FAQ

Sales and Ordering

Q: Where are your retail locations and showrooms?

A: We sell direct to our customers, so we do not have any retail locations other than a showroom at our headquarters in central Ohio.  We would be happy to send you wood samples, so you can touch and feel the wood, finish and see the stain colors. 

  Request a free wood sample.

 Here are directions to our factory-showroom

Q: Do you have any sales or price discounts?

A: By selling direct, we do not have retail or distributor markups in the pricing.  We also do not have any other discounts or extra shipping built into the price either.  That is true factory-direct pricing, and the reason why you get such a high-level, premium product at an upper-middle-of-the-road price. Our products fit in a very high-end boutique shop environment, without the 3x markup price tag.

We can offer discounts for higher volume orders, typically on orders 8 desks or greater.

Q: Will I get charged sales tax?

A: We do not collect sales tax on orders shipped out if the state of Ohio. That is between our customer and their local taxing authority.  We do collect sales tax on orders that are picked up from our factory, even if the customer comes from out of state.

Q: What happens when I place my order?

A: You will immediately get an email confirmation of your order, then within 1 business day, we will send you an estimated ship date. Once your order ships, we will again contact you with shipment tracking information.

Q: My credit card is not working, and I'm getting strange error messages like "Address (Street) and 5 digit ZIP match". 

A: Sometimes the error message does not always tell the story.  The most common reason that we see a credit card transaction won't go through (regardless of the error message) is that there is a daily limit on the card, or there is a limit per transaction. This can typically be cleared up by a call to the company that issued the card. You can typically find the phone number on the back of the card. 

If they fixed the card, and there are still issues with the transaction, you may need to clear the cache in your web browser, or open a different browser window and try the transaction again.

Q: I am outside the US. Can I place an order?

A: We do not ship to locations other than US or Canada, however we have had international customers arrange their own export and transportation. We can assist with this.

Q: I am in Canada. How do I pay taxes and duty?

A: The freight carrier or broker will collect any taxes, duties, or brokerage fees prior to delivery. 

Q: How can I stay up to date on the latest information about new products, specials, tips and other things going on at Caretta?

A: Join our contact list and we will send you periodic emails.  We will not bombard your email box, we will never sell your contact information, and it is easy to unsubscribe at any time. 

  Subscribe to our Newsletter.

Q: What payment methods do you accept?

- PayPal Credit offers no interest if paid-in-full in 6 months with approval. 

 More Info on PayPal Credit

Contact us for more information on how to pay with this option.

Shipping

Q: Where do you ship to?

A: We ship our products to the US and Canada. Our products can be found in homes and condos, office buildings, universities, hospitals, medical offices, legal offices, financial institutions, military bases, and anywhere else that people like beautiful, solid wood functional furniture.

Q: How do you ship your products?

A: The majority of our products can be shipped by regular UPS Ground or other common carrier. Some of our products, like file cabinets  and larger tables need to ship by freight carrier.  

To see more shipping options, such as "$0, pick-up-from-factory" and scheduling your own shipment, click this link:

  See our shipping options.

Q: How much does it cost to ship your products?

A: There is flat-rate shipping prices for shipping all of our products.  The shipping costs are visible by adding an item to the shopping cart.  

NOTE: These rates are only good for shipping to the Continental United States.  Extra shipping charges are applicable for Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada. 

Q: Tell me about file cabinet, and other freight shipping?

A: File cabinets will always ship by freight carrier. That is because they are shipped to us on a pallet, and it is most secure to keep them on the pallet to ship to you.  If you order a desk and file cabinet, there is a good chance that the desk will arrive by UPS and the file cabinet by a freight carrier.  We try to time them so they arrive at the same time, but this can be difficult with two different carriers. We will always provide you the tracking information for every UPS and freight shipment that we send.

If you order a larger table, or multiple desks and tables, we can also ship your order by freight carrier. 

The freight company will contact you when the shipment is in your area to schedule a delivery. They will deliver it inside your address and take the pallet with them.

Q: How long will it take to receive my order?

A: We manufacture most of our products to order, so lead-time can vary depending on volume in the factory. Typical lead times are stock to a few weeks. 

Transit time to your address from our factory in central Ohio can range from 1-5 business days depending on your location.  Once you place an order, we will give you an estimated ship date within 1 business day.

If you will not be available on a particular day to receive your shipment, let us know. We can hold off on shipping for up to a few days to better fit your schedule, but you have to let us know this before it ships!

Q: My order has already shipped, but I would like to change the delivery date. Can I do that?

A: If your item shipped by UPS, you can contact them with your tracking number and they can typically hold your delivery for a day or more.  They will charge a fee to do this. 

With freight shipments, they will contact you to schedule a delivery window. 

Product Assembly

Q: Will my desk or table come assembled?

A: There is some assembly required, but it is very straightforward. In order to ship our products, we box them in their individual main components (desktop assembly, desk leg assemblies, etc.). The assembly procedure is mostly a matter of bolting the main components together.  We have put a lot of thought and engineering into our assembly process, tools and instructions. It is nothing like a flat-pack from a big blue box store.

Q: Do you offer white-glove assembly?

A: At this time, we do not offer a white-glove assembly option. If this is something that you are interested in, there are options in most locations to assemble your desk or table for you. Contact us and we can help you find one.

There are lots of handyman services coast-to-coast that can assemble furniture. Here is one.

Here is another.

About Our Products

Q: Where are your products manufactured?

A: We manufacture all of our desks and tables at our Ohio factory. We even source most of our raw materials locally.  We have a dedicated group of craftsmen and engineers who design and build our products into high quality works of functional art.

Q: Where do you get your wood from?

A: We are quite proud of our wood. Our products feature some of the most beautiful Cherry, Black Walnut and Ash in the world. Lucky for us it comes from right down the road in the rolling hills of southern Ohio.  Our wood supply is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified, which means that they use the best management practices to keep our forests healthy and growing.  This wood is among our greatest renewable resources.

Q: Can I buy a regular desk now, then add a return later to make it an L Shaped desk?

A: The standard, non L Shaped desk has a rounded bull-nose edge cut all the way around the desktop. With an L Shaped desk, we cut a flat edge on one side that matches the edge on the return to create a smooth transition between surfaces when the tops are attached. For this reason, you cannot attach a return to a non L shaped desk.  If you know that down the road you will be adding a return, we can sell you a desk that has the flat on one edge so you can be ready when you want to add a return.

Q: Can I move the return on an L Shaped Desk from one side to the other?

A: We cut a flat edge on the side of the desktop that the return attaches. For that reason, a return cannot be moved from one side to the other.

Q: How do I attach a monitor arm to the desk?

A: The Artistic, Modern Urban, Wellston, Standing, and Traditional desks have a thru-hole (sometimes called a grommet mount) mounting hole located in the center of the desktop.  On the Loft Series desks, the arms are clamp-mounted to the desktop.

Q: What is the inlay material?

A: It is a synthetic leather material that is very resistant to wear, abrasion and fading, and durable to spills and staining. It has a soft touch, but is firm enough to write on.  

Q: Tell me about your desk cable management?

A: It’s a core part of our design philosophy. Many desks will say they have cable management when they stick a cable shelf and some Velcro straps to the desk. On our desks, it is literally built into the design of every desk from the start. Each desk has a large, deep cable tray integrated into the structure of the desk. On that cable tray is attached a large surge-suppressing power strip where all of your components can be plugged in and the wires and power blocks hidden the tray. All throughout the desk there are grommets, openings and hidden passages that all lead to the cable tray.  

Q: Can I order a desk now and add options later?

A: Yes!  All product options can be added at any time. The only exceptions to this are, you cannot add a Return later, or switch from a drawer to keyboard tray, or vice versa.

Customization

Q: Can you build me a custom desk, table or other furniture?

A: That depends on the type of customization that you are looking for. We are not a custom-build wood shop, but in many cases, we can modify our standard products slightly to meet your needs.

Q: How can you modify your standard products to meet my needs?

A: Some modifications are easier than others. For example, changing the width of a desk different than our standard sizes (45”, 50”, 62”) is typically not a change that we can make.

Here are examples of some modifications that we can and have done:

• Add a keyboard tray under the desktop
• Do an all-wood inlay instead of the standard inlay material
• Make a shorter L Shaped desk return based on a side table top
• Add additional monitor arm mounting locations to the desk or return
• Add a cable tray to the desk return
• Make a U Shaped version of the desk with returns on both sides
• Use 2 full sized desks to make an extra large L shaped desk
• Make a modesty panel that goes all the way to the floor
• Add a custom connector box to a table or desk top with USB, HDMI or other connectors
• Add a few inches to a desk to make it higher
• Change the height range of the Standing Desk
• Put the desk on casters for added mobility
• Make a file cabinet top to fit on my existing file cabinets
• Make a larger file cabinet top to span multiple file cabinets
• Make a desk out of a different species of wood
• Make a desk without drawers or the cutout for the drawer
• Remove the arc across the back of the desktop, so the desk sits flush against a wall

We cannot accommodate all modification requests, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

  Ask a Question 

Q: Are there costs associated with customizing a product.

A: There are typically some added costs to cover extra material, manufacturing and engineering time, but it’s never extravagant.

Q: Can you do a custom stain or finish, or match my existing furniture?

A: We can match existing furniture in some cases, but you would need to send us a sample of wood to match, like a drawer face or table leg (which we would send back). We cannot match a stain from a photograph.  In some cases the natural wood hue’s of the cherry wood that we use is too strong to get a perfect match a lighter wood.

Laser Engraving

Q: I see that you can laser-engrave graphics on the desk modesty panel. What type of graphics do you do?

A: We have engraved corporate logos, customer’s initials, custom artwork, and other graphics on desks.

Q: What type of graphics work, or do not work?

A: The best graphic is strict black and white (or one color that can be changed into black), with no gray scale. Photographs, or images with lots of colors or gray scale do not work well.

Q: Do I need to supply the graphic?

A: Typically the customer supplies the graphic. We can do some minimal work to help find a graphic or text font that works for you, but we do not have the resources to create custom graphics.

There are lots of graphic designers on the web that can help you create a graphic. Here is one.

There are also lots of stock image websites where you can find illustrations that work.  Here is one.

Here are examples of some corporate logos that we have laser-engraved:

Q: What graphic size and file type do you need?

A: We can work with most image file types, but the preferred type is a vector based .eps for illustrator file that can be enlarged without losing clarity. If it is not a vector graphic, we need a fairly large image that will not distort or pixelate when enlarged to fit the laser-engrave panel.

Q: Will you send me a proof before the graphic is approved?

A: Yes!  We will email you a mock-up of what the desk will look like with the graphic before we laser-engrave it.

  Request a free wood sample.

  Subscribe to our Newsletter.

  See our shipping options.

 Directions to our factory-showroom

 Ask a Question

• “ The desk arrived on Monday. Setup was easy and it is absolutely beautiful. Really appreciate everything. ” - Mike Sabbota - Denver, CO