On Saturday, March 9th we will be upgrading Detailed Image’s servers! We expect that our site will be down for several hours starting shortly after 10 AM Eastern Time. Before getting started, we will post a message at the top of our website and disable the login and checkout functionality. As soon as we’re done, we’ll remove the message and you’ll be able to resume shopping.

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram accounts on Saturday for more updates and a special offer after the upgrade is complete.

We apologize for any inconvenience. This will be our first extended downtime since 2018. We do our best to minimize downtime whenever possible to ensure that you can shop when it is most convenient for you.

If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact us or reach out on social media.

We would like to take a moment to explain how this pandemic is still impacting not only shipment speeds, but also product availability from many of the manufacturers we carry. Here at DI, we remain committed to getting you your package as fast as possible. Our warehouse is working hard and most days we are still shipping orders right up until our 1 PM ET cutoff (Monday – Friday). If we are not, it is due to high volume and that information is communicated on our Shipping Info page and during checkout to help you make an informed purchase decision.

General Delays

Starting off, the pandemic has hurt manufacturers as well. Many are having issues sourcing raw materials to make products within their product line. We work hard to provide accurate backorder dates and ETA’s on when we expect these items to be back in stock, but note that these dates are changing more frequently. Many times these dates are provided by the manufacturer and change due to issues with raw materials, manufacturing, importing, and just general shipping delays from trucking companies. We do not know 100% when an item will be in stock until the shipment is in our warehouse and checked off by our team.

When you are on the site looking to place an order, the estimated ship dates that we show on the checkout page are our best estimate based upon the information that FedEx and USPS provides us, however there is now an increased likelihood of your package being delayed. If you are pressed for time, avoid USPS shipping options and FedEx Ground Economy as these options are slower. FedEx Ground or Express have been much more reliable with their estimates overall.

When the package is in transit delays can happen due to FedEx and USPS working with smaller crews and a large increase in online shopping. Local hubs can be backed up for a variety of reasons. One day or week the hub can be fine, the next they might see an increase in volume that slows them down. It makes shipping delays hard to track and while FedEx and USPS are working hard to reduce the delays, unfortunately they are still happening due to the pandemic.

Due to these delays, we have suspended our Guaranteed Delivery until further notice. Once delays reduce, we hope to bring this back.

Since the start of the pandemic we have hoped for supply chain issues and shipping delays to greatly reduce, but after some time it looks like this is not going to be the case anytime soon. Below are some tips we have for ordering for the foreseeable future.

Ordering & Shipping Tips

1. We recommend placing your order as early as possible to account for any potential delays. The earlier you place your order the better.
2. We offer many shipping options from both FedEx and USPS. Overall FedEx has been much more reliable and we recommend choosing FedEx as your shipping method when possible on the checkout page. On top of that general rule of thumb, shipping options like USPS First Class and USPS Parcel Select and FedEx Ground Economy are great as they come at a great value, however, they are by far our slowest shipping options. If you are pressed for time, we strongly recommend FedEx Ground, FedEx Home or FedEx Express.
3. Items that are not in stock have a backordered alert listed in red on the top of the product page. This alert contains a date on when we expect to have the item back in stock, however, please note that this date is only an estimate and can change at any time. Due to the issues listed above, these dates have been getting pushed back and many items are out of stock for much longer than usual. If you are pressed for time we highly recommend avoiding backordered items as they will hold up the shipping of your entire order. You can also always place a new order for the backordered items, which will “hold your spot in line” for that item. This way this item will ship out once it is back in stock and you do not have to keep checking the site for it to be back in stock.
4. We love our PR and HI customers, but when ordering certain restricted items, please note that USPS Parcel Select is the only shipping option we can provide. This is due to these items needing to be kept on the ground/water and can not be shipped in the air. This method to these locations estimates 1-3 weeks in business days. Keep this in mind when placing an order if you are located in PR or HI and if possible, avoid USPS Parcel Select.

When Delays Happen

As mentioned above, most orders are being delivered on time but when delays happen we respectfully request waiting 1-2 weeks before contacting us. If an order is delayed, most show up within a week but it is certainly something you want to keep an eye on. When you reach out we will be sure to help look into what is going on and take care of you asap.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times. We understand this is frustrating. It is frustrating for us too. We are anxious for shipping speeds to return to pre-pandemic speeds. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to Contact Us if you have any questions about your order.

As you may have read in the news, the USPS is making changes to First-Class Mail that will lengthen the delivery time for many letters and packages. This includes First-Class Package Service (FCPS), which is a service that we offer for lightweight orders under 1 lb.

Prior to the change, the standard for delivery time was 2-3 days. The new standard now ranges from 2 days to 5 days depending upon location. For example, packages originating from our warehouse in New York will now take 5 days to reach California.

Please note that these changes do not apply to Priority Mail. For most of the country, Priority will still reach you in 2 days. The map on our Shipping page has more details.

The Washington Post created an interactive map to show the effects of this change. Here’s what it looks like for us:

We’ll be updating our estimated delivery dates accordingly on our checkout page. Please remember that these are just estimates. The USPS in particular has suffered from delays since the start of the pandemic.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

For over a decade our affiliate program has enabled detailers to monetize their websites, blogs, social media accounts, forums, and more by referring new customers to Detailed Image.

Effective 10/1/21 we are making an important policy change: Detailed Image store credit will be the only payout option for affiliate referrals. We will no longer offer cash payouts.

Why are you making this change?
Cash payouts are less than 30% of our affiliate payments, but account for the overwhelming majority of time, effort, and risk involved in running the affiliate program. Fraudulent activity is much more likely for cash payments, which means that our team spends a considerable amount of time verifying the authenticity of those referrals prior to making cash payouts.

When will the last cash payout be?
Instead of making our usual cash payout on the 20th of each month, we will be skipping September’s payments and instead issuing one final payment on October 1st.

What happens to my cash account on October 1st?
Affiliates who have their payout type set to cash will be automatically converted to Detailed Image store credit.

What happens if I don’t have the minimum $25 balance for a cash payout on October 1st?
Any pending cash payouts will automatically be converted to credit and immediately applied to your Detailed Image account.

Will credit continue to earn the 15% payout bonus?
Yes! On October 1st the new default affiliate payouts will be updated to reflect the old cash value + 15%.

How is store credit paid out?
Credit payouts are much faster! Credit is applied to your account within one business day of the order shipping through an automated process. If the order ships in multiple shipments, credit is applied after the final package has shipped.

Will anything else be changing?
On October 1st we will also be updating our Affiliate page, Affiliate Payout Rates, and Terms of Service, so please be on the lookout for those.

Questions?
If you have any questions about this change, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

One of the many benefits of upgrading our payment processing to PayPal’s Braintree is the ability to add more payment options beyond credit cards and PayPal. We added the ability to pay with Venmo when we launched that upgrade last month. Now we are excited to announce that we have also added Apple Pay and Google Pay.

These new payment options will automatically be displayed during checkout when you’re using an eligible browser. Google Pay is available in the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Apple Pay is available in Safari on iOS and Safari on macOS when Apple Pay is properly set up.

We hope that with these new additions you’ll always be able to find a payment method that works for you, regardless of whether you’re shopping at home on your computer with your credit card in front of you, or on the go making a quick purchase with your phone.

If you have any feedback or questions about our payment options, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Today we upgraded our payments system from PayPal Payments Pro to PayPal’s Braintree service. Next time that you checkout you’ll notice a new “Payment Method” section. A few of the largest improvements are:

Easier PayPal Payments

You no longer need to leave our site and go through several steps to complete payment with PayPal. With a few simple clicks right on our checkout page you can authorize PayPal and complete payment.

Pay With Venmo

We’ve added the ability to pay with your Venmo account. This is especially helpful for mobile users who have Venmo installed on their phones. We anticipate being able to offer even more payment options in the near future.

Save More Payment Methods

To speed up future purchases, you’re now able to securely store more than one payment method, and in addition to storing credit cards you can also store PayPal accounts now. Learn more.

Faster Refunds

Refunds should now process significantly faster if you cancel an order, remove items from your order, forget to apply a coupon code, or return items.

We also now have the ability to void recently completed credit card transactions. If you cancel your order immediately after purchase, our system may be able to cancel the original transaction so that nothing appears on your statement at all.

And of course, this new system meets our same extensive security requirements.

If you have any feedback or questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FedEx has experienced disruption to their network and has decided to suspend their money-back guarantee. From their website:

FedEx has suspended our money-back guarantee for all FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Office services effective immediately until further notice.

Due to these delays, we have suspended our Guaranteed Delivery until further notice.

We remain committed to getting you your package as fast as possible. FedEx services are still delivering on time for the overwhelming majority of packages. If you absolutely need a package, we still recommend picking a FedEx option over a USPS option. The estimated ship dates that we show during checkout are our best estimate based upon the information that FedEx provides us, however there is now an increased likelihood of your package being delayed. We recommend placing your order as early as possible to account for any potential delays with your order.

It is also worth noting the that our warehouse team has been doing exceptional work. We haven’t closed a single day since the start of the pandemic, and most days we’re still shipping orders on the same business day right up until our 1 PM ET cutoff (and if we aren’t, it is due to high volume and that information is communicated on our Shipping page and during checkout to help you make an informed purchase decision).

We thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times. We understand this is frustrating. It is frustrating for us too. We’re anxious for shipping speeds to return to pre-pandemic speeds. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to Contact Us if you have any questions about your order.

We’d like to take a moment to explain how changes at the United States Postal Service (USPS) since the pandemic started are impacting package speed, and what that means for our customers who rely on us for fast, reliable shipments and deliveries.

The first component of fast delivery is shipping it out fast. On that front, our warehouse team is doing extraordinary work. We haven’t closed a single day since the start of the pandemic, and most days we’re still shipping orders on the same business day right up until our 1 PM ET cutoff (and if we aren’t, it is due to high volume and that information is communicated on our Shipping page and during checkout to help you make an informed purchase decision).

Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in delayed deliveries from orders placed with a USPS shipping method. We recently conducted a thorough review of our delivery speeds. More often than not, USPS is still hitting the estimated delivery dates presented during checkout, however the rate of packages that are delayed has gone up significantly. Those estimated ship dates that we show during checkout are our best estimate based upon the information that the USPS provides us. If you’re placing an order with a USPS service as the shipping method, please keep in mind that mail delivery in general has slowed down and delivery speeds may be inconsistent.

To make matters worse, we’ve noticed that many USPS tracking numbers aren’t updated after departing our warehouse. We’re not sure if this is related to package scans being missed, or a technical issue on USPS.com. Usually the package is still moving, and most of the time it is still delivered on time. We realize that this can be incredibly frustrating. You’re not able to get an idea of where your package is and when it will arrive, and it hinders our ability to assist you.

If you’ve received a shipping confirmation email from us with a tracking number, you can be assured that the order has departed our warehouse and is in the hands of the USPS. We do not send those emails out when we create the labels. They’re only sent after the package has left our facility.

We always have and always will ensure that you receive your order. If your Priority or First Class package doesn’t reach you within 7 business days of being shipped, please Contact Us and we will reship it immediately. We proactively monitor these too, so if you don’t contact us we will still reship your order and reach out to you to let you know what happened.

FedEx is also experiencing delays at times, however in general they have been much more reliable since the pandemic started. If you absolutely need a product in a timely manner, FedEx is the way to go, even more so than in the past.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times. We understand this is frustrating. It is frustrating for us too. We’re anxious for shipping speeds to return to pre-pandemic speeds. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to Contact Us if you have any questions about your order.

Update – effective 10/1/21 the USPS will have new delivery standards that will affect the speed in which some First-Class Package Service orders are delivered.

We would like to update you on the measures that we’re taking to protect our employees, our customers, and our community during the rapidly evolving COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation.

As a customer, we want to assure you that our packages are safe to handle. We currently have no known cases on our team, and no reason to suspect that anyone is infected.

In addition, the World Health Organization has stated the following:

Is it safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported?

Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.

As of this posting, we are not experiencing any shipping delays, and we anticipate being able to ship normally for the foreseeable future. If that changes, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Our small team of 14 runs our website, answers your questions, packs your orders, and so much more. Their hard work allows us to succeed. They helped name us one of the Best Places to Work in the Albany area in part because of our commitment to their wellbeing. We take this responsibility very seriously. Here are some of the measures that we have implemented:

• We’ve enacted a cleaning and sanitizing procedure to be done every day at the end of the workday.
• No outside visitors are allowed into the warehouse for any reason.
• Non-warehouse staff is working from home to limit interaction with the rest of the team.
• Anyone who feels sick is being asked to stay home from work. All employees, including hourly employees, are receiving their full pay for the day.

We’ll be closely monitoring the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and local authorities. We’ll notify you if anything changes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mike, Adam, and Greg
Detailed Image Co-Owners

When you sign up for our affiliate program you can earn cash or Detailed Image credit when you refer people to Detailed Image. Today we released affiliate coupon codes, one of the features most requested by detailing business owners. All affiliates now have a unique 10% off affiliate coupon code which can be found by logging in to your account and clicking View My Affiliate Account. Anytime a customer uses that coupon code to make a purchase, they save 10% and you get the corresponding affiliate credit for the items in their order. Everybody wins! Affiliate coupon codes are great for sharing on social media, on your website, on a business card, in your email signature, or anytime you recommend products. You can still of course use affiliate links if you prefer that method.

Other Affiliate Updates

We also updated our Affiliate Terms of Service to include two new policies. The first is that an affiliate payout is only eligible to be paid once the entirety of an order ships. Credits are now paid out once daily for any orders that shipped in the previous day. The second policy is that you can no longer earn affiliate credit on your own purchases, which doesn’t reflect the promotional spirit of an affiliate program.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us!