Emails / Emails Not Received

Please be aware that we send you two emails for each order placed: the Order Confirmation email (sent when order is placed) and the Shipping Notification email (sent when we process/ship your order). If you are not receiving either or both of these email (or any other emails such as responses to emails sent to help@spruebrothers.com, this likely means either your ISP is blocking them; they are in your spam folder; or your spam filter settings may be set too high (this is particularly an issue with AOL and Earthlink/Mindspring email accounts).

Surepost by UPS

We are now offering an additional shipping option: SurePost by UPS

The UPS SurePost service provide the convenience of UPS shipping and USPS-delivery to customers' mailboxes. UPS determines if UPS or the USPS completes the final mile of delivery of each shipment. Delivery time is approximately 1 to 2 days longer than regular UPS Ground. Surepost can also deliver to PO Box addresses.

This shipping method will offer considerable savings to customers who are having packages delivered to areas defined by UPS/FedEx as "rural" and "residential" locations.

New Webstore (July 12, 2012)

Welcome to the new Sprue Brothers Models webstore (click above to enter it). We have switched to a new shopping cart provider that we feel can better serve you. We started this project in late 2011, and after 5 months of work (this project actually got delayed 2 months due to the Great Models deal), it is now ready. Please note that all Sprue Brothers policies are still exactly the same as before. Here is a summary of the differences between this new webstore versus the prior one, and notable transition information:

Prior Accounts – Accounts on the prior system cannot be transferred to this new one. You will need to create a new account.

Shipping discounts (FREE / HALF PRICE shipping) Shipping discounts are now automatically calculated at checkout. At checkout, if your order qualifies, the discounted shipping choices are clearly identified and you no longer need to wait for us to process your order to see the discounted shipping cost.

Wish List –A wish list is now available for you to keep track of your “wishes”. To use the wish list, login to your account first, then go to “My Account” (located at the top right side of page), then click on “View My Wish List” under Other Features. If you have not yet created an account with us on this new webstore, you will need to do that first.

Rewards Program – A frequent buyer/rewards program is now available. For most items, you earn 1 point for each dollar spent. Redemption starts at 200 points (200 points = $4.00 store credit). To see your reward points balance or redeem points earned, go to My Account, and click on “My Rewards” under Other Features. Once redeemed, the store credit is kept track of in your account and is automatically applied when you place your next order. To see your credit balance, just go to My Account, and click on “View gift certificate balance” under Payment Settings.

Improved Search – Search results are shown now with the option to further refine the results either by clicking on a subset of manufacturers, or adding an additional search within the search results.

Website Speed – You should see significant improved speed/performance from this new webstore.

Shipping Options/Costs – All shipping methods and costs are now able to be shown with real time rates. All shipping options except UPS are now shown by default under the “More Carriers” list. UPS rates can be found by clicking on the “More Carriers” list and switch to the “UPS” list. Note – UPS had to be put on a list by itself as UPS, as a condition of them providing real time rates, does not allow their rates to be put “side by side” with the other shippers’ rates.

Hazardous Items for Shipping (such as certain paints) – This system does not allow us to block shipping options that cannot be used when shipping items that are considered hazardous for shipping. Basically any Air shipping method cannot be used to ship any items considered hazardous for air shipping. We have clearly noted any items that cannot be shipped via an Air Method, and clearly noted whether a shipping method is an Air method. In the event an order is placed with a shipping method than cannot be used, we will automatically switch the shipping method to the most inexpensive method that can be used.

For any international orders that include items that are considered hazardous for air shipping, those items will be deleted from your order as we have no cost economical method to ship hazardous items outside the USA.

Prior eGift Certificates/Store Credit – Any prior credit balance from the prior system will be transferred to the new system in the next two weeks. Details will be provided in the near future on how to redeem the credit in the new system.

Notify When Available Requests – Any existing Notify When Available requests from the prior system cannot be transferred to the new system. You will need to re-apply for the in stock notification. To do this, just find the desired item, click on it to get to the detail screen, then click on ”Email me when Back-In-Stock”.

What does "In Stock" mean to us?

Our definition of "In Stock" means that the item is actually in our warehouse (not at our distributors'/suppliers' warehouse) and is ready to immediately ship to you.

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Inventory Questions

We have been receiving a lot of inquiries lately regarding whether we actually have something in stock as our website indicates. This is likely due to the practices of other online hobby stores who have a different definition of what "In Stock" means. In case you are not familiar with our business practices, we use a real time inventory system that shows (accurately and live/in real time) what is available for sale and how many. It automatically and instantly updates the available quantities after each order is successfully placed.

Also, our definition of "In Stock" means that the item is actually in our warehouse (not at our distributors'/suppliers' warehouse) and is ready to immediately ship to you. Thus if you order from us, you will reliably and quickly receive what you order. On a side note, we are also human, so on rare occasion something could be in error, however our error rate in 2009 to-date has well been less than 0.1%.

International Customers

(May 14, 2007) - Please be advised that the US Postal Service has discontinued Surface Mail service. As a result any restricted shipping items (mainly certain glues and paints) we will no longer be able to ship outside the USA.