FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions Please find below a list of Frequently asked questions and answers. Click on a subject heading below to view questions and answers relating to your selection. Links throughout the answers will guide you to further information on our website. Should you have any further questions, please consult our Contact Us page.
1. Why is the price of an item I entered different when I add it to the cart ?
2. If I buy two iPhones, do I have to pay for shipping twice and how much is customs and duties?
3. When ordering through International Orders how long will it take for me to get my order?
4. Why do you charge California Sales Tax?
5. How much will shipping cost to my country, will I get charged any other fees once my package arrives at my local customs?
6. Can you mark my package as Gift?
7. What is Domestic Shipping and why do I have to pay for it?
8. What is Dimensional Weight?
9. Who pays for Duties and Taxes?
10. I entered my credit card information and confirmed my order but i received a payment request from Google Checkout, what should i do?
11. I received a " verification required " email asking me to fax or email my information over but i do not feel comfortable with doing so, how can i proceed?
12. I am entering my item(s) and details in the order boxes but i do not see an item number/SKU, i can't fill everything in, is that ok?
13. I want to chose the option prepaid customs and duties but it is not available, why?
14. What is a SWIFT Code # and what is it used for?
15. My item(s) was available at the time i placed my order with you but now it is no longer available and i have been asked to cancel or receive a store credit?
16. I want to chose the option prepaid customs and duties but it is not available, why?
17. What is a SWIFT Code # and what is it used for?
18. What is an IBAN number?
19. Do you ship to APO/FPO ?
20. What happens if an item is Backordered?
21. Can I Cancel my order?
22. What Currency can I pay in?
23. What is Domestic Shipping?
24. What are Duties and Taxes?
25. Is my package Insured?
26. What if an Item is not in Stock and unavailable?
27. What are the International Shipping and Transit Times?
28. What Payment Methods methods do you accept?
29. How do I pay via B ank Wire / Bank Transfer / Wire Transfer?
30. Is the Product covered under Warranty?
31. What is your Return and Exchanges policy?
32. Why is the Shipping & Handling so expensive? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Why is the price of an item I entered different when I add it to the cart ? The price is including California Sales Tax (Which is 9.25%). Almost every store charges us California Sales tax, even though the prodcut will eventually be shipped abroad. We have no control over the stores policy. 2. If I buy two items, do I have to pay for shipping twice and how much is customs and duties? You only pay for shipping once. However, Shipping and Handling is calculated as a percentage of your total, and based on the weight of your shipment. So the average cost to ship one item is $ 30 via Fedex 2 day priority including all shipping and handling costs. Customs and Duties are calculated by your local customs office, European taxes are from 17.5 % of the total of the cost of goods, which are typically declared as $ 99, so you can expect to pay $40 to $60 in Duties plus Fedex Broker Fees ($20). You can select Pre-Paid customs (Approximately an additional $ 65 ) during checkout. If your order is over $ 1000 duties will be greater than $ 200, and will be calculated in the shipping cost if you select prepaid customs. 3. When ordering through International Orders how long will it take for me to get my order?
Your order will take 24 to 48 hours to process (called "PROCESSING" ) in our system before placing your order with your chosen stores.This is the time we need to review your payment and order, make any necessary revisions with fees and shipping and to ensure that your items are available for purchase. You will be notified as soon as your order is placed, putting your status into "ORDERED".
Generally, stores will ship to us GROUND therefore it can take up to 5 to 10 business days to receive the goods in our warehouse. Once the item(s) are in our hands, your order will either ship same day or the next depending on the time of arrival to arrive to you within 48 hours FEDEX PRIORITY (this varies to countries like Australia, where delivery times typically take 3 days). If you would like special handling such as domestic overnight shipping to our warehouse, please chose this option when choosing your delivery option or add the Priority Shipping Item, you may also specify this in the comment box, fees will be added accordingly.. All our shipments are trackable and insured. We will make every effort to ship you order with your preferred carrier. However we cannot guarantee this. Please make sure someone is available to accept your parcel. Shipping companies usually try to deliver a package three times before the parcel either gets abandoned or returned to us. Track your package to find out when you can expect it. With a normal customs clearance these are the estimated transit times for standard and priority shipments. As soon as the status of your order is set to "Shipped" and the "Tracking Number" field shows a tracking number (instead of "N/A") that links to a tracking page of a shipper (Fedex, UPS), it still may take up to 2 days until tracking information is available on the shipper's website. If the status is "Shipped" and the tracking number field shows "N/A", your order was shipped via USPS (Global Priority Mail) which is not trackable.
4. Why do you charge California Sales Tax ?
Even though your order will be shipped outside of the USA, it is shipped to our California depot first and as such the stores charge the tax. (You can find out beforehand if the store you are buying from charges CA sales tax by checking out their customer service or help pages).
5. How much will shipping cost to my country, will I get charged any other fees once my package arrives at my local customs? You may enter your item(s) into our cart to receive an estimation of your shipping charges, you do not need to check out but will need to register with us in order to receive this information.
Our shipping calculator will estimate shipping to your country based on a 3lb dimensional weight package.
( please see customer support for dimensional weight details)
As international shipping is based on the dimensional weight of your package, certain items will be considered oversized, therefore your order will be revised and shipping recalculated accordingly.
Customs will bill you directly unless you have chosen the FED EX PRIORITY PREPAID CUSTOMS AND DUTIES option at checkout. Only then will you not pay any extra fees when your package is delivered as we will incur the customs bill directly for you.
6. Can you mark my package as Gift?
Yes we can but we will declare your merchandise at full value. Should you want to have your goods declared at a lower value we can only declare as low as a wholesale value which is 50 to 60 % off of the retail amount.
It is important for you to understand that declared values become the insurance value of your package. This means that if your package is lost or damaged a claim with the shipping company will be placed for a refund matching the amount declared.
7. What is Domestic Shipping and why do I have to pay for it ?
(Definition: Shipment of your order from the store you are buying from to our depot) There are certain stores that offer free shipping. Most stores however charge a shipment fee. Since your parcel has to be delivered to our depot first it is likely that there will be a domestic shipment fee. If this applies to your order we will revise your invoice to add the domestic shipment fee and charge you accordingly.
8. What is Dimensional Weight ?
Dimensional Weight is the weight of your package calculated by the size of the box, not by the actual weight. See sample below. If your order has multiple items, an extra shipment fee may be added. Prices vary per store and per country. Each country has its own shipping base fees. Our handling and processing fee is calculated over the total. (You will be able to see your total before your order is final and at that point you can decide if wish to place the order or not). The American financial institutions that we work with charge a high percentage for processing foreign payment methods, this includes Paypal. We are not the store you are ordering from, but a seperate company that makes it possible for you to place orders from American stores. Dimensional weight example: Using dimensional weight calculations, a freight carrier will charge for lightweight packages as if they had a greater weight. For example, box of clothing shipped internationally which weighs 0.9 kilograms, and measuring 20 cm by 30 cm by 50 cm (=0.03 cubic meter) would be charged as if it weighed 5.01 kilograms. (Generally, a carrier will then round this up to 6 kilograms and charge accordingly.)
9. Who pays for Duties and Taxes ?
You are responsible for all and any applicable duties and taxes in the destination country. Those are not included in your total from International-Orders.com unless you chose to have all duties and taxes included in your order at checkout. If a shipment is rejected by you because of customs clearance charges or gets returned to us due to restrictions your country has in place regarding the importation of the goods you purchased with our assistance, you will be held liable for return shipment and/or all other miscellaneous fees incurred by us that are associated with that return. Refunds for such returns will not be issued. We can only refund you the original merchandise purchase price minus shipment cost back to the store.
Taxes and customs clearance charges that may be due in your country when your parcel arrives at customs are your responsibility. To avoid surprises when your shipment arrives, we suggest that you use the shipping choice including Customs and Duties at checkout that provides you with a real time quote. This quote includes all applicable duties, fees, and taxes based on the origin, destination, and products in your shipment. By selecting Express with Prepaid Duties and Customs at checkout you can apply the calculated Duties and Taxes Cost to your order and you are guaranteed not to pay any local taxes or duties and avoid any possible delays with customs or brokers. 10. I entered my credit card information and confirmed my order but i received a payment request from Google Checkout, what should i do?
Google Checkout is our main credit card merchant processor. Although we do receive your information, it is only captured for later processing and for our international Fraud department to start on the verification process of your payment information. You will know that your payment and information has been approved once you have received an email putting your status into: "CONFIRMED". International-Orders.com is an approved Google Merchant.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT CHARGE YOUR CREDIT CARD UNTIL THE GOODS HAVE BEEN PURCHASED AND WE HAVE APPROVED ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS WITH YOU FIRST. (TO APPROVE COSTS SIMPLY SEND AN EMAIL STATING THE ADDITIONAL COSTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED) We accept all major credit cards; Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diners, Paypal and American Express. We also accept Bank Wire transfers.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When paying with PAYPAL as your payment selection, you will be automatically directed to the International Orders Paypal Payment page ONLY once you have completed your order and confirmed your order.
If you have selected Wire Transfer, Bank details and instructions will be emailed to you shortly after your order has been received. Do not wire funds until your order has been confirmed.
11. I received a " verification required " email asking me to fax or email my information over but i do not feel comfortable with doing so, how can i proceed?
If you do not feel comfortable with sending your information to us, you may only proceed by WIRE TRANSFER.
Please know that before choosing this option and sending your payment over you will need to make sure your item(s) are still available as wire transfers are non reversible or refundable and a store credit will be applied towards your next purchase should your item(s) become unavailable once your payment has been confirmed.
12. I am entering my item(s) and details in the order boxes but i do not see an item number/SKU, i can't fill everything in, is that ok?
Yes. Not all items you will order have noticeable SKUs/item numbers until you place the actual stores cart.
It is important for us that you provide the correct store name, the full name of the item and the size and color in order for us to purchase on your behalf. Google and Froogle are not stores. Should we not get sufficient information your order will be either canceled or you will be contacted to provide us with more information.
13. How do I return or exchange an item ?
We try to limit returns as much as possible because of the expensive international return fees.
We unfortunately do not cover return shipping fees unless the error comes from us.
You are responsible to return your item(s) back to our depot using a shipping company with tracking and insurance on your package.
Please know that all orders go through quality control before leaving our depot.
Please see our Terms and Conditions and Return Policy Page for more information.
14. How much are your Shipping and Handling Fees ?
International-Orders.com shipping and handling fees are not separate. They are combined on your order and are automatically calculated by our system and depend on the total amount and how many items are in your order. Prices vary per store and per country. Each country has its own shipping base fees.Put the order through our shopping system to see estimate of shipping. It is important that you are aware of the Dimensional Weight of your package - often this can only be accurately calculated once the goods have arrived at our depot.
Shipping charges for Priority International Packages start at $ 35 + 10% of the cost of goods to cover international credit card processing fees and administrative handling costs. To see your shipping fees simply proceed thru the checkout and you will be given your shipping choices and fees.
Oversized items such as shoes, boots, Jackets, Jeans may incur additional shipping fees around $ 125 (Prices vary depending on item, size, weight and price). Shipping prices are based on a Medium Size Fedex Box.
15. My item(s) was available at the time i placed my order with you but now it is no longer available and i have been asked to cancel or receive a store credit? We are not a store therefore we have to process your order before we can proceed with purchasing your items.
Very rarely will we run into this situation as we do our best to work fast with you in order to acquire your goods.
Please know that time of purchasing depends also on how quickly you will work with us, meaning that your payment must be made promptly after receiving your payment request, fees must be paid and emails and inquiries from our purchasing department must be answered should you be contacted regarding your order.
It is also important to add the item to your chosen store's cart to check availability before placing your order with us. Most items are listed on websites but availability can only be shown once the item is placed directly in their cart. It is important that you do this should you want a speedy processing and avoid any out of stock and cancelations.
16. I want to chose the option prepaid customs and duties but it is not available, why?
If this option is not available in the checkout options it is because your country does not allow for the shipper to prepay for your customs or because customs and duties rates are too high in your country.
17. What is a SWIFT Code # and what is it used for? The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is an industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardized messaging services and interface software to nearly 8,100 financial institutions in 207 countries and territories. SWIFT members include banks, broker-dealers and investment managers. While not always required, a Swift Code number may be required by some banks for the completion of wire transfers.Our Bank, Bank of America's SWIFT Code number is BOFAUS3N. 18. What is an IBAN number? The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is the international standard for identifying international bank accounts across national borders. The IBAN is comprised of a maximum of 27 alphanumeric characters within Europe and a maximum of 34 outside of Europe (German IBAN: 22 characters). At present, the United States does not participate in IBAN. Therefore, our Bank (Bank of America) does not have an IBAN number. When sending wire transfers to countries that have IBAN numbers, we recommend including those numbers in your wire transfer documentation. According to the European Directive, only the account-keeping bank may calculate the IBAN / check digits. To obtain the IBAN numbers of another bank, please visit that banks website or contact them directly to obtain that information. 19. Do you ship to APO/FPO ?
Yes, International-Orders.com ships to APO/FPO addresses.
20. What happens if an item is Backordered ?
We are not responsible for any delays in your order due to backorder situations. Shipments will be made when all items in your order have arrived at our depot. We do not make partial shipments unless you request your items shipped seperately when they become available.
21. Can I Cancel my order? We provide our clients with a service and are not a regular store. As such we cannot accept cancellations or changes to your order once your order has been placed. If you have to cancel your order, our $35 non refundable service fee will be deducted from your refund. Wire transfer transactions are non refundable and funds can only be applied as a store credit. There is a minimum 30% restocking fee on placed orders and you will be liable for all shipping charges.
22. What Currency can I pay in ?
All transactions are in US Dollars. Your credit card, Paypal or bank statement however will show our charge (billed by Authorize.net or Google checkout) in your local currency. The dollar amount in your invoice will be converted to your local currency on the day that you make your payment. Our currency conversion tool at the checkout page is meant to give you an estimate NOT a guaranteed rate. You can request the exchange rate for that day with your financial institution.
23. What is Domestic Shipping ?
(Definition: Shipment of your order from the store you are buying from to our depot) There are certain stores that offer free shipping. Most stores however charge a shipment fee. Since your parcel has to be delivered to our depot first it is likely that there will be a domestic shipment fee. If this applies to your order we will revise your invoice to add the domestic shipment fee and charge you accordingly.
24. What are Duties and Taxes ?
You are responsible for all and any applicable duties and taxes in the destination country. Those are not included in your total from International-Orders.com unless you chose to have all duties and taxes included in your order at checkout. If a shipment is rejected by you because of customs clearance charges or gets returned to us due to restrictions your country has in place regarding the importation of the goods you purchased with our assistance, you will be held liable for return shipment and/or all other miscellaneous fees incurred by us that are associated with that return. Refunds for such returns will not be issued. We can only refund you the original merchandise purchase price minus shipment cost back to the store.
Taxes and customs clearance charges that may be due in your country when your parcel arrives at customs are your responsibility. To avoid surprises when your shipment arrives, we suggest that you use the shipping choice including Customs and Duties at checkout that provides you with a real time quote. This quote includes all applicable duties, fees, and taxes based on the origin, destination, and products in your shipment. By selecting Express with Prepaid Duties and Customs at checkout you can apply the calculated Duties and Taxes Cost to your order and you are guaranteed not to pay any local taxes or duties and avoid any possible delays with customs or brokers. 25. Is my package Insured ? Your package is insured for $100. You may request to declare your merchandise at either wholesale value, full value or gift value.
Declared values are your insurance value for your package meaning:Should your package be lost or damaged in transit International-Orders/shipper can only issue a claim with the shipping company for the declared value of the package. this is the amount that will be refunded to us and then to you.You fully agree to these terms once you have chosen your declared value/insurance option. International Orders will not make any exception and will refund solely the amount requested by customer to have be declared while placing his/her order. 26. What if an Item is not in Stock and unavailable.
All items that are not in stock or unavailable will be automatically cancelled on your order and refunded accordingly. If your order contains more than 75% of items not in stock, then your order will be placed on hold and we will request further instructions from you. You are responsible for the service fee, even if you wish to cancel your entire order. Please see details below and Terms and Conditions.
27. What are the International Shipping and Transit Times ?
All our shipments are trackable and insured. We will make every effort to ship you order with your preferred carrier. However we cannot guarantee this. Please make sure someone is available to accept your parcel. Shipping companies usually try to deliver a package three times before the parcel either gets abandoned or returned to us. Track your package to find out when you can expect it. With a normal customs clearance these are the estimated transit times for standard and priority shipments. As soon as the status of your order is set to "Shipped" and the "Tracking Number" field shows a tracking number (instead of "N/A") that links to a tracking page of a shipper (Fedex, UPS), it still may take up to 2 days until tracking information is available on the shipper's website. If the status is "Shipped" and the tracking number field shows "N/A", your order was shipped via USPS (Global Priority Mail) which is not trackable. STANDARD SHIPPING: Please allow at least 4 - 12 business , providing the store has the item(s) in stock and available for immediate shipment, for your order to arrive at our depot. (we are not responsible for delays by the store in the shipment of your item to our depot). The transit time from the store to our depot depends on where in the USA the store you purchased from is located. We ship the merchandise as soon as it arrives at our depot and provide you with a tracking number. Allow 4 - 8 business days for your order to arrive in your country from the day we ship it to you.
PRIORITY SHIPPING: If you requested expedited domestic shipping your purchase should arrive at our depot between 2 - 4 business days providing the store has the item(s) in stock and available for immediate shipment. At the time I placed your order the item(s) showed as in stock on the website. As soon as your order arrives it gets shipped on to you right away! From the day we ship it on to you it may take 2 - 4 business days to reach you As soon as you order arrives at our depot it will be shipped onto you immediately and you will receive a shipment notification via email.
28. What Payment Methods methods do you accept.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT CHARGE YOUR CREDIT CARD UNTIL THE GOODS HAVE BEEN PURCHASED AND WE HAVE APPROVED ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS WITH YOU FIRST. (TO APPROVE COSTS SIMPLY SEND AN EMAIL STATING THE ADDITIONAL COSTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED) We accept all major credit cards; Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diners, Paypal and American Express and Google Checkout. We also accept Bank Wire transfers. IMPORTANT NOTE: When paying with PAYPAL as your payment selection, you will be automatically directed to the International Orders Paypal Payment page ONLY once you have completed your order and confirmed your order.
29. How do I pay via B ank Wire / Bank Transfer / Wire Transfer ? If you have selected Wire Transfer, Bank details and instructions will be emailed to you shortly after your order has been received. Do not wire funds until your order has been confirmed.
30. Is the Product covered under Warranty ?
Any warranty for products purchased through us in the USA will be valid in the USA only unless stated otherwise on the actual warranty documentation.
31. What is your Return and Exchanges policy ?
See Terms and Conditions and Return Policy Page
32. Why is the Shipping & Handling so expensive.
- We receive your order and verify the information is accurate
- We check availability and stock and final price (delivered to us with sales tax)
- We place the order with the store and pay for the goods in US funds
- We receive the goods at our warehouse, inspect your merchandise
- We repackage every shipment for international shipping for optimal dimensional weight
- We prepare all necessary customs documentation required for export
- We consolidate orders if you buy from multiple stores to save you money
- We ship your item to you the very same day it arrives at our warehouse
- We provide tracking, insurance and exceptional International customer service
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email us at cs@international-orders.com We reserve the right to modify, add or remove portions of this page, Terms, Help and FAQ at any time.
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