SHIPPING INFORMATION
Christmas 2024/New Year 2025 Shipping Schedule
We will do our best to meet the scheduled shipping plans outlined below, but heavy order volume may result in shipment delays.
FedEx continues to operate at above-peak levels. This increased volume means more delayed shipments than normal, and shipping during holiday periods - especially Christmas - magnifies this risk. As a result FedEx has suspended their on-time delivery guarantees for the holiday season (as usual). Due to this increased risk of delays and the fact that Christmas and New Year's Day fall on a Wednesday this year, we have modified our shipping schedule.
• Our office will be CLOSED for the Christmas/New Year Holidays beginning Monday, December 23. We will be open on December 30 for overnight shipping and closed Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1. We will reopen for normal shipping on Thursday, January 2.
• Orders placed on our website after 12:00 Noon ET Thursday, December 19 thru 12:00 Noon ET Monday, December 30, will be scheduled to ship on Monday, December 30, HOWEVER - due to the high number of shipments we anticipate having on that day, some orders may have to be re-scheduled to ship on the next available shipping day. We appreciate your understanding.
• Same-Day Shipping on all orders received by 12:00 noon ET is our GOAL, but is not Guaranteed
• Orders are shipped on a FIFO basis (First-In-First-Out) - orders that we are unable to ship the same day received will be scheduled to ship the following business day
• Orders received after 12:00 PM ET on THURSDAYS will be scheduled to ship the following MONDAY, volume permitting (if volume is heavy shipment could be delayed until Tuesday)
• NO SHIPPING ON FRIDAYS (office closed)
• FedEx is our preferred carrier - great rates and great service!
BEST DAYS TO ORDER
Mondays are the heaviest shipping days for Ghann's Crickets, and for Reptiles2You (our sister company, which provides discounted FedEx rates and shipping supplies to reptile breeders), and for FedEx overall - so we recommend you consider placing orders AFTER 12:00 PM ET on Mondays so the targeted ship date will be Tuesday.
Before placing an order, please ensure that someone will be at the delivery address on the anticipated arrival date to receive the shipment when it arrives. Not having a person there to accept the delivery voids all guarantees.
WHEN WILL MY ORDER SHIP?
What day your order ships depends on what day and time you place your order, what service you select, and the number of orders ahead of yours in our pipeline (we ship orders on a FIFO (First-In, First-Out) basis)). Click HERE for a table that explains our TARGETED shipping days. The vast majority of orders (95% or more) are shipped as described in this table, but that is not guaranteed - in periods of heavy volume shipping may be delayed (usually no more than one business day).
WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY ORDER?
Assuming you selected an Overnight service at checkout (and you should ALWAYS select Overnight service for live items), you SHOULD receive your order the next day after it is shipped (we send a Shipping Confirmation email when your order ships).
OVERNIGHT SERVICE
Overnight shipping is available to all states in the continental USA, and we have negotiated very good rates with carriers. Unlike many providers, we DO pass along discounted rates to you to save you money!
GROUND SERVICE
Ground shipping is available ONLY for the following states: AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN. NO GUARANTEES apply to anything ALIVE shipped via Ground service - EVER! See Our Guarantee page for more details.
SPECIAL SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS
Private carriers rarely provide adequate space for special shipping instructions on their delivery labels, and even if they do the unfortunate truth is such instructions are rarely read and nearly never followed. Therefore, we cannot accommodate special delivery instructions.
NO US POSTAL SERVICE SHIPPING
US Postal Service delivery is not as reliable as private carriers for live products. Packages cannot be tracked during the delivery process and are sometimes completely lost. Therefore we do not ship via the US Postal Service.
ORDER/SHIPPING CONFIRMATION E-MAILS
All web orders receive an e-mail confirmation (invoice) when your order is placed and a shipping confirmation email containing tracking information. (Orders not placed on our website also get a shipping confirmation if you have provided us with your e-mail address).
PHYSICAL STREET ADDRESS REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY
Post Office Box addresses are not acceptable for delivery. Neither FedEx nor UPS will deliver to a PO Box. We must have a private carrier approved address (a physical street address).
AVAILABLE SHIPPING AREAS
Small orders are shipped within the 48 contiguous United States ONLY (we currently do not ship small orders to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico, or internationally). We DO however ship LARGE orders to destinations outside the US (see "International Orders" below).
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS
We do ship large orders via air freight to customers in many countries around the world. If you are outside of the continental United States and wish to place a large order (over 100,000 crickets per shipment) contact our International Sales Department for a price quote on large volume cricket orders. You can reach the International Sales Department by e-mailing [email protected] and placing "INTERNATIONAL" in the subject line of your e-mail.
ADDRESS CORRECTIONS
Most carriers charge a pretty hefty fee when delivery addresses are wrong, and FedEx is no exception - as of early 2015 FedEx's Address Correction Fee is $12.50 per package. PLEASE be careful when placing your orders! If you enter a wrong address resulting in an Address Correction Fee, we must pass that charge along to you.