• SALES ARE FINAL: under no circumstances will we issue refunds or accept returns. Thanks for your support.

  • LOST/DAMAGED: we are NOT responsible for lost or damaged parcels that were not covered by insurance/delivery confirmation or by extra shipping costs paid to have items packed more securely (which increases package weight and as such requires extra shipping costs covered). It is YOUR duty and responsibility to inquire about securing your package/goods beyond the basic shipping that we offer by default at checkout. 

Additionally, please keep in mind:

  • DEFAULT SHIPPING: we ship our vinyl in standard 12" record mailers and our tapes in padded envelopes via USPS Media Mail only within the USA and with Priority Mail to the rest of the world to keep shipping costs down and our releases affordable. Both tiers are cheap but do not offer guaranteed delivery which comes only with the additional purchase of insurance and or signature confirmation, or through express courier services like UPS or FedEx. If you want peace of mind and require insurance, signature delivery, or extra padding/packing for your items (which will increase package weight and shipping costs), or want us to ship through a different carrier/service, then please get in touch before ordering so we can arrange for you to cover the extra shipping costs and or arrange your preferred delivery. Please note that while insurance may guarantee you are monetarily compensated for the value of your lost item, that the lost item may however remain a permanent and unrecoverable loss. Thanks for your time and understanding.

  • PROCESSING: we process (pack and label) orders as soon as can get to them, and when done every customer receives an email confirmation with tracking info that their order has been processed. Orders however ship on Friday and or Saturday only (within 5 BUSINESS days from order receipt). If you place an order on or close to a weekend, your items will be processed as soon as possible, but won’t likely be dropped off at USPS the following weekend, even if it has been marked “shipped”. If Sentient Ruin can not get to the post office on a Friday or Saturday, then your item will ship the following Friday or Saturday. Orders are marked as "shipped" as they are processed (packed and labeled). Per the above, this does not mean your order has actually left SR HQ as of yet, it can take up to one or two weeks for your tracking to update and show activity

  • PRE-ORDERS ship upon receipt of the physical goods from the tape or vinyl plants. Often we will have items up for pre-order way ahead of release (often months ahead) to allow people to reserve a release in case it sells out. In these cases the ship date is always tentative and always subject to change, pending the plant's estimated delivery. If the tentative ship date is delayed or changes otherwise, we update the ship date regularly on the album buy page to reflect when we think we will have the items in our possession and available to ship. In some rare cases we will email you directly to provide a personalized update. This is especially common with vinyl which can take a long time to deliver and often suffer delays (it is the nature of the industry which is always slowed down by old machinery breaking down, vinyl being warped, or jackets being damaged in transit etc.) or with cassettes which have custom-crafted component and depend on multiple sources to be completed. If it is not clear to you when your pre-ordered item will ship, please get in touch!

  • TRACKING: rarely, but indeed sometimes, we've noticed tracking for some packages will remain "frozen" in transit, for weeks or even months. We have no idea what causes this, but once a parcel has been dropped off and shipped and it enters its transit route, it is out of Sentient Ruin’s hands and in USPS hands, and Sentient Ruin has no knowledge, role or say from there out on the fate or status of the package, nor can it control what USPS is doing with it or intervene in any way to “unblock” it from its condition or take any action to make it move along to destination. The buyer needs to contact USPS them selves and inquire, or file a claim for lost goods. As per above reaching out to get insured/registered items takes care of the potential problem.

If you have questions, please contact us before ordering.