At Carolina Rustica, we realize that your satisfaction completely depends on the fulfillment of your order in a manner that makes you want to come back to us. In our years of shipping to customers all over the country, we are keenly aware of the many variables that come into play when your order is being shipped. Taking your order over the phone and having it made is only one part of your order. Getting it to you safely is the second part of your order. We strive to excel at both. Please review this guide to shipping and by all means, call us if you have any questions at all.

Shipping Costs
We want to make our fine wrought iron furniture, home accents, and lighting as affordable as possible. We charge the minimum, reasonable amount for shipping and we do not profit from freight in any way, particularly in these days of continuous fuel cost increases. Many of our products are sold with free shipping! On those products that include a shipping cost, your freight costs will be determined by what you order and where you live. Our shipping charges have stayed relatively fixed compared to the actual cost of increased shipping over the years.

There are two ways you can place your order, and two means of getting your order to you. You may order online or over the phone, and orders ship either by UPS or by truck line (also called "common carrier" or "motor freight"). Please note we generally do not ship outside of the continental United States due to shipping risks

Ordering Online
Any item that has pricing listed may be ordered online. This means everything from lighting to a John Boos butcher block to a Wesley Allen iron bed. In most cases, we will have the method of transport listed next to the item.

Shipping costs for all online orders are calculated automatically. Many of our items are "Free Shipping" and will clearly be marked as such. Items that are not "Free Shipping" and ship via UPS will have their shipping cost calculated by the UPS online rate system. We do not mark up beyond what it costs us to ship the package, and we have very low rates with UPS due to our shipping volume.

Due to the size of the iron beds and other large furniture pieces, they must be shipped by common carrier and not UPS. "Common Carrier" means a large truck, usually a tractor-trailer. We have a long-standing relationship with ABF and receive very competative shipping rates from them. As in the case with UPS, we do not charge the full amount of shipping that we actually pay. We are striving to minimize your shipping costs in this age of ever-increasing fuel costs.

Ordering by phone for UPS orders:
If you order by telephone and your order can ship by UPS, we will charge based on a percentage of your order total, if the items in your order are not identified as "free shipping". Our Customer Service Department can confirm a shipping cost for you before you place your order.

Ordering by phone for Truck Line orders:
Our rates for all large items that must ship by common carrier (Truck Line) for telephone orders matches our rates for online orders. For extremely large orders, there are freight concessions available. For more expensive areas to ship, such as WA, OR, CO, WY, ID, MO, there may be additional freight costs, but you will always be advised of this prior to placing your order. There are also several city-specific surcharges (NYC and Chicago). However, we also have shipping specials for ordering specific quantities or combinations of items, and this will be given to you at the time you place your order with Customer Service.

UPS Service Levels
We use UPS ground service unless you contract with us for a higher level of service. Standard UPS shipping procedures apply for our shipments. We do not ship COD.

Truck Line Service Levels
If you have ordered a bed, baker's rack, table, or other large item, you should be prepared for a vehicle of considerable size arriving at your residence. If you think there may be a problem with shipping, please notify us when you place your order. You, or someone acting on your behalf, must be at the shipment address to receive and sign for the delivery. Freight will always be shipped pre-paid, meaning you do not have to pay anything to the freight company. Please note that with regards to delivery of large pieces, the freight service used is "Curbside Only", which means that you must be there at the time of delivery to bring the item into your house. In many cases, the driver is nice enough to bring it in the front entrance or put it in a garage, but they will not go up stairs or elevators and do not assemble anything unless you specifically contract with us for an upgraded service. You can arrange for indoor delivery when the freight company calls to set up your delivery but this will entail an increased shipping charge that you will have to pay either direct to the trucking company or to us. You will normally be given a 3-4 hour window of time that someone must be present to take delivery.

We cannot emphasize enough that the rates we charge to our customers are still only a fraction of what we pay to the trucking company for delivery of your order. We do this to make our products as affordable as possible. Our service is "curbside only". If you ask the driver to bring your product into your home, and we are invoiced for that extra service, we will charge you the exact amount that the additional service cost us. We hope this information will help your delivery go smoothly.

Other restrictions: We do not ship freight line to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, military post offices, or any overseas locations due to the complexity, cost, and a high damage rate. We ship to continental U.S. locations only. Some exceptions may be made with second-day air shipments to these locations, but if you order online we do reserve the right to adjust your shipping. There is no free shipping to these locations.

Shipping Damages
It is an unfortunate fact that, once in a great while, products may get damaged at the factory or in transit. If your order arrives and there is obvious, visible damage to one or more of the boxes, please refuse receipt of those boxes and notify us immediately. You will not be held responsible for any damages, but signing that a box was received damage helps us immensely in the claims process. If your order consists of several boxes, it is okay to accept the undamaged boxes and refuse the damaged ones . We will have the manufacturer send a replacement and we will handle the shipping issues on our end. Typically, these replacement orders take much less time than the original order.

North Carolina "Local" Delivery
Since we can now use our truck for residential deliveries, and we know that there is a much lower chance of things going wrong with our own truck than with a common carrier, we want to encourage shipments to customers from our store and warehouse that are close to our Concord location.

Here are our local shipping charges:

If the delivery location is in a 1 hour (50 mile) radius, and they order from us EITHER in the store or over the phone, their shipping charge is $75.00.

If the delivery location is in a 2 hour (100 mile) radius, the same rule applies but shipping is $95.00. We will ship to Raleigh/Durham for $115.00.

All delivery options include inside delivery. However, we will not set up furniture unless you specifically contract for that upgraded service.

Items may be picked up in the store that are ordered off the web site. Items that ship to the store by UPS will have no extra charge, items that ship by Common Carrier will incur an upcharge of $40.00. Charleston Forge products can be picked up at our store at no extra shipping charge.

In order to take advantage of the lower delivery charges, you must order over the phone (800.205.7819) or visit our store.