Blockheads: Our Company / Our Stamps

Blockheads started manufacturing and selling rubber stamps online in November 2001. Our goal is to provide current designs in the highest quality at great prices. Our business is primarily web based and E-mail is always the easiest and quickest way to reach us.

We offer unmounted rubber stamps. In the beginning, we experimented with different methods of producing our rubber stamps and find that deeply etched magnesium molds produce the clearest images with no stray marks or shadowing. Visit our construction page for specifics on our stamp construction and mounting.

Contact Information

Mailing Address (this is our retail store location):
Blockheads Paper Arts
7201 NE Glisan Street, Suite C

Portland, OR 97213-6369

Fax:
1-800-449-9083

E-mail:
Dianna at sr@blockheadstamps.com

Phone:
We now provide phone support through our retail location. You may call during business hours Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm. If we are busy with customers in the store you may get our answering system - please leave your message and we will check messages as soon as we can. Our number is at the top of every page on our site.

Satisfaction Guarantee

We understand that sometimes items received are not what was expected. In most cases, we allow customers to return any product within 15 days for a refund. We can only issue refunds for unopened, unused products, that we can resell. A return authorization code must accompany the return. Shipping is only refunded on defective or damaged products.

How to Get Return Authorization Code

Please E-mail for authorization before returning any items. Items returned without a return authorization # will not be returned or refunded.

Restocking Fees

We very rarely ever impose a restocking fee but to prevent abuse of our liberal return policy, a 15% restocking fee will be charged in the following cases, which causes us hardship:

1) A large quantity of a single item without being certain it is the product they need such as 8 of a single color ink pad or 12 packs of coasters. We cannot make "upon approval" deliveries. If you are unsure whether this is the product needed, please order a small quantity first. The reason we ask for this courtesy is that large orders of a single item often require a special order to fill the order and/or an order to restock the item so it is available for other customers. A return of the product would cause us to have more operating capital tied up in that item than we planned on and more space devoted to storing the item.

2) A return of a large portion of an order without good reason. This also causes us to have excess inventory because we have generally ordered to restock the products before the return is made.

Refunds on Orders that Originally Received Free Shipping

The refund amount will be the price of the product less shipping charges we paid that you were not charged for. Example: you qualified for free shipping on an order over $100, but you returned a significant portion of the items, causing your revised order to be less than $100, you will be refunded for the returned items LESS actual shipping charges we paid to have your original order delivered.

Shopping Cart System / Payment Options

Pay safely using MasterCard, Visa. We also provide a PayPal payment option for customers wishing to use an existing PayPal account or set one up to use Discover Card or American Express. You should receive a confirmation E-mail if you typed in your E-mail address correctly and a shipping notification when we ship your order. Over 95% of orders ship within 2 business days. If your order cannot be filled within 3 business days, we'll E-mail to let you know when your order is likely to be filled.

Paying by Check or Money Order Through the Mail

We're sorry, but this option is not available at this time. If you aren't comfortable putting your credit card information online through our secure 128-bit encrypted checkout system, other payment options are provided when checking out online. These include mailing or faxing your credit card information with your order number. Instructions are provided when you check out using one of those payment options. You might also check with your credit card company to find out if they offer temporary, one-time use, card numbers for added security.

Shipping Information

Expected Delivery Time

All items on our site are usually in stock unless otherwise stated. Most orders ship within 1-2 business days. If we expect a delay you will be contacted by E-mail.

The time in transit depends on your distance from Oregon and the shipping option you select.

US Destinations

Express Mail* - We do not offer Express shipping options

Priority Mail - Generally takes 1-3 business days in transit

First Class - Domestic - Generally takes 3-6 business days in transit

UPS Ground - Generally takes 2-5 business days in transit - this option only occurs at our discretion on orders over $100

International Destinations

Please read the International Shipping section below.

*Expedited Shipping

Paying for Express Mail does not guarantee that your order will ship the same day it was ordered. We have found that Express Mail does not guarantee a faster shipping result than USPS Priority Mail; as a result we have discontinued Express Mail as a shipping option. Please do not request for expedited shipping or to use your FedEx account, as we simply cannot process orders in this manner.

Shipping Costs

Our shopping cart system will automatically estimate your shipping charge if you select your country and state (if applicable) and hit the "recalculate" button. Although these are just estimates of actual shipping rates, we will never adjust the charge upward on domestic retail orders even if we end up paying some of the postage. Sometimes we are able to save on postage by packing the items in a smaller box than estimated or using a flat rate box or envelope. In those cases if the order is for more than $20 in merchandise and the shipping charged is more than $2 higher than the actual shipping, that we will refund the savings to the customer.

Split Shipments

Estimated shipping costs do not cover the cost of splitting shipments. We will split shipments and pay the extra cost to ship an item later if an item appeared to be in stock on the web site but we actually had none in stock and none expected to arrive in the next 2-3 days.

If a customer orders multiples of a single item, like 6 jars of one color of embossing powder or 3 bottles of the same adhesive and we have a lower quantity in stock we will give the customer the option of lowering the quantity to what we have in stock, waiting until we are able to ship the order complete or paying the extra shipping to have the items we have in stock shipped before the items that have to be ordered to complete the order.

Free Shipping for Orders over $100 to US, VI, PR, or APO Destinations

Orders with more than $100.00 in merchandise ship free to US, VI, PR or APO destinations. The shopping cart will show a $0 shipping charge for Priority Mail on qualifying orders. We will ship orders receiving free shipping through either USPS Priority or UPS Ground, whichever we choose depending on the size and weight of the shipment.

In order to make our free shipping policy cost-effective, orders that qualify for free shipping must ship in one shipment. We cannot split the order to ship part to one address and part to another or part now and part later.

If we have an inventory problem because of an order containing multiples of an item, beyond what any normal retail store would feasibly have in stock, like 6 of one color ink pad or 9 of a single type of embellishment or embossing powder, you will have the following options:

- wait until we can special order the quantity you need which takes 7-21 days depending on the supplier
- or ask us to split the shipment and agree to pay the lower of the two shipping costs. We'll still pay shipping on the larger parcel.

International rates are approximated to be close to actual cost. If shipping is drastically overestimated, a refund will be given. Likewise if international shipping is drastically underestimated, we will give the option to pay the difference or modify the order.

International Orders

All Custom Forms will be filled out legally with the cost of the goods (excluding S&H).

We will not mark it as a gift or commercial sample. If your country requires you to pay taxes for the goods upon receipt please take this into consideration before you buy! We are not responsible for delays caused by customs officials.

Shipping rates depend on what you order and what quantity. Our shopping cart will calculate shipping if you add the items you want to your shopping cart, then select your shipping zone and click the "recalculate" button at the bottom of the first page of the shopping cart. **Please note: if you do not generate the correct shipping rate for your destination we will delay shipping your order until we can confirm the correct shipping charges.

Shipping rates are calculated to be approximates of the actual air mail shipping rates plus our cost to insure the parcels. If actual shipping charges are overestimated by more than $2.00 USD, we will issue a refund for the difference. If it is calculated much lower than actual shipping, we will contact you to let you know actual shipping and ask if you'd like to pay the difference or cancel your order.

We never know actual shipping until we actually weigh the exact combination of products you order along with the box required to fit those items. For instance five sheets of untrimmed rubber will fit into a flat rate mailer envelope, but 5 sheets of rubber and 1 jar of embossing powder will not fit and may cost closer to $22.00 to ship. Our shopping cart can't determine whether flat rate mailers can be used or not used based on combinations.

As noted above, most of our international orders are shipped by First Class International or Priority International (for orders over 4lbs). Both classes ship by air and get to the destination country in 5-10 days. Delivery, however, can take 2-6 weeks depending on how long your country takes to clear items through customs and asses customs charges. Your postal service may be able to give you an estimate.

Please be aware that no tracking is available for First Class or Priority Mail parcels on International orders. We can provide you a customs ID number, and this is automatically included in your shipping confirmation email. This number begins with LN and has a series of numbers afterwards. This number is used to track the status of parcels going through your country's customs - your local post office can usually track this for you if you provide them with that customs ID number.

Minimum Order
We currently have no minimum order, however this can change depending on mailing overhead costs. .

Angel Policy
Any of our art stamps may be used in crafts for sale. Please visit our Angel Policy link for details.

Privacy Policy
We collect customer information from customers for our E-mail list and purchases. Personal information, including addresses, telephone numbers, credit card information and E-mail addresses is handled carefully. Your information is never sold. Sharing of information outside Blockheads may be done for the sole purpose of completing orders, collecting debt, or backing up data. The privacy policy of any business partners, including Bravenet, our E-mail List administrator, is also designed to protect you from E-mail spam, junk mail or fraud.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

When will my order ship?

Within 1-2 business days unless we have a note on our checkout page or we contact you by E-mail to notify you of a delay.

Where is my order shipping from?

Portland, Oregon.

How long before I get my order?

From the time you order, domestic orders take 2-5 business days by Priority Mail, 4-8 business days by First Class Mail, 2-7 business days by UPS Ground. Orders with flammable material such as alcohol ink or solvent cleansers or aerosol cans can take 6-11 business days because USPS requires that these orders go by Parcel Post.

The time for international orders to arrive varies widely and depends more on the customs office of the destination country than the shipping times. International orders generally arrive in the destination country in 4-8 days but customs delays add another 4-35 days to the delivery time. Your local post office should be able to give you some idea of typical customs delays. We have no control over tracking a shipment once it leaves the United States.

I'm near Portland. Can I pick up my order to avoid shipping charges?

Please put a notation in the customer comments field to indicate that you wish to pick your order up at our retail store - we will refund you shipping after you pick up your order. You may pick up your order at: 7201 NE Glisan Street Suite C, Portland OR between the hours of 10am and 6pm, Tuesday-Saturday.

Will you let me know when my order ships?

You will receive an E-mail with a confirmation/tracking number when your order ships. ***PLEASE add sr@blockheadstamps.com and orders@blockheadstamps.com emails to your trusted senders list to avoid our emails going into your spam filter.

Is my parcel insured against loss/theft?

All UPS parcels are insured through UPS. Most parcels, however, ship through USPS. USPS parcels over $150 and international parcels over $75 are insured through a third-party insurer. Claims for lost parcels must be made within 10 days for domestic shipments and 4 weeks for international orders.

If your parcel is never scanned as being delivered to your address, we will generally ask you to check with your post office and wait a few more days for it to arrive, but we need to know about the problem within the times noted so that we can make sure we meet the deadlines for filing claims with our insurers. The postal service is extremely reliable. We have only had substantiated reports of 1 in every 3000-5000 parcels going missing.

**** If the post office reports having delivered your parcel, we place the responsibility upon the customer as you, obviously, have more control over the safety of parcels being delivered to your address than we do. If your mail is not delivered to a secure area, consider using a PO Box or an employer's address.
In nearly every case, where a customer has told us that the parcel was scanned as delivered but not received, they later find that a neighbor saw the parcel sitting out and took it in for safe keeping or a member of the household picked up the mail and stashed the parcel somewhere, or the parcel was left out of sight at a door that isn't often used. We also recommend contacting the post office immediately. They will tell you they aren't responsible for the parcel, but sometimes the carrier does remember where the parcel was left or who answered the door when they delivered it.

We have made exceptions for regular customers, who've placed many successful orders in the past. The exposure to fraud for first time customers is too great to us to take responsibly for claims of not receiving parcels that were scanned by the post office as having been delivered.

If you are a relatively new customer placing a large order you may ask us to charge an additional amount to insure the parcel for theft. The charge is usually $3.40 for the first $100 and $1.50 for each additional $100.

Can you explain the charges on my debit card?

When you place an order online our bank runs an authorization against your credit card or debit card. We do not charge you until your order ships. When your order ships we "capture" the funds which converts the authorization to a charge. Sometimes, especially if we've reduced the amount of the charge because of lower shipping rates or modifications to the order, a customer who banks online will see that their bank has removed both the original authorization amount and the actual charge from their bank account. The funds from the authorization are actually in the bank account, just not showing in the available balance. Banks usually take a couple of days to reconcile this and it will always show properly on your bank statement. If you're worried about your bank tying up the funds in your checking account, the only way to avoid this is to use a credit card instead of debit card. There is nothing Blockheads can do to get your bank to release those funds. If you don't see this from other companies it is probably because they didn't run an authorization first, but most do for online orders.

Can I have a custom stamp made?

Blockheads does not have the capability to make custom stamps, but we have researched some options for having custom stamps made.

If you're looking to create a small number of each stamp, like address stamps it is less expensive to have polymer based stamps created because a mold doesn't need to be made. I know this company will create custom polymer based stamps, but haven't used them myself: http://www.imaginestamps.com/custom-stamps.html.

MyHeartStamps4You.com does also list a custom stamp service so please check their details as an alternative.

My country charges high customs fees, can you declare a lower value or mark my parcel as a gift?

Legally, we must declare the full price paid for the products you ordered, excluding shipping charges. We cannot mark parcels as “gifts”.

Can I mail in my order?

We only take internet orders. Our internet shopping cart generates the paperwork and tracks our sales for us. It also has a secure shopping cart so your credit card information is safe. We have never had a customer's credit card compromised through our https secure cart.

If you aren't comfortable putting your credit card information online through our secure 128-bit encrypted checkout system, other payment options are provided when checking out online. These include faxing your credit card information with your order number. Instructions are provided when you check out using one of those payment options. You might also check with your credit card company to find out if they offer temporary, one-time use, card numbers for added security.

If you don't have a credit card, you can use PayPal to pay by e-check from your checking account. The order will be held until your e-check clears however, so expect that your order will take an additional 5-8 days depending on how fast PayPal clears that transaction.

I have a large stamp and am having troubles finding an ink pad to fit. Do you carry large ink pads?

We carry only Black Archival Jumbo Pads which measure about 4" x 6". Any colors still showing on the site are until the inventory has been sold out.

The inked area of a standard sized craft ink pad is 3.5" x 2.25". The rectangular pads we carry and the Palette Oval pads are roughly this size. Smaller pads that come in cubes are generally 1" x 1". Dew drop pads also have generally the same 1 square inch area but are differently shaped.

One of the primary misconceptions held by beginning stampers is that the size of your ink pad needs to be larger than the stamp you're using. Virtually all craft pads come with felt or foam that raised higher than the case so you can apply ink to a large stamp by pressing it to the stamp multiple times. An un-raised ink pad, like you may find at an office supply store, will leave a line where the case hits the stamp, but craft pads are not constructed that way.

Of course the closer in size the pad is to the stamp the less time it takes to ink the stamp so if your purpose is to stamp one single stamp multiple times you may wish to make your own custom size ink pad. The least expensive way to do this if you don't find one of the Archival Jumbo pads to suit your needs is to purchase a sheet of Cut n' Dry available at http://www.blockheadstamps.com/ink_uninked.html and a reinker to ink the pad you cut from the Cut n' Dry. The downside to this method is that you won't have a nice plastic case to store this pad so it is better for a one time use, like wedding announcements. You can also find Jumbo Uninked Felt Pads on the same page if you plan to use your custom ink pads on a regular basis.

For dye based and solvent/pigment based pads like Adirondack, Archival, Memories, and Palette Hybrid pads you want to purchase the Felt type of pad or Cut n' Dry.

For slow drying pigment pads like VersaColor, VersaCraft, Encore or mica pads like Palette Metallics pads you want to use the Foam type of Cut n' Dry. Brilliance ink pads are a faster drying pigment ink, but also typically used with a foam pad.