Shipping Policy

Party Table delivers within the United States. Street addresses, PO boxes and military APO/FPO addresses are all accepted, and no surcharge applies to any of them.

International delivery is not available. A parcel cannot be forwarded abroad by an agent either, because once a consignment leaves the country it cannot be traced, replaced or returned within the return window. Orders addressed outside the United States are refused at the border, so the delivery country should be checked before an order is confirmed.

Alaska, Hawaii and the US territories are served, but on a slower service that adds two to three working days to every transit figure quoted on this page.

If an address falls outside the service area, the checkout declines the order before payment is taken, so no charge is raised for a parcel that could not be sent.

A question that comes up regularly: can a delivery address be changed to another country after ordering? It cannot. The order would have to be cancelled and placed again from the destination country, and Party Table does not ship outside the United States.

Orders confirmed before 2pm on a working day are picked, packed and labelled the same day. Orders received after that time, at a weekend or on a public holiday are dispatched on the next working day.

The warehouse operates Monday to Friday and does not dispatch on public holidays, so a Friday evening order begins its journey on the next working day rather than over the weekend.

Every parcel is packed by hand and the contents checked against the order. Fragile or oversized items receive additional protection, which can add one working day; where that happens the customer is told by email rather than left to work it out from the tracking.

A question that comes up regularly: does the dispatch estimate include weekends? It does not. Dispatch is counted in working days, so an order placed on Saturday is dispatched on the next working day rather than the next calendar day.

Transit takes 2 to 4 business days from the first carrier scan, counted in working days and excluding public holidays. The scan starts the clock, not the moment the order was placed.

Rural addresses, mountain districts and island territories normally fall at the upper end of the window because the parcel passes through more sorting stages.

One national carrier handles every parcel. That keeps tracking consistent, but it also means a single parcel cannot be upgraded, re-routed or held for collection once it is in the carrier's network.

A question that comes up regularly: why has the tracking not moved? Tracking updates at each sorting hub rather than continuously. If nothing has changed for two working days, write to [email protected] with the order reference and Party Table will raise a trace with the carrier.

Standard shipping is free once the merchandise total reaches $49 before tax. Below that figure, one flat rate is applied at checkout.

There is no per-item surcharge and no handling fee. Adding a second item to the same order does not increase the shipping charge, because the parcel was being sent regardless.

No express or next-day option is offered; every order travels on the same tracked ground service, which keeps both the promise and the pricing simple.

A question that comes up regularly: is the free-shipping threshold measured before or after discounts? It is measured on the discounted merchandise subtotal, before tax is added. A cart that sits just below the line is often cheaper to top up than to pay the flat rate.

A tracking number is emailed as soon as the carrier scans the parcel, usually within 24 hours of dispatch.

The tracking page refreshes at each depot. A quiet page is not by itself evidence of a problem, and Party Table sees the same information the customer sees.

Where a trace is opened, the outcome is communicated in writing, including where the carrier declares the parcel lost, in which case a replacement or refund is offered.

A question that comes up regularly: can the carrier hold a parcel at a depot for collection? It cannot. The service used does not support depot collection, and a delivery attempt that fails will return the parcel to Party Table.

Where a parcel arrives damaged, incomplete or containing the wrong item, write to [email protected] within seven days of delivery and attach photographs of the item and its packaging.

Retain the outer box and any internal protection until the matter is closed. Carriers often ask to inspect the packaging, and a claim can stall without it.

Party Table pursues the claim on the customer's behalf rather than asking the customer to open it. Once the claim is confirmed, a replacement or a refund is offered, at the customer's choice.

A question that comes up regularly: what if a replacement is out of stock? Then the refund is issued instead, and the customer is told directly rather than left waiting for a parcel that may not come.

An address can be amended while the order is still being packed. Send the order reference and the corrected address to [email protected] as soon as the mistake is noticed.

After the carrier has scanned the parcel the destination is fixed, and neither Party Table nor the carrier can alter it.

Where a parcel is returned because the address was incomplete, or because delivery was not taken, a second dispatch can be arranged. The cost of that second dispatch falls to the customer, because the first attempt has already been paid for.

A question that comes up regularly: what happens if the mistake was ours? Then the second dispatch is arranged at no cost, and the customer will be told plainly that the error was on the Party Table side.