We used to be able to process orders pretty much as they came in, but the business has grown so significantly that we have had to get help.  Unfortunately, that help is only available on weekends, so we are cutting off the week's shipments on Friday afternoons.  If your order is placed by about 4 pm Eastern on a Friday, it will likely ship the following Monday or Tuesday.  Orders received after that will probably get out the following week.

We accept and prefer American Express, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover cards.

All international orders paid with a VISA account will be assessed an "International  Service Assessment Fee" of 1%.  The charge is being imposed by the credit card company, not us, so please don't shoot the messenger.

CANADIAN CUSTOMERS:  First Rays is now a Non-Resident Importer.  We are therefore required to collect GST, PST, and brokerage fees on all orders shipping into Canada, so will add them to your total.

Minimum order size is $15.00.

Orders will be shipped upon receipt of payment. We usually ship plants on Mondays or Tuesdays so they arrive before the weekend; supplies may be shipped at any time. In either case, you will be notified via email when your stuff is set to ship.  Most of the time, this will be an email from FedEx with your tracking number(s).

We use Federal Express almost exclusively in the continental US and Canada, as we have found them to be very reliable, and they save most customers a significant amount of money compared to other carriers.  Shipping is billed at our discounted cost; there are no packing and handling charges.  The exceptions are for trans-oceanic international shipments, and supplies to Hawaii and Alaska, where the USPS Priority Mail Service tends to be less expensive.  Understand this:  by dedicating our shipping dollars to a single carrier, we maximize our discount, which is passed directly to you.  Asking us to "dilute" our shipping expenditure hurts everyone in the long run.

Delivery times for FedEx Ground or Home Delivery Service can be seen here.  Please note that you can probably save about a dollar per box if you have a package shipped to a business rather than a residence, so you might consider supplying a work shipping address.  (A home-based business does not qualify for the discount.).

As we "cut and paste" your personal information from the order you submit, any additional charges assessed by FedEx due to errors in the address or phone number will be passed on to you.

We do not normally request them, but if you specifically request that a package be left without a signature, we have no recourse with the carrier, so will not be responsible for lost packages.  This is not usually an issue, but in the few cases where packages have "walked away" from someone's doorstep, FedEx has always refunded the full value of the shipment, and a replacement was shipped right out.

If ordered with plants, supplies may be shipped separately, especially if bulky or heavy.

PrimeAgra® is pretty heavy, and if you are purchasing 22.5-liter boxes or 45 liter bags, we will automatically compare the DOMESTIC shipping charges to you from the East- and West coasts, and the less-expensive shipping point will be used.

Plant shipments within the continental U.S. only. No export at this time.  Supplies are routinely exported.

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS:  International shipping costs have gotten quite expensive, so outside of North America, we will sometimes use the Postal Service, if it is significantly less expensive, and you have the option of Surface - (4-6 week delivery). Airmail Parcel Post (4-10 days) or EMS (3-5days) services.  All international orders include insurance against loss while in-transit, but once the package is delivered to the authorities in your country, we lose all control of the delivery process, so you will be responsible to clear up any importation and delivery issues.  In other words, the terms are FOB shipping point.

WINTER SHIPPING OF PLANTS:  In addition to our thorough packing method, which is pretty good insulation by itself, we use heat packs to protect plant shipments.  For the most part, plants will be shipped via FedEx 2-Business Day or 3-Business day Express Saver delivery services, but if you're in a particularly cold part of the country, or if we're experiencing extreme weather anywhere en route, we will use overnight delivery, at our option.  Likewise, if you're close, we are still safe using ground delivery service.  We consult any number of online weather reporting services to get an idea of your forecast, including out own "Temperatures" page.  If at all possible, please have plants shipped to a business address, so they can go directly indoors upon delivery.