Order Fulfillment Guide
It's Free! Plus Why Ship Your Prints When We Can Do It for You?
This quick guide is meant to highlight those features we offer at FinerWorks for artists and photographers who use us as their order fulfillment service. At FinerWorks, we believe providing reliable order fulfillment must be simple. In addition, we want artists and photographers to be confident their customers will receive the prints exactly as intended. There is no application process and it and does not take any special knowledge or technical expertise. If you know how to access photos or image files off your computer and use the Internet, your basic requirements have been met. If you have used FinerWorks before for online ordering, this guide will help you make sure you have not overlooked some of the tools we offer.
How to Use the FREE Drop Shipping Service for Orders
One of the first things we did when we built our initial ordering system over a decade ago was provide a drop shipping option. Drop shipping simply means you do not need to carry any inventory or worry about packaging and shipping. You commission the drop shipper (which would be FinerWorks) to send the order to your customers but branded under your name so it looks like you or your company shipped it. Many big online companies rely on this method either soley or to let them ship products which they normally would not be able to inventory. Amazon.com uses this method for some of the items sold and at the individual level Ebay and Esty sellers use this method all the time. With FinerWorks this service is it is totally free and does not require you to have any special account. When placing an order, you can use it by checking a box in your order review page. Doing so will make sure we do not include any FinerWorks inserts, receipts or other written materials with your order.
Is the FinerWorks brand hidden from my customers?
The packing slip will not display any prices or FinerWorks information. In addition, the return address on the shipping label has the name, company and address you entered in the billing phase of your check out. If you want to see how this looks for yourself, just check the drop ship option the next time you place an order (even if ordering for yourself).
Can packing slips show my business information Instead of my billing Info?
If you have registered with FinerWorks there is an area within your account where you can save your business information such as the company name, department or contact person and address. As long as you have added your business, we will use this information as the sender in place of your order's billing information.
Can I brand or provide a logo on packing slips & outside of the package?
When you are registered with FinerWorks and login to your account, you will see an area in which you can enter business information. Included here is the ability to upload a logo. This will serve two purposes. One, it will cause your orders to automatically have the drop ship option checked (you can always uncheck this on the order review page if you don’t want the order drop shipped) and second it will make any drop shipped orders include your logo. Your logo will be displayed both on the packing slip. For canvas and art paper prints ordered through our San Antonio location we also will include a label on the outside of the shipping package with your logo. Visit our YouTube channel to see how to upload your logo to your account.
Can you store my checkout information?
When you login to your account visit the quick checkout page. This stores the billing and shipping information you intend to use for your orders. When it comes time to placing an order, your checkout page will be populated with this information. Obviously if you do not anticipate shipping your orders to the same customer each time, you may want to leave the “Shipping” fields blank. While about 30% of our drop shippers use PayPal you can also opt to keep a credit card on file. If keeping a card on file be aware that we don't store the actual card number beyond the expiration date and last 4 digits, but instead a payment access token generated by the payment processor which can only be used when you order on this site.
Can I store images I frequently print?
Your Account offers you the ability to store a finite number of images based upon your account type. You can categorize these in various custom galleries you setup. Adding images is quite simple. After logging in, go to the “My Images” link which will take you to a batch uploading tool. Select the image files you want to upload and they will be uploaded to your account. You can order prints from these image anytime you want so you do not have to re-upload them each time. This saves a lot of time, especially if you have large image files. These uploads will be stored securely and inaccessible to the public. Whenever you place an order for a print from one of these images, a copy of your high resolution image will be forwarded to our production deparment for printing.
Can I quickly re-order the same prints?
Creating a virtual inventory of prints (or cards) you think you will be ordering on a regular basis can save you a lot of time later on. Once you have uploaded images to your account in your personal galleries, you can setup individual giclee prints or cards with different size and styles. These will be stored in "My Prints Inventory". When you need to have an order drop shipped to your customer, just go there and add the print you need to your cart. It saves you the time because you won't have to go through the entire print setup process each time you want to order that print.
Can I have international orders drop shipped?
If you are based outside of the U.S. and want your order dropshipped, we recommend you enter your business information within your account but use our address. This prevents confusion and potential problems which can occur with the shipping service or even customs. This also helps us since we must use a U.S. based address on the customs forms.
How do I track my customer’s order?
You can login to the order status page or go to your order history (if you have an account). Toward the bottom of the copy of the order we will post your tracking number for orders shipping from our San Antonio printing center, usually shortly after your order is shipped.
How will I know when you have shipped my customer’s order?
Whenever we ship an order we will send an e-mail notice to the e-mail address you provided in your billing information. This email will include a link where you can access a copy of this order as well as tracking information when made available. Note that orders shipped from our partner lab may not always have tracking information available.
What do I do if my customer says their order was lost or damaged during shipping?
Print’s being lost or damaged during shipping is rare however it does happen on occasion (less than 1% of orders are ever reported to us). If this occurs, please contact us by e-mail or phone via our contact page so that we can make arrangements as required. In some instances of damaged prints, UPS will pickup the damaged print so make sure you tell your customer to make it available in the original package for pickup by UPS. With lost prints, we may require an additional several days depending on the time frame the order was shipped in the instance an order is running late or transit information has not been updated by the courier.
Can I include a message for my customer?
Yes. When you place your order, the final review page has a box where you can include comments. These will be printed on the packing slip. Please note, this box only allows for text and letters so you will not be able to enter links to web sites and html.
Can I supply inserts or box labels for orders being shipped to my customers?
Contact us if you expect to be submitting orders on a regular basis that need to be shipped to your customers. We offer this on a case by case basis, determined by sales volume. We can also work with you on developing private labeling boxes, company inserts, brochures, business cards and flyers.
Are discounts available if I order frequently?
If you place a substantial number of orders each week and on a regular basis we would love to discuss with you various discount programs we can offer based upon the options you plan to order.
What happens if my customer decides they do not like the print they received?
We offer a 30 day money back or replacement guarantee for everyone. If in the rare instance your customer decides they need to return the print, you have two options: One is to make arrangement to have them send it to you. The other option is to contact us so that we can provide return instructions. Contact us within 30 days of placing your order and we will work with you on refunding or reprinting the order as necessary. Please visit our returns page for more details.
Do you collect VAT?
The simple answer is "no". VAT or Value Added Tax is something not currently applicable in the United States where FinerWorks is based. If you are not based in the U.S. and subject to paying VAT, then this would be your responsibility outside of your purchase from FinerWorks. If you have additional questions about VAT please consult a tax specialist regarding VAT.
What about sales tax?
The following does not require any action on your part if you don't mind being charged sales tax for orders shipped to customers in the State of Texas. Since FinerWorks is based in the State of Texas we are required to collect sales tax only for orders shipping to a Texas address or if your billing address reflects an address within the State of Texas. If you don't want to be charged sales tax in these instances, account holders must do all of the following:
- Account holder will need to enter their business information within their account so that we can later make it tax exempt.
- Apply for a Texas Sales Tax Permit in order to receive a Texas Tax Permit Number.
- Once the permit number is received, the account holder will need to e-mail us a completed and signed copy of the Texas Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate / Exemption Certification (Not the Sales Tax Permit).
Please note the following: If you have received a permit for sales tax as described above we cannot refund sales tax charges for previously placed orders. Also, we cannot accept tax exempt forms from other states since they may not be recognized by the State of Texas.