Welcome to the Pine Research family!  We welcome you and look forward to our new relationship.  Each business, educational institution, and company has their own unique manner of working with purchase orders, extending credit, invoicing, and payments.  Here are Pine Research, we are no different.  We try to be accommodating, but as a small business, we must work with the staff and resources we have available.    Therefore, we offer the following guidelines for doing business with us.  Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

IMPORTANT

For customers who have credit (purchase order submission) with us, our payment terms are Net 30 (no discount).
For customers who have credit (purchase order submission) with us, we only send invoices by E-mail (as a PDF attachment). You must provide us with an e-mail address for invoice submission.
Shipping is not included in the cost of goods. Shipping is always paid by the purchaser (either prepay and add or on your shipping account).

Purchasing Methods

  • Online.  Our website is e-commerce enabled for several regions in the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.  When you create an account on pineresearch.com, e-commerce is enabled on a country specific manner, assigned during account creation.
  • By Phone.  You can give us a call during business hours to place an order on the phone at +1 (919) 782-8320.  Payment by credit card may be required if your organization has not been granted credit payment terms.
  • By Email.  You can order via email.  This is easiest if you have previously obtained a quotation and are sending a purchase order (available to organizations who have been granted credit payment terms).  Please do not send credit card information by email.  Instead, request us to call you to process payment over the phone.
  • Through our Distribution Network.  We have established a group of well-respected, helpful, and responsive companies around the world who help you purchase, install, use, and service Pine Research products.  In some cases, we have exclusive agreements with our distribution network.  Please review our International Representatives page to learn who your local purchasing contact is.

Payment Methods

  • By Credit Card.  We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover for purchase up to $10,000.  We cannot accept credit card payments for single or combined orders greater than $10,000.
  • By ACH Transfer.  Upon request, we will provide our ACH banking details if you wish to use this service.
  • By Wire Transfer.  Upon request, we will provide our Wire Transfer banking details if you wish to use this service.  Please note, we assess all wire transfer fees to the payer.  A $35 wire transfer fee should be added to the wire to use this service.
  • Credit/By Invoice.  Pre-approved customers may submit purchase orders, against which we will invoice for payment (generally, Net 30 no discount terms), see below.

Purchase Order Details

In addition to the standard aspects of a purchase order (purchaser organization, billing details, product details, etc.), please ensure the following are addressed on your purchase order:

  • Requestor Details (name and email address – i.e., who do we contact with purchase order processing questions?)
  • Invoice submission E-mail Address (see below)
  • Quotation Reference, if available (if you are ordering from a quotation, please reference our quotation number in the purchase order)
  • Shipping Method (NOTE: Shipping is never included in the cost of goods.  Shipping fees are the responsibility of the purchaser.)
    • We can prepay the shipping fee with our UPS Discounted Rates and add this to the invoice (Prepay and Add)
    • We can ship on your account. Please provide us with freight forward, level of service, and account number (e.g., UPS Ground Acct # XXXXXX)

Purchase Orders/Credit Terms

Customers whose organizations do not already have credit payment terms with Pine Research may apply.  The application requests financial information about the organization and credit references.  Complete the application and send it to our accounting team for review.  Upon successful review, your organization will be granted with payment terms (Net 30, no discount, in most cases) and a credit limit.  In this case, we can accept purchase orders from your organization and you will be invoiced for the the order following shipment.  Please see below for our Purchase Order and Invoicing Requirements.  In most cases, we do not extend credit terms to customers outside the United States.

How do we send invoices?

We send invoices by email attachment (PDF).  We do not use fax and we do not send invoices through the mail (by USPS).  You must provide an invoice submission e-mail address at the time of order, whether it is a centralized e-mail (e.g., accounts-payable@organization.edu) or a purchasing contact who will submit the invoice into their AP system for payment.  We will not upload invoices or use any online portals/procure-to-pay systems (e.g., SAP Ariba, PaymentWorks, Jaggaer/Sci-Quest, Coupa, Transcepta, etc.).

Invoices are generally available within 1 – 3 days after shipment.  Please ensure that your purchase order explicitly names the e-mail address to whom we will send the final invoice.

Shipping Information

The purchaser is always responsible for shipping costs.  The cost of goods never includes freight, shipping, and handling charges.  We require shipping directives at the time of order capture.  Your options are:

  • Pine Research will prepay the freight/shipping charges and add them to the final invoice.  This is called “Prepay and Add.”  We will add the cost of freight/shipping onto the final invoice as a separate line.  We receive discounted shipping rates from UPS and we pass those savings onto you with this option.  With Prepay and Add, Pine Research selects the carrier (most often UPS), but the purchaser can specify the level of service (e.g., ground, 3 Day, Next Day Air, etc.).
  • Customer can pay the freight/shipping charges and specify the freight forwarder/carrier and level of service.  With this option, we require your freight forwarder account number, such that the freight/shipping costs are charged directly to you via your freight forwarder and do not pass through Pine Research.

When requesting a quotation from Pine Research, we do not always obtain a shipping estimate at the time we issue the quotation for goods.  In this case, a note on the quotation will be printed that says, “NOTE: This quotation does not include the cost of shipping.”  If you require an estimated shipping cost at the time of quotation, please let our staff know so we can provide the estimate value of shipping cost on your quotation.

Our preferred freight forwarder is UPS.  Our production facility has daily pickups with UPS, so it’s the most efficient choice.  FedEx is available, but since we do not have daily pickups, there could be a delay in handing off your order to FedEx.  DHL is our preferred freight forwarder for international shipments.

With few exception, our products are packaged and shipped in carboard boxes.  Rarely are LTL (less than truckload), palletized freight forwarders required.  If a large order requiring LTL service is required, please contact us if you would like to ask about our preferred LTL freight forwarders.

International Orders and Exports Compliance

Pine Research is dedicated to following all laws, rules, recommendations, and requirements provided by the United States Department of Commerce (and related agencies, organizations, and entities duly connected).  As the exporter, we have a responsibility to carefully review all exported goods transactions at all stages of the transaction (pre-sale, shipping, post-sale).  We require additional information about the end user, end user’s organization, intermediate parties (including freight forwarders, resellers, and other agents involved in the transaction) for every export transaction.  We require an End User Certificate (EUC) for every export transaction.  Please allow additional time for us to complete our due diligence responsibilities.

In accordance with US Export Laws, all export shipments are labeled as follows: “These commodities, technology or software were exported from the United States in accordance with the Export Administration Regulations. Diversion contrary to U.S. law prohibited.”

All customs, duties, VAT, and related fees associated with the import of goods are for the consignee’s account.

We ship all orders under the Ex Works (EXW) Grove City, PA USA Incoterms.  EXW Incoterms means:

  • Ex works is when the seller places the goods at the disposal of the buyer at the seller’s premises or at another named place (i.e., works, factory, warehouse, etc.).
  • The seller does not need to load the goods on any collecting vehicle. Nor does it need to clear them for export, where such clearance is applicable.

We prefer to ship internationally with DHL.