"A society of people who are responsible for their own health and able to gather or grow their own medicines is a hard society to rule." --from This Is Anarcho-Herbalism

All text on this site copyrighted Harold A. Roth, 2001. No reproduction in whole or in part without permission.

Payment          

For US orders
Online: You can pay by credit card or Paypal or mail in payment by check or money order. The server where you enter your credit card info is secure.Top
By Phone: You can use your card to order by phone by calling (607)737-9250 between 10-6 Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
By mail: You can mail in payment by money order, check, or cash (US dollars). You can use the shopping cart and print out a copy of your order or just write it out by hand and mail it in with payment to Alchemy Works, 643 Newtown St., Elmira, NY 14904. Always mail in something indicating your order and address with your payment; otherwise, there is no way for me to know what you want and where to send it.  Checks must clear before product is shipped.  Returned checks result in a $25.00 fee plus the cost of collecting that fee. Top

For international orders:
Online: Yes, I do ship internationally, with a choice of priority mail (which involves some tracking) or air mail (no tracking information, although I do obtain proof of mailing). You can use a credit card with our shopping cart, use Paypal, or call. No sales to Indonesia, Jamaica, Haiti, Malaysia, Nigeria, Yemen, Poland, South Africa, or "West Africa." Seed orders to Australia and NZ are usually seized by your customs department, so don't waste your money; in contrast, other items seem to get through fine..
By mail: If you are in another country and would like to mail in an order, you can send US dollars in cash, but use registered mail if you are concerned about it getting here. I am sorry, but because of bank charges of between $5.00-$25.00, I can't accept ANY foreign checks or money orders whether they are in US dollars or not, and no foreign cash. THIS INCLUDES CANADA--sorry, guys, but as much as we would like it, you are not part of the US.:)  If you send in a foreign money order or check in US dollars anyhow, the fees will be deducted from it. Send payment with order (and don't forget your name and address) to Alchemy Works, 643 Newtown St., Elmira, NY 14904, USA. Top

Canceling an order: Please notify me by email or phone to cancel an order. If it has already been mailed out, it cannot be canceled. Top

Shipping

Domestic Shipping: Orders normally go out within a week. If you need an order by a certain day, call me at (607)737-9250 or email me to let me know, and I will get it out to you. Because of the increasing undependability of first class mail in the US, all domestic orders now go by priority mail, which takes 2-3 days once it hits the mail stream, and includes a delivery confirmation and tracking. I have switched from using first class for seeds to using priority mail for everything. Seeds still get a flat rate, though, so that whether you buy one pack of seeds or one hundred, the shipping rate in the US is the same. Sorry, no overnight shipping  or CODs. Shipping prices include the cost of the packaging materials and an hourly wage for the work involved; it is not restricted to the cost of the postage. I have worked hard to ensure that I use biodegradable materials as much as possible. Right now, I am using cardboard shippers with paper tape; packing is kraft paper and paper tape or paper label with perhaps a covered latex rubber band. The shipping labels are some composite; I have tried using plain paper, but it doesn't work. Orders are printed on 100% recycled paper. I have switched from using plastic baggies to package herbs and resins to using glassine envelopes, which are made from the waste of wood products and which are compostable. Instead of glass jars, I now package incense in paper boxes. Mailing boxes are postal priority mail or plain cardboard; the return address is mandatory for the post office but only reads "Alchemy Works" and street address. Top
International shipping: Orders go by Air Mail (Global Priority Mail is no longer feasible for inexpensive items like seeds, as it starts at $11.00 now!). You can elect to have your order go priority mail international, and if I am able to, I will bump it up to Express if it is the same price (sometimes it is). There is no tracking available on international orders that are not sent by priority or express mail. I am sorry, but I can't refund your money if your order is lost or seized or even if it is returned to me by your Customs department, since by that time, it has usually sat around in a warehouse for a month and is no longer in saleable condition. A Customs form is on the package (which reads "horticultural seeds" for seed orders, "potpourri ingredients" for other items). Please note that orders shipped to Australia and New Zealand are highly subject to seizure, and there are no refunds for customs seizures. A few years ago, a seed order was seized by Canadian Customs for not having a phytosanitary certificate, but that is not the norm, although it does typically take 2 weeks for an order to make it through Canadian Customs, especially out west. Also, Canada prohibits the sale of a number of different dried herbs that are legal to buy and sell in the US. In some countries, like the UK & Canada, you have a pay a duty on imported goods; I usually indicate a value of $3.00 for all international purchases unless insurance is required, in which case the actual retail cost is indicated. Because of problems with credit card fraud and/or unreliable postal systems, I can't ship to Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Haiti, Nigeria, South Africa, or "West Africa." Top

Other Info

Back Orders: If I am out of an item, you will not be charged for it, and it will not be sent later (backordered) unless you agree beforehand. I try to keep up with what is out of stock and delete the purchase button when I am out of something, but I also now notify people when something comes in that they want if they let me know. You'll see "click here to be notified" on those web pages. Top 

Refund Policy: If anything you buy from Alchemy Works is problematic, let me know by email or by calling me at (607)737-9250, 10-6 pm ET M-F (closed weekends), and we will work things out.  I will refund you for items if they are returned with my authorization. However, as is the norm in the trade, I cannot accept any returns on oils, and I cannot give a refund to someone who just sends things back. Top

Special Orders:  If you are looking for a custom oil or incense, let me know. Likewise, if you need seeds, herbs, resins, essential oils, or waxes that I do not carry, let me know by email or phone at (607)737-9250 10-6 pm ET M-F (closed weekends).  Top

Wholesale:  I don't offer wholesale anymore, but I am considering offering my oils in smaller sizes for retail sales in brick-and-mortar shops. If you are interested in that, drop me a line. I am not an affiliate-type business. My content is registered with the US Copyright Office and is not to be used on other sites for any reason. Top

Samples: Freebies are often included in orders over $40. If you are ordering over $40 and would like to try something, make a note of it in the box on the order form, and I'll do my best to accommodate your request.

Catalog:  There is no catalog at this point, although I am working on a seed catalog, no pictures. I am trying to condense much of the info on the site about some of the witching plants into a book entitled "Growing the Witching Herbs." If you would like to be notified when the book is completed, please click here.  Top

Privacy & Security: I will never sell or give away your personal information. You will not receive any unsolicited mailings or be signed up for any lists unless you expressly ask (like to be notified when a particular product you're looking for comes in). Your credit card number is stored briefly on a secure server run by one of the largest credit card processors in the world and is then deleted; using a credit card online is safer than using it in a restaurant or department store. Orders read "Alchemy Works" on the outside, no pentagrams or such like. Information about an order cannot be given out to anyone except the individual who placed the order. The shopping cart uses cookies to keep track of what is in it so that you don't have to refill it if you leave the site and come back later. It does not track your movements in any way. Top