind at this point and go back to our site. If you do it’ll show that you’ve canceled your order, but we don’t empty your cart so if it was an accidental cancellation or if you change your mind again, checkout will be easy.
Very Important: Do not use your “Back” button to return from PayPal before paying for your order. There are links provided to return to the site (see lower left on PayPal page). If you use your “Back” button to return, the contents of your cart will be doubled and your order duplicated (you should see an alert popup at PayPal warning you of this). Returning before paying for your order will bring you to our cancellation page, but your cart contents will still be intact. See the cancellation section below for more on this. [Intro]
Thank You - Success
Once your payment at PayPal has been approved and processed, you will be given a link so you can return to our site’s thank you page — and we’ll say thank you very much!. Clicking this link may give you an alert which basically states you’re leaving a secure site (https://) and going to a unsecured site (http://) and that if information is being transfered will be exposed. No worries, no sensitive data is being transferred. Once you land on the Thank You page we will address you by the name you provided, but not always… this depends on how fast PayPal is at the time. Transaction IDs can also take a while to be issued, and we cannot process your order until we get this information, but based on the live testing we did, the Transaction ID number is issued almost instantaneously. [Intro]
Cancellation
If your payment wasn’t processed, or you canceled the order (we’re sorry to hear that), and you used the link to return our site, you will end up on this page confirming this action. We will also ask you if you’ll tell us why. If you do come back it’ll show that you’ve canceled your order, but we don’t empty your cart so if it was an accidental cancellation or you change your mind again checkout will be easy. If you want to empty your cart, you can, or it will empty itself once the session (shortbread cookie) is canceled by you leaving the site or closing your browser. There is a persistent cookie that will recall your contact info if you decide to order the item another day.
After That
No surprises. We will ship your order as quickly as we can. You will have an email from PayPal, as well as one from us telling you what is what. We will also send you an email if there are problems or delays outside the norm. Most bugs will ship the following week, most books and hard goods will ship the same day. To get more complete details, please see our ordering and shipping information. [Intro]
