Before getting started, please check:

Check your shipping address and e-mail address for your PayPal account. Make sure they are up to date. This is very important. If your shipping address is wrong, it can't be corrected after you place your order. PayPal doesn't want me changing the address myself. All of PayPal's protections depend on me shipping to your listed address. I prefer to follow the PayPal rules on this.

Check your e-mail address too. This is how I get in touch with you in case something goes wrong. Do you check this e-mail address? It's easy to change your e-mail address in PayPal. Your new address will become your new account name (I think) but it will continue to work as before.

I get it, that people move, and sometimes use different e-mail addresses for things, so your PayPal info might not be up to date.

Thanks!

Useful things to know:

1. Ordering is via PayPal

2. HPF-Pre is only available in USA, Canada, and Mexico

3. All shipments are FOB Madison, Wisconsin

4. I typically use USPS Ground Advantage (formerly called USPS First Class Mail) with delivery confirmation

5. USPS tracking information isn't always updated quickly. You may receive your order before the tracking information shows up.

What happens:

1. When you receive an order confirmation from PayPal, they send me an e-mail with the order information, and your order shows up in my PayPal account summary. So far, I have experienced no errors or problems with PayPal.

2. This is a part-time home business with a two-weekly work cycle:

   1. Orders received Monday through Friday go into the weekend production queue if possible

   2. I build during weekends

   3. Shipments go out on Monday. Sometimes orders that come in during the weekend take an extra day or two depending on what my family schedule is like

   4. Two weeks is more realistic.

3. When I generate your USPS shipping label within PayPal, they send you a shipping notification. My experience with PayPal and USPS have been excellent.

If the buttons don't work, you can also just PayPal me the money. It works the same either way, including your buyer protection. Make sure you say that you're buying merchandise, not sending a gift. I am willing to pay the PayPal fee in order to maintain the Buyer and Seller protections, which I believe are beneficial to you.

Where's my shopping cart?

PayPal opens up a new tab in your browser with your shopping cart. 

What if something goes wrong?

Contact me. Among other things, I can cancel your order with no penalty to you or me. Check your e-mail at the e-mail address that you use for logging into PayPal. For some people, this is an address that they rarely look at.

Shipping to Canada

This is an evolving situation. Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of interesting changes to the process of shipping to Canada:

1. A series of Canadian postal worker strikes

2. The so called "trade war," which I think is at least stable at this moment

3. Shipping to Canada via the USPS, as handled by PayPal, takes a somewhat circuitous route. First, the package is mailed domestically to a facility in Carol Stream IL. Then it's transferred to the Canadian postal system. USPS tracking shows that it's been delivered -- to Carol Stream. But the shipping facility at Carol Stream maintains its own tracking information for the remainder of the package's journey. This is slow and a bit frustrating for Canadian customers, especially with the postal strikes adding a layer of uncertainty, but packages do eventually arrive. I have not had an outright shipping failure via this service.

My loyalty to USPS

Like Winston Churchill said about democracy, the USPS is the worst service in the world, except for all the rest. I have had extremely reliable service from the USPS, even as the quality of their tracking system has left a bit of room for improvement over the years. The "private" shipping services all come with their own drawbacks, including:

1. Very high costs

2. Some of the services do things like charge "brokerage fees" on top of regular tariffs for overseas shipments, leading to unpleasant surprises for customers.

The USPS has really taken care of me over the years, and has earned my loyalty. Plus, I feel a little bit patriotic about helping keep it alive.

My loyalty to PayPal

I've been a PayPal merchant for many years. I've had zero issues that weren't my fault. Of all the payment processors, PayPal is the only one with three vital features:

1. No code. I don't have to write computer code to receive payments. PayPal takes care of it. I'm a very good coder, but I don't want it to be part of my business.

2. High security. I never see your credit card number, and I only see the minimal information needed to fulfill your order, such as your address. I don't want your personal information!

3. The buyer and seller protections are actually biased towards favoring the buyer. I believe in this, since I favor the buyer too.