December 17th Shipping Update: We are now shipping orders out in roughly 2-4 business days, but we are seeing increasing delays within the US shipping system of USPS and UPS. As a result, orders placed now will still likely ship before 12/23, but we cannot guarantee when they will be delivered. 

We will update regularly with new estimates. With love, The Keap team.

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November 30th Shipping Update: We are shipping orders out in roughly 4-5 business days, and we anticipate this staying the same through December. 

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These holidays are shaping up to be unusual for all of us, with small businesses like Keap no exception. We’ve already made it through a shutdown, reopening, and a big move to our new location. These big changes have made us more adept at dealing with unforeseen issues than ever before. 

Which brings me to the point of this email: to inform you that shipping delays will likely be an issue this holiday period. By letting you know about this, we hope to get ahead of them as best as possible to avoid disappointment.

For context, this year every aspect of how we make our candles has more uncertainty than usual:

• Delivery of Ingredients: most of our suppliers are facing ongoing COVID-19 limitations. We’ve already dealt with a couple of unexpected delays in receiving key ingredients like scents and wicks, but thankfully neither caused major delays. We have ordered big and early this year, but await some final, critical deliveries.
• Candle Making: November and December are always our busiest times of the year, and exciting things tend to happen (such as our recent feature on the incredible blog Cup of Jo) that lead to order flurries. Since we hand-make all our candles to order, as the volume of orders increases so too does the time from ordering to shipping. We’ve hired 5 fantastic new team members in Kingston, but still anticipate longer than normal production times as we continue settling into our new studio.
• Shipping to You: There are already warnings about shipping this holiday, which has been dubbed “Shippageddon,” with the combined factors of a surge in holiday orders, and massive increases in online shopping created by the pandemic. USPS, UPS and FedEx have all issued warnings about potential shipping delays over the holidays. 

As you can see, there are a number of factors at play that mean it’s prudent for us to set some sensible shipping expectations for the rest of 2020! To mitigate this situation, we suggest the following: 

1. Plan on all orders taking 5 business days (~one week) to ship for the rest of 2020. If we can ship sooner, of course we will! 
2. Let us know if your orders are time-sensitive. We will give you a sense of what’s possible and do our best to prioritize shipping accordingly.
3. Complete all your holiday shopping early this year! You’ll avoid the anxiety of “Shippageddon," and please some candle-makers in the process. We will communicate an absolute deadline closer to the holidays, but even our best guarantees are not pandemic-proof. Ordering early is the best chance you have to receive your orders when you'd like them.

That just leaves me to say thank you for taking the time to read through this.

But more importantly, thank you for the consistent understanding you've shown our small but passionate team. We simply couldn't have made it through 2020 without you.

Warmly as ever,

— Stephen, on behalf of the whole Keap team

The Keap team outside our new studio in Kingston last week: Stephen, Philip, Sea, Harry, Sofia, Erica, Liz & Ashley!