MAIL ORDERS: Because of  franchise agreements we have with the various manufacturers, we only accept telescope orders from the United States and U. S. possessions.
Because of the significant chance of loss or damage in the Postal Service, we do not ship telescopes to APO addresses. To ensure your order is processed correctly,  please specify the item number and product description as shown on our price list.

PRICES: We keep our price lists up to date. And, prices are subject to change without notice.
Please visit our website regularly to view the current price before you place your order.

SALES TAX: You pay no sales tax if we ship outside Texas. We are required to collect 7.75% sales tax on all merchandise shipped within Texas or picked up at our store in San Antonio.
We are also required to collect 7.75% California sales tax on large telescopes delivered directly to a customer living in California, when the telescope is shipped from Meade or Celestron which reside in CA.

PAYMENT: You may pay by credit card, certified check, or money order. Personal checks are also welcome, but can delay shipment by 10 working days. On special orders, a 10% down payment is required when ordering, with the balance due in full before shipping.
(50% of the down payment is non-refundable if the order is cancelled prior to shipping.)
COD orders are payable on delivery by cash or certified check only, and require a 10% down payment before shipping. We add a $5 per carton fee to COD orders.

FREIGHT: We ship freight prepaid.  

PURCHASE ORDERS: Schools and government agencies may order on open account with a written a Purchase Order. Minimum billing is $25. Terms are net 30, FOB San Antonio, Texas.

SHIPPING: Shipment is normally from stock, although special orders and scopes shipped from the manufacturer may have a 4 to 24 week delivery schedule.

RETURNS: No returns accepted without prior authorization and none accepted after 30 days.
No returns on books, closeouts, opened software, or special orders. Factory defects are covered by the terms of the manufacturers’ warranties and can only be exchanged for identical equipment.
All returns are less freight. Since all opened returned items must be resold as used or demo merchandise, any return for credit against another purchase will be subject to a 15% restocking and refurbishing charge or whatever cost is involved to restore the returned merchandise to
saleable condition, whichever is greater, in addition to the freight costs.
Any return for a cash refund will be subject to a 15% restocking charge, plus whatever cost is needed to restore the merchandise to saleable condition, in addition to the freight costs.

Why do we sell telescopes in the U. S. only?

In order to become a distributor for any of the major manufacturers – Celestron, Meade, TeleVue, etc., a dealer must sign a contract in which he agrees, among other things, not to sell that manufacturer’s products outside the United States.

The manufacturer’s warranty on a product bought from a U. S. dealer is valid only within the United States. If you’re visiting the U. S. and buy a telescope to take back home with you,   that telescope is not covered by a warranty valid in your home country. If it has problems, you will have to send it back to the manufacturer in the U. S. for warranty service at your own
expense, plus you will have to pay for shipping the telescope back to you when repairs are completed. The manufacturers’ overseas distributors will not provide free warranty service if a product was not bought from them.

Why We Have a Restocking Fee.

You have 30 days from the date of receipt to decide whether you want to keep a product you bought from us.  Some dealers allow only 15 days from the date of their invoice, which is not very long when you subtract the time it takes a carrier to get the product to you.

If you return a product to us in new and unused condition, you’ll get your money back, less the freight we spent shipping it to you. People sometimes order the wrong product; they get two of something as a present, or a family emergency comes up and they can’t afford it right then. We understand these situations and give full refunds
– if the product is new in the box, unopened and unused.

On the other hand, if you open, set up, use a product, and then return it for a cash refund or credit against another purchase, we deduct from the refund or credit a 15% restocking charge plus the freight we spent to ship the product to you. The restocking charge is higher if the product is badly used and needs repairs to return it to saleable condition.

The reason for the restocking charge is simple. If a product has been opened and used, we can’t legally sell that returned product as new. It has to be resold as used – at a discount.
It doesn’t matter if the product was set up and used only once it invariably shows signs of use.
It is legally a used product and has to be resold as such.

The profit margin on our telescopes is only 10% to 15% to begin with. If we gave a full refund on every telescope returned and visibly used telescope that we had to resell at a 15% discount, we couldn't stay in business. We work hard to make sure our customers get the telescope that best fits their needs, so we have very few telescopes returned in the first place. The few that we do get back within the 30 day return period are resold (at the same price we allowed back for them). 
Our 15% restocking fee often doesn’t even cover our expenses in having to sell the same telescope
twice.