Adafruit's policy with creditcards is to charge only when the items are shipped. That means that we only "authorize" the card when the order is placed. For some cards, especially bank cards and debit cards, the authorization appears as a 'charge' on the statement and disappears a few days after it is finally collected & shipped. Then the final charge is shown on the statement. That means that if we're snappy and ship your order quickly you may end up with what appears like 2 charges. If you made a mistake and your card was declined, it may also appear on your statement. Note that this is not a real charge, and that we do not collect the funds, they are held by your card's bank. Of course, if the extra charges stick around for more than 4 business days, you should contact us!

Purchase orders are accepted by US schools, universities and government agencies. To place a purchase order, please first make your order on the Adafruit webcart, selecting the proper shipping address, ship method and items you would like to have included. Upon checkout, select Purchase Order as the payment method. Purchase orders should be $500 before shipping costs. Your order is now complete and you will receive an email invoice with our fax number. Submit this document to your purchaser and they can duplicate the items, prices and shipping costs so that the PO matches. Then fax to the number on the invoice. If you need a W9 please email support@adafruit.com. This is the fastest way to get your PO processed and will reduce errors and delays!

To get sales tax exemption, first make an account on adafruit.com, then email support@adafruit.com with your exemption number or certificate. Once we enter in the data, your orders will be tax exempt. Please do not place your order first because we will just have to delete the order and start over!

Yes! We ship anywhere the postal service ships, including FPO/APOs and just about every country and continent (including McMurdo!) To get the shipping cost, make an account with your shipping address and log in. Then when you have your cart ready, click on estimate shipping to get your estimate. Remember that international shipping takes a while, and tracking numbers are only available if you ship Global EMS.

When shipping international, the post office quotes a certain number of days (say, 3-5) for delivery but that is only the number of days it takes for the package to reach your customs office. Packages can sit in customs for up to 4-6 weeks, although this is rare it does happen, especially with larger orders. If you shipped via Air Letter Post, there is no tracking number, nor is there any way to track it. After 45 days from shipping, we can submit a refund claim but otherwise there is nothing that can be done.
Only USPS Global Express Mail provides a tracking number, which you can use at the USPS website.

If you requested shipment with FedEx, UPS or USPS Priority or Express Mail a tracking number will be emailed to you soon after your order is processed (directly from usps.com, ups.com or fedex.com). If its been a few days and you have not received a tracking number, contact us! Please note that USPS priority and first class mail are shipped with a Delivery Confirmation number. DC is not the same as tracking, and often times the barcode is only scanned when it is delivery. DC is intended to show when and where it was delivered, not where it is currently or when delivery is expected!

Kits come with all parts required, including a custom printed circuit board any preprogrammed chips. Batteries are not included unless indicated otherwise. Tools necessary for assembly, such as soldering irons, solder, pliers, etc. are not included.

Right now, we only sell kits and PCBs. For some projects, people offer builder services through the forums and you can post a message in the appropriate group either offering or seeking such services.

All kits are documented online on http://www.ladyada.net. The link for the instructions is on the product page, and looks something like http://www.ladyada.net/make/projectname where projectname is the kit. Having the documentation online allows us to update the instructions and provide large full color images.

Make sure to look at the instructions to get an idea. Most of the kits are pretty easy to solder, but require care (to not get the parts confused) and proper tools.