Shipping, Returns and Pickup

Where we ship, and what it costs

Anywhere in the United States, Alaska and Hawaii included. We are not shipping internationally yet. If you are outside the US and there is a piece you want, write to us and we can put together a custom estimate for that piece.

Orders of $150 and over ship free. Under that, a flat rate by what the object is.

Rates

$150 and over: Free
Jewellery, photographs, documents and small paper: $8
Books, small tools, ceramics, boxed objects: $14
Framed work, lamps, anything double-boxed: $22
Local pickup: Free

Alaska and Hawaii ship at the same flat rates.

Local pickup

Anything on this site can be collected from our booth inside Sword & Meadow at no charge. Choose local pickup at checkout. We will set the piece aside at the counter, usually within two to four days, and email you when it is ready. Bring your order confirmation.

Pickup orders are held for fourteen days, after which we will write to you before doing anything else with the piece.

In Memoriam, inside Sword & Meadow

Address: 1123 SE Market Street, Portland, OR 97214
Ready: Usually within two to four days
Held: Fourteen days

How to find us

How it goes out

Orders leave within five business days.

USPS Ground Advantage as standard, Priority Mail on anything over $300. Fragile pieces are double-boxed with the inner box suspended in fill, which takes longer to pack and is a good deal harder to break. Everything above $100 is insured, and that cost already sits in the price of the object.

If something is going to run longer than five business days, we will email you before the third day and you can cancel for a full refund.

If it arrives broken

Old things break in transit sometimes. When it happens, this is what we need from you.

1
Photograph everything before you move any of it
The outer box, the shipping label, the packing material sitting where it sits, and the damage itself.
2
Get in touch within three days of delivery
Carriers give us sixty days to file, which is why the three days on your end is firm.
3
Keep the box and all the padding for thirty days
We refund or replace once we have the photographs. We file the carrier claim ourselves. You should not have to argue with USPS about a vase you did not break.

Returns

The policy is narrow. We take returns when we got it wrong.

Everything here is old and somebody used it. We describe it that way on purpose. The condition note on each listing is written after handling the object and it names the flaws we can see, including the ones that would be easier to leave out.

So the policy covers three things: the piece is materially different from how we described it, the wrong piece arrived, or it arrived damaged, handled as above.

It does not cover a change of mind, a piece being smaller than you pictured it, or a colour reading differently on your screen than in our photographs.

Ask before you buy. We will send more photographs, put a ruler next to it, hold it up to a window, tell you what we have not been able to find out. None of that costs anything and we would much rather do it before the box goes out. Or come and see it at the booth.

How a return works

1
Write to us within three days of delivery
Tell us what happened.
2
Send the piece back in its original packing
Unworn and unaltered, within fourteen days of our reply. When the return is our error, we send you a prepaid label and it costs you nothing.
3
We refund within seven business days
Once it is here and checked, the full purchase price and the original shipping go back to the method you paid with. Pickup orders can be returned to the booth on the same terms.

Cancellations: any time before the parcel ships or the pickup email goes out. Write to us and it is done.

Condition, and what our grades mean

Four grades, in plain language.

Excellent

Little wear for its age. No damage we can find, and no restoration we have not disclosed.

Sound

Wear consistent with age and use. Structurally solid, with no restoration we have not disclosed.

Fair

Visible wear, chips, losses or repairs, every one of them named in the condition note.

As found

Damaged or incomplete, sold for what it is and for what it can still tell you.

There is no industry body that defines these terms, so those are ours and we apply them consistently. Every piece is sold as it stands, with the flaws named. If we missed something or described it wrong, it comes back and you get your money.