Shipping Information for Etsy Buyers
Thank you so much for your support this year, especially in a crazy time in our world. You have blessed my family beyond measure and given me another year with a flexible schedule to be with my family, especially my babies who are still so very young and making precious memories that I have been so fortunate to be there for.
(INSERT CUTE KIDS HERE WHO YOU HAVE ULTIMATELY BLESSED BY SUPPORTING SAVAGE AND BIRD)
The pandemic has been a tiresome one, and we are all exhausted with the tangles, hiccups, and delays it has caused.
I am with you, friend. I too am seeing delays in shipments to our family, but also from suppliers to our business. I have been BEYOND BLESSED to have THE BEST buyers and customers who have been so understanding. Seriously, how did I get so lucky?! When I see the posts on social media from hundreds of other Etsy and online sellers, I ask myself how I got so lucky, as not every buyer has had grace like the Savage and Bird buyers have afforded us.
With that being said, you are probably here reading this to get more insight and info on your order. I want to see you get your order as soon as possible, especially around the holidays. I get it-- I truly get it. I want you to also have your item or gift before Christmas, but this is a guarantee I was not able to make this year. I intentionally avoided any cut off dates and all through November and December I let buyers know that I could not promise any Christmas deadline delivery-- period.
Even Etsy has posted on their website in a few places that orders may be delayed and not arrive by Christmas.
As we follow the news and reports, USPS and other carriers are gridlocked. Massive cargo containers have sat full outside of the major sorting facilities, waiting sometimes weeks to be unloaded. Your order could be on that truck, and there is absolutely nothing I can do in my human power to make it move.
As a reminder, I had SEVERAL places in my shop on Etsy that mentioned these delays and I begged my buyers to please not buy from me this year if not meeting a Christmas deadline was a deal breaker. You placed your faith in me still, but I do ask for grace.
Your purchase came with the agreement that you wouldn't hold me (or any other Etsy sellers) accountable for delays outside of our control.
I say this with all the compassion that black and white letters on a screen can deliver: HAVE GRACE. Our world is full of bigger issues surrounding the pandemic. Your amazing friends and family members will understand delays-- I promise. 💛
This year alone, we upgraded nearly 400 packages to priority shipping with the hopes of shaving a few days off transit time for shipping. Over $2,000 extra were spent in upgrading shipments for our buyers. The great news is if your order was upgraded, you automatically had $100 in shipping insurance-- on us!
We hope you understand the delays and still promise to uphold your end of the deal with your purchase by not holding it against us. As a reminder, all orders purchased in December were greeted with this memo in EVERY listing:
"Christmas deadlines are iffy this year, and this is due to a worldwide pandemic (I know, I know, I'm tired of hearing this excuse too, but it's true). The extreme volumes of packages that the Post Office and other major carriers are dealing with are RECORD BREAKING. I can only promise to complete your design and ship within my promised time frame. Delays in shipment will not be eligible for returns, refunds, or exchanges. Every seller and business is seeing delays in their packages arriving to customers. HAVE GRACE if you find your packages are delayed in shipment. By ordering, you are agreeing to not hold it against me or any other seller for delays beyond our control. Please review my FAQs and policies before ordering. Merry Christmas!"
As another reminder, here are some of the FAQs from our shop and policies:
COVID-19 has made the largest impact on online ordering than ever before, which means delays have been seen since March 2020. An order is not considered lost in the mail until it has not seen movement on a package within 30 days. I do, however, want to know when your order has not made movement within 1 full week (7 days). From there, we will watch and see if a few more business days and a request through the post office can help shake your package loose from whatever facility it is stuck in. Delayed packages are not a reason for a refund, even if your item is time sensitive-- sorry!
Great question!! I make most of my items in my studio office, but SOME large format printing is now done by a trusted printing company. All designs are still done by me, but in order to help with the load of printing as well as remove any commercial grade, large format printers in my studio, I have partnered with a printing company I trust (2 locations in the US). These items are noted in their perspective listings, but print time on these do run longer, ESPECIALLY during the holidays. I have made all my shipping profiles "worst case scenario."
Even with worst case scenario, delays do not qualify for a refund until they have seen no movement for 30 days.
Finally, here are some common questions I am seeing this season:
"Are you able to see any more on tracking than I can or get more information on the details of my shipping?"
No, unfortunately, we can not see anything more than you can on tracking.
"Why is my package going completely in the wrong direction?"
We have an amazing mail carrier who goes above and beyond for our business (Thanks Gerry!) and she has informed us that our closest sorting facility (Springfield, MA) is gridlocked and is behind 1-2 weeks. Because of this, large volumes of packages may be rerouted to other facilities across the country to help avoid the gridlocked facilities. It doesn't make a lot of sense geographically, but in the end, it will POSSIBLY prevent your package from going to a "black hole" during transit.
"How can you help me locate my package?"
If your order has not moved for 7 or so days, go ahead and sign up for text alerts. Sometimes, this shakes it free from wherever it is tangled up. If you don't see any movement, you can file a lost package ticket, but unfortunately, right now, USPS is not utilizing this option as readily because of the already known massive delays.
"My item was never marked as scanned, so did you even drop it off?"
Yes, I promise!! Remember that amazing carrier I told you about, Gerry? She scans every package in that she can even though I have since learned that she only gets paid to scan in 5 for each pickup. Despite that 5 package limit, Gerry takes the time to scan every single package in for me to help restore confidence in my buyers that it was dropped off. She is human though, and packages may not be scanned in. Some of our packages are dropped off by us (Matt and Birdie), and even though our Norwich, CT post office is THE BEST I have ever dealt with, again, they are human. Packages can be missed.
Packages have been known to go all the way to the customer without ever being scanned. Crazy, right?! The best part though is I can tell you my customers have been amazing and honest. I have had concerned buyers write me back to inform me that their package finally made it despite never being scanned in. Whew!
"This isn't an FAQ, but I did want to say thanks for reading this far and if so, please use the code below for $5 off your next order when we open back up in the new year!"
HAVEGRACE5
Folks, whatever holiday you celebrate, I want you and your family to be blessed. Please stay safe, healthy, and show kindness-- we do NOT have enough kindness going around, especially now during hard times. Remember we are also a family on the other side of the screen, and we care. We are customer advocates ourselves and believe the buyer should always be held to a high level of respect, so please, please graciously offer us the same in return.
We adore each of you! Cheers to a new year!
-Birdie + Crew
IN THE NEWS:
Etsy sellers experiencing delivery woes and threats of low reviews
The reason holiday packages are arriving late This weblink has some great tips on recovering your package!
Thousands of delayed packages are piled up at Pa. Postal Service facilities: ‘You’re not gonna get your Christmas presents’
Snowstorm and holiday shipping gridlock delaying nearly 10 million packages a day