Shop FAQ
Quick Index
World’s Smallest Post Service
How will my tiny mail be sent in the real mail?
We ship tiny letters and packages inside slightly larger boxes so they don’t get lost in transit! Keep your eyes out for a small white box with fun sticker seals on the edges and a printed label on the front.
I want to send tiny mail anonymously. Will it come with a receipt?
We don’t include receipts or packing slips with tiny mail, and the return address on the outside of the mailer will have our address on it, not yours. They will only know it’s from YOU if you say so in the “tiny from” area of your tiny letter or package.
Can you transcribe tiny letters in languages other than English?
Mostly, yes! Even other alphabets like Russian and Greek! Just make sure you type everything exactly right because we’ll have no clue what we’re transcribing. Emojis and special symbols (hearts, thumbs up, etc.) will not show up correctly, so please avoid those. We’ll contact you if we notice a problem.
Shipping
When will my order ship?
It takes us 2-3 business days to hand make items, and we generally make/ship on Mondays and Thursdays only. We’ll send an email with a tracking link the moment your order goes out. (Maybe it got lost in your spam folder?) We enjoy time off on US holidays, but try extra hard to make and ship quickly during the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas.
My order just shipped! When will it arrive?
Since it takes us a couple of days to craft your items, if you select US First Class at checkout, they should be delivered in 2-8 days (West Coast addresses are faster than East), Priority in 2-6 days, and Express in 2-4 days. International delivery times vary depending on the performance of the destination country’s postal service. USPS First Class International mail can take anywhere from 9-21 days (sometimes more, sometimes less!). USPS Priority Int’l takes around 6-13 days. Note that international shipments are sometimes NOT trackable beyond the borders of the United States.
Can I upgrade to a faster shipping speed?
Email us as soon as possible if you want to change your shipping speed, and she’ll email you back with a pay link if your order hasn’t already shipped! Please keep in mind that even if you upgrade to Express Mail, we still need a couple of days to craft your items. Also: we generally make/ship on Mondays and Thursdays, so try to catch us before then!
Where will my order ship from?
Everything ships from our studio in Oakland, California.
Do you ship internationally?
Yes! We can ship via USPS International mail to essentially any address anywhere in the world. This service is more than 95% reliable to: Canada, Mexico, all 28 European Union countries, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, and South Korea. If you place an order to a valid delivery address in one of these countries and it never arrives, we’ll remake everything in the order and re-ship it once to the same exact address at no charge. USPS Int’l service is less than 50% reliable to: Russia, Thailand, India, Brazil, Colombia, UAE, and many other countries around the world. If you’re shipping to a foreign country with an unreliable domestic postal service, we suggest selecting Int’l Priority Mail at checkout. Please note: if you place an order shipping to any country not included on the “95% reliable” list, you are doing so at your own risk. Unfortunately, we cannot offer refunds for lost packages shipped to countries on the “unreliable shipping list.” For international orders, you will only see tracking for the part of your package’s journey within the United States.
Can I track my international shipment?
Yes, but with First-Class International service you can usually only track your shipment until it leaves the United States. Sometimes it will pick up additional tracking detail when it clears customs in a foreign country, but only sometimes. Most often, the final tracking entry will be Los Angeles or whatever major US city was the departure point from the US. If your international tracking seems stuck on a major US city for days or weeks, there’s no cause for concern. In all likelihood, that just means your shipment is now making its way to its final destination inside the foreign country.
If you are shipping to a foreign country with a domestic postal service not particularly known for its reliability, then we suggest you select “USPS International Priority, arrives in 6-13 days” at checkout. Use the following links if you’d like to read more about Priority Mail International service before placing your order. As disussed above, international shipments sent via First Class or Priority Mail are sometimes NOT trackable beyond the borders of the United States.
How much does shipping cost?
Our shipping fees are calculated at checkout based on weight. You can lower your shipping fee by removing the heaviest items from you cart, like books and mini mailbox banks. On the flip side, you can put TONS of tiny, light-weight items into your cart without a shipping fee increase, such as Seed Money and Trade Tokens!
For tiny mail (sent without other heavy things), you can pretty much count on the following shipping fees (for each shipping address in your cart):
US: First Class $5 / Priority $10 / Express $25
Canada: First Class $12 / Priority $26 / Express $50
International: First Class $16 / Priority $40
*we do not offer Int’l express.
International shipping is kinda expensive. We know. We wish it were cheaper, but that address is kinda far away from us here in California and that’s simply what it costs to get your goods to you!
Combining shipping: our shopping cart calculates shipping fees based on recipient name, not address. This means if you’re sending, for example, two tiny letters to two people at the same address, both people will receive their very own package in the mail. We think it’s a better experience this way, and worth the extra shipping costs. But if you want to save a little $ on shipping and combine them, just make sure the recipient name in the “actual shipping address” on the form is exactly the same for all the items. For example, say “The Johnson Family” or “My Grandchildren.” Basically, if it’s the same name in that field, we’ll know to ship them together and our shipping calculator will only charge you for one shipment. Just email us if this is confusing and you accidentally paid too much shipping and they didn’t get combined!
What about customs and import taxes?
While we try our very best to offer low-cost international shipping rates, please be aware that you are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may be required at entry to your destination country. For items sent as “gifts”, we are able to check the “gift” box on the custom’s form. (We assume orders shipping to a name different than the customer name are gifts.)
My friend’s birthday is coming up. Can I order now and delay shipping?
We can’t delay shipping, but for tiny mail we can hand-write opening instructions on the outside of the mailer (i.e. “Open on your birthday!”) There’s a spot to enter your custom message for this on our online tiny mail order form. Remember, if it’s important that your item arrives before a particular date, please order plenty of time in advance. Better early than late!
Can I ship different items to different addresses in one order?
Yes! You can order as many gifts as you’d like and send them to as many people as you’d like, all in one single order. Our shopping cart will automatically arrange your goods into separate shipping baskets based on each recipient’s name. Before adding these various items to your cart, type the recipient’s first name into the “ship to: ” box and the cart will keep track of each recipient’s goods for you. (Type the name the same way each time so they get grouped in your cart.) You can continue adding items to the various carts in this way. You can’t shuffle them around in your cart though. We’re fancy, but not quite that fancy!
Gift Wrapping
Can you gift wrap tiny mail?
No, but only because our tiny letters and packages already come specially wrapped as is! There’s never a receipt included, so tiny mail always arrives in perfect gift state.
Can you gift wrap other goods?
We already have you covered! Everything else from our curio shop always comes packaged in beautiful silk-screened gift wrap. If you’d like, we can include a complimentary one-sentence gift note in lieu of the packing slip. To do this, email us with your request (and your one sentence message) right after you order. We’ll jot it on a little gift tag and add it to your item.
Wholesale
I am a retailer interested in selling your products – how do I get started?
We’re so glad you found us! Our products are available in a number of lovely stores around the world. If you’d like to bring our curious items to your community, please visit our retailer page and fill out the brief form. We’ll get back to you very soon with more information and details!
Privacy / Information Sharing
How will my personal information be used/stored? What is your privacy policy?
We never store customers’ credit card information. The personal information that you do share with us (name, shipping address, email, etc.) is used only for order processing (and newsletters if you sign up) and remains confidential. We will never sell, share, give, or distribute your personal information in any way. Read more here…
Returns
What is your return policy?
It’s simple. You can return any non-custom item for any reason for a full refund within a year. If your items arrive damaged (or never arrive at all) let us know and we will do our best to remedy the situation as quickly as we can!