Frequently Asked Questions

About Our Store

Ordering

Our shopping cart accepts Bitcoin, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, Paypal, checks, money orders and wire transfers. Ordering and making payment here on our website is by far the fastest and most efficient way to place an order with us, no matter which form of payment you choose. As detailed in Privacy and Security, we use the best secure encryption available and your credit card information is much safer used at a secured online facility than when used at a restaurant or store.

Knowing all that, if you still don't feel comfortable processing your credit card information online, use the cart to place your order but choose Check as your payment option and, in the comments field of your order, note the best time to call and your contact number and we'll call you to take your payment information over the phone. Since we fill orders in the order they're placed and we don't yet have a person solely dedicated to answering the phone, your order will get a better position in the queue if you place it online and wait for us to call for payment than it will if you leave a message that you'd like to place an order over the phone.

Adding to an Order

Authorizing the charge then deleting the card number, as we do, meets the highest standards of security for your protection, but because of that, we can't go back and add items to your order. You'll always need to place a second order but we'll ship them together, if we can, and refund whatever remains of the combined shipping charges.

MTO vs Stock vs Limited

MTO stands for Make To Order, and it means that we don't make the item until an order is placed for it. In our twice weekly production runs, stock items get the highest priority, then MTO items. Times for custom items are quoted on an individual basis. Items marked MTO can take up to 10 business days to ship (as opposed to our normal 1-4 business days) and, in most cases, they cannot be returned, even with the seal intact. For this reason, we recommend ordering the smallest amount available the first time to make sure the ring is right for the intended purpose.

Rings are listed as MTO for one of several reasons, primarily low volume. We now have over 30,000 ring sizes, shapes and metal combinations and it isn't feasible to keep them all in stock. This is also why MTOs are not refundable or exchangeable. We can't simply return them to stock because there might be no definable market for that ring size. Secondly, the ring might not be a stable size for chainmaille. In general, rings with an aspect ratio larger than 8.0 tend to be unstable for chainmaille unless they are soldered or fused. When the aspect ratio gets too large, there might not be enough tension in the metal relative to its curvature for the rings to reliably stay closed on their own in a chainmaille application, yet the rings might be perfectly suitable for purposes other than chainmaille. The bottom line is that we trust that you know what you are ordering and why you are ordering it. We have countless resources and recommendations on our website and we are here to answer any questions you have about your order before finalizing your purchase.

It might be possible to cancel an MTO item before it goes into production, but once materials have been purchased or production of the item has begun, you will be responsible for costs related to the production of the item. If you need to cancel or return an MTO item, we will work with you to recover as much of the materials cost as possible, but in most cases the amount will be based on the scrap value of the material. Please see our return policy for more details.

Stock items are products that we make ahead of time and have on hand for our normal, expected sales volume. Most stock items ship in 1 to 4 business days. Very large orders may take additional processing time and we will contact you if we foresee significant delays. If there are adverse weather conditions or other factors that concern order processing time in general, this information will be posted in our News feed. Items marked as Stock are fully refundable and exchangeable under the following conditions:

For items that are sealed, the seal must be unbroken and the item unopened in order to receive the full value of the item. For items that are not sealed - like tools and clasps - the standard return policy is 30 days. Once ring containers have been opened, we can't guarantee the pristine condition of the rings to another customer, therefore we scrap the rings and can only offer the scrap value in return. Please see our Return Policy for more details.

Items can be marked Limited if they're 1) discontinued items that won't be restocked once they're sold out; 2) one of a kind or sample items which might or might not be restocked once they're sold out; or, 3) a low volume or seasonal item with questionable availability long term; 4) overruns from custom orders or items that were manufactured by mistake. We often list extra 18K gold rings and overruns from custom orders. These rings are often purchased in very small quantities for embellishments, earrings, etc.

Quantity Pricing vs Wholesale

Our pricing structure is a little bit unusual, at least in the world of jewelry supplies, because it's based entirely on actual costs. We've analyzed the costs of time and material for manufacturing each item individually (that means each ring size in each metal, etc.), added a small profit margin (profit being the term for the money we put back into the business for adding new people, new equipment, etc.) and that is our single unit price.

We've determined the smallest quantity we can make at a time (for each and every ring) and that's the order minimum. We've calculated exactly how much time we save by making more units of each item, and those break points are the quantity discount levels listed for each and every ring.

Because our prices are based on actual costs and savings, most of the traditional purchasing conventions don't apply. (See the section on wholesale below, for example.) The whole concept of marking things up so that they can be marked down, apparently to make customers feel they're getting a deal, seems manipulative and we don't like it. Since we'd have to mark things up to mark them down, we don't have wholesale accounts or sales. When we lower prices, we do so because the metals market has fallen or because we've made some production advancement that saves time (and therefore money), such as an improved design for a piece of equipment. Price reductions based on the metals market come and go but those resulting from design improvements are forever.

Wholesale?

Most people understand wholesale to mean the lowest price at which a merchant can sell an item without taking a loss. Our second price break is that lowest possible price. Usually, wholesale pricing is made available to people who can produce a business license. Because our discounts are based on actual savings resulting from manufacturing in quantity, our discount is available to anyone purchasing in the quantity that results in those savings. Since we haven't worked out a way to reduce costs based on evidence that a person is legitimately in business, we don't offer a discount based on a business license. We don't offer discounts on tools or components because we carry them as a service to our customers and mark them up only enough to cover the costs of making them available.

Shipping Policy

International Shipping Options

We offer the following options for international delivery:

Priority Mail International -- Insured

6 to 10 days to most countries. We recommend this service for the fastest and most reliable shipping to most destinations. While the tracking is less robust than Express Mail International (EMS), in our experience Priority Mail packages clear customs more quickly and are delivered faster than the other shipping options. For most packages, the carrier will require a signature for delivery.

Insurance

All Priority Mail International packages are shipped insured. Insurance typically covers damage or loss of items during transportation. Once a package clears customs, it is handed over to your local postal carrier or a contract delivery service and they are responsible for declaring when the package is delivered. Insurance claims cannot be filed once a package has been declared 'Delivered' by the local carrier. If a package that has been declared 'Delivered' by the carrier goes missing from your mailbox or front porch after delivery, your best chance of recovery is to contact the delivery service yourself as quickly as possible. You may contact us and we'll do whatever we can to help from our end, but in most cases it will be up to you to dispute the 'Delivered' claim of the carrier.

Duty Happens

Depending on the customs regulations in your country, you might be charged duty, taxes or other fees. We have no control over fees dictated by your government and no way of knowing whether they'll be assessed on any given package. Sometimes fees are assessed and sometimes they aren't and that decision is made by the customs agents at the point of entry to your country.

We adhere to all United States laws regarding international shipments. We attach and properly fill out all customs forms as required by law. Packages under $400US are marked 'Craft Supplies'; packages over $400US require a full commercial invoice which must be accessible to the customs agents. All international packages are subject to inspection by customs agents in either the US or in your own country.

Occasionally, a customer requests that we mark a package as a gift or with a lower than accurate value. That's customs fraud and wildly illegal, so as much as we'd love to save our customers the fee and thwart unfriendly trade practices, we're unwilling to go to prison for it, so we don't do it.

Customs Delays

Packages usually arrive within the shipping times listed above. However, customs officials have no obligation to observe the time estimates and can delay the delivery of your package by several days at their discretion. Customs or your local post office may contact you about why the package is being delayed, but sometimes they just hold the package and wait for you to contact them. In our experience, packages shipped using Priority Mail International generally clear customs faster than other shipping methods, including EMS.

Because our packages are shipped through the US Post Office, once the package leaves the US our ability to determine the status is limited. The postal carrier in your country might be able to provide more detail if there is a delay. Again, we adhere to all US laws regarding international shipments and we do include all of the required documentation. If you need any help in determining why your package has been delayed by customs, contact us and we'll do everything we can to help, but typically, the best course of action is for you to contact your local post office with your tracking number and they can usually determine the reason for the delay or put you in contact with the appropriate customs officials.

Resources

For information on US Customs laws and regulations regarding your country, click on the following link: Postal Regulations by Country. For more specific information regarding duty and postal fees in your country, please consult with your local customs officials.

Shipping and Delivery

Urban Maille is a factory, as opposed to a warehouse. We currently make to order over 30,000 maille ring sizes and styles in two production runs per week. When you place an order, it is first processed and then shipped. Processing an order for stock items takes 1-4 business days before shipping. Orders for MTO (Make to Order) items can take up to 10 business days to ship.

All ship times listed below refer to the transit time from our facilities to your shipping address. That time begins when you get your email notice letting you know that your order has been shipped. Some of the shipping options described below will shorten the transit time and get your order from our facilities to your shipping address faster, but none of the shipping options will shorten the time required to process your order. Overnight shipping does not mean that your order will arrive the day after it's placed; it means your order will arrive the day after it's shipped. We'll prioritize orders with speedy shipping in the production schedule if we can, but it isn't always possible. Contact us if your order requires special handling or you are trying to meet a specific deadline.

Domestic Shipping Options (USA)

We use USPS Priority Mail or UPS for all of our domestic shipping. The specific options available to you at checkout are determined by the dollar value of the order you're placing, with very high value orders limited to the most secure shipping options. The various options are described below, sorted by order value. Below that, those same options are described again, but arranged by carrier. If you cannot abide either USPS or UPS or would like your order sent another way, place your order with one of the available shipping options and make a note in the comments field listing the carrier and shipping option you'd prefer. We'll get back to you with details and a quote if there are additional costs.

Orders under $300

All shipping options are available for packages valued under $300. USPS Priority Mail and UPS Ground are the least expensive. Both of these options include Delivery Confirmation which provides the date and time a package was delivered or delivery was attempted. A signature is not required.

$300 -- $750

We ship packages over $300 requiring Signature Confirmation. This method provides the date and time a package was delivered or delivery was attempted. Someone must be present at the delivery address to sign for the package. If no one is available when delivery is attempted, the postal carrier will leave an orange slip to let you know that the package can be picked up at your local post office or the UPS driver will leave a Delivery Attempted notice at your door. UPS will attempt to deliver 3 times before returning the package to us. If you want an over $300 package sent with No Signature Required, see the No Signature option below.

$300 -- $750, No Signature Required

If your package is valued at over $300 but less than $750 and you want it delivered with No Signature Required, you must accept the liability for the loss of the package, should it go missing. We will ship this way at your request, but we will not be able to locate or replace a missing package shipped this way. To request this type of delivery, paste the following text into the comments field of your order (with your actual name in place of [Your Name], of course):

"Please send my order without signature confirmation required. I understand that I am waiving any claim to refund or replacement of my order once the carrier's records show it's been delivered. [Your Name]"

Over $750

For packages valued at over $750, UPS is the only shipping method offered at checkout, due to the more robust tracking and faster insurance recovery. UPS offers delivery times comparable to Priority Mail for most destinations. If your order is over $750 and you do not want UPS delivery, we suggest placing two or more lower value orders and choosing among the options available above for each of them. If you'd like to make alternate delivery arrangements, contact us before placing your order to discuss other options.

Insurance

All Priority Mail and UPS packages are shipped Insured. Insurance typically covers damage or loss of items during transportation. Neither UPS or the Post Office will pay a claim once they have reported an item as 'Delivered'. If a package goes missing from your mail box or front porch after delivery, the carrier may be able to help you by contacting the delivery person but there is no guarantee that the package will be recovered. You may contact us and we'll do whatever we can to help from our end, but in most cases it will be up to you to dispute the 'Delivered' claim of the carrier.

You may request that we send any package 'Signature Required' for added security. We ship all packages over $300 'Signature Required' by default.

Deadline?

We currently process and ship stock orders within 1-4 business days. USPS Priority Mail usually takes 2-3 days to arrive, including Saturdays, but that isn't guaranteed. So while you can usually expect your order to arrive within 3-6 days from the time it's placed, if you have a deadline that requires a guaranteed delivery time, you might want to consider upgrading your shipping method to UPS 2nd Day or Next Day service. Our production time of 1-4 business days will remain the same but your order's transit time will be guaranteed at two days or overnight, depending on the option you choose.

USPS Priority Mail -- Insured

Delivery within 2 to 3 business days to most domestic destinations. Although the postal service is quite reliable and economical, delivery times are not guaranteed so if your order must arrive by a specific date, UPS might be your best option. Priority Mail packages under $300 are shipped using Delivery Confirmation which provides the date and time a package was delivered or delivery was attempted. Packages over $300 are shipped with Signature Confirmation required. If no one is available when delivery is attempted, the postal carrier will leave an orange slip to let you know that the package can be picked up at your local post office. If you do not want your over $300 package sent with Signature Required, see the No Signature option above.

In some locations we can ship your package as 'Hold For Pickup' at the Post Office. Using the Hold For Pickup service, Priority Mail items are held at a designated Post Office location for pickup by a specified addressee. Upon arrival of the package at the destination Post Office, the addressee will receive an email notification from the Postal Service. If you want this service, please contact us to make arrangements.

UPS -- Insured

UPS's robust tracking system specifies the expected day of delivery, which is usually within 2 to 4 days from our central US location. If your order is over $300 a signature will be required. If no one is home to sign for it, the UPS driver will leave a Delivery Attempted notice at your door. UPS will attempt to deliver 3 times before returning the package to us. If you do not want your over $300 package sent with Signature Required, see the No Signature option above. For packages valued at over $750, UPS is the only shipping method offered at checkout. If you do not want UPS delivery for your high value package, please make a note in the comments field of your order and we'll contact you with alternate delivery options.

UPS Ground

Delivery within 1 to 7 business days.

UPS 3 Day Select

Deliver by the end of the third business day. Some locations in Alaska and Hawaii require additional transit time. Because we are located in the center of the country many of our Ground packages arrive within 3 business days. UPS Ground service offers the same tracking and delivery guarantees as the 3 Day and other services, so make sure to check the UPS Time Calculator below to avoid paying unnecessary shipping costs.

UPS 2nd Day Air

Delivery by the end of the second business day. Some locations in Alaska and Hawaii require additional transit time.

UPS Next Day Air

Next business day delivery by 10:30 a.m. to most locations. Some locations will be 12:00 noon or end of day, depending on destination.

You can calculate the delivery time for all UPS shipping options on the UPS website. Just go to the link below and choose 'Time in Transit', enter our zip code - 80470 - in the 'Ship From:' form and enter your zip code in the 'Ship To:' field. Then click 'Next':

Link: UPS Time Calculator

Privacy and Security

Security and privacy are important to us and we've taken substantial measures to ensure yours. We do not sell, lease or otherwise make available any customer information. If you check the box saying you want to receive our newsletter, you will receive it (no more than once a month) for as long as the box remains checked, but you will receive nothing else as a result of having signed up for it. You can easily log into your account and change your email preference to unsubscribe at any time.

Our site has the most secure 128 bit encryption and our own secure site certificate through GeoTrust and we're scanned regularly by Trustwave. The shopping cart goes into secure mode when you log in, rather than waiting until the payment process begins, as most carts do. Your credit card information is encrypted and transmitted securely, then your card number is deleted. Authorizing the charge then deleting the card number, as we do, meets the highest standards of security for your protection, but because of that, we can't go back and add items to your order. You'll always need to place a second order in such a case, but we'll ship them together, if we can, and refund whatever remains of the combined shipping charges.

When paying by credit card, the charge for your order is authorized the instant the order is placed, meaning that the amount of the payment is set aside from your available balance for us, but the payment is not yet sent to us. When we're ready to make your rings, we use the transaction ID assigned at the time the order was placed to complete the charge. In this way, we can wait until we begin filling your order to collect your payment without risking your security by storing your credit card number.

Returns, Replacements, and Refunds

Our rings are packaged in glass topped tins so that you can see the size before breaking the seal. That's important because the rings can be returned for full credit only if the seal hasn't been broken.

Please contact us before returning an item so that we can determine the item's condition, issue the appropriate return authorization and provide our return address and instructions for marking the package.

Many ring sizes and items marked MTO are custom items and cannot be returned or exchanged, even with the seal intact. MTO items are labeled as such where they're ordered.

If you order an MTO item by mistake or wish to cancel an MTO item on your order, if you contact us before the item goes into production, you may be able to get a full refund. Once the item goes into production, you are responsible for the costs related to the production of the item. If you need to cancel or return an MTO item, we will work with you to cover as much of the materials costs as possible. In most cases, the recovery value will be based on the scrap value of the material. Please see the full MTO FAQ for more details.

We stand behind our products and will cheerfully replace anything unopened or defective within 30 days. (Our commitment to excellent customer service has no time limit, but there is a need to impose a time limit on our legal liability.) Within 30 days, we will refund 100% of the purchase price of stock rings that haven't been opened. We will refund the purchase price of returned kits and ringsets, in whole or in part, at our discretion, following an inspection of the returned materials.

Once ring containers have been opened, we can't guarantee their pristine condition to another customer, therefore we scrap the rings and can only offer the scrap price in return. Our ring containers all have glass tops so the rings can be viewed before the seal is broken. If you've ordered the wrong size rings and only realized that after they were opened, we're happy to help with other uses or suggestions for them.

We appreciate our customers more than the vast majority will ever know and we will always go above and beyond reasonable expectation in order to provide the best possible customer service.

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