Deliveries: Frequently Asked Questions
Before contacting us, see if the answer to your question is below. If there are any problems with your order or subscription, please contact us. We want to make sure you are 100% happy with your purchase or subscription. For questions about your particular order, website problems, or subscription changes, please email us.
Questions about your subscription? Visit the Subscription FAQs page.
When will my subscription issue arrive?
If you have a Premium Subscription your magazine is mailed via USPS First Class Mail from California. For U.S. subscribers, Print+Digital Subscriptions are mailed directly from our printer via USPS Periodicals Mail from New Hampshire.
Magazines to Canadian subscribers are shipped directly to Canada Post, who then delivers magazines to Canadian addresses. All other non-U.S. magazines are sent via an international shipper through the U.K. to the EU, where the magazines are sorted and sent to your country’s postal sorting center.
Once it leaves the printer, your country’s mail service is in charge of delivering your magazine to the address we have on file on the subscription cutoff date. The U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee the delivery of Periodicals Mail within a given number of days. Your magazine takes up to 4 weeks to arrive in the U.S. and 8 weeks to arrive in other countries, including Canada. It can be even longer depending on the state of the postal service in your country. Delays in the postal service in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can add another month to delivery time. Thank you for your patience.
In the U.S., delivery time depends on the address, mail volume at central processing offices, and can even vary between different zip codes within the same city.
If you live in the continental U.S. and your issue is late, we ask that you wait until the last day of the month following shipment to contact us. View a map showing typical delivery times for periodicals in the United States. To see a map of the current status of USPS service, including weather delays and other closures, view the USPS National Map.
If you live outside the continental U.S., please wait until the last day of the second month following shipment to contact us.
You can check on the status of your subscription and update your address and payment info by logging into or creating an account ›
If you experience delivery delays in multiple months, please contact your local post office so they can investigate and track down the source of the problem. If you continue to have problems, please consider purchasing a Premium Subscription or purchasing individual issues, which are sent in an envelope via First Class Mail or let us know if you want to switch to a Digital-Only Subscription. Report a delivery issue ›
When will my order arrive?
If you order a back issue of the magazine, stickers, or other beachcombing gifts, your order will usually be shipped via U.S. First Class Mail within a week. If you are in the U.S. and order two or more back issues, they are shipped via U.S. Media Mail. Delivery time depends on where you live.
We typically mail orders on two days each week. Please follow up with an email if it's important that your Priority Mail order go out immediately and we will try to make it happen. Because we have no control over the delivery times of the postal service in the U.S. and internationally, we can't guarantee delivery dates.
What if my magazine is damaged or never arrives?
We are happy to send U.S. subscribers a replacement issue if your magazine is damaged in transit or never arrives and we still have the magazine in stock. We can't always provide a replacement copy for your magazine as we only order a limited number of extra copies of each issue. Please send us a photo of the damage within 10 days of receipt of your magazine and request a replacement copy or to ask us to extend your subscription by one issue.
Due to the high cost of international postage, we cannot offer replacement copies for missing or damaged magazines outside of the U.S. but we will issue a partial refund on your subscription. Thanks for your understanding.
If your issue frequently arrives damaged and your mailbox is sufficiently sized and protected from the weather, or if you frequently miss issues, please check with your local post office so they can investigate and track down the source of the problem. If you continue to have problems, please consider switching from a subscription to purchasing individual issues, which are sent in an envelope via First Class Mail. Report a delivery issue ›
We do not ship subscription orders in plastic bags as doing so would create thousands of pieces of plastic trash, some of which could end up in our waterways. Our international shipping service sometimes adds plastic bags to protect them on their long trip overseas. If you would like to have your magazine sent in an envelope via First Class Mail, please order individual issues from the online shop.
Will my magazine be forwarded to me?
Once we send the magazine to the address on your order, the U.S. Postal Service or your local postal service is in charge of delivering your mail to that address. If you notify your old post office of your new address, periodicals are forwarded for only 60 days, and after that they are destroyed. The best way to ensure that your magazine arrives wherever you are is to let us know 8 weeks before mailing which address should be on your magazine, and let the old post office know where they should forward your mail.
We use the Shipping Address on your subscription to mail your magazine. Be sure to follow the instructions on updating your address so that you change your SHIPPING address and not just your BILLING address. You can update your address, change your credit card information, and cancel your subscription on your Account page. Log in with your email and password — or create an account if you don't have one — then click on "Edit addresses" to edit the magazine Shipping address.
If you will be at a different address for more than 60 days, consider purchasing Premium Forwarding Service from the U.S. Postal Service. Premium Forwarding Service is a paid service for U.S. residents who have different addresses during the year. With this paid service, all of your mail (including periodicals) is forwarded to you once a week using Priority Mail service.
Did we miss anything?
We are happy to answer your questions via email.
If we didn’t answer your question above, please email us or mail us at Etched by the Sea Inc, PO Box 1910, Capitola CA 95010. We try to return emails within 3 business days. You can leave a message at 1-833-224-5277 or on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but if you need a response, please email us. If you leave us critical information in a voice mail, the information may not be understandable. If you leave a message on Facebook or Instagram, we may not receive it for several days. Please email us with any important information.
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All policies, prices, terms, and conditions are subject to change at any time without prior notice.
