Q. Why are the prices on your nautical charts so much lower than other bathymetric wood charts on the market?
A. Our low cost direct marketing. We sell primarily over the Internet. If you do see one of our charts in another retail store, we put a cap on how high they can sell it (check out our LOW PRICE POLICY on our Customer Service page for more details)! This generates more chart sales, thus lowering the set-up costs per chart location. If you buy online you are getting the best price on beautiful lake art and donating to the local non-profit where the chart was inspired. Our charts are also the most detailed on the market, showing creeks & shoreline roads where possible. Compare our detail with any other competitor & you will find our charts superior and around half the price!
Q. What non-profits do you give to?
A. We give to many different environmental 501c3 non-profits, depending on the chart location. We feel it is important to give to a local cause related to the environment from where our chart was inspired. Visit our "Donate" page for information or the "Who We Donate To" located on the chart detail page that you are interested in. If you see one of our new charts & the non-profit is "Held until Determined" - please email us your input about which one you think is a good fit. The organization must be a good fit with that body of water.
Q. Can I order a specific lake that is not on your site?
A. Not immediately, but you can email using our "WISHLIST" page to let us know what lakes, shorelines or islands we should schedule in our future production. Also put in information relating to any local 501c3 non-profit we can donate to from which that body of water or shoreline will benefit. We do have a minimum in which we have to make in order to keep our incredible prices and great detail. Our cartography and detail far surpass our competition (and so does our design expense) - so we must make that back in volume in order to keep the costs down. Our Cartography is done professionally in Michigan where our offices are based.
Q. Why do you give $5 of the sale of some nautical charts and $25 for others to the local environmental non-profits?
A. We give $5 - $25 depending on the popularity / set-up costs spread over the amount expected to sell & the size chart. When we add tables to the line they will all have $25 donations. The description page of each chart will show the donation amount & where it is going! Example: We spent $5,000 in Cartography expense just to make the "Great Lakes" Chart, so we can only give the maximum $25 fee once we re-coupe our investment - for now it is $5.
Q. Why are some Charts of the same size different prices?
A. Laser machine & labor time. Some Charts have 2 -3 times as many cuts & markings. The extra time spent on the laser machine & hand work to complete varies considerably by chart. For instance, our "Great Lakes" chart takes 3 times longer to make than some of the other charts. We encourage customers to look at the detail of our charts, they far surpass our competition even though we sell them at a fraction of the price.
Q. What is the name of this lake art? What kind of map is it?
A. While we have heard people call it a lot of things, it is a Bathymetric Chart. Here is a long list of the names we have heard people call our charts: wood chart, wood nautical chart, wood lake art, lake art, ocean art, wood ocean chart, wood carved chart, nautical art chart, relief chart, relief art, wood relief art, framed lake artwork, and lake artwork.
Q. How does the Money Back Guarantee work?
A. We will refund the price you paid for the chart NO QUESTIONS ASKED , minus the shipping expense we paid to ship the original chart ($20). We use the $20 amount, but our actual average to ship is $25. We do not charge any restock fee or any other fee! We also still donate $5 to the charts designated Non-Profit!We believe that every company that believes in their product should offer "Money Back Guarantees", it just makes sense!We only require that you send it back in original packaging 3 weeks from the original ship date. See our "About Us" page for the full policy.
