Return Policy:

Defective beads:  Beads (and other items) can be returned for a full refund within 30 days of the original shipment (if you are a little late, that's okay).  There is no restocking fee.  However, shipping costs will be refunded only if you feel that the beads don't match my pictures, or if they are defective or somehow inferior.  Broken beads:  If you receive broken beads, they most likely broke during shipment.  Please report the number of broken beads to me within 30 days, and I will issue a refund.  Missing beads:  Please take an inventory of the packets in your shipment shortly after opening it, and certainly before you use any of the beads.  That doesn't mean you need to count all the beads within the packets; just make sure all the packets are present.  Please report missing packets within 10 days.  You have up to 30 days to let me know if any beads are missing from within the packets.

Some necessary restrictions:

(1) Beads which are returned for a refund must be in original condition; if they are damaged or partially missing, the refund will be pro-rated accordingly (unless the damage occurred during shipment).

(2) Fire-polished faceted beads always have some imperfect facets.  If you are returning faceted beads because of imperfect facets, I will not refund shipping charges.

(3) If you qualify for a shipping refund, you will be paid for your actual return shipping cost up to, but not exceeding, the shipping fee that I charged you.

(4) If your original order exceeded the discount level of $100 or $200, and if the items you returned caused the total of your original order to fall below the discount that you received, I reserve the right to recalculate your order without the discount, and reduce your refund accordingly.  For example, if you purchased $100 worth of items and received 10% off, but then returned half of those items, I reserve the right to recalculate the original order without the discount, and the refund that you received will be reduced because the 10% discount no longer applies.

(5) I prefer not to do exchanges.  If you return beads, I will issue a refund, and you can then place a new order if you want more beads.

Lost packages:

(A) My policy is to re-ship beads that are lost in transit rather than to give a refund.  You will, however, receive a refund for any beads that have gone out of stock.

(B) I do not guarantee a refund on lost packages if the tracking information indicates that the package was delivered.  This is especially true if the package was delivered to your company, and then was lost or stolen before it reached you.  I use tracking for all packages.

Incorrect address:

If a package is returned because you provided an incorrect or incomplete address, you will have to pay an additional shipping charge to have the beads re-shipped.  If instead you choose to receive a refund, the shipping cost of the original shipment will be deducted from the refund.

The purpose of the return policy is to give you the peace of mind of knowing that you will not be stuck with beads that are defective or which look substantially different from the pictures on my site and were not what you wanted.  It is not meant to give you an opportunity to see the beads in person and then return the ones you don't want.  I understand that ending up with beads you don't want is an unpleasant risk of buying on the internet, and that's why I try to have the best possible pictures.  However, I know from my own experience as a designer that all beads can be worked into a design somehow.  You may return beads you don't like, but I cannot afford to process a large number of returns.  I run my business on small profit margins, so it is important that you not abuse the return privilege.

With polished table-cut beads, I examine each bead and eliminate defective beads before shipping.  However, imperfections which are very minor (e.g., very small pits in the glass) are not counted as defects.  If you receive any polished table-cut beads which, in your opinion, are seriously defective (malformations, cracks, partially polished windows), please contact me for a refund.

Please note that my near vision is not as good as it used to be, so sometimes I don't notice defects.  Also, my estimate of the percentage of defects may be off.  These are honest mistakes.  Please don't hesitate to let me know if I have overlooked defects in the beads you bought.

Shipping:

Carrier:
I ship all packages via the U.S. Postal Service (First Class, Priority, International First Class, International Priority).  I do not have a UPS or Fed Ex account and cannot ship via those carriers.  I rarely agree to ship via Express Mail because it is an inconvenience for me.

Domestic (U.S.A.) customers:
A flat $3.00 for orders of all sizes.

Canadian and Mexican customers:
$6.00 to $12.00, depending on the cost of shipping.  International customers will initially be charged a flat $12.00, and a refund will then be issued for any excess of $1.00 or more over the actual shipping cost.  Orders of $50 or $60 may be light enough to qualify for a shipping refund, but it depends on the beads selected.

All other International customers:
$8.00 to $16.00, depending on the cost of shipping.  International customers will initially be charged a flat $16.00, and a refund will then be issued for any excess of $1.00 or more over the actual shipping cost.  Orders of $50 or $60 may be light enough to qualify for a shipping refund, but it depends on the beads selected.

I am unable to offer a low promotional shipping rate to international customers for a variety of reasons:  (1) I pay higher credit-card fees on international orders, so I already make less money on them.  (2) The cost of shipping insurance is higher.  (3) It takes longer to package international orders because they require a customs declaration.  (4) International orders over 13 oz. must be taken to the post office and cannot be dropped in a nearby mailbox.  For all these reasons, international orders cost more and require more work, so I cannot pay for part of the shipping.

Shipping insurance:
All packages are insured.  I use a private insurance company, and the cost of the insurance is not included in the postage amount.

Shipping schedule:
Because Purebeads is a sole-proprietorship (a one-person business), packages generally ship 2 to 4 days after the order is received.  During a sale, or after a mailing announcing new beads, the delay may be longer.  There is a great deal of work to be done, and I have to pace myself.

Saturday shipments:

Orders which are shipped on Saturday are usually dropped in a mailbox and may be picked up by the post office Saturday morning or the following Monday.  Most packages mailed on Saturday are picked up on Monday.

Sunday/holiday shipments:

Orders mailed on Sunday or a federal holiday are always picked up by the post office on the next business day.

Payment Options:

1.  Credit card – all major cards are accepted.

2.  PayPal – my preferred payment method.*

3.  Money order – I stopped accepting personal checks when a customer sent me a bad check.

* PayPal requires me to say this in order to get cash back on my PayPal debit card.