Iowa State University Extension

What are your shipping & handling rates?

What payment types are accepted?

How do I order online and pay using a check/money order, or purchase order?

Once you have finished placing items in your shopping cart, continue to checkout, entering the required shipping/billing information.  On the billing information page, check the box for Check/Money Order.  Click -Next- to the Place Order screen.  This will allow you to verify all information is correct and displays the grand total (including shipping & handling) for your order.  You will only receive a confirmation page once you have clicked the Place Order button.  Please click this button once, and only once.  Print 2 copies of this confirmation page – please include one copy with your payment/purchase order (mail or fax) and the second is for your records.

What are the requirements to use a purchase order?

If you wish to use a purchase order, your order will be delayed until reviewed and approved.   We reserve the right to require prepayment.
Iowa State University Extension Distribution Center standard requirements for all purchase orders are the following:

1.) SHIP TO: information requires a physical street address. (Post Office boxes are not allowed)
2.) The Purchase Order must be numbered.
3.) An itemized detail of what materials are being ordered is required.
4.) Current & correct prices of all materials requested are required.
5.) All materials requested must total at least $50.00 US Dollars (before shipping & handling).
6.) Shipping & Handling is required to appear on the PO and calculated for the grand total.
7.) An authorized signature must be visible on the PO.
8.) All terms and conditions must be visible.
9.) PO must be faxed or mailed with the confirmation page.

Upon acceptance of a purchase order submitted to Iowa State University, the purchaser attests to the following terms and conditions:        

Iowa State University charges a service charge for all accounts that are not paid within 30 days of the monthly Receivable’s “Statement of Account” date.  There will be a finance charge computed at a periodic rate of 1% per month on the balance computed from the due date (Annual Percentage Rage of 12%).  The purchaser will be subject to collection costs and reasonable attorney fees in the event of default.

Acceptance of a purchase order results in the purchaser’s forfeiture of option #1 (Visa/MasterCard) and option #2 (Payment with order) payment types.

Payment instructions are on the Receivable’s Statement of Account.

Make checks payable to:  Iowa State University            (FEIN 42-600-4224)
Checks should be sent with the bottom, detachable portion of the Statement of Account:
Iowa State University
Treasurer’s Office
1220 Beardshear Hall
Ames, IA  50011-2044
All payments must be U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank

What name/merchant/seller/etc.will appear on my credit card statement?

ISU EDC AMES, IA will appear on your Credit Card statement.

When an item displays “Available to Download in PDF Format” what does this mean?

This publication has a PDF file that can be downloaded and printed off.  Currently, there are no charges associated with downloading the information.  Any cost that is shown is to obtain the hard copy version.  When availability and price do not appear, the publication is available in PDF only.

Can I just stop by the Distribution Center and pick up my order?

Yes, on the shipping information screen, please select the –Pick up– option located on the top right hand side.  Select a date and time from the options in the drop down.  Kindly allow a minimum of 2 hours to completely process your order.

How do I obtain permission to reprint one of your publications?

Please visit our Permission to Reprint section. There are forms located in this section for you to download and fill out to be granted permission.

I have a question about the content found within one of the publications, whom should I contact about this?

1.) Visit the Contact Us page.  Questions regarding the content of a publication should be addressed to an editor.  Editor contact information can be found near the bottom of that page.
2.) A majority of our publications also display whom the author is and/or has prepared or written them.  To contact them directly please use the University Directory/Phonebook search.

I have a question about my home, property, farm, etc. that I do not see a publication on your site that addresses this...Whom should I contact?

1.) Contacting someone at your local county Extension office is a great place to look.  There are field specialists that are housed in or that serve your area. 
2.) Browse through the ISU Extension website where you can locate the department that might also help in answering your question(s).
3.) For yard and garden related questions you can email the Hortline or call (515)294-3108.
4.) If you have questions about home and family email the AnswerLine or call (800)262-1985.

When I try to place my order, I get an error page.  What is wrong?

This is most likely due to one of the following conditions:

1.) You have been timed out of your session and the online store will not allow you to proceed further.  You will need to empty your shopping cart and start over or simply close out of this browser window and open a window to begin a new session.
2.) While checking out, one or more of the ship to:/bill to: fields contains a special character such as an apostrophe or other punctuation mark.  This does not follow standard mailing requirements of USPS & UPS where punctuation marks are not to appear in any field.  By simply clicking your back button, eliminate these marks, then proceeding forward, you should be able to place your order.

I am not in the 48 contiguous United States and am having trouble placing my order.  Why is this?

Currently the ISU Extension Online Store does not have the capabilities to process orders outside of the 48 contiguous United States.  At this time, we ask that order requests are emailed to the Distribution Center.  Please include the requested items & quantity, full address including a name, company (if applicable), street or post office box, city, province, postal code, and country.  We will respond in a timely manner with a quote for the amount due and further instructions.  Payment method will remain the same as described on this FAQ page.

I would like to stop by the Extension Distribution Center, how do I get there?

Please visit our Contact Us page which contains driving directions, an interactive ISU Campus map, and a picture of our building.  We have free parking directly in front of our building for customer convenience.