All products are shipped directly to you from the suppliers.  This keeps our costs low so we can pass along the savings to you.  Shipping methods are also determined by the suppliers, and may be specified in individual product descriptions.  Despite what the note on your receipt will say if the supplier ships via UPS, no additional "handling fees" are added; the amounts charged to you are exactly what we pay to the suppliers or shippers. (That's an automatic note generated by UPS, and they require it to be included on the receipt.)  If you check out through Old Maid Cat Lady's shopping cart, shipping charges are assessed separately for each supplier.  You may see multiple entries for shipping on your receipt; this will reflect the shipping charges from each supplier.  Our suppliers ship from many different locations, as indicated on your receipt. Be aware that shipping charges may be quite high on very heavy or oversized items.

Also note that expedited shipping estimates are based on when the supplier has the product in stock, not on the date you order. If a product is backordered or temporarily out of stock at the supplier, it will take longer than stated in the shipping selections for you to receive it.

For affiliate products (those found at the bottom of the pages of some shopping categories), charges are calculated upon checkout from the affiliate retailer's shopping cart.  Old Maid Cat Lady does not have any control over affiliate marketers' prices, specials, or shipping charges.  There is no shipping charged on downloadable items.

PLEASE NOTE:  UPS increased all its shipping rates in November, 2010.  If you're re-ordering an item you've bought from us before, shipping will probably be a little higher on it this time.

Why We Don't Offer "Free" Shipping On Most Items: It's become trendy for online retailers to say they offer "free shipping" these days. More and more of them are doing it. But in reality, there is no such thing as free shipping. You're paying for it in the price of the item. If our suppliers say they ship for free, we pass that along to you; those are the items you'll see marked on our site as having free shipping. But rest assured that whether you buy from us or from someone else, shipping charges are always there, whether they're listed separately on a receipt or embedded in the retail price of any item you buy online or through a catalog. No retailer could stay in business if they didn't build those shipping charges into their markup on products. We'd rather give you the best price we can, and accurately charge you for the shipping we pay to get your items safely to you.

Returns

If you need to return an item, instructions should be included in your shipment.  If you have any problems with returns, or with any of our suppliers, please e-mail us at customerservice @ oldmaidcatlady.com to let us know.  Pay close attention to the return policy on the paperwork you receive with your order.  Some suppliers will only accept returns if the item has not been used and is still in pristine condition, others charge a restocking fee for returned products, and most have a time limit on when you can return items.  Still others may not even require that you return the item at all!  (In those instances, we recommend donating it to a local cat shelter or rescue association.)  Again, if you encounter any problems at all, please e-mail us at customerservice @ oldmaidcatlady.com to let us know and we will make sure your concerns are handled.  

We want you to be happy!

Pricing

A lot of online retailers are offering "free shipping" or huge discounts from time to time.  Have you ever wondered why they're able to offer such deals?  Rest assured that you're paying for it somewhere!  At Old Maid Cat Lady, we try to keep our prices reasonable all the time, so they're not jacked up to offer a huge discount or a one-time-only sale.  We're a small boutique retailer, so our prices can't always compete with the big-box stores who save by buying in bulk.  But we do the best we can to offer you good quality products at a reasonable price.

For affiliate products (those listed at the bottom of some pages of the site), Prices may differ from what we have listed there, as they may run occasional sales on items without notifying us.  Any price you see listed should be the highest possible price they would charge you for the item.  The only way to know for sure is to follow the link to their site and see.  Old Maid Cat Lady does not have any control over affiliate marketers' prices, shipping charges, or specials.

Product Availability

Because all products are shipped directly to you from our 60+ suppliers, we don't have them in inventory at our location. Occasionally, products on our site will sell out and the supplier may take a little while to notify us that they're no longer in inventory. Please forgive us if you order something that's not available; we remove those products from our site as soon as we're aware that they're no longer in stock and not being reordered. When items are backordered at our supplier, we also try to note those on the site so you know up front, although we still will accept orders for them if you'd like to wait. If we find out when placing your order with the supplier that the item you ordered is not available, we'll e-mail you to let you know. Sometimes, if we have a similar item from another supplier, we may offer to substitute that if you'd like, but the option is always yours. We're always happy to refund you if you'd prefer not to wait and don't want something else we can get instead. If the substituted item sells for less than what you ordered, we'll gladly refund the difference to you. Your card is charged at the time you order, so by the time a backordered item ships, you'll already have paid for it. When new books are coming out soon, we'll also occasionally take advance orders for them. Those will be placed with our supplier to be shipped to you as soon as the book is released. We try to always show the release date of books so you'll know if something is being offered pre-release.

Gift Codes

Old Maid Cat Lady has gift "cards" (actually, a code that's entered at checkout) in various denominations for your gift-giving convenience. These may be used on any products purchased through OldMaidCatLady.com's shopping cart, but not on items purchased through affiliated retailers' websites.