Order Shipping Information
WEATHER RELATED SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS:
Not Shipping Live Cricket Orders Monday or Tuesday 6/29 a- 6/30
- 1-business day and 2-business day live cricket order shipments are currently forecasted to be able to be shipped starting Wednesday 7/1.
- During weather related shipping restrictions; all orders for shipments of Live Crickets will be held until the next posted available shipping window.
- No orders for shipments taking 2-business days or longer can be shipped unless there are 2 consecutive business days with acceptable weather conditions.
- All orders taking 2-business days or longer will be held until there are the necessary consecutive shipping days with sustained temperatures in the Twin Cities area that are not forecasted above 90°F.
- During weather related shipping delays, if your order is projected to take more than 2-business days for shipping you can reach us at order@twincitiescrickets.com to cancel your order or to make arrangements to purchase a faster delivery option.
- Pick up appointments are available to be made at our Spring Lake Park, MN location. Weather-hold shipments can be changed to pick-up by contacting us with your order number at orders@twincitiescrickets.com to arrange an appointment.
- All Supplies and Accessories will ship as usual.
ATTENTION: Please consider the following actions during extreme weather periods:
- If you are not in an area that is within 1-day ground shipping from the Twin Cities do not order during this time unless you select Next Day / Overnight shipping.
- Arrange for your package to be held at a shippers location (FedEx Ship Center, UPS Store)
- Have your shipments delivered to where the driver can hand your package directly to a person and not left outside. (A friend or relative who is available to accept delivery or your place of work)
- Order more crickets earlier, during better weather, when severe weather is forecasted in the future.
- If you are in an emergency need for feeders situation, and absolutely have to get an order shipped, contact us at orders@twincitiescrickets.com to discuss viable options. Please understand that packing and shipping solutions will be expensive and have no guarantees.
Customer Shipping Responsibility:
The decision to ship, or not to ship, is based on forecasted temperatures in the Twin Cities Metro Area. It is the responsibility of the customer to be aware of their local forecasts, and the impact this may have on their order at the time of delivery. The customer should not place an order for live crickets to be shipped if the conditions at their location will not be acceptable for the delivery of live crickets or if they are unable to immediately receive their shipment and provide an acceptable environment for their crickets.
Please review the Safe Shipping Temperatures and Winter Shipping Protocols sections further down the page before placing an order for live crickets for shipment.
Live Cricket Shipping Days
None of us want the packaged crickets sitting in a shipping facility or truck any longer than necessary. We prefer not to ship cricket orders that will sit unmoving with a shipping service over a weekend, or on a shipper observed holiday. With this in mind please be aware of our shipping practices below when placing your order and choosing your shipping speed and rate.
- Orders for shipping with an estimated 1- or 2-business day transit for delivery, placed before 12 PM Noon Monday - Wednesday, will typically be shipped on the same day the order is placed.
- Orders placed before 12 PM Noon on Thursdays, with shipping that estimates 1-business day transit for delivery, will typically be shipped on the same day for an expected Friday delivery.
- Orders with an estimated 2-business day transit for delivery, placed after 12 PM Noon on Wednesday will be shipped the following Monday.
- Orders with an estimated 1-business day transit for delivery placed after 12 PM Noon on Thursday will be shipped the following Monday.
We reserve the right to not ship crickets on days when high temperatures, in our area and the destination area, are above 90° or below 25° Fahrenheit (our “Safe Shipping Temperature Zone”) for extended periods of time.
Universal weather and holiday related shipping issues and delays will be noted in an announcement bar at the top of our website. Expected Holiday Shipping Restrictions are posted on our website for review.
Recommended Shipping Area
Shipping from our location in the Twin Cities of Minnesota we market to the areas we can provide 1-day shipping to. We desire to only provide services to customers located within 1- or 2-day shipping through UPS Ground service.
We recommend that potential customers outside of our 1- and 2-day UPS Ground service area consider other cricket farms for obtaining their crickets. If a customer is outside of our 1- and 2-day UPS Ground service area and needs to utilize us as a last resort to obtain crickets, we highly recommend choosing at least a UPS 2nd Day Air, USPS Priority Mail Express or FedEx 2 Day guaranteed delivery service for shipping.
Cricket's health and shipping survivability greatly decreases when they are in transit for more than 2 days. We recommend and prefer that crickets are only in transit for 1 day whenever possible.
It is not recommended to ship any crickets that will be in transit for more than 2 days. We provide no guarantee on any cricket shipment's health or mortality rate for shipments that are in transit for more than 2 days. It is the customer's responsibility to purchase a shipping option that will allow their cricket shipment to arrive within 2 days.
UPS Ground Service Listed Transit Days:
UPS can* provide 1 (business) day shipping with Ground service with few exceptions to:
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Iowa (except the Council Bluffs area)
- Extreme Eastern North Dakota
- Fargo, North Dakota
- Sioux Falls South Dakota Area
- Parts of North Central Missouri
- Rockford Illinois Area
- Part of the Northwestern area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula
*UPS shows 1 business day shipping when we purchase your shipping label, this does not guarantee 1 day delivery. Customers are assuming the risk of later arrival when choosing UPS Ground regardless of their location. TCC can only replace or refund Carrier Guaranteed services.
UPS can provide 2-day shipping with Ground service with few exceptions to:
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Parts of Northern and Southeast Wyoming
- Eastern Colorado
- Northern Texas
- Most of Tennessee
- Western West Virginia
- Alabama
- Western Pennsylvania
- Montana
Please review the following UPS Ground Service Transit Map for further details and additional areas that can obtain 1- and 2-day service from our location:
Safe Shipping Temperatures
We reserve the right not to ship crickets on days when high temperatures, in our area, and the destination area, are above 90° or below 25° Fahrenheit (our “Safe Shipping Temperature Zone”) for extended periods of time.
We package our shipments of crickets based on the expected temperatures during transit and at the delivery location. These adjustments do affect the size and weight of the packaging and shipping and handling costs fluctuate throughout the year accordingly.
During hotter weather, quantities of crickets will be moved up to the next larger container size, and vented boxes are utilized. This allows more room for the crickets to separate and have better dispensation of heat from the container. In cooler weather, we will package crickets more condensed in blind boxes to conserve heat.
It is the customer's responsibility to bring their received cricket order into an appropriately temperature controlled environment immediately upon the package's delivery by the carrier service. Cricket shipments are packed for transit survivability and not to survive direct outdoor exposure to conditions outside of our "Safe Shipping Temperature Zone" or inclement weather.
Winter Shipping Protocol
As the winter months approach, we implement our Winter Packaging Protocol. This protocol goes into effect when overnight lows are 50° F or below and daytime temperatures do not exceed 60° F at our Twin Cities location. Winter Packaging Protocol procedures are dependent on forecasted temperatures. As average temperatures drop Winter Packaging Protocols incrementally include:
- Ship with blind (non-vented) boxes.
- Add a heat pack to blind boxes.
- Send blind boxes in sleeves with circulation spacing between heat pack and cricket containers.
- Send blind boxes paper packed in sleeves containing a heat pack (or multiple heat packs).
- Send blind boxes in sleeves containing a heat pack (or multiple heat packs) with gel packs, and/or phase changing material packs, surrounding the cricket container as a temperature and insulation barrier.
Winter Packaging Protocols progressively increase the weight and dimensions of shipments significantly and shipping and handling charges increase accordingly. Shipping and handling charges are continually adjusted during Winter Packaging Protocols based on current regionally forecasted temperatures.
During Winter Packaging Protocols shipments are also subject to:
- Shipment delays during significant cold weather, to align with the warmest forecasted shipping night of the week.
- Forced upgrade to overnight shipping (on shipments that would normally take 2 or 3 days for delivery) or be subject to an extended shipping fulfillment delay until forecasted daily temperatures significantly improve.
When a Winter Packaging Protocol shipment delay is anticipated, or an upgrade to overnight shipping is required to avoid a significant fulfillment delay, a Twin Cities Crickets representative will make every effort to contact the affected customer, through the contact information provided by the customer during the ordering process, to inform the customer of the situation and discuss any alternatives that may be available.
Current Shipper Issues:
No company is perfect and shippers are no exception. There are some issues with each of our shippers to be aware of. While our preference is to ship through UPS, due to pricing and consistent dependability, we also utilize USPS and FedEx when UPS is not a viable option. Here the issues we are currently experiencing with these shippers:
- UPS has flagged certain specific ZIP codes as more costly to ship to. Because of this a Delivery Area Surcharge is added to the standard shipping rate by UPS for recipient's in those Zip Codes. Typically the customers affected are aware of this already and will notice that UPS rates are higher than USPS rates at checkout.
- USPS indicates a "1-business day" delivery estimate for most Priority Mail packages at the order checkout page when ordering for delivery in MN or a surrounding state. The reality is that we have seen over 50% of our USPS Priority Mail shipments sit at regional postal distribution centers for multiple days before being sent to the final destination's local post office. When we have inquired with USPS on this we have been told that Priority Mail deliveries are not guaranteed by their posted estimates and can take up to 3-days for delivery. Because of this, we only utilize Priority Mail for 1-business day deliveries when UPS or FedEx aren't viable options due to a PO Box delivery address, extensive UPS Delivery Area Surcharges or UPS and FedEx Ground not having 1-business day delivery available to the location.
Shipping Policies
Complete details on all of our shipping policies and procedures can be found on our Shipping Policies page linked at the bottom of this website. Please direct questions regarding our Shipping Policies to orders@twincitiescrickets.com.