Helpful Information and Frequently Asked Questions

How to order

Ordering Mary’s books is easy. Simply browse the list of Mary’s 5 books. Either click the “add to basket” button, or click on a book to read more about it. Continue shopping, adding other titles, and view cart at any time to change the quantity of each book or to remove something from your basket.

Once your basket contains the books you want, click “Proceed to Checkout”. You’ll be taken to the checkout page, where you enter your address, and choose how you want the books to be delivered. Click Next to go to a second screen where you choose how to pay. Click the “Place Order” button.

You’ll be sent an email with details of your order. See below for information on when you can expect your books, and how you can track the progress of your order.

When books are despatched

We aim to send out Mary’s books within 5 working days after you pay for your order. You will be sent an email when the books have been despatched.

Please note that Liz Oakley sends out Mary's books in her spare time; we do not have full time employees. Occasionally, because of holidays or other commitments, it is not possible to send the books within 5 days. If this should happen, you will receive an email with an estimated posting date; you can then choose to cancel (with a full refund) or to wait.

Oversees customers

We welcome orders from outside the UK. At checkout, simply choose the country you want the books to be sent to, and postage will be calculated at cost. If the "country" drop-down box does not include the country you want, please contact us; if at all possible, we'll add that country into the checkout options.

Most countries do not charge import taxes on books. However, if you should be charged, you would be liable for any taxes and associated handling charges. If you wish to check this, please check with your country's Customs and Excise before ordering. If you are charged import duties, please let us know, as this may help us advise other prospective customers.

Cancellation and Refunds

If you wish to cancel your order before we start preparing it for despatch, please contact us. We will refund the full amount you paid. Once we have begun the despatch process, it may be too late to stop the books from being sent to you.

If you wish to return books that you have received, please contact us before doing so. If we made a mistake, we will give you a full refund. Otherwise, we may allow you to return the books at your expense; any refund will not include postage costs. We are very accommodating, and want you to be fully satisfied with your order, so please get in touch if there are any problems whatsoever.

Delivery charges

When you check out, you'll be able to choose how you want your books to be delivered. There may be a choice of delivery methods, depending on where the books are being sent and the weight of the parcel.

Delivery is charged at the cost of the delivery method you choose, plus the cost of the packaging materials. Here are the delivery methods you may be offered:

• Royal Mail 1st Class Post, or Tracked 24 — aims to deliver the working day after despatch.
• Royal Mail 2nd Class Post, or Tracked 48 — aims to deliver 2-3 working days after despatch.
• Royal Mail Airmail — aims to deliver in 3-5 days (Europe) or 6-7 days (worldwide).
• Royal Mail International Surface Mail — aims to deliver in up to: 2 weeks (Western Europe); 5 weeks (Eastern Europe); 6 weeks (North America); 8 weeks (South America, Africa or Asia); 12 weeks (Australasia).

Paying for your order

There are 4 ways to pay for your order.

• By credit or debit card. Enter your card details on the second screen of checkout. This is completely secure. Your card details are passed directly to Stripe, our payment processor, and do not touch our servers.
• By bank transfer (UK customers only). Choose this method, and you will be shown (on screen, and in your order confirmation email) the details of the bank account. Please transfer the total amount by BACS, using your order number as the payment reference, then let us know that you have done this.
• Using PayPal. PayPal is an online payment system that allows users to send and receive money, make online purchases, and manage transactions securely. When you click “Place Order” you’ll be taken to the PayPal website to pay. You do not need to have an account with PayPal to use this method; if you checkout without a PayPal account; they’ll invite you to create one after paying, but this is optional.
• By cheque (UK customers only). Choose this method, and you will be shown (on screen, and in your order confirmation email) who to make the cheque payable to, and where to post it. This is only for customers with a UK bank account.

Please note that we only process your order once payment has been received, which is when you check out (card and PayPal), when you make your bank transfer, or when your cheque has cleared.

Online Account

When you place an order, an account is automatically created for you on this website. This allows you to log in, to view the progress of your order, and to view your order history. The website also remembers your previous postal addresses so you can place a fresh order without having to re-enter your details. If place a new order without logging in, the new order will be automatically linked to your account with the same email address.

If you forget your password, simply use the “Forgot your password” link from the login page, and you'll be sent a one-time link. This allows you to log in, so you can reset your password to something you’ll remember.