The Glassmakers Postage Information Page

All vessels are individually numbered. Please contact us, quoting the vessel number, to place your order and to arrange payment (email is quickest).

Our prices are ex-works, and in Ł sterling (GBP). We do not offer discount for quantity. Packing and delivery charges will be added, based on parcel dimensions and weight.

Any prices on our websites that are not in Ł sterling (GBP) are for guidance only. For conversions to other currencies, please visit a financial website such as xe.com. Exchange rates change on a daily basis, and companies such as Square will apply the rate current at the time of purchase.

We are not VAT registered.

We will request payment before delivery. We will inform the customer when the order is ready to ship and to arrange payment.

We accept Faster Payments (free in the UK and payable online) and IBAN. We will supply our bank details. We ask customers to pay any bank payment charges.

We also accept payment via Square - we will send a Square invoice which will include a payment link. A Square account is not needed for payment, and debit and credit cards can be used.

We are not able to offer credit card payment facilities, but credit cards can be used via Square.

We use strong, double-walled cardboard boxes for packaging, and wrap the glass with plenty of bubblewrap. We do not supply gift packaging.

We use Parcel2Go to book collections, and they supply us with a selection of carrier services depending on parcel dimensions and weight. The carriers include DHL, DPD, Evri, FedEx, Parcelforce, and UPS, together with overseas shipping with Landmark and national services such as USPS, Canada Post and Australia Post. We also use Royal Mail for some parcels to UK destinations.

Any Import Duty to be paid by the customer. Please take this into consideration when ordering.

The Parcel2Go website simply informs us that any parcel to the USA below the value of Ł560 or $800 does not attract Import Duty.

So far, to the best of our knowledge no customer of ours in the USA has been asked to pay Import Duty on shipments below these values booked through Parcel2Go. For this reason, and as they provide quotes from a wide range of carriers, we almost exclusively use Parcel2Go for shipments to the USA.

Duties and taxes are charged in CAD, and are based on the mid market price for the GBP to CAD exchange rate at the time of calculation. Goods are subject to:

Import Duties
Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 5%
Provincial Sales Tax (PST, or QST in Quebec) of between 0% and 10%, depending on the Province
Other Government Charges (whatever that means!) of 7%
Customs Brokerage Charges levied by the carrier, so these may vary between carriers

In total, a customer based in Canada may expect to pay around 12% - 16% tax in total, depending on the Province, and based on the value of the glass (but not including the cost of carriage, etc.).

Goods up to the value of CAD20 are exempt, as are gifts up to the value of CAD60.

Depending on the type of goods imported, above these values, Canadian customers will have to pay duties on the total value of the goods imported. These are collected by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on behalf of the Canadian Government.

However, due to a free trade agreement between the UK and Canada, glass does not attract Import Duty.

This has been written using information from the website of the Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs: see this page.

Goods with a declared or assessed value equal to or less than AUD1000 (c.Ł550 - Ł600):
For goods imported through air or sea cargo or international mail that are worth equal to or less than AUD1000 (low value imports), there are no duties, taxes or charges to pay (unless it includes goods such as tobacco or alcohol), and cleared goods arriving by international mail will be delivered to you by Australia Post.

If these goods arrive in Australia by air or sea cargo, they must have a Self-Assessed Clearance (SAC) declaration. This will generally be taken care of by the cargo company or freight forwarder. You are not charged for this declaration.

Note: When goods are assessed for value, you may be asked for evidence as to the value of the goods. In this case, you will receive a letter requesting you to provide evidence to substantiate the declared value.

If the declared value of your goods is accepted, your goods will be delivered to you by Australia Post.

If the declared value of your goods is not accepted, you will be sent a First Notice by Australia Post advising that you will need to lodge an Import Declaration for the goods.

Goods with a declared or assessed value of more than AUD1000 (c.Ł550 - Ł600):
For goods that are worth more than AUD1000, you will need to fill out an Import Declaration form, and pay duties, taxes and charges.

If the goods you have imported have a declared or assessed value of more than AUD1000, you will be sent a First Notice.

The Import Declaration will be assessed for duty and taxes and an import processing charge will also be applied. After you have lodged your Import Declaration, you will be advised of the amount you need to pay before your goods can be delivered.

Goods with a value over AUD1000 are unable to be to be delivered by Australia Post unless an Import Declaration is made and any duty, taxes and charges owing are paid in full.

See this page for current tariff classifications, Reference No.7013. Lead crystal glass appears not to attract duty, whilst other glass (e.g., soda-lime glass) appears to attract a duty of 5%.

If you are contemplating an order totalling over AUD1000, then it may be worthwhile considering splitting the order into two or more units of less than AUD1000.

We pack our glass vessels using bubblewrap and double walled cardboard boxes. However, we do have the occasional breakage occurring in transit. Please bear this in mind when unpacking your glass and proceed carefully.

Each glass vessel will have a pontil or 'punty' scar at the centre of the base, or on the underside of the foot. As we are reproducing historical glass of the 18th century and earlier, we do not grind and polish it away. Instead we make it safe by running a small steel rod around the sharp edges of the scar. Occasionally we may miss an area, so carefully check that the scar has no sharp edges. If there are any, they are easily dulled and made safe by running, for example, a small screwdriver around them.

Our reproduction 18th century colourless glasses and decanters are made from 30% lead crystal. This includes the Outlander colourless glasses and decanters. Information on lead in glass can be found here on our website. Leaching of lead does appear to be minimal from wine glasses during normal use, but we would recommend that liquids (particularly acidic liquids) are not stored in decanters. Note that there is no lead in our reproduction dark green glass bottles, nor in our other reproductions (Roman, etc.) unless opaque white, opaque yellow or opaque red glass has been used.

The best and most effective method of caring for handmade glass is to wash it by hand using washing up liquid in lukewarm water.

The detergents used in dishwashers can attack the surface of glass, particularly at high temperatures, causing eventual clouding. Hot washing and drying cycles should be avoided as sharp changes in temperature can lead to breakage due to thermal shock.

In the case of breakage in transit, we will offer to refund the cost of, or to replace the broken glass vessel(s). Please note that as each potful of molten glass is different, we cannot guarantee that a replacement vessel will have exactly the same colour tint as the vessel it is replacing.