FAQs
Q: Do you offer non-children's books too?
A: We only provide books for children and teens on our website. This includes: toddler board books, picture books, early reader novels, middle school novels, and young adult novels. Young adult (YA) novels have a targeted age range of 14+ which can include adults (some of my favorite books to read have actually been YA novels). If you are looking for the latest celebrity memoir, anti-racism textbook, or good fiction novel with more grown up content and/or an adult target audience, you are welcomed to shop our bookshop.org affiliate page for titles and recommendations for the grown ups. You'll find our curated booklists at: https://bookshop.org/shop/brownbabiesbooks_parents
Q: Is this a "real" bookstore?
A: Yes, we are a registered and established business, however we are e-commerce and pop-up (Chicagoland only) based for now. While we do not have a brick and mortar or physical location, we are still a fully operating business (at least that's what the government says when we file our taxes every month). We are also a registered member of the American Booksellers Association (ABA). So, yes, we are very "real" and looking forward to serving our customers for many years to come. In case you're interested, we are also a woman-owned and Black-owned business - now certified as such! =D
Q: I don't like shopping online, may I pay for my order over the telephone?
A: While we understand concerns for internet and identity security while shopping online, we will not accept payments for merchandise over the telephone. In order to allow for added comfort and security when using your banking information online, we offer a variety of secured payment options for checkout including: ApplePay and PayPal. Both services allow customers to make secured purchases using your personal checking account or credit cards without having to provide or enter additional personal account information into our site. Isn't that sweet?!
Q: Is it okay to contact you via social media if I have questions?
A: Absolutely! While we aren't available 24/7 to provide instant responses, we would love to hear from you. You can send us a message through our Facebook or Instagram accounts (@brownbabiesbooks), via email at info@brownbabiesbooks.com, or chat with us directly through our website as you shop - just look for the open comment chat icon in the lower right corner of the screen. We will look to respond to your inquiry in a timely manner during business hours.
Q: I want to send an order as a gift, can you include a gift note in the order?
A: Yes we can! One of our core values is appreciating the gift of reading. We love book gifting so feel free to utilize the Gift Note text box located within the shopping cart to create a custom gift note for your gift recipient. You can also select a gift wrapping option for the order at an additional fee. In addition, we offer a variety of birthday greeting cards (blank on the inside) for purchase within our Cards & Gifts collection. If you purchase a separate greeting card from our store, we will add your gift note message to the inside of the card on your behalf. Once your order is complete, you can change the "ship to" recipient name and address of your choice for the gift recipient and voila, your gift buying experience is complete.
If your recipient is celebrating a birthday and you'd like us to curate a special book selection for them, you can purchase our Birthday Book Box and let us do all of the work for you. Books will be packaged in a custom designed gift box along with a standard greeting card at no additional charge. We're pretty popular with the gift-giving aunties out there!
Q: Why is your processing time different than the shipping time? What's the difference?
A: The time frame for order delivery is divided into 2 parts:
Processing Time: This means the amount of time it takes to organize, stock, and package your order before it is shipped out to the chosen destination. We begin processing all orders within 24 hours of payment and depending on the inventory availability of the items ordered, the processing time may take 1-7 business days to complete. If we have the item requested on our shelves, we can process the order quickly. If we have to request the items from our distributor, it can take up to 7 business days to process. The same follows for printed merchandise (clothing, journals, mugs, etc.) that need to be fulfilled with the manufacturer.
Shipping Time*: This is the amount of time it takes for your items to arrive at your door once shipped. Book orders are shipped via UPS Ground or USPS Priority Mail and typically arrive at their destination within 2-3 business days (depending on pandemic-related delays which may extend arrival times by a couple of days). It's not easy getting packages safely across the country in a timely, economically friendly and environmentally friendly way. "Prime" shipping isn't sustainable or good for the planet. So, be patient with us as we support the USPS and UPS. By the way, we offer free shipping on all orders over $35.
*All orders include tracking information for you to view and follow your package throughout the shipping process.
Equity, Access, and Representation/Freedom of Expression Statement
Our store has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion that we demonstrate in a variety of ways, including ensuring representation in our inventory and equity in our business practices. At the same time, we may carry some titles that offend some people or that may seem to some people to be counter to that commitment. We believe a diverse selection of books is crucial to a bookstore’s role of sharing ideas to bring people together, helping individuals see themselves in the stories of others, enhancing empathy and understanding of differences, and providing diverse viewpoints to broaden our perspectives. We believe our role is to make books available and we trust that you will make your own decisions about which of these books you choose to read or not to read.