Do you ship internationally?
I do! I ship my work all around the world.
Are there any restrictions?
The only specimens I work with that cannot be shipped internationally are the Seahorse preparations. As all Seahorse are CITES I protected, they cannot be traded internationally without a permit.
While it is possible to get these permits, they are incredibly expensive and take months to arrange. For this reason I prefer to limit their trade to within Australia.
How long does International Shipping take?
Normally it seems to take around 2 weeks to most places, and at most 4 weeks. It’s pretty rare for international shipping to take much longer than that if everything is normal.
However at the moment, with the COVID pandemic, shipping has been incredibly slowed down. I’ve had some packages take 2 weeks, and some take up to 8 weeks. 6 weeks seems to be about the standard at the moment but it’s really varied at the moment.
My shipment has been fulfilled but I haven’t received a tracking number.
I usually pack all of my orders on the weekend, but sometimes (especially if I have a lot to do) I’ll pack on Fridays to get a start on it all. All of the packages are then picked up on the Monday by the couriers. As soon as the orders are packed, my website sends an automated message that the order is fulfilled. The tracking number however is sent by Sendle, and this can sometimes take a day or two after the package is received by the couriers. As Sendle shoot those emails out en masse and via automation, many emails will auto flag them as spam. If you can’t find your tracking number, just search your email for SENDLE and you should find it.
If you haven’t found an email from Sendle within a week from receiving the oder fulfilment notification, please feel free to reach out.
My specimen leaked in transit, what do I do?
One of the fun things about glycerine (the fluid used with the diaphonised specimens) is that it expands and contracts with changes in temperature and pressure. Sometimes while in transit this process forces some of the glycerine out between the seal from the jar and the lid. This is unfortunately unavoidable, but not a problem as it can just be rinsed off with water.
Sometimes it may seem like a lot of the solution has spilled, as the glycerine is also a humectant. Spilled glycerine will slowly pull moisture from the air, making a small spill appear much larger. This is totally normal and not to worry about.
I usually fill the jars up to the neck or slightly above with glycerine. If the glycerine has spilled out and is below the level of the neck of the jar, it can just be topped up with regular glycerine that can be found in any supermarket or online. But it doesn't need to be! As long as the specimen is fully submerged it will last forever.
My package was damaged in transit
While I do take care to ensure that all orders are safe for shipping, sometimes these things do unfortunately happen. If your order is damaged on arrival, please take photos of the damaged packaging and any of the damaged contents. In the case of a broken jar or vial the best thing to do is to carefully remove the specimen and rinse any dust or dirt under running water, then place the specimen in a ziplock bag. This will stop it from dehydrating, and it will be fine to wait as is until we can arrange a replacement jar.
If you can send me the photos of both the damage and the specimen, we can then work out shipping a replacement jar or vial. It is also really helpful for me in case I need to claim insurance for damages.
In any case, you can either reach out to me via email through the contact page, or reply to the order confirmation message. The latter is ideal as it will give me a better idea of the orders contents as well as all of your contact information.