U.S. SHIPPING INFORMATION

This page details available domestic (U.S.) shipping methods and explains the shipping policies at One Stop Candle.

NOTE: For orders outside the United States please see our International Shipping Information here.

We strive to make shopping with One Stop the most pleasant experience possible. Our management and staff has a combined total of over 50 years of mail order operation experience. Our policy is 100% honesty with our customers and no exaggerated claims. The information below details exactly what you can expect regarding order processing, turnaround time, and transit time.

Page Index:

• Money Saving Tips

• Ship Out Time

• Shipping Costs

• Continental US

• Other US

• United Parcel Service (UPS)

• United States Postal Service (USPS)

• Missing Packages

• Service Comparison Chart

Money Saving Tips

As we are all aware the recent rise of fuel prices has greatly affected shipping costs. The following will help you save money:

• Larger orders are less expensive to ship. If you order frequently, combining your orders will provide substantial savings. The first pound is the most expensive one because shipping carriers build their minimum delivery cost into the first pound, making it far more costly to get two one pound packages than it is to get one two pound package. For example a one pound package may cost 8.30 but a two pound package may only cost 8.60 (dropping the cost to 4.30 per pound) - this example is a savings of 8.00 when compared to placing two smaller orders.
• The Postal service charges more for each additional pound than UPS does. If you are in the continental U.S. consider UPS for larger shipments. Shipping cost can be compared at checkout for the best value.
• Avoid premium services such as air and express. These are much more expensive.

Ship Out Time

Our order turnaround time is very fast, however it varies depending on the shipping method selected. Note that the times shown below are the typical time it takes to get the package out and do not reflect the transit time which depends on the shipping method selected and is explained in the relevant area of this page.

Orders are processed in the evening for packing the following working day. Orders arriving before 5 PM EST (New York time), are normally packed the following day. Orders arriving later will often add one day to the times shown below.

• UPS Shipping all services - The UPS system is very efficient and shipments are normally packed and shipped out the following working day.
• USPS Priority Mail and Express Mail Service - Less efficient and shipments normally ship on the second day.

Exceptions - The information above is the normal time it takes to get your order out to you and applies to most orders. On rare occasions it may take longer due to high order volume such as right before major holidays or after a holiday when we were closed. Normally we are closed on all national holidays.

Note: Priority Mail, Express Mail, Next Day Air, and so forth are the names used by the Postal Service and UPS for their various services and do not imply any special handling on our part - we strive to get all orders out in a timely manner.

Shipping Costs

Shipping charges are determined by package weight and destination. Our software calculates the shipping costs by looking up the rates on either the UPS or the USPS online rate charts and presents a menu of all available shipping options to your destination with cost. Not all shipping options appear for all destinations due to availability.

Shipping quotes before checkout may be obtained by clicking the Basket link at the top of any page on our site. Once on your basket page, click the calculate shipping button and fill in your destination information to obtain a quote. Note: If you sign in to your account first, the shipping quote destination will be filled in automatically.

Our web site is configured to calculate the correct costs for 99.9% of all shipments, however there are several instances when a correction may be required. Note that in cases where a correct price is not quoted - your account is not billed until we issue a correct quotation and receive an authorization from you.

• Exceptionally heavy shipments may not calculate properly due to shipper restrictions. If you receive an "Unable to calculate shipping costs" message this means that the software is unable to make an accurate shipping calculation. Continue with checkout, you will be contacted with the shipping cost when your order is processed by our office. Your credit card is not billed on these until we send an updated invoice and receive a confirmation from you, so watch for the follow up invoice from our office.
• Bulky, lightweight shipments by air - Air shipping is charged by a combination of dimensional volume and weight. For the vast majority of our products this does not make a difference, and the shipping calculates correctly. However for bulky objects with a low weight, the cost to ship via air may be higher. The most common products affected by this are dipping vats, plastic molds, and paper / cardboard items such as votive boxes. Previously this only affected UPS air shipments, but recent changes by the Postal Service make this effective for Priority and Express mail as well. Your credit card is not billed on these until we send an updated invoice and receive a confirmation from you, so watch for a follow up notice from our office.

Continental U.S.

Shipments within the 48 continental states have the widest variety of shipping options. We highly recommend UPS ground service since it is fast, reliable, ships daily (Monday - Friday), and packages can be tracked electronically. Additionally it is often less expensive then the postal service for many shipments. When shipped via UPS, the tracking number is included in your shipping confirmation email and may be tracked at ups.com

Pick Ups - Customers in the New York metro area who desire to pick up their order may do so at our showroom in Williston Park during normal business hours. Evening pickups can also be arranged if that is more convenient. Please contact our sales department at or with this form immediately after placing the order to let us know you intend to pick it up so shipping charges are not billed. Important - Due to space restrictions in our showroom, limited quantities of wax are stocked there. If you wish to pick up wax please give us at least 24 hours notice to ensure we have time to transfer it from our warehouse. Travel information to our showroom may be found here.

Other U.S.

Orders to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, APO, FPO, and other destinations that are served by the U.S. postal system are normally sent via USPS (US Postal Service). Postal service is the most economical method for these destinations.

Important Note: There is a high incidence of packages to some of these destinations being returned to us undelivered. This occurs most often on packages to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but can happen anywhere. This seems to be from mail carriers not delivering it and failing to notify the addressee that it is at the post office. We highly recommend keeping in touch with your local post office if you are expecting a package and live in one of these destinations.

UPS - United Parcel Service

We find UPS shipping to be fast, reliable, and easy to track down problems due to their electronic tracking. UPS picks up here daily (Monday through Friday). On most packages over 1 pound UPS is less expensive than the postal service. For most shipments we highly recommend choosing UPS.

UPS Benefits

• Every package is trackable from the time of pickup.
• Guaranteed delivery times on all shipments (sometimes suspended during the Holiday rush, also suspended for severe weather such as hurricanes, floods, and blizzards which hinder or stop transport in an area. Further, some remote locations are exempt from the guarantee).
• Fast ship times.
• Ships daily.
• Very reliable.
• Fast resolution for lost or destroyed packages (this rarely happens, but is resolved much faster than USPS when it does).
• Less expensive on most shipments over one pound.
• Several optional expedited methods are available including next day, 2 day, and 3 day delivery (all guaranteed).

UPS Drawbacks

• Will not deliver to a PO box, APO, or FPO - a street address must be provided.
• Charge higher rates for rural and remote deliveries.

Transit Times - Use the drop down menu below to find the UPS transit time to your location. Times shown are for ground service from time of shipment (not from time order is placed). Expedited services take 1, 2, or 3 days in transit depending on service selected. Note: UPS transit times do not include the day of shipment or Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Money saving tip: Before choosing an expedited service, please check the normal delivery time below. For example if you are in a 1 day ground zone, selecting next day air will only get it there a couple hours earlier and 2 or 3 day shipping will not get it there any faster at all. If you are in a 2 day ground zone then only next day service will get it there faster, and so forth.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Outside U.S.

Important Note: Selecting an expedited service that times delivery to a weekend will not get the package there before Monday without a hefty Saturday delivery charge added. For example: 2 day service shipping on a Thursday will get the package there on Monday.

USPS - United States Postal Service

For very light domestic shipments and orders outside the 48 continental states the postal service is often more economical. Our main dislikes of shipping via postal service are their primitive package tracking system and lack of delivery guarantees. In spite of this, the postal service is a viable option for many shipments if you are willing to do without advanced tracking.

Tracking - Be aware that the postal service offers electronic tracking only on select (higher priced) shipping methods such as some Priority and Express services. No form of electronic tracking at all is available for some postal services. If you are on a time frame and being able to track shipments is important - use UPS if possible. Priority mail only supplies a delivery confirmation number and it can only be used to find out if the package has been delivered, not to track it. Please do not shrug this off - do not expect postal shipments to be trackable or even to have any form of unique ID number.

Delivery Guarantee - You may find this hard to believe but there is None, Zero, Nada, etc... for most services (and I have my doubts about the others). Reading the fine print about postal services will show that you should not expect anything in the way of a delivery guarantee. For example "3 day Priority mail" actually only means that many of them get delivered in 3 days - however the post office won't even consider it overdue until 30 days from date of shipment.

Lost or missing packages - Although with few exceptions no electronic tracking is available, since we insure everything the packages are traceable manually. Tracing postal shipments takes a minimum of 6 weeks and often longer. This involves waiting 30 days from date of shipment , filing papers at the post office, then waiting several weeks while they correspond with other post offices. This slow tracing has been the source of a high degree of fraud as well as unintentional duplicated shipments and because of that our policy is not to replace or refund such shipments until the post office has finished its investigation.

Ship Out Times - We ship via USPS 4 times weekly. The post office requires us to schedule pickups the day before so postal shipments take an extra weekday to ship out. Keep this in mind when selecting USPS shipment as it may delay your order several days.

Postal Shipment Benefits

• Lower cost on very small domestic and some shipments to rural or remote areas.
• Small postal shipments often pass through customs with less cost or difficulty (varies by country).
• Will deliver to a PO box, APO, or FPO.

Postal Shipment Drawbacks

• Primitive tracking, and not even on all packages
• No guaranteed delivery times on most services.
• Longer time to ship out.
• Extremely slow tracing of lost or destroyed shipments.
• More costly on many domestic shipments that weigh over 1 pound.

Transit Times - The following transit times are what we have found to be typical for postal shipments - in business days from day of shipment (not the date order is placed). The day of shipment, Saturdays and Sundays are not included in these times. These times vary from those published by the postal service and reflect what our experience has shown to be typical. Note: None of the delivery times shown below are guaranteed.

Missing Packages

Infrequently, a package becomes lost or totally destroyed in transit. Although this is an inconvenience when it happens, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. All packages are packed to withstand the normal abuses of transport, however sometimes boxes get crushed by machinery or vehicles and no amount of packaging material can protect them from such a fate.

As soon as the carrier acknowledges either the loss or destruction of the package we will immediately reship or refund (your choice) the order. This may mean a time frame of several days to several months depending on the carrier based on the following:

• UPS - Usually a few days. Note: if you track a UPS package and the tracking information shows an "exception" contact our sales department immediately at or with this form. Exception in this case is anything not routine for a package. It may mean anything from a damaged carton to an incorrect delivery address, but we will be able to enquire about it sooner this way.
• US Postal Service - Tracing packages usually takes a minimum of 2 - 4 weeks and cannot be started until 30 days after date of shipment. We have had this take as long as 3 months on international shipments, although it is usually less.
• Freight consolidator - Same as UPS or USPS above until it is delivered to the freight consolidator. If you choose to ship via a forwarder or consolidator, our responsibility ends when the package is delivered to them and any claims after that will need to be made with them.
• Courier Service - If you choose to have a courier service or trucking company pick up your shipment, our responsibility ends when they pick it up and sign for it. Any claims should be directed to the courier service.

We regret that this strict policy is necessary, however due to a common scam with certain shipping methods and to prevent duplicate shipping of slightly slow packages it has become necessary.

Service Comparison Chart

Click here for current shipout time on orders