Shipping



UPDATE
Oct 26th 2020

We now have open channel via the Regular Postal service to some countries around the world.
The service is Priority & Registered Air Mail, with delivery times between 1 to 4 weeks depending on the destination country.
The shipping cost is $6.95.
Currently we can ship via the regular Postal Service to the countries listed below. (This list will be updated as new countries are added by our National Postal Service).

*DHL Shipping: Please note, we are continuing to offer uninterrupted DHL Express 1-3 Day Shipping to any country Worldwide, at $29.95 US dollars.

$6.95 Priority & Registered Postal Service is Available to:
Albania
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Belarus
Canada
China
Croatia
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
France
Finland
Germany
Greece
Georgia
Hong-Kong SAR China
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
India
Italy
Israel
Japan
Latvia
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
South Africa
South Korea
Singapore
Switzerland
Sweden
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

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UPDATE
May 12th 2020

Dear all,
Hope you and your loved ones are all well and finding ways to adapt to these new difficult times. Here at ProtoPens we are all fine and despite the lock-down, we still managed to fulfill your orders via DHL. Thank you for being with us and keeping our small business afloat!

Despite many countries easing up the restrictions, many of the postal sorting facilities around the world, including some major hubs, are still on very limited working capacity. This means that even if we ship via the regular postal services, it is very likely the parcel will be delayed extremely, possibly to an excess of 1 month. There are tremendous backlogs in many sorting facilities around the world, including US and EU, where the major worldwide postal sorting traffic happens. Therefore, until the things are fully back to normal, we won't be offering the Regular Postal service yet. In the meantime we will continue to offer only DHL as a shipping option at $26.95 USD. We hope we can start offering the $6.95 Regular postal service again by mid June 2020. Of course, you can still reserve any item you like and have us ship it via the Regular Postal service for free once we are able to.

Wishing you all the best and keep safe!
ProtoPens Team

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UPDATE
March 27th 2020

Dear all,
Hope you are all well and finding ways to cope with this difficult times!
Here at ProtoPens we are all fine and doing our work helps us a lot to pass this difficult self-isolation period. Luckily we are still able to fulfill your orders via DHL, they are still our only option for safe and fast delivery. Unfortunately in the recent days that shipping cost had increased and that is now reflected on the checkout page. The shipping cost is now $26.95 US dollars. The actual shipping cost is higher, but we are still able to subsidize a part of it so we can make it more affordable to you.

Some of you have rightfully asked us, why it costs the same to ship a part vs a box or a pen which are much larger and heavier items than a small part, even 1 refill. That is because we have a Flat Rate Cost agreement with DHL that gives us a same shipping rate to any country for a package/envelope up to a 0.5kg (approx. 1 lbs). Hence, 99% of our items fall in this category, as long as they are under 1 lbs we pay the same rate. However, you are able to combine any of our products, even different listings in any quantity and pay only one shipping fee. You can do this simply by clicking the "Add to cart" button on any listing and after you've made your selection, click the "Cart" button on the upper right corner on your screen to proceed to the checkout. 

You are also able to reserve any item regardless of its price. You will only need to pay one half of the price so you can help keep our small business going, and pay the remainder once we can ship it out to you via the Regular Postal Service, and we will ship it out for free once the Regular Postal Service starts operating normally again. If you want any item reserved, just contact us via the contact us or help & support pages, or at contact@protopens.com, and we will give you instructions on how to pay 1/2 and reserve your item(s).

Wishing you all the best and keep safe!
ProtoPens Team

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ANNOUNCEMENT
March 18th 2020

Dear Customers,
thank you for visiting our website.

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, many of the Regular Postal Services around the world, that is the national state operated postal services have either substantially lowered their traffic and services, or in some countries stopped working completely. This is why the only reliable international delivery service available to us now is DHL. Therefore, in the next 2-4 weeks we will only offer this service as a shipping option at checkout.

However, in the meantime, if you don't want to use the DHL service, we can reserve any item for you until the situation with the Postal Services is resolved and we can ship your parcel via that service. This may take a while, 2, 4 or even more weeks. In order to make a reservation on any item, you can send us only 1/2 of its price via PayPal to uberpens@gmail.com, specifying  the Item ID number listed under the title, and we will reserve that item for you and close the listing on our website. In addition, once the Postal Services starts to function normally, we will ship it for free! In the meantime while we wait, if you decide you want to cancel your order, let us know and we will issue a full refund of your payment right away.

We will notify you on this page when this limitation  is over so we can again offer the more affordable Regular Postal Shipping service.

We also like to let you know that we have implemented some new working rules here at ProtoPens. We only go to the office to fulfill your orders, and no more than two people are at the office at any given time. We are taking extra precautions with regard to hand washing and distancing ourselves. We are also taking workplace hygiene to another level. Starting from several days ago, we disinfect  thoroughly the inside of each parcel and all of its content prior shipping it out. We disinfect everything that goes into every parcel, that is the pens, the packaging padding, the warranty card, boxes, ext. Research shows that the virus cannot live on surfaces for more than few hours and rarely a day or two. Hence there is currently no known risk of transmission or contamination via mail, i.e. boxes, envelopes, ext. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to clean/wipe your parcel once you receive it with a hand sanitizer or similar  means.

Finally, while we all struggle and cope with this, and while most of us are in self isolation or working from home, we are finally having some more time to work on those "to do" projects we never managed to find the time to do so before. If that project involves finding the perfect pen, or fixing your old one with part or a refill we can provide, we are here to fulfill your order and help you pass the time.

We are available 24/7 via email. If there is any changes to our working plan or fulfilling your orders, we will announce it on this page and let you know via email right away.

Stay safe
Yours,
ProtoPens Team


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We currently ship all items from our Europe Workshop.
We ship Worldwide.

We have recently streamlined our shipping options in order to provide you with the fastest and most affordable shipping.

At checkout you can choose between two shipping options:
 
DHL Express International 1-4 days Worldwide Delivery - Recommended
Costs $16.95
This is the most reliable, cost-effective, secure and fastest service. The price is the same for any country in the world. The tracking is 100% accurate and starts right after the parcel ships out.
Delivery times are:
Europe: 1 to 2 days (usually 1 day - overnight) 
USA: 1 do 3 days (usually 2 days)  
Any country Worldwide: 1 to 4 days, depending on the destination country usually 2 or 3 days, rarely 4 days.
* The delivery days are counted after the shipping out day, i.e. we ship the parcel today, day 1 is tomorrow.
* Please note: DHL does not deliver to P.O. Boxes. For DHL shipping please provide actual physical address and if possible a phone number. If they cannot find anyone to receive the parcel, they may give you a call to schedule your desired delivery time and place. 
 
Regular Postal Services
Costs $6.95
Price is the same for any country worldwide. We ship all parcels via Registered Mail. The tracking with this service is often limited, unreliable or logged with delays. Usually the parcel can be tracked once it enters the destination country. It can be tracked via your Country postal service website by entering the RBXXXXXXXXX (Registered Parcel number) you will receive with our Shipping Confirmation email. In case you don't receive this email, please check your Spam folder. The delivery time ranges from 1 to 4 weeks depending on the destination country. Roughly, below are the delivery times based on the destination country or continent. With this service we can ship to P.O. Boxes.
Europe: 1 to 2 weeks (Usually 1 week)  
USA: 1 to 3 weeks (Usually 2 weeks) 
Canada: 2 to 3 weeks
Middle East: 2 to 3 weeks 
Africa: 2 to 4 weeks
Russia: 2 to 4 weeks
Latin America: 3 to 4 weeks
Asia-Pacific: 3 to 4 weeks
Australia: 3 to 4 weeks
Japan: 3 to 4 weeks
 
* Since we do one final test and cleaning of each item prior shipping it out, we usually need couple of hours per item to prepare it. Therefore, your item will be shipped either on the same day of the order, unless it is Sunday or a holiday, or at most the next working day.
* Regular Postal Services delivery times are often sensitive to the local holidays, i.e. the holidays in each country the parcel has to pass such as sorting facilities, as well as holidays in the destination country. It is also sensitive to weather conditions and many other factors. However, since each parcel is shipped via Registered Mail, even if the parcel is late, it will eventually arrive safely.
* Each parcel we ship out regardless of the selected service is fully insured. In case of a loss or damage, (which is extremely rare), you will immediately receive a full refund.

 

How do we pack our items? What about gift packing?
Prior shipping our items have to pass our highest quality control inspection, and are perfectly cleaned and tested by ProtoPens pen staff. Each pen is then packed in a special ziploc vacuum plastic bag in a nearly "clean room" dust free environment. If a pen does not come in its original presentation box, we pack it in a spacial ProtoPens presentation case. This case ensures safe transport, it is also convenient to use for everyday safe keeping and storage of your pen, but it is also great if the pen is intended as a gift. The way we pack the pen makes it ready to be presented as a gift right out of the package. After all, this is a gift to yourself and we want you to experience it that way. We can also write a gift note for you for free. Finally, everything is packed in specially designed and manufactured for ProtoPens only, custom made carton box, which ensures secure transport.
 

 

Returns


If there are any issues with the item when it arrives, due to shipping or other problems, please contact us so we can resolve. We never had a single customer disappointed and we love to keep that record.
Returns are accepted!
If the reason for the return is our fault, we will issue full refund plus the original shipping and we will pay for the return shipping too!
If the reason for the return is that you've decided you don’t want to keep the item, you are welcome to return it 7 days after receiving it in the same condition it was delivered to you. In this case you will only need to cover the return shipping.