Halloween 2021 Information For US customers, due to delays with the USPS (Covid, staffing, and budget), we are changing some of our policies for our Halloween season.
Because of delays, we suggest that you order by the following dates to receive your order by October 29th.* • For First Class shipping, orders must be received by 11:59pm on Thursday, October 21st. These packages should be in the mail on Friday the 22nd. • For Priority Mail shipping, orders must be received by 11:59pm on Sunday, October 24th. These should be in the mail on Monday the 25th.
Custom Color ears and some products may take longer to ship than our standard painted Elf Ears and Resin Horns. We suggest ordering any Custom Color Ears before the deadlines above. For more unusual products, we may not be able to make those products this Halloween season.
* For 2021, we can no longer guarantee arrival by October 29th. We are shipping orders as fast as we can, but delays with the post office are outside of our control. With staffing shortages and pandemic related issues, the USPS is facing unprecedented times. If a package arrives later than you need, you can return it for a refundminus the original cost of shipping.
How long will my order take to ship? We work hard to get every order out the door as quickly as possible, however with the increase in order volume around Halloween, the average delay between the date of payment and date of shipment is about 2-3 days. Most orders arrive in about 5-7 days after payment is made. So most orders placed on a Monday afternoon should be downloaded and packed on Tuesday or Wednesday, and in the mail the following day. For most orders, worse case , an order placed on Monday that is packed on Wednesday and shipped on Thursday should arrive on Saturday, or the following Monday. Typically though, orders placed on Monday arrive on Thursday or Friday of that same week. This does NOT apply to "Made to Order" costumes. These still have a 2 week turnaround to make, plus the holiday delay. We are sorry about this delay, but each of these costumes are made to order. And sometimes our production schedule is so full that Made to Order costume orders can't be fulfilled. If this is the case, we will message you ASAP and alert you if we can't fulfill the order in time.
I need my order by a certain day, how can I guarantee arrival? Typically we will post the Guaranteed-By date on the front page of the website or in this FAQ for each year. Since Halloween falls on different days of the week, that Guaranteed-By date will be different each year. For example, in 2015, Halloween fell on a Saturday, and our guaranteed by date was Friday October 30th, since many people needed their orders for parties on both Friday and Saturday.
If your order arrives after the specified Guaranteed-By date, and you wish to return your order, do NOT open the package. You may write "Return to Sender" on the package when it arrives, and we will issue a complete refund including shipping costs once the package is returned to us. If you open the package, you will have to pay for return shipping. If you need your order by an earlier date, and it doesn't arrive in time, our standard return policy applies. This means that if it is delivered prior to the Guaranteed-By date but after that date you needed it, you can return your order for a full refund on the item costs, but not on the shipping costs.
I live in another country, when will my order arrive? Unfortunately, there are no guarantees for international packages, the standard return policy is always in effect. Standard international shipping takes 8-10 business days in transit (typically about 10-14 days total). This does not include the handling time to download, process, and pack the order. Because of this, international orders placed after October 1st run the risk of not arriving by Halloween. While not guaranteed, Global Express usually takes about 6-8 days to arrive, so an order placed even as late as October 14th should arrive without a problem. However, there are no guarantees for international orders. This is because there are many factors that can delay international packages, including customs' delays.
If I email you, can you ship my order out faster? Sadly, sending emails to ask about shipping it faster only slows down the shipping process! We are a small business, and so the more emails we have to answer, the less time we have for packing orders. However, please don't hesitate to email us questions about products, sizes, etc. If you need to get your order faster, the best way is to pay for Express shipping. Orders are packed first come first serve, unless you pay for Express. Express packages are packed first after downloading orders. So with an Express order, we do our best to get them out the door the following day if possible. So if an Express order is placed on Monday, we strive to get it out the door with the Tuesday pick-up.
Made to Order Costume Questions
What is your return policy on Made to Order costumes around Halloween? Unfortunately due to problems in the past with costumes suspiciously returned after Halloween, we now are implementing a restocking fee of 15% on any Custom Costume or Made to Order costume under certain conditions. The new return policy on Custom Costumes is in effect for any costume ordered between Sept. 1st and October 31st. It is as follows:
Returns are allowed for a FULL REFUND (sizing issues, not what you were expecting, etc.), as long as they are postmarked within 3 days of the date that it arrived to you.
If the postmarked date of the return is more than 3 days, then there will be a 15% restocking fee (you will receive a refund for 85% of the price). We apologize for implementing this new policy, but it was necessary since we started suspecting people were receiving a costume, wearing it to events/parties, and then returning them for a full refund. Again, we are sorry that the actions of a few bad people hurts everyone, so we have tried to make the new return policy still fair to honest people.
I would like to order a Made to Order costume, will it arrive in time? It all depends on the number of Made to Order costume orders that we have received. After October 1st, if you order a Made to Order costume, and we can't get it to you by the Guaranteed-By date, we will email you and alert you ASAP.
Other Questions
Do you accept returns? Yes, any item that is unused (prosthetics that have been glued on with spirit gum or have had make-up applied to them are considered used) may be returned for a full refund, except for Made to Order Costumes. Any costume found in our "Custom Costume" section will have a 10% restocking fee. We are very sorry about having to charge this fee, but this is necessary since the item was made to order. Also, we are unable to offer a refund on shipping costs on any order, as we have spent those funds in order to ship the package to you, and can't recover this cost. As a small business, we can't do this and remain in business. We hope that you understand.
Do you accept payment other than Pay Pal? During this time of year, we do not recommend mailing in payment, as that will just delay the processing of your order. First there is the time required to mail in a Money Order. Then it may be a few days for us to swing by the PO Box to get the payment. This all takes time away from packing our online orders. Most likely if you ordered on our website, your order would be in the mail and on its way to you before your Money Order would have even been delivered to our PO Box!
For answers to many other questions, check the standard FAQ page.