We try to keep all of our products except books and music in stock at all times. We stock our most popular book and music titles and obtain others as we receive orders for them. While we try very hard to maintain adequate stock levels, we do run out of certain products at times.  This is especially true of seasonal products like botanicals or animal based products like feathers and leather. We will generally backorder products that we think we can obtain within 30 days. Otherwise, we'll cancel that part of your order. We may also not backorder products if the total value is less than $10.

However, the choice is entirely up to you.  If you want us to backorder out of stock items, just check the backorder box on the order form (this is the default option). Note that we will ship available items immediately.   We do not hold orders waiting for out of stock items to arrive. There is no additional shipping charge on most backorders for orders shipped to the 48 contiguous states. Please see our shipping and handling page for more information.

Substitutions

Another option is to let us substitute a similar product.  This is generally a good idea for items like beads and feathers.  We may not have the exact color or size that you want, but we may have something very close.  There is often very little difference between a dark red and light red or an 11/0 and 12/0 bead. Allowing us to substitute helps ensure that we will be able to ship you products suitable for your projects. Just check the substitutions box and provide any specific instructions that will help us select the best item for your needs. Enter your comments  in the "special instructions" area of the order form.  Rest assured, we won't do something silly like substitute a yellow bead for a blue bead (unless you ask us to!). We have years of experience in making Native American crafts and we'll make sure we send you something you can use.