A very common question we hear at ParadeFloatStuff.com is how long does it take to receive my order. We ship orders out the same day, every business day (M-F), as late as 3:00 EST. We have negotiated with UPS to be nearly the last pick-up for our driver’s day so that we can get as many orders shipped as possible. Occasionally, our driver doesn’t arrive to pick up our outbound shipments until after 5:00 pm. That means we simply continue to pack and process orders until the driver arrives with the goal of getting as many orders shipped same day as possible.
Some of our customers take advantage of our offer to provide free UPS Ground shipping on orders over $100.00. These orders get the same preferential treatment as any other order received throughout the day. In fact, orders are processed in the order they’re received. Shipping times vary but a good rule of thumb is to view the UPS Map to determine how many business days it takes UPS to deliver Regular Ground shipments.
For example, if a customer from Kansas orders on Monday and the order ships on Monday, it will be delivered on Wednesday of that same week, since Kansas is considered a 2 business day shipment from our warehouse.
Customers can also visit UPS.com and click on “Calculate time and cost” to more accurately determine the number of shipping days required to receive an order. Of course, we also offer expedited shipping methods such as Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, and 3 Day Select. According to UPS, all of these methods including Regular Ground are guaranteed to deliver when they say it will.
We know the importance of fast shipping since we have been in the business of producing parade floats for decades. We know our customers need the products they order from us in a very timely manner. We understand the time-sensitive nature of our customer’s orders and we certainly understand there is no need to order products that won’t be received until after the event is completed. This simple understanding causes us to always focus on inventory, making sure we have plenty of stock to cover our customer’s needs. Obviously, there are times we’re caught off guard by an occasional extremely large order that even our suppliers have difficulty filling. That being said, our goal is ZERO BACKORDERS! In the first 7 months of 2013, we have demonstrated our best record ever of shipping orders on time; 99.9%! We’re not bragging (or maybe we are a bit) but we just want our former and future customers to know how important it is to ship orders in a timely manner.