Packing and shipping your goods is very important to us.

We want to make sure your order arrives in perfect condition and in a timely manner.

As we are in the British Virgin Islands, which are only one mile from the United States Virgin Islands,
we have more methods available than many other stores.

There are answers here, beyond packaging, to many questions that have been asked of us from time to time.

If you have any questions that have not been answered please email us with your query.

Methods available:

1. By Mail through the B.V.I. Post Office on Tortola .
2. By Priority Mail through the U.S.P.S. using the U.S. Post Office on St. John.
3. By courier service, such as Fedex or DHL (They fly directly out of Tortola. UPS does not.)
To the USA option 2 is best for us. For everywhere else option 1 is most effective.
For speed, option 3 works for anywhere.

Standard Shipping to the USA:

We find the most effective way of shipping goods to the USA is via by private ferry to St. John in the US Virgin Islands, where the package is taken to the US Post office and sent using Priority Mail. See below for shipping times.

Standard Shipping to Canada

We find the most cost effective way of shipping goods to Canada is by Airmail via the BVI Post Office. Please visit our Postage Rates page for these shipping charges. The time for a shipment to arrive in Canada is between 2  to 2 1/2 weeks.

Standard Shipping to the U.K.

We find the most cost effective way of shipping goods to the U.K is by Airmail via the BVI Post Office. Please visit our Postage Rates page for these shipping charges. The time for a shipment to arrive in the U.K. is between 2 to 2  1/2 weeks.

Other International Orders:

For all orders that are not to the USA we ship using Airmail from the local British Virgin Islands Post Office as the starting point. If there's a post office where you live, we will ship to it. Please visit our Postage Rates page for these shipping charges. If we have made a mistake and you you feel there is an error in these rates please contact us.

Fedex, DHL and other Rush Deliveries:

Courier services are available via FedEx or DHL, and are reckoned to take two days. Courier shipping times depend on us being able to get your package into the Fedex or DHL office well before 3 pm on any given weekday.

However, all courier services begin their charges at about $55.00 for the smallest package. There is no ground service from down here in the islands to the USA, everything has to go by air. Other destinations cost considerably more. To the USA you can expect a charge of $70.00 to $90.00 for a medium size item. If you are really certain that you would like a quote please contact us with details of your order before you place it so we can request a price from our local Fedex or DHL office and you can buy that amount of shipping from us.

Express Mail

Express Mail is an option for a slightly faster service and a more reasonable rate. However, read Shipping Time, below, to see that it is difficult to gain much over Priority Mail as the same conditions apply to getting items across to St. John and into the post office.

Your Privacy:

When you provide us with personal information including, but not limited to, your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, payment information, credit card details etc., it will be used only in the method that you authorized. We do not, under any circumstances share, sell or otherwise provide any other parties with any customer information.

Payment Options:

On line we can accept payment with American Express, Discover, Master Card, Visa and Paypal. If you are ordering by telephone call, fax or email we can process American Express, Visa, Master Card and, possibly, Discover. Additionally, cashier's cheque, banker's order or money orders are acceptable forms of payment. If you wish to mail a personal cheque we will wait for it to clear before shipping your order.

Time Before Shipping:

All shipments originate from the Coral Studio, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We make every effort to ship your order as soon as possible. Most orders are shipped within 3 to 5 days, however, if an item is out of stock due to high demand, your order may take longer to complete. Don't forget that we make the goods so we can't really "run out" of them.

Our local carrier, who takes goods to the US post office, currently receives goods on Mondays and Thursdays, placing them in the mail on Tuesdays and Fridays. Public Holidays and weather conditions at sea may vary his schedule from time to time.

Cancellation Policy:

 If we have already shipped the order, there can be no refund. If you need to cancel an order that we have not shipped, it must be done within 24 hours of placing the order. If the order has been processed and your credit card billed, we will issue a refund less 15% cancellation fee.

Packaging:

Shipping figurines requires expert packaging. To ensure that your goods arrive in perfect condition we double box all orders. Further to this, shipping charges include insurance and delivery confirmation to be certain that you alone receive the goods and that if any problems arise that are the fault of the carrier reimbursement is properly available.

Returns Policy:

We want you to be totally satisfied with your purchase from us. However, every figurine you buy from The Coral Studio has been handmade. Therefore, variations in finishes, coloration, castings, detailing and so forth must be anticipated and expected. As no two of our pieces are ever exactly the same we are unable to replace an item if you decide it is not precisely the same as one you saw elsewhere.

Breakages:

If any figurine arrives damaged we will replace it as soon as possible. For us to make a claim against the shipping service, we will need you to retain everything that arrived, including the packaging. Contact us immediately so we can take care of the problem. At that time, we shall need, at minimum, a photograph, nowadays preferably digital, of the damaged object.

Public Holidays:

Public Holidays do not always fall on the same dates in both the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. Different countries celebrate different festivals. Sometimes it may be that one territory is at work and the other on holiday. As your order must travel from one to the other this can sometimes delay shipments by a day or so.