Whether you are a returning customer or new to our family, welcome!

In today’s commerce, it is common for both purchasers and vendors to have their own terms of use, terms and conditions, and policies.  In most cases, Pine Research is able to navigate these and complete a transaction (quoting, purchasing, shipping, and payable and receivable invoicing) without issue; however, sometimes, the transaction can get caught up in procedure and formality. Our goal is to be simple, honest, forward, and timely in all we do and we expect the same with our customers, including their purchasing and accounting staff.  We may have to work together to move the purchase through, and it might take both you and us to make it happen.

Here, we will explain our transaction practices, policies, and procedures with regard to doing business with us.  As always, contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns.

We are happy to work with you to make a smooth and successful purchase.  We can receive orders in several ways:

• Online. Our e-commerce website is enabled for customers in the United States and Canada.  When you create an account on our website, we associate your user account with the country provided during registration.
• By Phone.  Call our offices at +1 (919) 782-8320 during business hours, which are Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM ET, to place an order.  Payment by credit card may be required for customers/organizations who have not been granted credit terms (i.e., Net 30, invoice payment).
• By Email.  For customers who have been granted invoice payment terms, you should send your purchase order by email.  We prefer PDF attachments.  If you intend to pay with a credit card, do not send credit card details in email.  We accept credit card as valid payment only online or by phone.
• By Official Sales Channel.  We have established a group of well-respected, helpful, knowledgeable, and responsive companies around the world who help you purchase, install, use, and service Pine Research products.  In some countries and regions, we have exclusive agreements that all sales are managed through the sales channel.  Please review our existing Sales Channels to learn what company provides sales to your country.

We accept a variety of payment methods.  Importantly, we will only provide quotes in $ USD and we only accept payments in $ USD.  Please do not send checks by USPS.  Paper-based payments have become an unreliable form of payment.  Customers who do not have invoice payment terms with Pine Research Instrumentation must pay for their order in advance of shipment.  Shipping/Freight costs must be included in this advanced payment.

• Credit Card.  We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover for purchases up to $10,000.  We cannot accept credit card payments for single or combined orders > $10,000.
• ACH Transfer.  Customers may pay for orders by ACH transfer, which typically does not incur any fees, with these details:

• Wire Transfer.  Customers may pay for orders by wire transfer, which incurs a fee.  All wire transfers must add $35 to the total transferred to cover the wire transfer processing fees.  Use the following details to send a wire transfer to us.  Send payment/remittance advice by email.

Invoice payment terms may be optionally granted to customers entirely at the privilege of Pine Research Instrumentation.  Customers in the United States may request invoice payment terms with reasonable justification, allowing them to submit orders to Pine Research by Purchase Order.  Customers who submit purchase orders must have been previously granted invoice payment terms, with a minimum credit limit greater than or equal to the sum of the current purchase order value and any open invoice values.  For example, if a customer, who has been granted invoice payment terms, has open invoices totaling $3,000 and submits a new order for $2,000, they must have at least a $5,000 credit limit for the new order to be accepted and processed.  If the credit limit is not large enough, the customer must pay their open invoices before any additional orders can be made.  The open invoice amount is for the organization, not single purchaser/end-user.  This means for an organization, like The University of Science, the credit limit applies to all purchasers and departments.  A purchase from the Department of Chemistry shares the credit limit (and open invoice value) with the Department of Engineering, for example.

If invoice payment terms are granted to a customer, the terms we offer are NET 30, which means invoice payments are due within 30 days of the invoice date.  Invoices are sent within 1 – 2 business days of order shipment.  Customers who have a history of on-time payments may request different payment terms with compelling justification; however, Pine Research is under no obligation to consider or grant the request.

Invoice payment terms are a privilege granted from Pine Research Instrumentation and can be revoked at any time for any reason.  Customers with a history of late payments will have their invoice payment terms revoked.

Customer who have been granted invoice payment terms may submit purchase orders to buy goods from Pine Research.  To make the transaction as efficient as possible, please be sure the following items are included on your purchase order:

• Requestor Details.  Please ensure we have the name and email address of the person to whom purchase order processing questions should be directed.  Often, it’s not the end-user who can answer the questions, and the purchase order may have been sent from a different email address.
• Invoice Submission Email Address.  We will send invoices electroincally (email, as a PDF attachment) only. We do not mail invoices by USPS or submit them to any Source-to-pay (S2P) platforms (e.g., Coupa, PaymentWorks, SAP Ariba, Jaegger/SciQuest, etc.).  If we do not see an email address to which the invoice will be sent, your purchase order will not be processed until we have received it.
• Quotation Number Reference.  If you are purchasing based on a quotation, please indicate this on the purchase order.
• Shipping Costs.  All shipments will incur a shipping cost, no exception.  We do not offer free shipping and the cost of shipping is not included in the cost of goods.  We can add the estimated shipping cost onto your quote, if requested, but absence of an estimated shipping cost on the quotation does not mean that Pine Research is paying the shipping/freight costs or that they are $0.  All purchase orders must clearly indicate how the shipping costs will be paid.  If a shipping method/speed is not selected, Pine Research will ship via UPS Ground.  One of the following three elemenets must be present on the purchase order:
  1. Shipping costs are an explicit line item, (e.g., “Shipping $18.00”); or
  2. The purchase order uses appropriate language and Incoterm to describe that the buyer pays shipping/freight charges (e.g., “EXW Prepay and Add”, “FOB Destination, Prepay and Add”, “Best Way, Prepay and Add”, etc.); or
  3. The buyer’s shipping account number and method is clearly stated on the purchase order (e.g., “Ground, UPS Acct # XXXXXX”).

For customers who have invoice payment terms with Pine Research, within 1 – 2 days following shipment of your order, we will send the invoice electronically, by email as a PDF attachment.  We will invoice to the “invoice to” email address that is required to be on your purchase order.  We do not use fax.  We do not mail invoices with USPS or any other courier.  We do not submit invoices via any Source-to-pay (S2P) platforms (e.g., Coupa, PaymentWorks, SAP Ariba, Jaegger/SciQuest, etc.).

1. Prepay and Add.  If specified on the purchase order, Pine Research will prepay the shipping/freight charges and add them to your invoice.
2. Shipping on Buyer’s Account.  We will ship the order and assign shipping/freight charges to the buyer’s shipping account, as specified on the purchase order.

If you have not specified a shipping method, we will ship United States and Canada orders by UPS Ground.  If we have not made arrangements, orders shipped to any other country will be shipped by DHL as Prepay and Add for customers with Credit Terms or collected in advance during prepayment.

Sometimes, the quotation you may have received will include a shipping/freight estimate.  Sometimes, the quotation may not have a shipping/freight estimate, in which case the following note will appear on the quotation: “NOTE: This quotation does not include the cost of shipping.”  If you would like us to prepay and shipping/freight costs and would like an estimate that is not appearing on the quotation, please contact us so we can update your quote.  The absence of an estimated shipping cost on the quotation does not mean that Pine Research is paying the shipping/freight costs or that they are $0.

With few exception, our products are packaged and shipped in carboard boxes.  Rarely are LTL (less than truckload), palletized freight forwarders required.  If a large order requiring LTL service is required, please contact us if you would like to ask about our preferred LTL freight forwarders.

In accordance with US Export Laws, all export shipments are labeled as follows:

“These commodities, technology or software were exported from the United States in accordance with the Export Administration Regulations. Diversion contrary to U.S. law prohibited.”

All customs, duties, VAT, and related fees associated with the import of goods are for the consignee’s account.

We ship all orders under the Ex Works (EXW) Grove City, PA USA Incoterms.  EXW means:

• The seller (Pine Research) makes the goods available for shipment at our warehouse/dock.
• Once the goods have been collected at our warehouse/dock, the consignee assumes all other responsibilities, including transport to the final destination.
• The consignee assumes all responsibilities of the shipment.
• The consignee pays shipping/freight costs.
• The consignee is responsible for export duty, taxes, and customs clearance.

We prefer to ship internationally with DHL.