Shipping

We offer free shipping for orders over $100*!

Simply use the code "SHIPFORFREE" at the checkout!

Our Shipping Options

• Standard Shipping (3 - 7 Business Days) - USPS First-Class
• Expedited Shipping (1 - 5 Business Days) - USPS Priority or UPS Ground (At the moment, we will not be using USPS Priority shipping until it becomes more reliable)
• Express Shipping (1 - 2 Business Days) - UPS Ground or FedEx 2 Day Air

** Note that USPS does not deliver mail on Sunday or federal holidays

*** Note that FedEx and UPS do not count weekend days or federal holidays as a ship day, nor do they deliver on weekends or public holidays for these shipping services.

We ship from Monday to Wednesday to avoid having your package spending extra time during transit due to the weekend. If shipping to your zip-code via UPS Ground shows the estimated delivery time to be 3 days or longer, your package might be shipped the following week if your order is not placed before the cut off time on Monday to avoid being held over the weekend.

We would also recommend upgrading to our Express Shipping option if shipping to your area (as shown in the UPS Ground map) is likely to be over 3-days. In general, if a shipping option shows two carriers, e.g. UPS Ground/Fedex-2 Day Air, we will use the carrier that either has the shortest estimated shipping time or the one that can accommodate your order the best (e.g. oversized packaging). Do note that for bulkier items, such as live Shrimp or larger Snails, we will most likely ship it via UPS Ground as our heavily discounted FedEx 2-Day Air rates only apply if we use the boxes they provide, which will likely not be able to accommodate bulkier items or orders that require additional packaging or insulation.

Shipping During Extreme Weather

Chicago Current Weather:

If there is extreme weather in Chicago or your area (under 25F or over 90F) we might delay shipping to ensure your order has the highest chance of arriving alive and healthy! We will most likely send you an email to inform you if we plan to delay shipping your order.

If you expect to have your local temperatures are not within the acceptable temperature range (32-82F for Plants, 60F-82F for Animals unless stated otherwise) you will need to add the appropriate Shipping Upgrades, such as a Heat Pack, Cold Pack, Heat Reflective Insulation or our Weather Insurance to your order to ensure the highest chance of survival for your plants or animals. This is be required in order to be covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee. 

Some carriers may offer the option to hold your package at a near by store, and we highly suggest you do this if your local temperatures are on the extreme side, to avoid having your plants or animals sit in a cold/hot delivery truck before they are delivered to you. For orders shipped via UPS, you can schedule your delivery or update your delivery instructions, by signing up for UPS MyChoice.

Shipping Addresses

Please ensure that your mailing address is up to date on PayPal (if you are using PayPal) and that you have entered the full and correct mailing address at the checkout before placing your order. We cannot ship to PO Box Addresses and we will NOT be responsible for any costs for re-shipping your order if your package is returned to us due to an incorrect, insufficient, or incomplete mailing address or anything that is beyond our control.

NOTE: UPS and FedEx both have a $17 "Address Correction Fee" that you will be responsible for paying for if you do not enter your address correctly or there is a typo in the address and the shipping carrier has to attempt to correct your given address in order to successfully deliver your package.

USPS PRIORITY MAIL DELIVERY MAP​

UPS GROUND DELIVERY MAP

NOTE: All Illinois orders and certain surrounding areas/states (as shown in the UPS Ground Delivery Map) should be 1-day shipping using UPS ground. If you are in an area where UPS Ground Delivery (which is generally the West Coast States) will take more than 3 days, we suggest upgrading to our Express Shipping (FedEx 2-Day Air).

International and Non-Contiguous U.S. Shipping

We currently DO NOT ship outside of the U.S. due to import and export restrictions that require import permits (on the buyer's side) and export permits (on our side) in order to ship live goods, which make it a HUGE hassle, and frankly, not worth the effort on both our side and the buyer's side. On top of this, the high cost of shipping using an express service to ship outside of the U.S. makes it unfeasible, hence why we encourage overseas customers to source for local dealers/stores instead. 

Although we only allow purchases from within the contiguous United States on our website at the moment, we have shipped orders to other non-contiguous States, such as Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories, such as Guam and Puerto Rico, in the past with success, so if you live in a non-contiguous State (Hawaii, Alaska) or U.S. Territory that is considered "Domestic" by USPS, UPS or FedEx, we are happy to work with you to try sending an order there! Simply send us an email at windycityaquariums@gmail.com.

More information on what USPS considers "Domestic Shipping" can be found here. According to USPS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can enjoy Priority shipping at domestic prices.