FAQ

Orders of $60 or more in qualified items for US delivery receive free shipping (Details).

Our goal is to get all orders out in 24-48 hours. We get lots of emails thanking us for shipping so quickly. But there are times when it might take longer, such as when there is a major sale, a big holiday, or an important new product release. And once in a while, we might find that the last item we had in inventory is damaged or missing, and that we need to order a replacement. If you have a deadline, please let us know about it in your order comments or by emailing us, and we will try to accommodate your needs. Please also let us know if you won't be at home certain days, or if we shouldn't ship until after a certain day if you're leaving for vacation. If you're in the Midwest, it's not unusual for our packages to show up the next day! And don't forget that the USPS delivers on Saturdays too!

We usually ship in 24-48 hours (please see previous question for details). For US orders, we ship Priority Mail, which takes 2-3 days (but the US Postal Service does not guarantee this timeframe, and packages are occasionally misrouted in their system). Some products (such as alcohol and solvent based ink refills) cannot be shipped by air - if your order contains one or more of these items, we will ship your order by Parcel Post. Parcel Post can take 1 to 2 weeks. For international orders, it can vary from country to country, but most orders arrive within 2 weeks. However, 4-6 weeks is not unusual, and we have even had one or two instances where an order took 8 weeks to arrive.

Only in stock items can be put in your cart. If you have successfully placed an item in your shopping cart, then it is currently in our inventory, here on site. If we only have one or two of an item in stock, and you put more than what we have in your cart, you may see a message about the excess items having been removed. But if you still see the item listed in your shopping cart, we have it, and it will be yours if you're the first to check out with it.

All orders in the US have tracking info. We have the USPS email you your tracking information automatically. If you created an account, you can always see the status of your order and its tracking information on our site, once you've logged in. International orders may or may not have tracking information, depending on which shipping method was used.

Call or write - we're happy to help! We can take your payment information over the phone, and process your payment that way. Processing over the phone usually works if PayPal isn't able to process it through their web site. Never email your credit card to us or anyone else - email is not a secure medium.

We accept credit cards and PayPal. Credit card processing, and the security of your payment information, is done by PayPal. We also accept checks, but your order will not ship until the check has cleared, which may take up to 10 days. Money Orders are better than checks, because we can send your order out right away.

Yes! PayPal does our credit card processing, but you do not need to create a PayPal account in order to pay by credit card. Look for the pay by credit card section, which you will find below the pay with PayPal section.

If PayPal recognizes that you have a PayPal account, they will urge you to use that - but you can still check out without it. Just look for the section for paying by credit card. You should find it below the PayPal login (you may need to scroll down).

Yes. But most of the time when people ask this question, we find they are simply uncomfortable providing their credit card information over the Internet. If you can, we prefer that you select "Check" as your payment method (you will need to leave the "Create Account" box checked during checkout), and then call us with your credit card information (or ask us to call you) once your order has been submitted. If you've simply never ordered online before, and need someone to help you figure it out, we're more than happy to walk you through everything over the phone!

Yes. Select "Check" as your payment method (you will need to leave the "Create Account" box checked during checkout). After your order has been submitted, call us with your credit card information (or ask us to call you).

We do not sell or share your information with anyone. We will only use the information you give us to complete your order. We will provide your email address to the USPS so that they can send you package tracking information for your order. For your protection, we do not keep your payment information on file.

CreativePlayStamps stamps are made of deeply etched red rubber. Note that we carry many other brands besides our own - this answer refers only to the stamps that we've designed.

Deeply etched stamps have twice as much distance between the raised surface of the stamp and the base of the stamp. It's easier to make a quality impression without accidentally touching the non-image part of the stamp to the paper. Deeply etched stamps can also be be used on fabric and other surfaces.

We accept returns within 30 days for any product that is unopened and in new condition, or anything that is defective. A store credit will be issued for returned items. Store credits are automatically deducted from your order total on your next order. A 15% restocking fee will be applied to non-defective items. If the returned items cause your order to drop below the free shipping level, the appropriate shipping fee will also be deducted. Please contact us prior to the return - sometimes we have the manufacturers send you items directly in the case of defects. Returns without prior authorization or beyond the 30 day time limit will not be honored, and you will be responsible for any postage to send the items back to you. If you want to exchange an item, please place a new order for the desired items once your store credit has been issued.

This site is set up to accept orders from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and many other countries. You can see what you'll be charged for shipping by selecting your country. If your country is listed, once you've selected your country, your shipping charges will be correct, and you can add to and remove from your cart as you like. If your country is not listed, we can usually get support added to the site for new countries within a few days. To request support for your country, simply start to checkout.

All the inks that we carry are acid free (so they are safe for archival projects like scrapbooks).

• Pigment inks are slow drying, which makes them good for color blending. They are best when used on absorbent papers. They can be cleaned up with water, but the image can be made waterproof and permanent if embossed.
• Dye inks are fast drying, and can be used on all papers. They cannot be embossed.

We let our newsletter subscribers know whenever a sale starts, and we also send out coupons at least once a month.

When you subscribe, you'll be the first to know when new designs have arrived, and to learn about new products. You'll also know when items go on sale, and we reserve our best coupons for our newsletter subscribers! The newsletter goes out whenever we have something useful to tell you - which seems to be one to three times a month.

On nearly every page, on the right hand side of the screen there is a "Get Coupons" button. Enter your email address just above that, and click the button. You'll receive an email. Click on the link in the email to verify that you really want to subscribe, and you're done!

Just reply to any newsletter email you received, and mention in the subject line "unsubscribe".

If you can't find something you're looking for, please let us know! We can certainly get it if it is from one of our current suppliers, and we're always interested in new products. We've added several items to the site because someone asked about them.

Your shopping cart is saved when you log in to your account. When you come back later, simply log in to your account again, and you should see your cart. If you do not see your cart, it may be because you put something else in your cart (a product or a coupon) in the mean time. If you had a large cart and don't want to spend time recreating it, send us an email - we can usually help.

Orders within the USA are sent by Priority Mail. If your order qualifies for free shipping, it will still be sent by Priority Mail. International orders are sent First-Class International Mail, unless the order is over 4 pounds, at which point it is sent Priority Mail International. Due to repeated issues with Canadian orders, all Canadian orders now go Priority Mail.

Yes. Send us an email indicating what value you want the gift certificate to be. We would also like the contact info of the person it is for, so that we can try to ensure that the person who redeems it is the person it was meant for. If you would like a special message to appear on our site when they click on the gift certificate link, send us that too! Finally, let us know whether you want us to email the gift certificate to the recipient, or if you would like to do that yourself. We will send you a PayPal payment link (which you can pay for by Credit Card if you like). After we've received payment, we'll send out the gift certificate code. Please note that right now the gift certificate value does not apply toward free shipping (something we will fix in the future), but we can refund shipping charges if free shipping applies.

Unmounted stamps are the sheets of rubber, without wood blocks. They cost less, and they save space. The rubber sheet is attached to cling cushion (which will need to be purchased separately, unless they're one of our stamps), and the cling cushion sticks to an acrylic block while you stamp. It's helpful to have several different size blocks, but you can get by with just one or two.

Our own designs include cling cushion free. As long as you have an acrylic block and some ink, you'll have everything you need to stamp. For other manufacturer's unmounted stamps, you will need to purchase cling cushion separately.

Yes, but you will need to buy a different cushion and the wood blocks. If you plan to do this, please let us know in your order comments, or by email. Some of the early CreativePlayStamps designs have the cling cushion pre-attached (and would need to be removed), but for all the recent designs it is not pre-attached. The product description for each stamp sheet indicates "pre-attached" where appropriate. For individual stamps, refer to the sheet.