Customer Care

Everything but the tree — and everything you need to know about getting it home safely and keeping it right.

Bonsai Den is a small operation in Watertown, South Dakota. Pots are imported by the crate from Japan, tools come straight from Tanabe, and every box is packed by hand. If something isn't right, you're emailing the person who packed it.

Shipping

Within the United States. Shipping is priced by weight, because a pot is not a pair of shears:

Under 10 lbs — $8.00 ($15.00 for Express)
10 to 20 lbs — $25.00
20 to 30 lbs — $50.00
Over 30 lbs — $75.00

Weight is figured on the whole order, so a pot and a pair of scissors ship together on one rate rather than two.

International. A flat $225 per order, to Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. Everything ships by courier with tracking.

That's a real number, not a padded one — a double-boxed pot going overseas by express courier costs most of it. On an unusually large or heavy pot the flat rate may not cover the freight; if that happens we'll contact you before shipping rather than send it and hope. If we can't make the math work, we'll cancel and refund in full.

Processing. Orders are packed and out the door within two business days. You'll get a tracking number by email as soon as the label is made.

How pots are packed. Ceramic that survives an ocean crossing from Yokohama can still be broken by a careless final mile, so pots ship double-boxed. The pot is wrapped in EPE foam, seated on an XPS board platform, and packed with kraft paper fill. That inner box then goes inside a second box, with air column bags taking up the gap. It's slower to pack and it costs more in materials, and it's the reason pots arrive the way they left.

Duties, VAT, and import taxes (international orders)

Read this part. It's the thing that surprises people.

Our prices and the $225 shipping charge cover the pot and the freight. They do not include your country's import duty, VAT, GST, or the courier's brokerage fee. Those are assessed when the package reaches your country, and the courier will collect them from you before delivery.

In the UK and EU, expect roughly 20–25% of the declared value in VAT plus a handling fee. Other countries vary. This isn't a charge we collect or profit from — it goes to your government — but it's real money and you should plan for it before you order.

We declare every shipment accurately, at the price you paid. We can't mark a package as a gift or undervalue it, and we won't.

If something arrives damaged

Inspect your order as soon as it lands. If a pot is cracked, chipped in transit, or the wrong item showed up, email eric@meyersd.com and we'll make it right.

What helps us move fast:

Your order number
A photo of the damage
A photo of the box and the packing material as it arrived

Those last two matter for the carrier claim. Hold onto the box and packing until the claim is settled — once it's in the dumpster, the claim usually goes with it.

Returns and exchanges

Pots are final sale. Every pot is a single vintage piece — photographed, measured, and described before it lists, and gone once it sells. We'd much rather answer your questions before you buy than have a pot make a second trip through the mail. Ask us anything: dimensions, more photos, how a glaze reads in daylight, whether it suits your tree.

Final sale means changing your mind. It does not mean no recourse. If a pot arrives damaged, or it isn't what the listing described, we make it right — see above.

Tools, wire, and accessories can be returned within 30 days of delivery, unused, in their original packaging, with proof of purchase. Email eric@meyersd.com to start one; if it's accepted we'll send a label and instructions. Please don't ship anything back before requesting a return — packages that arrive unannounced can't be accepted. Sale items, gift cards, custom or special orders, and perishables such as fertilizer can't be returned. For an exchange, return what you have and place a new order once the return is approved.

International. On an accepted return you cover return shipping, and any duty or VAT you already paid has to be reclaimed from your own government, not from us. Buyers in the UK and EU have statutory cancellation rights that we honor regardless of the above.

Full details are in our Refund Policy.

Caring for your pot

Frost is the enemy, not cold. Tokoname stoneware is high-fired and handles winter well, but any pot left full of saturated soil in a hard freeze-thaw cycle is at risk — water expands in the clay body and in the drainage holes. Elevate pots off frozen ground, keep drainage clear, and don't let a pot sit in a tray of standing water through a freeze.

Unglazed pots earn their patina. Mineral deposits, algae staining, and the softening of sharp edges over years are features of an unglazed pot, not flaws. Resist the pressure washer. A stiff brush and water is enough; if you must, a light wipe of clean oil after cleaning will even out the color.

Glazed pots. Crazing in a glaze — that fine web of lines — is normal in vintage Japanese work and generally not a structural problem. Avoid thermal shock: don't take a pot from a hot car into ice water.

Drainage and screening. Screen every hole. Wire your tree in through the tie-down holes rather than relying on soil to hold it. A tree that rocks in its pot breaks new roots and, eventually, pots.

Handling. Lift a planted pot from underneath, never by the rim or the feet. Feet are the most commonly damaged part of a good pot and the hardest to repair invisibly.

Caring for your tools

Edge Series tools are made for us by Tanabe in Japan, in carbon steel. Carbon steel takes and holds a far better edge than stainless — and it will rust if you let it.

Wipe them dry after every session. Sap and water are what kill tools, not use.
Oil the blades. A thin film of camellia or tool oil on the steel before the tools go back in the drawer. This is the single habit that separates a tool you hand down from a tool you replace.
Cut with the right tool. Shears are for green growth and roots you can see. Concave and knob cutters are for wood. Cutting wire with your shears will put a notch in the blade that no sharpening removes.
Sharpening. Japanese bonsai tools are single-bevel or shallow-bevel. Sharpen the bevel side only and just knock the burr off the flat. A fine waterstone or a ceramic rod is plenty; a bench grinder will ruin the temper.
Sap and rust. Dried sap comes off with a little oil and a rag. Light surface rust comes off with fine steel wool and oil. Deep pitting is permanent — which is why step one is the wipe-down.

Choosing and using wire

Aluminum or copper? Aluminum is softer, easier to apply and remove, and is the right choice for deciduous species and for most people most of the time. Copper is stiffer for its diameter, holds conifers better, and work-hardens as you apply it — it's the traditional choice for pine and juniper.

Gauge. The working rule is roughly one-third the diameter of the branch you're wiring, in aluminum. Too thin and the branch springs back; too thick and you're fighting the wire instead of the tree. Our aluminum runs 1mm to 6mm across nine gauges, in 100g, 500g, and 1kg rolls, so you can stock the two or three sizes you actually use in quantity.

Take it off in time. Wire scars are the most common self-inflicted injury in bonsai. Check wired branches through the growing season and cut the wire off — cut it, don't unwind it — before it bites into the bark.

Authenticity and condition

Most of what we sell is old. Pots are described as we find them: chops and signatures are photographed and identified where the mark is legible, and we say so plainly when a mark is unclear or a kiln attribution is our best judgment rather than a certainty. Age-appropriate wear, firing marks, kiln kisses, and glaze pooling are described in the listing rather than hidden from the photos.

If a pot arrives and it isn't what the listing described, that's on us. Email us and we'll take it back.

Questions about a specific pot

Ask. We'd rather answer three questions before a sale than take one pot back after it. Dimensions, additional photos, whether a particular pot suits the tree you have in mind, how a glaze reads in natural light — send it over.