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OpticsPlanet Shipping Info - Free UPS Ground Offer!

OpticsPlanet, Inc. provides FREE UPS GROUND Shipping to the lower 48 U.S. States and FREE USPS Priority Mail Shipping to all U.S. Military APO/FPO/AAO/AEO on most orders over $29.95.

Below are the most commonly asked questions that we get as well as more detailed information on each of our shipping policies.

Can I have more details about your Free Shipping Offer?

We ship most in-stock orders within 1-2 business days. Unless otherwise requested, we ship via insured UPS Ground FREE of charge on orders over $29.95 anywhere in the lower 48 states. We support our military and their families and all the orders over $29.95 going to Military APO/FPO/AAO/AEO addresses are shipped FREE of charge via USPS Priority Mail. Please check our guidelines for instructions on how to enter a U.S. military address when placing an order in our online store. We strive to be the best in the business, and free shipping is one of many advantages of buying from us! We do not charge our customers handling fees unless stated otherwise on specific product pages.

Appropriate shipping charges apply to all shipments to Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories. If you would like to expedite the shipping, please use one of UPS or USPS express shipping methods. You can always check the shipping cost here.

There are a limited number of items that we are not able to provide Free Shipping for. Items that are too large to be transported via UPS (weight limit 150lbs) and USPS (weight limit 70lbs) must be transported via Freight Option. Hazardous materials incur an extra hazardous materials shipping fee. Products with exceptions to our offer of Free Shipping have that information posted on their respective product pages. We will notify our customers prior to shipping their order if we have to assess additional charges for shipping.

What are your other domestic shipping options with transit times? 

The following domestic shipping options via UPS and USPS are currently available:

UPS USPS

You can click on any shipping method to see the service area covered and time in transit for every kind of shipping service. You can always find out the shipping cost before purchasing anything from our store.

Please note that UPS Ground shipping normally takes 1 to 5 business days depending on the shipping destination. You can check here how long it will take UPS Ground service to deliver the package to your U.S. address.

In some rare cases (mostly with custom made prescription eyewear sent from our lab) we may use a different shipping carrier such as FedEx or DHL at no additional cost to our customers with the same or faster delivery method as selected.

Do you offer Saturday Delivery?

We ship Monday through Friday. UPS only delivers on business days (Monday through Friday). UPS only delivers on Saturday for an extra fee. Please note that UPS Saturday Delivery option is available only with the orders shipped via UPS Next Day Air on orders placed on Fridays before 1 P.M. Central Standard Time (CST) and UPS 2nd Day Air orders placed before 1 P.M. (CST) on Thursday. There will be an additional $12.50 UPS Saturday Delivery Surcharge fee on top of the charges for UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air. You need to request Saturday Delivery and approve the extra charges either by placing the order over the phone or writing your approval in the Customer Notes during online checkout. Please note that a regular UPS Next Day Air package shipped on Friday and UPS 2nd Day Air packages shipped Thursday or Friday without Saturday Delivery specified and approved, will get to the destination the following week.

USPS delivers to some destinations on Saturdays at no additional charge, but USPS Saturday delivery is not guaranteed. UPS Guaranteed Saturday delivery is available for some destinations.

If you have any questions about our shipping options, please contact us before placing you order.

What are your International Shipping options?

We ship worldwide to those countries where UPS and USPS services are available.

UPS USPS

For international orders, please check with your local rules and regulations about all custom and brokerage fees, duties, taxes, and restrictions that are imposed on goods imported into your country. Please note that all the shipping related fees mentioned above are the responsibility of the recipient, not OpticsPlanet, Inc. If you refuse delivery because of high custom or brokerage fees, duties or taxes imposed by your country, OpticsPlanet will have to pay them for you, pay for the return shipping or abandon the package. All the costs incurred by OpticsPlanet because of this will be charged back to you.

It is often less expensive to select UPS Worldwide Expedited, UPS Worldwide Express or USPS Priority Mail International to reduce or avoid the brokerage fees that might be imposed in your country. The least expensive shipping options to Canada are UPS Standard to Canada and USPS Priority Mail International. However, for UPS Standard to Canada, brokerage fees are charged.  If shipped via UPS Worldwide Express or UPS Expedited – the cost of shipping includes the brokerages fees (except for duties and taxes which are charged no matter which shipping option you use).

Please see UPS Rates for Customs Clearance into Canada.

Currently there are certain counties that we cannot ship to via USPS because of insurance reasons. To see complete list, click here. However, we can ship UPS Worldwide Express or UPS Worldwide Expedited, much faster services.

Please visit our International Orders Policy for more details.

How can I find out Shipping Cost?

You can find out the shipping cost yourself BEFORE you purchase anything in our store - the shopping cart will show you the total before you finish the checkout process! Just add the item(s) you are interested in to the shopping cart in our store and press the ADD TO CART button. It will lead you to the Store Checkout page. Enter your shipping address and hit the APPLY button. You DO NOT have to buy anything at that point, but as soon as the page refreshes you will see the correct total for your purchase including merchandise price, shipping, and sales tax (in Illinois only), before you need to provide us with your payment information. Please make sure to select the correct shipping option, the one that is available for your address. If you have your order shipped outside of the lower 48 US States and not to a Military APO/FPO/AAO/AEO address, but your shipping total in the cart shows $0, you have selected the wrong shipping method. If you see “The shipping method you specified is not available for your address” message at the top of the Store Checkout Page, you need to select another shipping option. Please note that Freight-Charges Added Later is not a free shipping option as it is used for price quotes on large volume orders provided after the order is placed.

Most of the time Freight charges might be applied after the order is placed for the items that are too large for UPS (weight limit of 150lb) or USPS (weight limit of 70 lb) (for example, police traffic radar trailers). Such exceptions will be noted on individual product pages. We notify our you prior to shipping the order if we have to assess additional charges for shipping. We are often able to provide Free Shipping on most of our wholesale and volume purchases even if they have to be delivered by truck or any other shipping method - please contact our Government and Volume Sales Specialists for an official price quote.

How long is your order Processing Time?

We pride ourselves on very fast shipping and ship most in-stock orders within 1-2 business days from one of our Chicago, Illinois based warehouses. Some orders might be shipped directly from the manufacturer and might take a bit longer. In the unlikely case when we are unable to fulfill your order right away, we will contact you with a shipping time estimate and the option of continuing, modifying or canceling your order. We will also notify you if an order cannot be shipped in its entirety. With your permission, we will ship the available items.

How do I track my order?  

Once the order is shipped, we will send you an automated email with UPS or USPS tracking/delivery confirmation number for your package.  You can always check the current status of you order on our Order Status Page.

UPS Package Tracking

All the shipments made by UPS have tracking numbers. It helps to identify and trace every package as all the packages are scanned at each checkpoint on their journey, allowing our customers to see the location of the package as it moves through the UPS system to its destination. All the orders shipped via UPS may be tracked on our UPS tracking page or directly on the UPS site with the package tracking number that we email to you once the order is shipped. Please note that it might take up to 24 hours for the UPS database to be updated with the number we sent you.

USPS Package Tracking

If your order was shipped via USPS, we will email you either a delivery confirmation number or a tracking number for your package. You can check the status of your package on the USPS site (USPS is re-using delivery confirmation and tracking numbers so information on their site might be incorrect). Please note that USPS uses delivery confirmation numbers with all shipments made via USPS Priority Mail, USPS Priority Mail International and USPS Express Mail International. A package with USPS delivery confirmation is not scanned at each location on its journey. Delivery confirmation service only gives you the date, ZIP Code and the time your package was delivered. If delivery was attempted you will get the date and time of attempted delivery. Neither delivery confirmation nor tracking numbers are available on the packages shipped to Military APO/FPO/AAO/AEO addresses and the delivery time is not guaranteed. Delivery confirmation is not available to U.S. Territories except Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands (please review our guide to check how to enter a U.S. Territory address when purchasing on-line).

Feel free to contact us if you need help tracking your order.

Can I have my UPS package delivery rescheduled or re-routed?

Any request that requires UPS to intercept your package such as a change of address, return to sender, reschedule of delivery or hold at a UPS location while the package is in transit are subject to UPS surcharges. UPS charges OpticsPlanet a fee of $10 per tracking number if the delivery intercept has to be placed. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you check your ship to address before submitting your order, make sure that you will be available when the package arrives and in case you’d like to cancel your order, please make sure you do it before the package is shipped out. Otherwise, if you would need us to place a delivery intercept, we will have to charge you the above mentioned fee per tracking number.

What happens if my item arrived damaged or was lost?

All shipped items are insured. Inspect your order immediately upon delivery before the carrier leaves. It is unlikely that anything will be damaged as we pack our orders well. DO NOT sign for a damaged parcel without a full inspection of the contents. If you detect visible physical damage or missing items, refuse the package. Contact us immediately if damage has been detected.

If you receive damaged merchandise or do not receive it at all, the carrier will need to conduct an investigation. Please notify us immediately about the problem within 3 business days of receipt of the merchandise or 3 days after the scheduled delivery date in case of non-receipt. In case of damage DO NOT discard any shipping materials and manufacturer’s packaging. Please re-seal the damaged products using the original packaging materials. You must hold the package for at least 8 business days. If UPS does not contact you to pick-up the damaged merchandise for damage inspection, then they have opted waive the inspection and the merchandise can be discarded.

If you don’t want to wait until the damage or loss investigation is completed and you want us to send a replacement item right away, please contact us. We will ship the item right out to you (assuming it is in stock). We will have to charge your credit card for the replacement and we will refund the money for your original order once the carrier approves the shipping damage or loss and pays us the insurance settlement.

USPS Loss Claims

Please note that USPS usually allows up to 21 days for domestic and 45 days for international deliveries. Unfortunately, it does happen sometimes that the USPS loses a package that has been consigned to them. However, they do not allow us to start the trace for the lost package before the certain number of days elapses: 21 days for domestic packages and 45 days for international packages (60 days for shipments to Italy).

After the required number of days elapses (or for damaged packages by USPS – after damage has been discovered) we might need to obtain a written statement from you reporting the non-receipt of the package or describing the damage done to the package. Please contact us to obtain the form in order to record your statement. After we receive your signed statement, we can start a USPS damage or loss claim.

Claim Processing Time

All claims are usually processed within 2 weeks from the time of initiation. If the carrier claims responsibility for the lost or damaged package, an insurance settlement will be issued to OpticsPlanet, Inc. In return, a replacement item will be sent to you.

How do I correctly enter an address outside United States Including U.S. Territories and U.S. Military Addresses?

Please adhere to the following steps when entering a foreign or military address: U.S. Military Addresses:

  • Shipping Method: USPS Priority Mail only;
  • Enter Grade/Rank/Rating and full name in the “Name” field;
  • Enter Unit number, CM Room Number, PSC Number in the “Address” field;
  • Enter APO (FPO) in the “City” field;
  • Enter AE (AA/AP/FP) in the “State” field;
  • Enter the ZIP code in the “ZIP” field.

Addresses for United States Territories:

  • Enter the Territory abbreviation in the “State” field;
  • Enter United States in the “Country” field.

Addresses outside the U.S. or its Territories:

  • Leave the “State” field blank;
  • Enter the city and/or province in the “City” field;
  • Enter the Country Code in the “ZIP” fields - maximum 5 characters in the first field, maximum 4 characters in the second field;
  • Enter the Country in the “Country” field.

Can I change or cancel my order after it was placed?

If you call or email us to change or cancel before your order has been shipped, we will gladly try to fulfill your request.  In case of custom prescription orders, we are unable to make any product changes once the order has been sent to the processing lab.  If we have already shipped your items or cannot stop them in the warehouse, please see our Return Policy for more information. For more information on cancelling your order, please see our full order cancellation policy page.