Here in one place is all the information that you need to understand how we hope to make your shopping experience with us a fast, friendly and enjoyable experience. We are dedicated to bringing you the best items and customer service possible.  Buying on the internet may be a new experience to many and requires a "leap of faith" for the new buyer.  Therefore, we want our customers to feel confident that we stand behind everything that we sell. 

In this regard, our goals for Land and Sea Collection are to provide:

Unusual, hard to find authentic nautical items of high quality 

Attractively priced, and representing good value

Available for immediate shipment

Make internet shopping always a pleasant and positive experience

Provide personal attention and easy methods of contact

Fast, well packaged shipping

And give exceptional "after sale" service 

We are always ready to serve you in our areas of specialization which include hard to find authentic marine and nautical antiques, marine art, vintage diving helmets, boat, ship and vintage aircraft models, and antique, vintage and contemporary sextants. Please feel free to contact us by email at info@landandseacollection.com or call 561-339-3383 from 8 AM to 6 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

ACCEPTED FORMS OF PAYMENT: In this day of interconnectivity, shopping takes place in an arena where everything is done electronically. Many transactions are being processed through a clearing house so that the seller does not need to have merchant agreements with all the various credit card companies. Clearing houses include BidPay, and PayPal among a myriad of others. The most popular and largest is PayPal which is owned by Ebay, the largest internet auction site. PayPal allows international commerce to take place efficiently and economically across international boundaries with speed and simplicity at no cost to the buyer.

In our case, we recommend Pay Pal for purchases under $1000.00, and we take VISA and Master Card directly for up to the same amount by calling our office.

PAYPAL AND CREDIT CARD LIMIT: On more expensive purchases we only accept a bank wire transfer, cashier's check, money order, or personal check, in which case the item will be held until cleared. We accept no personal checks from overseas buyers, and no credit cards or PayPal is accepted on items over $1000.00. The reason for this is quite simple, none of the financial facilities that are used in commerce today guarantee that the payment to the merchant is good. All payment gateways have the right to chargeback the amount received if the card's use was unauthorized or fraudulent. The only protection the merchant has is if he knows his customer personally or only accepts payment in forms that are the equivalent of receiving cash.

Under these circumstances, you are asking,"what protection does the buyer have"? That really depends on the merchant. In our case, we are a real full time business, not an after hours or weekend hobby. We are licensed by the State of Florida as a full fledged company. We have a state sales tax number and a Federal Employee Identification number. We have a physical presence in two locations in the Greater West Palm Beach area. We have a business account with a national bank. Our banking references will be furnished on request. In other words, we are real people doing business in the real world and are easily verifiable and traceable. We want to be here for years to come, and can only do so if we provide high quality products at fair and honest prices, and back them by the finest service available.

OUR UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE: If not completely satisfied with your purchase it may be returned, if without damage, within five days of receipt in its original condition and packaging. Returns must be insured for their full value. All that is required is a prior email authorization by us for the return. Unfortunately, no refund can be made for the cost of shipping, packaging and handling unless we are at fault. 

 

PRIVACY: Our policies on "Privacy" are simple.

 

Don'ts:

• We do not sell your names to third parties
• We do not keep your credit card information on file
• We do not send unsolicited emails
• We do not use cookies to collect any form of data - period

Do's:

• We do keep copies of the transaction which includes your name, address, and shipping information
• We do keep copies of responses to your questions or requests
• And that's it

UNAUTHORIZED RETURNS: In the rare case, where someone does not follow our Terms of Sale or returns an item without authorization, we may at our discretion impose a 15% re-stocking fee.

BUSINESS INFRACTIONS: In the very rare instance where a buyer may act in a manner that is in contravention of our Terms of Sale or contrary to accepted business practices, a 15% "Cancellation Fee" may be deducted at our discretion from the refund. This charge shall be in addition to the recovery of the expenses we incurred in making the sale.

DAILY SHIPMENTS: Many of our products have shipping included in their domestic price. Our normal shipments go either DHL or FedEx Ground, and we can ship expedited by either method at additional cost. For your protection and ours, everything must be shipped insured.

If your payment is received before 11 AM, your item will generally ship the same day. If it is received after that, it will ship the next day. In the event that for any reason there will be an unforeseen delay, you will receive an email telling you the reason and giving you some options such as waiting a few days or receiving a refund.

We mainly use the U.S. Postal Service Air for international shipments, but their Global Express Service is a recommended alternative. A credit will be given if domestic shipping is quoted in the price.

No matter who the carrier is, in the event of damage, we handle the claims processing in your behalf, and if possible replace the item immediately.

After shipment, an email notice is sent which includes a tracking number and estimated date of arrival as soon as the data is available in the carrier's database. That is usually by the morning after shipment.

IN-HOUSE PACKING: We pack and ship in-house, and have accounts with all the major couriers and a few over-the-road carriers. Many of the items we sell are antiques, unique, one-of-a-kind, and pricey, so the process is much more complicated then most and requires we treat each sale as a special case. 

PACKAGING: This is the most important part of a successful sale because there is nothing more upsetting to the customer then to open the carton and find a damaged item. Good packaging minimizes the chance of in transit damage. In the long run, it also saves us and you the customer time and money because we never know if the carrier will accept the claim and how much they will award. The entire packing and shipping process takes a professional level of know-how, extra time, and more and special packaging materials. We go to the trouble of double boxing most of our models for added safety, and your protection. We also always seek out the least expensive of the various means of transport.

 

DAMAGED SHIPMENTS: If you believe a package received from us was damaged in transit, please refuse shipment and tell the carrier that you are refusing delivery because the package is damaged. Then email us and inform us of the situation. If you are not present at the time of delivery and cannot refuse shipment, please email us so we can make arrangements to have the shipment picked up and inspected by the carrier. You must keep all the original packaging until the carrier picks the item up. 

OUR OVERRIDING PHILOSOPHY is to get the item to our customers safely, and at the lowest possible cost. Depending on the item, this can require special packaging, and obtaining declared value insurance. If so, we have written instructions covering the packing procedures, and use a method of shipping that guarantees insurance coverage. For example, FedEx and UPS, have specific exclusions in their tariffs where they do not cover models, antiques, and one-of-a-kind items such as works of art. This constitutes a
lot of what we sell. We do ship our less expensive models by a courier service, but if it is damaged, we replace it at no cost to the customer. If damages were significant, which they are not, we would use DHL instead. They are more expensive, but provide insurance coverage where the others don't.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: For domestic shipments, the U.S. Postal Service provides good insurance and good service, but the costs are much more expensive than the usual courier services. We therefore prefer to ship by a courier domestically, but the postal service is significantly cheaper when shipping overseas.

Therefore, USPS is our preferred choice when shipping to foreign countries, but  doing so is limited by size restrictions that vary between counties, and the class of service desired. Packages can either be 108 or 79 inches combined length and girth with a universal length limitation of 45 inches in length. 

 

International postal insurance is expensive, and varies by country and class of service, and since May, 2007 rarely is available in an amount equal to the value of the shipment. The seller is not responsible for this gap in coverage, and the buyer assumes the responsibility for any loss.

Oversize shipments must go by courier, over-the-road hauler, or ocean freight.

OVERSIZE AND HIGH VALUE SHIPMENTS: We prefer to have the customer make his own arrangements for large size, very heavy, or very expensive items. We do recommend an experienced antique moving specialist in our listing of these items, and arrangements can be made directly with them. Under special conditions, we also will assist in shipping the item ourselves or make arrangements with an over-the-road hauler with whom we receive a significant discount from published rates.

OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS: A significant part of our business is overseas. We sell worldwide, but request that overseas customers contact us before buying an item. This is so we can explain the added costs that are involved in an overseas shipment which include, but are not limited to, the size and weight of the package, cross border fees which are a function of exchange rate differentials and preparing the required export documents and for many countries two certified commercial invoices. The latter two items are extra services for which we don't charge. The expenses that we do expect to recover are included in the cost of postage on USPS shipments. On request, we will itemize them for you.

At the time we bill for postage, the amount is only an estimate because the exact size and weight of the package wont be known until the item is packed and taken to the post office for measurement and weighing. If we are in error, and the actual amount is more, we will absorb the added cost ourselves. If it is less, and more than a few dollars a refund will be automatically made.

DUTIES, TAXES & DELAYS: The customer is responsible for his country's import duties, taxes and clearance fees. You should inquire about them with your home country's custom's department. We are not able to provide that information. We do not charge, or is there any U.S. taxes on overseas shipments.

USPS is our preferred choice when shipping overseas, but packages are limited by size restrictions that vary between counties, and the class of service desired. That can either be 108 or 79 inches combined length and girth with a universal length limitation of 45 inches in length. Their insurance, which is expensive, varies by country and class of service.

Scheduled postal service to most parts of the world is by Air, and is supposed to take from 4-10 working days depending on the class of service. However, there is increased scrutiny required because of terrorism concerns, and delays are frequent. We have no control over this so please be patient. We can only trace postal shipments after a period of thirty days.

Going to the post office can be a time consuming chore. It can be avoided by having them pick the item up at our warehouse, but this is expensive at $14.25 per package. Instead, we prefer to save our customers money, and take the package to the nearest facility which is a 15 minute drive one way and a visit that can take over one half hour. The amount we charge to deliver packages to the post office depends on the number we have at any one time. We charge a minimum of $5.00 and will not charge more than $10.00 for this service. That leaves from $9.25 to $4.25 in our customers pocket.

COUNTRIES SERVED:  We have satisfied customers in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Martinique, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Nova Scotia, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, USVI and the Eastern Caribbean.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON SHIPPING: We do not consider shipping a profit center where we mark-up prices. We bill our shipping honestly, but we do expect to recover our out-of-pocket costs. If you are in doubt, compare what we charge for size, weight, insurance coverage and type of packaging to what any Pack & Send, UPS Store or Kinko's Store charges. Also compare our rates to that of the US Postal Service. We doubt that you will find anyone cheaper or who provides better packing  when all things are taken into account.

If you need help, or have further questions, please inquire. info@landandseacollection.com  or call 561-339-3383 anytime between 8 AM and 6 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

     Copyright 2008 - 2007 by Land And Sea Collection™, All Rights Reserved.