Question 1

How much is shipping?

Accepted Answer

USPS Priority is included in the printed price on every Grubstake SKU — no separate shipping invoice at checkout, no freight surcharge on multi-bag orders. A single 1-lb bag and a multi-gram Guaranteed Gold bag both ship USPS Priority in a flat-rate mailer, with the printed price being the price a buyer pays. We do not ship internationally and we do not ship to P.O. boxes, but every U.S. street address in the contiguous 48 is covered. The per-state shipping guide at /pages/where-to-pan walks the packaging, the drop schedule, and the order cutoff by state.

Question 2

How long does delivery take?

Accepted Answer

Two business days to leave the warehouse from the certificate posting, then 1–3 days USPS Priority in the contiguous U.S. — so a first-time buyer in the lower 48 sees the bag at the kitchen sink 3–5 business days after the order. Alaska and Hawaii run the same USPS Priority service but with a longer in-transit window, normally 4–7 business days. The trace-and-verify page posts the certificate on the same day the bag ships, so a buyer can match the lot ID on the bag's seal against the per-lot PDF as soon as it arrives. If a tracking number goes quiet for more than five business days from the ship date, email the lot ID and the order number and we will run a manual trace with USPS.

Question 3

Where exactly do you ship?

Accepted Answer

Every U.S. street address in the contiguous 48 states, plus Alaska and Hawaii. We do not ship internationally, we do not ship to P.O. boxes, and we do not ship to freight forwarders — the lab certificate lives with the original buyer, and the chain breaks when a third party takes physical possession.

Question 4

What if I don't find any gold at all?

Accepted Answer

Email the lot ID on the bag's seal, the lab number on the certificate, and a photo of the bag (opened, with the seal still in frame). The operator runs a per-lot re-verification from the lab's record against what the buyer recovered — a real chain, not a form-letter refund. If the chain shows a real shortfall on the lot (not a user-side technique issue, not black-sand concentrate that was missed), a per-lot re-shipment goes out at no cost. If the chain shows a clean lot on the lab side and the buyer's pan yielded nothing, we walk the four-motion pan technique step by step before any refund is processed.

Question 5

How does the refund policy actually work?

Accepted Answer

Two tracks. Track one — a per-lot re-verification runs from the lab certificate that shipped with the bag; if the lab-side figure does not match what the buyer recovered, a per-lot re-shipment goes out OR a refund issues on the order. Track two — a buyer may cancel an unshipped order before the bag leaves the warehouse, no question asked. The policy is published in writing, in plain language, with the lab record standing as the source of truth on every claim. Refund requests should include the lot ID, the lab number, and the order number — those three identifiers carry the entire chain from the buyer's kitchen sink back to the original assay.

Question 6

How long does a refund take once it is approved?

Accepted Answer

Approved refunds run within five business days of the per-lot re-verification closing. Payment lands on the buyer's original method — credit card, debit, or Stripe wallet — through the same rail the order was placed through. A re-shipment, when offered instead of a refund, goes out USPS Priority the next business day. A pending refund that has been on the timeline past seven business days without clearing should be escalated by emailing again with the original lot ID, lab number, and order number. We treat a stuck refund as a stuck certificate, not a stuck invoice — the lab record sits at the center of either resolution.

Question 7

Is the stamped lab-weight claim real?

Accepted Answer

Yes — every batch is measured by an independent assay lab (Bureau Veritas, Inspectorate, SGS, Assay Lab, or ALS), never in-house. The lab name, the lab number, the batch number, and the date of assay are all printed on the certificate PDF — the same artifact the operator ships with the bag. The certificate library is keyed by lot and by lab, so a buyer can match the figure on the bag against the matching assay record by batch number. The figure on the listing and the figure on the PDF are the same figure, signed off by the lab, posted before the seal is broken.

Question 8

How do I verify the weight myself?

Accepted Answer

Three lines of evidence. Line one — the lab name and the lab number printed on the certificate PDF match the lab's public record (Bureau Veritas, Inspectorate, SGS, Assay Lab, or ALS each carry their own public batch registry). Line two — the lot ID on the bag's seal is the same lot ID on the certificate AND the same lot ID on the certificate library entry for that lot. Line three — the recovered weight, when weighed on a jewelry scale (0.001 g resolution minimum), runs to within ±5% of the stamped figure for placer bags, exactly at the stamped figure for Guaranteed Gold bags. The trace-and-verify page walks the three-line re-verification in order, with sample certificates to match against.

Question 9

What if I find more or less than the stamped weight?

Accepted Answer

A short bag — meaning the recovered weight runs meaningfully under the stamped figure (over 5% below the stamp, after re-panning anything that was missed) — is a chain question, not a refund question. Email the lot ID, the lab number, and a photo of the seal still in frame; a per-lot re-verification runs from the lab's record. A heavy bag — meaning the recovered weight runs over the stamped figure — happens too, particularly on placer lots where a single color sits in a riffle groove. The lab report and the per-lot PDF cover the variance range; the certificate library carries the lot's own chain of provenance, batch by batch.

Shipping, refunds, and what the lab-weight card actually means.

Shipping — cost, time, where the bags go.

Refunds & guarantee — what happens if you come up short.

Weight claims — is the lab figure real, or is it marketing?

Shipping, refunds, and what the lab-weight card actually means.

Shipping — cost, time, where the bags go.

Q01 · Shipping cost·Where to panHow much is shipping?

Q02 · Shipping time·Where to panHow long does delivery take?

Q03 · Where we ship·Where to panWhere exactly do you ship?

Refunds & guarantee — what happens if you come up short.

Q04 · If you don't find gold·RefundsWhat if I don't find any gold at all?

Q05 · Refund policy·RefundsHow does the refund policy actually work?

Q06 · Refund timeline·RefundsHow long does a refund take once it is approved?

Weight claims — is the lab figure real, or is it marketing?

Q07 · Lab weight claim·Certificate libraryIs the stamped lab-weight claim real?

Q08 · Verify the weight·Trace & verifyHow do I verify the weight myself?

Q09 · Lot variance·Trace & verifyWhat if I find more or less than the stamped weight?