botanicallampshades

Almost all of my lampshades are made to order with your specifications. It may be impossible to resell a custom shade that will never work for anyone else's lamp. Lampshades are very fragile, time consuming to box up, and require expensive large sturdy boxes and lots of packing materials. Even with all this, they are frequently damaged and although every shade is insured, shipping companies routinely dispute valid claims and refuse to pay out. I have been mailing shades for 20 years, and in my experience, they only go in ONE DIRECTION! The few times I have accepted returns, the majority of shades were damaged upon return because they were not packed correctly. So I am out both the merchandise and the cost of the shade and shipping.

Returns are a significant loss for small businesses. Returned items are often damaged, packing materials are wasted, as well as the time and materials incurred repackaging and restocking items. Returned items may miss the season or holiday they were intend for. Herbs, dried flowers or pet chews can't be resold for health reasons. Wood sticks that were cut upon your order, took hours of walking in the woods to locate, trim and carry out, and can't go back on the tree obviously. All items in my shop are accurately measured, photographed from various angles, shown next to a ruler or coin, or hand for scale. Please read descriptions and examine all photos. In any case where I should accept a return, this would be at the buyers expense.

USPS rate increases and new surcharges on large and long boxes have hit sellers hard. Lampshades require cube boxes several inches bigger than the largest dimension of the shade, and lots of packing materials. Pricing is based on the box dimensions, not weight. So a shade with a 14" bottom requires a strong cube box at least 16", and I am in NH so being on the east coast makes midwestern or west coast zones most expensive. A large 18" to 20" box to CA can cost $100 to mail. Smaller shades with a bottom diameter under 12" are more reasonable to mail. Or if you are on the east coast it is less. If you buy more than one shade, they will be boxed together for savings and excess postage refunded. Other shipping companies can also be considered.

Sellers in the US must comply with all consumer protections, mailing restrictions, import requirements, fees, taxes, tariffs, and agricultural laws of every country they mail to. I do not have the time or the need to research, familiarize myself and comply with all these extra requirements. If something goes wrong with an order or delivery, it is a real bugger to work out and usually a loss to the seller. I have my hands full with awesome buyers right here in the US.

Custom orders require prompt and reliable communication. Please be sure to enable your email notifications with Etsy and watch for messages. This is especially important for guest buyers. I will have questions that need to be answered promptly so that I can move forward with your order. I only communicate with buyers through the Etsy "convos" messaging system so all our records are in one place. I will need to know the dimensions of your lampshade and the type of hardware. If you are ordering a map shade we will need to discuss the map choice and location and stitching color. If you order a custom shade and I cannot reach you, I will have to cancel your order.

All orders have USPS tracking. The mail carrier may have marked it delivered before actually delivering it. Wait a day or two for your package to arrive. If it still hasn't arrived, ask everyone in your home and neighbors if they picked up your package. If this doesn't locate your package, you need to speak with your mail carrier and local post office for the GPS signal of the exact location where your package was left. Perhaps it was delivered to the wrong address, or an odd location at your house. If the GPS mark shows it was delivered correctly, then it is possible it was stolen. If your package was stolen, you need to file a report with the police and the post office. Unfortunately, I can't control what happens to mail at your house.