Lead times
How long a custom order takes, and what happens if you need it sooner.
The short answer
Plan on 21 days from the day you order. That is our outside figure, not our target — most orders ship before it. The soonest date we will accept at all is 7 working days, which is roughly a week and a half on a calendar.
What happens after you order
Your proof comes back by email within one business day. It shows your artwork on the actual piece, at the actual imprint size. Nothing goes on press until you approve it — so the clock on the rest of the job starts when you reply, not when you order.
That is worth knowing if your date is tight. A proof that sits unapproved for four days has spent four days of your lead time. We send a reminder, but the fastest thing you can do for your own deadline is read the proof the day it arrives and check the spelling.
If you need a date
Checkout has an optional date you need it by. Leave it blank and we plan to the 21-day window. Name a date and one of three things happens:
Beyond 21 days. Ordinary work, nothing added.
Between 7 working days and 21 days. Possible, but we have to look at the schedule that week before we promise it. There is a fee of 20% of the product subtotal, minimum $45, and what it buys is the commitment rather than the speed — a date you can plan the rest of the event around.
Inside 7 working days. We do not take it at any price. Decoration is permanent; there is no version of a rushed job we would be willing to put a name on.
If we cannot hold your date
The fee is refunded in full, on the day we work it out — not at the end, when the date has already passed. You then choose: the date we can do, or cancel. A refund that arrives after the event it was meant to protect is not a refund, it is an apology.
Shipping is on top
The lead time is production. Transit is separate and depends on where you are and what you choose at checkout. If your date is firm, count the transit days backward from it and use that as your need-by date, or write to us and we will do it with you.
Large orders and reorders
Big runs and pallet-quantity orders are quoted individually — the storefront asks for a freight quote rather than guessing at parcel rates it knows are wrong. Reorders of art we already hold are faster than the figures above, because the proof step is a confirmation rather than a first draft. Ask us.