There are pros and cons to each different shipping method, and price should not be your only deciding factor. This chart will help you decide which shipping method is best for you. The dropdown list on the checkout page shows you several shipping options and their prices according to your particular order and delivery information.
Use this chart to help decide whether cheapest is best, or if you prefer speed, reliability, and accurate tracking.
| Shipping Cost for approx. 2 lbs. or less | Shipping Cost for more than 2 lbs. | Guaranteed delivery | Overnight delivery | Shipping Cost to Alaska & Hawaii | Shipping Cost to Canada | Saturday Delivery | Tracking | Speed | Delivery Reliability | |
| UPS | More* | Less* | Yes for 3-day and faster | Yes | More | More* | Yes, for extra charge | Very reliable | Excellent | Very reliable |
| USPS | Less* | More* | Yes for Express Mail only | Yes** | Less | Less* | Yes,*** no extra charge | Not always reliable | Good | Very reliable |
**USPS offers Express Mail but not overnight to and from every location. To check whether USPS delivers overnight between our location and yours, click this link and enter our zip code (66935) and yours.
***Not every location.
Bear in mind that three basic things affect shipping prices:
- Weight of the parcel
- Size of the parcel
- Distance it has to travel
Remember: If you absolutely have to have your package on time, send it UPS 3-Day or faster, and leave an extra day as a cushion in case there a storm or something comes up that hinders on-time service.
Why is the shipping charge so much?
The easy answer to this is that we are just charging what it costs us to ship packages to our customers. UPS and USPS (and all the others) charge based on what their costs are, plus their necessary profit. We take the UPS or USPS charge and add our costs of handling (boxes, filling materials, tape, labels, etc. and labor to pick, pack, and ship).
The costs of shipping are largely dependant on fuel prices, the distance a parcel has to travel, and how rural the delivery point is. For example, it costs less to ship the same size & weight package to Baltimore, MD (1,251 miles) than it does to Trenton, MO (229 miles).
Incidentally, due to the varying sizes and weights of the items we sell, and the constantly-changing shipping charges and fuel surcharges, the shopping cart cannot calculate shipping charges with 100% accuracy. It is for this reason (and the Owner's lack of trust in computers in general) that every online order is reviewed personally by a manager to verify shipping charges and correct any overcharges.
Note: You do not need to ask us to make corrections because we check every order personally. However, if you want to remind us to do it, that is OK, we don't mind. We welcome your email or phone call. We want you to feel 100% confident when purchasing from Inirgee and ImaginaryColours.com!
Ground shipping is a standard term used by major carries like UPS and FedEx and DHL. It is their version of the United States Postal Service's "Parcel Post", or perhaps First Class parcel. At ImaginaryColours.com, we use UPS for most of our shipments. You now have the option to choose USPS. Please read Which shipping method should I choose? above.
All orders are put in queue in the order in which we received them. Most orders are Ground shipments, because this service is usually only a few days delivery time via UPS. However, 3-Day Select, 2nd Day Air, and Next Day Air orders are pulled out of the stack, and processed first because they are a higher priority.
Even so, most orders leave our warehouse in under 24 hours (weekends and holidays excluded of course).
If you need a shipment faster, like if you have a specific deadline, be sure to spend the extra money for faster delivery. UPS treats 3 Day, 2nd Day and Next Day services with priority, too. They also guarantee on-time delivery for these services. This means that they have to be very reliable, or they'll be refunding your money. Ground packages and those shipped via US Postal Service do not have a guaranteed delivery time.
We ship via UPS and USPS every day. We have a daily UPS pickup at our store, and we have earned significant shipping discounts due to our volume (this is why our shipping prices have not increased much over the last four years). USPS does not pick up here daily so we will take your order to the post office usually within one business day. We do not generally ship via FedEx, DHL, or any other carrier. However, if you absolutely require a specific shipper, let us know when you place your order. There will probably be an additional pickup fee assessed by the carrier.
Standard and Priority shipping are the same price on my order. Is this right?
Sometimes yes. But sometimes it's due to a quirk or error in programming of our Shopping Cart. We manually handle each order and make corrections when we see them.
Which Shipper is most reliable?
Let's be clear that NO shipper is 100% perfect. However, we have discovered the following:
United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail (stated 2-3 day non-guaranteed delivery) is the least reliable. We've had Priority packages take 12 days to arrive before. We have also found that their delivery confirmation is unreliable. We once had a package which was Confirmed delivered but the customer was adamant that it was not received. Even though a lost parcel is not our responsibility (it is the buyer's responsibility to purchase insurance if desired), we sent her a replacement product, gratis. Meanwhile, some 30 days later, the parcel, which the USPS had confirmed as delivered, was returned to us as "undeliverable as addressed." The Delivery Confirmation still, to this day, says it was delivered. The post office has refused to refund our money because (you guessed it) it's been confirmed delivered.
FedEx, what little we've used them, has been very reliable. As of this writing, however, we have not used them as much as the USPS or UPS. FedEx does guarantee delivery of its expedited services.
Our experience with DHL is limited to one very disappointing incoming shipment from overseas which was very late. Tracking was completely unreliable and their customer service department clueless. I believe that part of the reason for their massive failure was because they apparently have an agreement with the USPS to take over some of their deliveries. So, while our shipment from China came into the USA via DHL in four days, it was switched over to the USPS somewhere along the way, perhaps Salina, KS (68 miles from our office), and from there it took seven more days for delivery. Needless to say, we will not be using DHL again.
UPS has been our primary (and daily) shipping service since October,
2006. It has proven to be very reliable, yet not perfect (there are
things such as hurricanes, snowstorms, flooding, etc. which can delay
an otherwise-on-time package).
Alaska and Hawaii are exceptions (and exceptional, I've heard--hope to visit both one day). UPS charges waaaay more for these two destinations. The only affordable, yet reasonably quick delivery service is the USPS via Priority Mail. Priority Mail is not a guaranteed service, so if you are on a close deadline, make sure you tell us you need a UPS 3, 2, or Next-Day service.
We have found the easiest and least expensive way to ship to Canada is usually via USPS parcel post or Priority Mail.
click to return to our storefront