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 The Aquariumpros.com
2537 Hartrey Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
Contact Us
Phone: 847-440-0938 Fax: (847) 328-8323
What is drop-shipping?
"Drop-shipping" is passing an order placed with a merchant, to the merchant's vendors or manufacturers, who then fulfill the order. It allows one of our distributors or manufacturers to ship a product directly to you, rather than having the product shipped from our warehouse.
Nearly all online stores that do not manufacture their own products, use drop-shipping for a certain portion of their product lines, including those online companies that advertise that they stock 100% of what they sell.
Some manufacturers insist on drop-shipping, preferring to ship their products directly to the end-user so that they can control how an item is packaged and handled. Although this might result in a short delay, breakage and shipping damage is reduced, helping to eliminate shipping damage claims. We firmly believe that having our products arrive safely is the most important consideration.
Drop-shipping allows an online store to sell many more products than they have room for in their warehouse. It can help a store sell at lower prices, because it reduces overhead. It also allows for faster order-fulfillment in many cases, especially when the customer lives in a rural area. This is because large distributors or manufacturers typically qualify for several daily pick-up times for shipping companies like Federal Express
and UPS. The number of pick-up times that a business qualifies for is based on total shipping volume, and even very large online retailers usually do not qualify for more than one pick-up each day from a given shipping vendor.
Drop-shipping can also reduce shipping charges for the online customer, as distributors and manufacturers that ship large volumes get better shipping prices, which can then be passed on to the customer.
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Why did you drop-ship my order?
We may drop-ship part or all of your order if we are out-of-stock on an item and we do not expect to receive a shipment in a reasonable amount of time. We don't like to make our customers wait when we
are out-of-stock on a particular product. If the product is available from a manufacturer or one of our vendors, we will have the product drop-shipped to you to avoid delays.
Some of the items we sell are always drop-shipped from the manufacturer, because that is how the manufacturer prefers to ship. This allows the manufacturer full control over packaging and handling.
On many of the larger items we sell, we simply don't have the space to stock all the various sizes or styles of a particular product. In these cases, we have arranged with our distributors or manufacturers to drop-ship for us.
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What products do you drop-ship?
The following products are usually drop-shipped from either the manufacturer or one of our vendors. This list represents only about 5.0% of the products we sell.
Calcium Reactors
Chillers
CO2 Equipment and Systems
Custom SeaLife Light Fixtures
Some Power Compact and Metal Halide Lamps
Dolphin, Iwaki, Gorman Rupp, Rio CAP and Little Giant Pumps
All Dosing Pumps
All CPR Products
All Marine Life Aquatics Products
Emperor Aquatics UV Sterilizers Larger Than 40 Watts
Kent Marine Reverse Osmosis Systems
Wave Making Devices
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Delays with Drop-Shipments:
Any drop-shipped items are ordered from the manufacturer or our distributors using the same schedule as items we ship. With rare exceptions, almost all drop-shipped items are shipped the same day they are ordered. Some drop-shipped products have a one or two-day delay for shipping due to time zone differences when orders are processed late in the day, or if the company
shipping has a backlog of orders they are filling. We sell some
products that are built-to-order and we indicate that on applicable product description pages. Generally, products built to-order are limited only to acrylic wet-dry filters, Berlin systems and certain brands of protein skimmers. We make every effort to make sure that both our company and the companies that ship for us are in stock, and we have many alternate sources for products. However, on occasion some products you order may be out-of-stock. How we handle out-of-stock items.
We are proud to be able to say that shipping delays rarely occur with those companies that drop-ship for us. In fact, the drop-shipped items usually arrive only a day or two after products we have shipped on the same order. Occasionally a manufacturer may be behind on production, or a distributor is out-of-stock and delays can
occur. Rest assured that if an order for a particular item is delayed because a distributor or manufacturer is out-of-stock, ALL ONLINE DEALERS are out of stock.
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Tracking Drop-Shipped Orders
We ship all orders placed before 2:00 PM (Central Time) during the week on the same day the orders are placed. We ship orders placed after 2:00 PM (Central Time) or on weekends, on the following business day. Ground shipping can take up to seven business days, though three to five business days is the average.
If you choose Federal Express shipping and you absolutely need a tracking number, please email us, and we will provide one for you. We do not automatically receive tracking numbers from some of the companies that drop-ship for us. If you order any drop-shipped items, please allow three business days after you place your order before requesting a
tracking number. Once you make your request, rest assured we are working on it. We will request a tracking number from the company that shipped the product, and in most cases, we will have it for you the following day.
Any drop-shipped items are ordered from the manufacturer or our distributors using the same schedule as items we ship. With rare exceptions, almost all drop-shipped items are shipped the same day they are ordered. Some drop-shipped products have a delay time for shipping and if this is the case, we have supplied that information on the product description page for those products. We sell some products that are built-to-order and we
indicate that on applicable product description pages. We make every effort to make sure that both our company and the companies that ship for us are in stock, and we have many alternate sources for products. However, on occasion some products you order may be out-of-stock. How we handle out-of-stock items.
If you ordered any products that are drop-shipped from the manufacturer or our distributors, and/or you selected a Ground shipping method, please do us a favor and allow three business days before contacting us for a tracking number. Please note that we highly
recommend selecting ground shipping methods for drop-shipped items. If you select an express shipping method for a drop-shipped item, the item will ship using that method when it leaves the manufacturer or distributor, not from the day the order was placed.
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