Delivery Information

We offer a wide range of shipping options to try to give you the service that best fits your needs.  Here is a description of the services, based on our experience.

Domestic services:

  1. USPS First Class Mail: Delivery time is roughly one week.  Tracking is available, but USPS can delay tracking updates by up to 48 hours.  Insurance is not provided, but loss is rare.
  2. USPS Priority Mail: Most of the year, delivery time is 2 days to most locations.  During busy times (July 4th week and the Christmas Season), delivery time can extend up to five days.  Tracking and insurance are provided and loss is very rare.
  3. FedEx Priority Overnight: For most addresses, delivery time is 10:30AM.  If you are quite rural, delivery time can be delayed to 12:00PM.  FedEx has never lost an overnight shipment, so we don’t know what the loss rate is.  This is the most secure method of getting your nitinol, so the extra shipping cost may simply be worthwhile to ensure reliable delivery.

International services:

  1. USPS Frist Class Mail Letter Rate: This is for our most cost-sensitive customers.  There is no tracking and no insurance.  This means that once USPS has it, we have no idea where in the world your package is and we do not have the means to replace it.  We have had delivery time with this service exceed six months!  This being said, delivery to Australia is typically one week and delivery to western Europe is typically 2-5 days.  For these countries, this is a good, low cost solution.
  2. USPS First Class Mail: A dramatic improvement over letter rate, this has a tracking number to help you determine where your package is.  Delivery is handled by your country’s national postal system, so once the package has left the US, you should track the package using your country’s carrier.  Insurance is not provided for this delivery method.  Delivery times are similar to Letter Rate, so when ordering, consider if the delivery time is acceptable.
  3. FedEx Priority International: This service often provides overnight delivery to western European countries and Australia.  Most of the world can expect their package in 5 days or less and the longest delivery time we have experienced with this service was 8 days to a remote outpost in northern Siberia.  We have never lost a package with this service, so we cannot assess the loss rate.  Tracking and insurance are provided.  We recommend this service if you need to be certain of the delivery time.