Ordering FAQ

I need a tent! How do I order a tent?

Any tent you order will be custom made made for you, so we want to make sure it is right, and that you will use it for a long time to come. 

Step 1: Please browse through the website, pick your product, the size, any add-ons. This part is just the canvas, and does not include tent poles, ropes and stakes, which you will need to set up your tent.

Step 2: Then choose accessories such as poles and stakes if you would like. Otherwise you will have to make these items yourself, we will send dimensions as soon as your tent is made.

Step 3: Once you’ve selected all your items, go to order page and hit “place order.” This will not charge your credit card, nor will it mean that your tent will ship out the next day, it will simply send your order to us. 

Step 4: We will then call you or email you, depending on the complexity of your order. We want to confirm that your tent will be exactly what you want, and let you know what our schedule looks like so we will not start work on your tent until we have verified your order and that it will be ready for when you need it. Once we are sure the tent we make will be the one you want we will ask for your payment method, either by sending you an invoice, or taking your credit card info over the phone.

Step 5: We will not charge your credit card until we have confirmed your order, and then we will take a 50% deposit, with a shipping estimate. Our shop is not a massive operation so sometimes the wait time for a tent can get rather long. Once we have made your tent, and are ready to ship it, that is when we will need the rest of your payment. Then we will ship your tent within a few days.

Can I pay by cash or check?

Sure, we will send you an invoice and that will have our address where you can send a check, or you can stop by the shop and drop off your cash. We will not deposit either until we are ready to start work on your tent.

I need a tent by next weekend, how soon will you ship my tent?

Every tent and tarp we make are custom made in our little shop in Gonic, NH. We do not have any inventory, we don’t have anything hiding in a warehouse somewhere. We offer tents for so many different time periods, needs, and ideals, we could not possibly have one of just the sort you’re looking for just hanging around. We also have a fairly steady supply of orders to fill, so it can take us a bit to get to your specific order. It can take up to two months, or more in the busy season for us to get to making your tent. We do not let anyone “jump the line” or put in any rush orders, that would be unfair to the patient people who are already waiting. That is why we will check in with you by phone or email when we receive your “order” and give you a rough time estimate, before we take a deposit, then not charge the rest until your tent is ready to ship. 

Why are the poles, ropes and stakes listed separately?

The initial product listings on this website are for canvas only, because that is what we do: we sew canvas tents. However every tent or tarp will need support and structure to make it into a dwelling. We trust our pole guy, and our stake guy etc. to give you the highest quality product, but we don;t make those things ourselves.

What is your return policy?

Standard tents that were ordered with no changes from how it appears on the website are returnable if there is no wear from use. You will need to ship the tent back to us, but once we have it and have determined that there is no wear on the tent, we will issue you a refund. However, a lot of our orders are special orders, and if your tent is really unique there is a chance that there is no one else out there who would likely want your tent. For special orders like this we will be sure to talk to you by phone before we make your tent.

Does your website steal my data? (Privacy Policy)

We respect and are committed to protecting your privacy. We may collect personally identifiable information when you visit our site. We will not sell your personally identifiable information to anyone.
Your payment and personal information is always safe. Our Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software is the industry standard and among the best software available today for secure commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read over the internet.

My tent has a rip, hole, broken bit, will you fix it?

Yes!  Our tents are warrantied to the original purchaser; the Sunforger-flame treated fabric is warrantied for one year, the seams and stitching also for one year. But having said that, we stand by our tents, well past the one year mark. If the damage is our fault, we will fix your tent at no cost to you though you will need to pay to ship it to us, and we will pay to ship it back. If your tent has been damaged by something or someone on your end, we will certainly fix that too, though we will charge you for it. One of the charges might be a “dirty tent” charge, which means that we opened it up and found enough dirt on the tent (we’ve seen leaves, beetles, muddy dog prints, forgotten food wrappers, and that was just one tent) that we had to clean the shop after your repair before we could start in on new white canvas again. We charge $50 for a shop clean-up after a repair on a dirty tent.

Do you have a storefront? Can I stop by the shop?

We don’t exactly have a “storefront” in the traditional sense. Our tent making workshop and offices are located on the third floor of an old mill building in the village of Gonic, New Hampshire. You can certainly stop by, we’ll be taking orders and making tents during normal business hours, but you might want to call first just in case.

Why don’t you have free shipping? (Shipping Policy)

All our tents are custom made, some of them are complicated and get very expensive. Canvas tents, even small ones, are always heavy. We don’t want to over-charge anyone for shipping, so we don’t work shipping into the sale price. When you buy a tent, you’re just buying the tent. And if you want to stop by and pick it up we certainly don’t want you to pay as if we’d shipped it.

Do you ship to… Overseas, PO Boxes?

We certainly do ship overseas, and will use the shipper of your choice, or the one we have found takes the least amount of time clearing your customs. Shipping internationally is not cheap, and canvas can be heavy, but we’re happy to ship if you want to place an order. 

In the US we generally use UPS for our shipping, and they can not ship to a PO Box. We’d much rather ship to a physical address, as we’re shipping a physical tent. Give us a call if you need to make special arrangements, we’re a small shop and will certainly try to accommodate your request.

I placed an order, and now I need to cancel it, what do I do?

Since we usually have at least a month’s worth of orders, we’re not likely to start on your tent for at least a month. So if you want to cancel within a month, we’re happy to do that for you, we’ll refund your money.

If we’ve already started your tent, and it is a fairly standard tent, we’ll cancel your order, and refund your money no problem. If it is a special order, well, that is a little different. If you have put down a deposit, and it has been over a month, and we’ve already started working on your tent, we may be unable to refund your deposit since we have already cut the fabric, and may not be able to use it for another tent.

Do you ship poles internationally?

Tentsmiths does not ship poles internationally. There are rules about shipping wood products that makes their shipping problematic. And the sheer size of tent poles make the cost very prohibitive. We provide instructions to make your own poles with every tent purchase.