Generally, orders are processed within 1-3 business days and are shipped fast within our shop. Our processing time may vary during any Holiday or at various times during the year, such as Graduation time, etc. Mother's Day and Christmas orders usually take more time to process and we strongly recommend that you choose the RUSH option during these times.
It's important to note that processing and completing orders within our shop is not the same as delivery time. Delivery time is dependent solely on the shipping carrier and is added to the shop processing times.
What if I need it fast?
We offer a RUSH OPTION on many of our products. RUSH OPTION will move your order up in our shop queue and may save a significant amount of time, especially around Holidays. Depending on the number of orders with the rush option, your order will be placed in the front of our shop queue, with our standard placed without the rush option at the back of the shop queue.
Depending on the time of year and your situation, we may be able to help expedite the order even further. Please remember that purchasing our RUSH option simply moves your order up in our queue and does not impact the delivery times of shipping. It's important to choose the shipping/delivery options that best suit your needs.
We are Made in America!
Our custom puzzles are all Made In America, from start to finish, in our shop. We are located in rural Richland, NJ, and are proud to manufacture high-quality American Made puzzles for over 12 years!
HOW DO YOU SHIP?
Shipping our puzzles is important to us. We've found that the USPS is the best method of shipping for our product and we have great faith in them. Therefore, we ship our puzzles via USPS First Class Mail or USPS Priority mail with tracking, depending on the weight of the product selected. If you order in bulk we ship via USPS Ground. Please see our SHIPPING page for more information.
International orders are shipped via USPS First Class International Mail and customs information are discussed further on our International Shipping Page. Please visit our INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING information page prior to ordering.
HOW DO I ORDER ONLINE?
When you order online you will place items in your cart. You can continue shopping after each item that you are purchasing is added to your cart. When you have finished your selections, you will proceed to the Cart. Here, you can make adjustments to your order.
You will then be directed to login and enter your information so that we can process your order. Please provide a valid email address and an optional phone number to prevent any delays in your order. You will have an opportunity to view your order again where you can select shipping and an address for your order to go to. You can select your payment option and proceed with your order. You will upload your photo's at the time of ordering.
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN YOU RECEIVE MY ORDER?
You will receive an automatic email after your order has been placed with your order number and invoice. We require a valid email and/or phone number so that you receive this information and can contact you with any difficulties with your photo submission or order. It's important to note that some email services may screen emails and our confirmation email may go to your SPAM folder. Please add us to your address book to avoid this.
PHOTO SUGGESTIONS:
WHAT IS BLEED AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR PHOTO IMAGE?
In order to print your image to the edge of the puzzle, we must cut off a small amount of the picture when cutting the puzzle. The part of the image that is cut off is called the bleed. Most of our puzzles require a 1/8" full bleed which means 1/8" all the way around the image is cut off when cutting the puzzle. It is suggested that you avoid adding text of having any part of the image close to the border of the puzzle to avoid it being cut off.
UPLOAD SUGGESTIONS
We prefer JPEG (.jpg) files for your uploads. The minimum recommended resolution for your files should be 150 dpi (dots per inch) and a maximum of 300 dpi. Please see our detailed page on Uploading Images.
We offer a visual guide on resolution and selecting your photo that is user friendly.
CELL PHONE:
With the improvement in cell phone photo technology, your options are excellent! We suggest that if you are downloading from a cell phone you download as "Actual or Original" size for best results. Your digital camera should be 7MP or higher for the best resolution. We offer photo submission recommendations on each personalized custom photo puzzle product page or click PHOTO UPLOAD SUGGESTIONS.
SCANNED PHOTO SUGGESTIONS
If you are scanning a photo, please remember to clean both the photograph and the scanner prior to scanning your images. This will avoid unwanted "flying saucers" in the photograph. We cannot fix scanning errors.
If your scanned pictures do not conform to size, we will either crop the photo for size or ask that you add a border to conform to the size. Should we be unable to reach you, we will print whatever is sent. We do not provide layout work with our puzzles and print what we receive, as the expectation is that you are sending a print-ready photo. Wide angle photos are automatically cropped by our machine, so please add a border or edit the photo prior to sending your photo. Remember, please save the images as JPEG (.jpg) when scanning.
WIDE ANGLE PHOTOGRAPHS
It should be noted that wide angle photographs may be cropped to fit into our puzzles. We will not crop out People if possible, but this may add a white border to the top and bottom of the photograph. You will have the opportunity to crop your image within our Photo Cropping Tool at the time of upload. This may or may not leave a white border.
We print what is sent to us, and the machine automatically crops images to conform to the sizes of the puzzles. We strongly recommend that you crop and size your image to the requirements prior to purchase.
INFORMATION ON OPTIONS
The "regular" backing on our puzzle board is a light gray color. We purchase a specialized board that is thicker than most and features a lighter color. The board is 100%, recycled board. We provide the opportunity, on some of our puzzles, to add a white backing for an additional fee.
While we cannot number all of our puzzle offerings, we can number most. If available, we hand-number our puzzles on the back and in the bottom right-hand corner. We use several different writing utensils to achieve this. We will number most puzzles in pencil, in the bottom right-hand corner with the numbers facing you. We may number puzzles in pen if they have the optional white backing, or if you have ordered multiple puzzles so you can differentiate between the puzzles. Which writing utensil is completely up to The Missing Piece Puzzle Company, LLC's choice.
We recommend that on most standard puzzles with a natural backing that you write with a medium ballpoint pen (sold separately). We recommend either medium ballpoint pens or Sharpie Markers (sold separately) for our puzzles that have an optional white backing, either front or back. Gel pens and fine tips do not work well on porous puzzle pieces.
New Jersey State sales tax is collected for orders originating in and ending in New Jersey at 6.625%. For customers outside of NJ, we strongly suggest that you check with your state taxing authority to see if you owe sales tax on your order.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Missing Piece Puzzle Company reserves the right to refuse service, cancel orders, and substitute items at their discretion, including all items, accessories, puzzles, and options. The Missing Piece Puzzle Company reserves the right to alter your image, which may include increasing resolution, cropping, or lighten/darkening the image to optimize the image for the puzzle. We may use an AI to maximize photos.
The Missing Piece Puzzle Company, LLC
