SHIPPING

Free Shipping: We pay for shipping costs, depending on the order size and on the time it takes for a shipment to reach its destination. We ship from Rockville, MD. Free shipping applies to ground transportation only (not to  expedited shipping options or orders using coupons), when your order meets or exceeds: 
$100.00 for 1-day shipping zones (CT, DE, DC, MD, NJ, NC, PA, VA)
$120.00 for 2-day shipping zones (AL, GA, IN, KY, MA, MI, NH, NY, OH, RI, SC, TN, VT, WV)
$140.00 for 3-day shipping zones (AR, CO, FL, IL, IA, KS, LA, ME, MN, MS, MO, TX, WI)
$180.00 for 4+ day shipping zones (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY)

Please note: wholesale and food service products, as well as all perishable products and whole cases of glass jars, are not included in the free shipping offer. Free Shipping does not apply when coupons are used.

US and Canada Shipments only: Our store is located in the area of Washington DC and we ship our products to all destinations within the continental USA, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Canada. Our mission is to get you as many products as you ordered as fast as possible. We source from the leading US importers and distributors and even purchase from other retailers. Some parts of your order may be shipped directly from our import partner.

We ship to Canada.  Any applicable duties, taxes and custom processing fees, if applicable, have to be paid by the customer. Generally, shipping costs to Canada start about $30.00, even for small orders. Please call toll-free 1-800-881-6419 for more information.

APO/FPO Shipments: Shipments to an APO/FPO address must be sent via standard USPS priority mail cannot be guaranteed to arrive by a specific date. Perishable food products are not be suitable for APO/FPO shipments.

International Shipments: At this time, we do not ship outside the USA or Canada.

Time to pack and ship: We're a small business and do not offer same or next day fulfillment service, which you can get at very large retail stores. On average, it takes us 2-3 business days to pack and ship an order. During the peak season (October - December), it may take us up to 10-12 days to get to pick and ship an order. If you need a guaranteed shipping time or a specific delivery window, please send us an email or leave a note at checkout and select 1-2 day delivery methods.

Choice of Shipping Service: Our website offers many choices of USPS, UPS or FedEx delivery methods. Depending on your choice of service and the shipping destination, your package may arrive between 1-5 days. We are located in the Washington DC area. So, shipments to  California will take anywhere between 3 business days (USPS Priority Mail) to 5 business days (Fed Ex or UPS Ground). We reserve the right to choose the most reliable and cost effective shipping carrier, even if you selected a different carrier during checkout. For example, we may choose to ship with USPS, even if you selected UPS as a carrier for perishable items.

During peak season (Oct -Dec): All shipping services get overwhelmed when high demand overloads their system, or they experience labor and capacity shortages. In peak season, delivery times may take up to 2 weeks. We do not guarantee the prompt delivery of ground and expedited shipping methods and will not issue a refund, if a packages arrive late. If you want to have some certainty that packages are getting delivered, please choose expedited guaranteed delivery options.

Shipping Perishables or Heat-Sensitive Products to warm weather areas:  Please read our Shipping Perishable Products page for more information. We only ship perishable items on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to ensure that your order arrives the same week we ship. All perishable and heat-sensitive items (sausages, cheese, bread, chocolates) will packed with ice and in thermal insulation. A surcharge for extra packaging will be applied at checkout and we only ship perishable orders with 1, 2 or 3 Day Express (please select that option during check-out). At certain times (during inclement weather situations (for example), we may delay the shipment. Route Insurance or we will not issue a refund for any ground shipments of perishable products.

Orders may ship in multiple boxes and arrive separately. We take great care to ensure that your products arrive in good condition.

INVENTORY

Availability of Inventory: It is inherent in the specialty food industry, that not all items are available at all times. We do not automatically indicate on our website that items are out of stock, because we buy them from a number of suppliers, even other retailers, to be able to complete an order. Depending on the availability of supply your order may ship within 2-3 days or in 1-2 weeks. We will let you know if an item is out of stock and will either give you an estimated time of delivery, suggest a similar item of equal value as replacement or will refund the payment of this item and ship the remaining items.  In some cases, we reserve the right to replace out-of-stock products with similar products from the same manufacturer that are of equal or higher value, or issue a partial or full refund of the order without prior notification. We don't ship parts of orders or ship back orders free of charge.

Fighting food waste: Throwing away perfectly safe and edible food is not just an economic loss. It also contributes to the depletion of natural resources and environmental damages caused by mass agriculture. We are committed to do our part to reduce food waste through recycling and best practices inventory management.

Best By Dates:  Frequently, manufacturers use unnecessarily short Best Before Date to artificially increase sales on packaged food products and increase turnover. The vast majority of packaged products are perfectly safe to eat and experience no loss of quality 4-6 months past the stated shelf life. This is why we sell and ship our shelf stable, imported products

• at normal or promotional price within 1 month of the stated shelf life
• at greatly reduced prices during the last month of the stated shelf life (listed in the ON SALE section of our website)
• at prices significantly below our purchasing cost, within 3 months beyond the Best Before (indicated by BB added to the product name. The Best By Date months will be indicated in the product description)
  

Pre-Orders: Many of our products are seasonal and available only in limited quantities (for example, German Christmas goodies or new product introductions). Before we have physical inventory in our warehouse, these products can be pre-ordered. This guarantees that you'll receive this item on a "first-come-first-serve" basis. Please note: pre-orders have to be placed separately. When your order contains everyday and seasonal (pre-order) items (for example, bratwurst sausages and Christmas gingerbreads), we will ship your order when we received all products and let you know accordingly. If you need the everyday items sooner, please let us know and we'll refund the pre-order. You can then place a new order for the seasonal items. 

Product Pictures: Manufacturers frequently change the package design and even the name of a product, even if the product inside does not change.  So, what we show on the website may not always or necessarily reflect the most current appearance of the product, although we are doing our best to keep up and give you the most accurate description and picture. We do not refund any payment for products with packaging design and/or product names that are different from what is shown on the website.

ORDERING

Sourcing and Shipping Variances: A flat 2.5% charge is added to all orders to offset variations in our costs to source, handle, pack, and ship your order. For example, we source some hard-to-find products from other retailers at full costs, so that we can complete an order. Or we ship some orders in several packages, when customers request to ship bulky and heavy glass jars along with fragile cookies or chocolate figures.

We do not have a minimum order quantity for the purchase of individual items. However, the more you purchase, the lower the shipping costs per item. We recommend a minimum purchase value of $25.00 and above.

Coupon codes, that we offer from time to time, can be redeemed at checkout to reduce the overall cost of the purchase. Usually, coupon codes can only used once per customer during a calendar year. We do not accept coupon codes for Wholesale Purchase or Special Deals.

Promotions: Unless otherwise stated, any promotion, special deal, or discounts advertised in newsletters, social media or in our store are good for 4 weeks after publication and subject to available inventory.

RECEIPT OF PRODUCTS

Accept: please use a ship-to address where someone will be available to accept the package at the time of delivery (home or business). Only USPS ships to P.O. Box addresses. If you or your gift recipient is not present at the time of delivery and damage occurs (i.e. melting, breakage or theft of the package) as a result of delay in claiming the package, we accept no responsibility and will issue no refund.

Damaged products: We pride ourselves in our packing skills and pack shipments as secure and tight as possible. However, despite our best efforts, some glass products may break or leak during delivery. If you receive damaged products, please take a photo and send it to info@germanfoods.org immediately after you discovered the damage (latest within 24 hours). We will issue a refund for the damaged items.

Lost or stolen packages: Once package show "Delivered' on a mail carrier's tracking websites, we consider it delivered.On rare occasions, packages are delivered to a neighbor, are subject to porch theft, or are returned to us as undeliverables.  In these cases we do not issue a refund.  If a package gets completely lost in the supply chain of a carrier (a rare occasion) and the Status remains "Undelivered" on a carrier's website, we will, at our discretion, refund the products payment, issue a store credit, or send you a high value coupon to offset the costs of replacement purchases. We will not refund shipping costs for any orders.

ACCURACY OF PRODUCT LISTINGS

We do our very best to keep all product listings as accurate as possible. However, due to our frequently  changing assortment, unannounced packaging changes and deviations of package weights by suppliers, some product or pricing information on our website may be inaccurate or outdated. We regret the inconvenience, but cannot be held liable.

RETURNS

All purchases are final. Please check your order carefully.We do not offer refunds or store credits when:

• Products were delivered intact and as described, but don't match the personal taste of the recipient.
• The person ordering provided an incorrect shipping address.
• The person ordering selected products or quantities in error.
• The person receiving the order was not available to take in packages when the order was delivered.
• Packages were stolen after delivery
• The problem was not reported within 12 hours of delivery.
• Errors due to fraudulent orders

Our team at The Taste of Germany.com is always committed to provide services to your satisfaction, and make every effort to pack your order carefully to arrive in good condition. You have a right to expect that our products will be delivered to you as described on our site.

If you have any questions or concerns about your order , please contact us by email or call 1-800-881-6419.