SPHERE OF HIP-HOP STORE FAQ/HELP
Have a question about the store or an order you placed? Please read through the info below before emailing us. Should you have a question regarding your order, we must have the following information to look into your order:
Providing all of the requested info will allow us to promptly respond. Please contact us only at our current customer service email: [Store at Sphereofhiphop.com]. Remove the spaces and include an @. Contacting us at any other email address will delay our response time. Our customer service email inbox is always open and available to answer your questions. We attempt to respond to all inquiries within 12 hours.
We do not currently have a customer service phone number available.
Don’t forget that USPS shipping rates have gone up as of May 12th 2008. We will try to keep our prices low but some upward adjustment will be necessary. A new ‘Flat Rate’ option is available now for all International customers. ‘Flat Rate’ allows us to mail up to 40 CDs in one package for a flat cost, regardless of the weight.
NEW SECURE ORDERING SYSTEM + HOW WE HANDLE YOUR INFORMATION
The new version of SphereofhiphopStore.com features secure server order processing as a part of our Shopify software system. It was safe and secure before… now it is even better! You can feel confident in shopping with Sphere of Hip-Hop!
The URL for the Sphere of Hip-Hop Store is: http://sphereofhiphopstore.com
The URL for the secure checkout system is: https://checkout.shopify.com
We NEVER share, rent or sell your information!
GET STORE UPDATES VIA OUR BLOG + OUR EMAIL LIST
Simply click on over to our Store Updates blog for the latest information on all matters Sphere of Hip-Hop Store.
Join our email list for the latest info and exclusive discount coupons!
PAYMENT AND BILLING
Credit cards are the preferred method of payment for SphereofhiphopStore.com. We accept a variety of credit/debit cards via PayPal.com. PayPal processes our online transactions safely and securely. We do not have access to any of your credit card information. Upon completion of your transaction, you will receive a receipt from Paypal and later a shipping notice from us.
Forms of payment we accept at SphereofhiphopStore.com Credit/debit card E-check Money order (via mail-order) Personal check (via mail-order)
Please note that e-checks/checks do require a clearance period. To avoid the wait, please pay by credit/debit. No International personal checks are accepted.
If you are purchasing digital downloads, please note that paying by e-check will cause a delay in your download activation. The activation email will arrive upon clearance of funds. To avoid the wait, please pay by credit/debit.
We also accept mail-orders. Please print off and complete fill out our mail-order form. Be sure to write neatly and legibly so we know what you want to purchase and where to send the items. Make your payment out to ‘Josh Niemyjski’ and send to the address listed on the mail-order form.
All prices are in US dollars. International customers will be responsible for any duties or costs charged by their local customs office.
YOUR ADDRESS
We rely on your submitted information to quickly process your order. The postal service also relies on your info to quickly deliver your package. Please carefully enter in your full and complete mailing address. If you have an apartment or suite #, please include that as well. Customer is responsible for any return mailing costs for packages returned to us because of incorrect address information. Please verify your address to ensure it is complete and correct before checking out.
A tip for you: if you have recently moved to a new address or are planning on one, consider submitting an official change of address card with the US Postal Service. This service forwards your mail to you for up to 1 year. We have, unfortunately, had orders returned to us with no new information given because an official change of address was not filled out.
SHIPPING (within USA)
Shipping is only $1.00, regardless of the number of CDs or pieces of Clothing you purchase. Vinyl shipping is automatically calculated for you upon checkout. You also have the option to upgrade your shipping to USPS Priority mail during checkout.
Want free shipping? Join our email list for special free shipping discount codes and other exclusive updates!
We make every effort to process, pack and ship your order within 72 hours of your order. We ship all orders with Delivery Confirmation so we can track shipments and record delivery information. Vinyl records are shipped USPS Media Mail which does take a small amount of additional time to arrive. Media Mail is the most economical choice for vinyl record shipments. All of our orders are packed with the utmost care to help your products arrive in excellent condition.
How we ship your order
We ship all domestic orders via USPS 1st Class mail, the exception being vinyl which is shipping USPS Media mail. During peak mailing times of the year, such as around holidays, please allow extra time for your purchases to arrive. All of our orders are packed with the utmost care to help your products arrive in brand new condition.
Delivery times
These times depend on several factors including: your location in relation to ours, speed of your local mail processing and delivery, regional and national mail volume and any other factor such as current weather conditions.
These times can and will fluctuate. They should be used only as a guide and not as a guarantee of arrival times. Our regular customers know that we do ship quickly and that their orders arrive in swift fashion. We try our best to get you these tunes quickly.
Vinyl record orders (USA)
We have chosen to dramatically lower the prices and allow you to add the appropriate shipping to your shopping cart/order. All domestic Vinyl Record orders are shipped by USPS Media Mail. Due to the bulk size and weight of vinyl records, we cannot offer free or discounted shipping on orders containing vinyl records. If you require quicker shipping for Vinyl Record purchases, please contact us prior to placing an order.
SHIPPING (International)
We now have a new and improved shipping system built directly into the Sphere of Hip-Hop Store shopping cart! You may now select between USPS International 1st Class and Flat Rate (for larger orders) options. Our rates are the same as from the previous version of the store and they become cheaper per piece ordered as you go heavier. For orders of 3 CDs or less, you have two options: USPS 1st Class International and the quicker USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope International. During peak mailing times of the year, such as around holidays, please allow extra time for your purchases to arrive.
All orders that weigh over 64 ounces (4 lbs) can only ship USPS Flat Rate Box. This box has a maximum capacity of 40 CDs and a maximum allowable weight of 20 lbs.
Some order configurations will allow us to bump up 1st Class Shipping (usually an order containing 4 CDs) to USPS Flat Rate Envelope shipping at no additional cost to you. This applies to all International countries with the exception of Canada and Mexico.
Large quantity orders
USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Box International shipping is available for larger orders. When this option is selected, you may order up to 40 CDs for one flat fee regardless of total weight! This option (also called International Priority Mail) is also speedier than the First Class mail.
Vinyl record orders (International)
Due to size and weight constraints, we highly recommend purchasing vinyl several pieces at once. It is the most economical, safe and speedy option we can provide for orders containing vinyl records headed to International destinations.
If you plan on ordering vinyl records from any of the following countries, please contact our customer service email for assistance: Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Cayman Islands, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden.
We have had customers from all areas of the world including:
Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
If your country is not listed in the country field when checking out, please contact us. We had made every effort to include as many countries as possible in our shipping rate charts.
Delivery times (International)
Shipping to international destinations normally take anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks to arrive depending upon the destination country. USPS International 1st Class, while very affordable, has no guaranteed arrival times, so there are occasions where shipments may take a bit longer than 2 weeks. We ship Int’l orders a few times weekly.
SPECIALS AND PROMOTIONS
We include as much free stuff as we have available to us in your order. Items may include: free music, stickers, flyers and other related items. Please join our email list for exclusive promotion info and sales coupons.
Current promotions
Look for another Tickets & Tunes promotion coming soon! All members of our store email list will receive exclusive and advance music downloads just for being on the list.
PRE-ORDER INFORMATION
When you pre-order an item, it means you are ordering something before it is available. By pre-ordering the item, you are guaranteed that the Sphere of Hip-Hop Store will ship it to your door immediately upon its official release to us. On many occasions, the Sphere Store is able to ship items prior to their official release. However, we can not guarantee that it will arrive extra early. We try our best to both honor street dates and to get you stuff as close to and in some cases just prior to the official release date.
Please check our Store Updates blog for the latest on product arrival dates. If you do not see any new updates, it is because none have yet been provided to us in regards to an expected date.
If you are also ordering in-stock items with your pre-order item(s), please be aware that all in-stock items will be shipped with your pre-order item(s) upon release/arrival. We do this to keep our costs low and further offer you the best prices. If you do not wish to wait, you can simply place multiple orders or contact our customer service email for further assistance. We use our best discretion when deciding what orders to hold and base those decisions upon supplier information.
Any release date changes will be updated and noted on our Release Dates area in addition to the Store Updates blog.
BACKORDERS AND OUT OF STOCK ITEMS
Every effort is made to always maintain appropriate stock levels for all the products we carry. We try to anticipate running out of an item by reordering before we have run out. Sometimes we may run into problems with a supplier being able to quickly fulfill our restock requests. We will make every effort to update the product description with that info.
Should we run out of an item you have ordered, we will generally wait for the restock to arrive and then automatically ship it to you. If we anticipate being out of an item for an extended length of time, we will contact you and offer you options (waiting for it or substitute another item) for that.
When an item is listed as “Out of Stock” on the store, that means we currently have no copies available and ability to order that product is automatically disabled. You can always check with us via email to see when we anticipate a particular item being available. Our inbox is always open and available for your questions.
DIGITAL MUSIC DOWNLOADS
Upon purchasing your digital music download albums your browser will be redirected to a special page allowing you to immediately download your purchases. You will also be emailed details of your transaction that includes your download information as well. Please download your music within 48 hours, before the download time limit expires. If you pay by E-check (electronic check), please understand that your downloads will not process immediately and will not activate until your payment has cleared.
Should you have issues with your downloads please contact us and provide full and detailed information on the problems you are experiencing. The more info you provide, the easier it will be for us to diagnose and help correct the problems. We can provide basic support but do keep in mind that there are a wide amount of variables that can create performance problems.
The first thing to do after downloading your products is to extract the files from the .ZIP file it arrives in. You cannot play any of the music while it resides in the .ZIP file. Simply drag and drop the files to your preferred location on your computer. If you wish to import your purchases into iTunes or other similar software, please refer to their software instructions on how to import and organize your music files.
Orders for any of the following releases get extra bonus download content:
Beat Rabbi & Deepspace5 – Deepspace5oul (bonus instrumentals)
Dert – The Short List (bonus Fledgling album)
Scribbling Idiots – The Have Nots (bonus instrumentals)
ERRORS AND TYPOS
Please report any typos and errors you experience on SphereofhiphopStore.com via email using the information at the top of this page.
REFUND AND EXCHANGE POLICY
No refunds or exchanges without prior approval.
QUICKER SHIPPING OPTION
Priority mail upgrade is now available for a small extra charge. Add USPS Priority mail to your order during checkout.