General terms & conditions

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TAXES AND DUTIES OWING FOR ANY PRODUCT THAT WE SEND.

US CUSTOMERS - NON-CITES ORDERS

USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Services) requires all foreign shipments of all animals and animal products to be declared and inspected. It is required by the US importer (the customer) to either fill out the declaration form to USFWS themselves or instruct us to do it on their behalf. Either way there is a US$94 inspection fee that might have to be paid and is the responsibility of the US customer. We will assist in our capacity to try and have that fee waived.

All USFWS declarations must be done prior to your order being shipped, not while the shipment is in transit or after it has been shipped.

If the parcel gets stopped by USFWS and the import declaration has not been completed correctly, then the shipment is subjected to seizure. Please inform us when you order if you will be taking care of this declaration or if you want us to do it for you.

PAYMENT METHODS

All prices are in US DOLLARS (USD). You can chose to have prices shown in a different currency, but you will be charged in USD. Please note that there may be a discrepency between the amount the website shows in a different currency and what is taken from your credit card, due to exchange rate.
Canadian customers have to pay 5% GST and their provincial sales tax or harmonized sales tax.
Payment may be made by:
- Web store payments (credit cards, USD only)
- Paypal (CAD, USD, EUR only)
- Wire transfer direct to our bank. Details upon request.
- Money order/bank draft
Personal cheque (Canada only) - Cheques will be held for 10 business days for clearing before we ship the package. The cheque has to be written out in the name Butterfly Art Inc. and sent by mail with a copy of your pro forma invoice to the following address:

Butterfly Art Inc.

75074 Cambrian RPO NW

Calgary, Alberta

Canada T2K 6J8

CAUTION: the order will be dispatched only when your cheque is received and cleared.

Payments made by any method other than Paypal cannot be processed online and prior arrangements must be made.
Complete payment (including postage and applicable taxes) should accompany each order unless other arrangements have been made.
Orders are processed on a first come first served basis.
All material is guaranteed with the exception of antennae damage due to postal shock.
Every effort will be taken to avoid postal shock by expert packaging.

RETURN POLICY

Any merchandise to be returned should be done so within 30 days from date of sale after notifying us first in case special arrangements are required.
Any specimens broken or damaged as a result of pinning process or human error are NOT eligible for refunds.
Refunds are possible where the quality for what was paid for is not matching the specimen that was received.

CITES

We work and abide with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). All materials offered are imported with the help and guidance of the Canadian Wildlife Service. Some species appear on Appendix II of CITES. While these species are not really endangered they might become so if not regulated. Any such listed species offered is listed with a star (*) and will be accompanied by a CITES re-export permit issued by the Canadian Management Authority. Each permit can accommodate a large number of species and numbers of specimens. No CITES application will be necessary for orders within Canada. The original permit numbers will be supplied with the order if requested.

Regulations and procedures have changed with respect to shipping CITES species to international jurisdictions. In light of these changes, here are the new steps that international buyers must be aware of when placing an order to buy CITES material.

All CITES shipments must be shipped via a courier company and NOT via CANADA POST since Canadian Border Agents can pull parcels for inspection from the courier company but not Canada Post. As such the cost of shipping a CITES parcel to the USA for example is now $30 and to other countries $70 for parcels less than 500 grams.

The US Fish and Wild Life Services Department levies a fee per CITES shipment to clear it. Then there are duties and taxes on top.

For the European Union, collectors who order CITES listed species from us must use the re-export permits that we acquire from the Canadian Government to acquire import permits BEFORE we ship the order to the EU Zone. VAT and other inspection fees vary from EU country to country. But one can expect to pay for the importation of the CITES order and the clearance of it plus duties and taxes.

These changes have been implemented so to weed out those who wish to circumvent the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species and while we can see these changes will have a material and real impact on our business, we fully support these changes for the sake of thwarting the illegal trade in these restricted species.

PACKING AND POSTAGE RATES

Due to ongoing shipping difficulties we no longer ship to Italy.

In Canada and the USA we prefer regular parcel service provided by Canada Post. International Parcels are sent via small packet airmail.

Postage rates are subject to change.

MATERIAL

All insects offered are dead, dried, unmounted and papered (any re-hydration and mounting to be done by the customer; except mounted specimens).
Data such as locality and date of collection will accompany each specimen and or will be provided to you if requested after purchase.

For all orders please note the following:

1) We process all orders on a first come first serve basis.

2) When we get requests for specimens and clients ask us to reserve stock for them, without a deposit, if someone else comes in the meantime and orders the same specimens, there is no way for us to prevent that sale from going through since there is no way to reserve stock through our e-commerce site. The only way to reserve stock is by deposit only.

3) It is the responsibility of all clients to know their local laws regarding the importation of CITES material. We here at Butterfly Planet follow all guidelines and procedures for the importation and exportation of CITES species from the Canadian perspective. Some countries need import permits for CITES material which is based on the export permit that we apply for on behalf of the clients.

4) Please note that CITES shipments will only be mailed to the address provided through the payment system through our e-commerce site. Once re-export permits have been issued to a client of ours, there will be no opportunity to change the name or shipping address. This is final. If this is an issue for you, please ensure that your mailing address for your credit card is the SAME as the address that you want us to ship the CITES shipment to.

5) All CITES orders take between 6-8 weeks for us to obtain re-export permits on your behalf. If this is too long of a time for you to wait to have your shipment then dispatched then you will either need to find an alternate supplier, or plan ahead so that the time it takes to fulfill the order meets your deadlines.

QUALITY CODE

A1 As perfect as all reasonable expectations dictate. Many are ex-pupae bred (EP). Antennae may be off, though most specimen antennae are intact.

A1/A1- Virtually perfect and fresh. Sometimes only antennae missing. Excellent quality at significant savings. Specimens sold with a 40-50% discount compared to A1 specimen.

A1- Flaws, but generally respectable. Specimens generally easily repairable. Excellent for framing. Representing up to 75% discount compared to A1 price.

A2 Very good second quality. Specimen having an significant defect: often a leg or a missing piece of leg or chips in the wing. Usually easily repairable. Sometimes accompanied by spare parts. Up to 90% discount compared to the A1 specimen. Good for representing a rare species at cheaper cost.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE CATALOGUE

M male

F female

P pair (male and female)