1: Shipping Questions

A: Domestic Orders

1. Why didn't I receive an e-mail confirmation about my order?
2. What happened to my music? I ordered it xxx weeks ago.
3. How long will it take my order to arrive?
4. I was charged an additional shipping charge for an incorrect address a month after I received my order at the correct address!
5. I ordered only one item. Why were my shipping charges so high?

B: International Orders

6. What happened to my music? I ordered it xxx weeks ago.
7. Why can't I have my packages sent via sea mail instead of air? Isn't it much less expensive?
8. Why do you require registered mail to ship to my country? It is so expensive!
9. Why don't you ship to my country?

C: Tips for both Domestic and International Orders

10. How can I save on shipping charges?
11. The Total Charges on my order did not match the amount my Credit Card was billed.
12. How to pay 3, 4 or even 5 times the list price for a single piece of music.

D: Returns.

13. I received the wrong music. (or DVD or CD) Can I return it?

2: Questions regarding Various editions

A: Availability

1. What happened to (fill in the space)? I can't find it in your catalog anymore!
2. Why is (fill in the space) out of print? It's a great piece and should be available.

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There are several reasons why this may happen. One of the most common is that your server rejects the message, regarding it as spam. Another possibility is that it did make it to your computer but might be sitting in your junk folder. If this is a constant problem, one solution would be to copy our e-mail address and place it in your address book. If your e-mail program allows you to set up individual mail boxes for specified users or filters to automatically place mail from certain addresses into specified boxes you might direct all mail sent from us to one of them.

There are several answers to this question all depending on which shipping method you choose. In the U.S. most of our orders are sent via UPS and the amount of in-transit time depends on how far you are from our office in Cincinnati. For our standard shipping (UPS Ground) States bordering Ohio - Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia - usually receive packages within one or two days. California and other Western States can take up to a week or 10 days. However nothing is guaranteed. Everything depends on how busy UPS is and the weather. Holiday seasons are of course the busiest. If you've got to have your order quickly the best thing is to use one of the faster services, which of course adds considerable cost to the shipping charge:

1: UPS Next Day Air - (adds an additional $30.00 - $40.00 to the shipping charges)
2: UPS 2nd Day Air - (adds an additional $20.00 - 30.00 to the shipping charges)
3: UPS 3 Day Select - (adds an additional $10.00 - $20.00 to the shipping charges)

If you are charged for an incorrect address it is because we were charged by UPS because something was incorrect or left out of the address that you sent us. A simple mistake, even if the UPS driver knows your house, will trigger a charge to us which we then pass on to you. There really is a good reason for you to check everything before you hit the submit button. Are the street address and zip code exactly right? Did you include your apartment number? For more information on this annoying subject click here. Check the Liben Online Order Invoice that we sent you when we shipped the order. The address that we sent your order to - which you typed into our shopping cart - is listed down toward the bottom of the e-mail.

Ordering one item at a time is the least cost effective method of ordering for both you and us. We actually lose money on these kind of transactions when you consider that those shipping charges have to pay for not only the envelopes and postage (or UPS or FedEx charges), but the fees that the bank and credit card companies charge us for each transaction. Ordering 1 piece of music for $17.00 or $18.00 is not the same as buying a $500.00 piece of electronic gear where it is a lot easier for the seller to offer free or reduced shipping. For more on this click here.

A: Domestic: Check your address on the E-mail confirmation that we sent to you. Is it correct? If it isn't, contact us, making sure that you include the date and order number with your message. A wrong address in the confirmation E-mail means that the error is your responsibility since it is what you typed into our shopping cart. For more on this problem click here. If the address is correct, we are responsible, but please read on . . .

Did you order from your school or university to be shipped to a box number or special department? If this is the case, please check the various points at which mail is received and held for you. Many times packages get caught up in the system, managing to sit around in an office or other location before than finding their way to the intended mail box.
Did you order from home? We ship via UPS (United Parcel Service) and USPS (U.S. Postal Service). If your order was shipped via UPS and no one was there to accept the package the chances are that a note was left informing you that UPS will make another delivery attempt. You might also try a neighbor. Sometimes the UPS driver will leave a package next door if you are known to him. In the case of the USPS, it is possible that your mail box wasn't big enough to accomodate the package. If no one was there to accept the package a delivery attempt notice is usually left. You should also try your local post office to see if the package is sitting there.

B: International:Every country has a different set of rules regarding imported goods. We have found that a good percentage of the time orders simply sit in local post offices because the package has to be signed for and the customer might not have been home when delivery was attempted. Another location where the package might be sitting is at your local customs office. In some countries customs offices and post offices notify recipients that there is a package waiting for them to pick up, but this isn't always the case. If you feel that your order should have arrived days or weeks ago please try your local post and/or customs office. There may be a nice surprise waiting for you!

The U.S. Postal Service stopped offering sea (surface) mail in 2007. They also stopped offering lower rates for printed matter - which includes music. Everything now goes by air.

The best way to save on shipping costs is to try and combine all the items that you think you'll be wanting into a single order. Ordering one edition and then ordering something else a week or two later is a sure way to spend more than you should on shipping. If you think you'll be wanting that CD that has the piece that you're ordering today you'll save at least 50% of its cost by ordering it along with the music in one order. Another way to save is to stay away from the express services. They are very convenient and extremely reliable but very costly too. Also click here.

If you placed a Domestic Order and live or ship to the state of Ohio (where we are located) you probably forgot to CLICK HERE if you are a resident of Ohio. Ohio State Sales Taxes are added to these orders.

If you placed an International Order you probably forgot to check CLICK HERE if you are an International Customer. In any event shipping charges to locations outside of the U.S. are added to orders after they are processed. Unfortunately our Shopping Cart is not sophisticated enough to calculate the various weights, values and customs and packing regulations to the many countries that we ship to.

In some countries mail deliveries are not as reliable as we would all like. Registering a package, which requires tracking and requires signatures, usually helps. However it does add a considerable amount to the cost. For some tips on how you can save on those orders click here.

Alas, there are some places on the planet that even registered mail won't help! There are all sorts of reasons for this from political to civil unrest. Far too much to go into here.

We have found that many of our customers are quite skillful at managing to pay as much as 5, 6 or 7 times the catalog price for one piece of music. In fact for some, figuring out how to spend as much as possible for one edition seems to have become an art in itself. The methods vary among different individuals but there are a few traits that appear frequently enough to warrant mention and/or comment. If one wished to participate in this activity the following should help you to at least get started:
1: If you need a particular piece of music for a contest, jury examination or similar event, you should wait until a few days before you need the music in hand to order it.
2: When you order the music, you should include a question in the comments field relating to how long it will take for the order to reach its intended recipient. After you receive our we don't know, it depends on . . . reply you should wait at least a couple of days before answering and then ask how much it would cost for one of the faster shipping services. After we answer that query another wait of at least 2 days would be in order followed by placing the order instructing us to send it next day air. If you're really skillful you'll do this on a Thursday or Friday, demanding that the music arrive on Saturday. That'll add another $10.00 - $15.00 to the bottom line.

Of course international customers have the advantage in this game since shipping charges to destinations outside the U.S. are generally higher and express services are much higher. For those interested in such matters the current record is held by a gentleman in Japan who absolutely had to have a copy of the Dragonetti Concerto ($17.00) in 2 days. Total cost with shipping: $114.25. Many attempts have been made to eclipse this record including quite a few extremely creative domestic bids, but for now it is still the gold standard!

If we sent you a wrong item send us an email mentioning the order number and date. Better still, copy the email that we sent to you when we shipped your order and paste it to the bottom of your message. If we made an error we'll get the correct item out to you as soon as possible. But please be aware of the following:

CDs and DVDs may only be returned if they have not been opened. This includes even those that we may have sent in error. So be sure not to open the shrink wrap if we sent the wrong disc.

Music is returnable only if what we sent to you was incorrect.

Music, CDs and DVDs that are damaged may be exchanged for the exact same items.

Occasionally, due to extenuating circumstances, we will accept an item for return that does not meet the above requirements. In these cases we deduct a 30% restocking fee and the original shipping charges. Any items returned under these circumstances must be in their original - new - condition.

The first thing you might do is to check our Out Of Print Editions list. If you find it listed you'll know that the edition is no longer available. If it is not on the list and you still can't find it anywhere in the catalog you can drop us a line using our contact form. It's possible that the out of print edition just didn't make it on to the list or for some other reason it is not listed in the catalog. In either event we'd appreciate knowing about it.

An edition usually goes out of print for one reason: It stops selling. When the current supply is exhausted it doesn't make sense to invest in a (costly) reprint of even a great piece if so few are willing to purchase it.

Today, and for the past 30 years or so, the primary reason many worthy editions do not make the reprint list fail to do so because of the rampant use of the photo-copy machine. It is very tempting to make a quick copy of a piece rather than ordering a real copy from a music store or publisher. Who can argue with Free? But many are finding that Free can be very expensive when the real costs are tabulated. For us in the classical music field (including performers, teachers, students and audience) the cost of Free is quickly causing much of what we cherish to disappear.

Of course a popular retort (from the guilty?) is to involk the tired old chicken-or-the-egg question: Is it alright to photocopy if it's out of print? Or maybe: Is it alright to force it out of print so we can photocopy? For more information on this timely subject click here.