Shipping Information

Rates quoted in the checkout process are solely to continental US based destinations, i.e., within the 48 states, and are specified in US dollars. The rates quoted are based on the subtotal US dollar value of your order. While the rates quoted in the checkout process are close to the rates that are published in our annual catalog, sometimes they will be slightly more and sometimes slightly less. (The reason is that in the online checkout process, we can only apply a fixed dollar amount for shipping in a given subtotal interval, e.g., $300.01 to $500.00, whereas if you order with a catalog order form, call in or fax us your order, we can apply a fixed percentage to the exact subtotal value of your order.)

Customers desiring shipping to the following locations: Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and APO/FPO addresses should place their order online, but select the PhoneFax option during the checkout process, and then call us at our toll free number (800.287.1985) to complete the order. The reason for this is that the online checkout process does not quote the special shipping rates that apply to destinations outside the 48 states. These rates are, however, published in our annual catalog. IMPORTANT: If you submit an order online for shipment to one of these locations and pay by credit card (instead of PhoneFax as we have indicated), we will charge your credit card the additional amount to ship to these destinations. To avoid an unfortunate surprise on your credit card statement, we strongly urge you to select the PhoneFax option during checkout, and call us immediately after placing your order to find out what the shipping charges will be. In general, if you want shipment to the above destinations, the shipping charge will be doubled, but this is a rough estimate only.

We offer only ground shipping because shipment by air is extremely costly for the kinds of materials we offer, i.e., for the most part, relatively heavy and bulky material. Ground rates (by Fedex or UPS) to destinations within the 48 states, in effect from June 23, 2007 and until further notice, are as follows:

Montessori N' Such does not backorder items that are not in stock, and items appearing on our website are almost always available for immediate shipment.

Most orders are processed and shipped from our warehouse within 5-7 working days of receipt of your order. Exceptions to this rule include: (1) off-line orders for which the purchaser has not called in with payment information; (2) orders missing one or more items that are expected from our suppliers within the next five working days; (3) orders having invalid shipping information to which the customer has not supplied corrected information. In addition, orders received during our peak season (July through September) may be further delayed if there is an unusually high volume of orders received.

Your order will be shipped by FEDEX or UPS service from our warehouse located in Virginia. We do NOT post UPS and FEDEX tracking numbers at this time.

MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE US A CORRECT SHIP TO ADDRESS. If the address you provide is not correct, including an accurate street number and street spelled correctly, and especially including a correct ZIP CODE, we will be charged $5.00 per package by UPS or FEDEX. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT YOU GIVE US A DELIVERABLE ADDRESS. Any address correction charges we receive because you failed to provide correct information will be charged back to you. For example, if your order requires six boxes, you will be charged 6 x 5 = $30.00 additional. If you have any doubt about the deliverability of the address you give us, please check it out at the official US Postal Service Zip Code Lookup Site as this is the database of addresses that FEDEX and UPS use to determine whether the address is valid.