Guides
From Germany to the laboratory: how vials are packed, which transit times apply, when a tracking number arrives and what to check when the goods are received.
Research Use OnlyVials are individually secured and shipped protected against impact in an outer box. Inside, each vial sits in a padded insert so that the glass cannot work against the stopper during handling, and the original carton with its label stays with the vial.
A lyophilisate – material dried by freeze-drying – is a dry solid, and its stability over the few days a parcel is in transit does not depend on refrigeration. Shipping therefore takes place at ambient temperature. This also avoids the opposite risk: a cold pack that thaws in transit adds condensation to the packaging. Cold storage begins on arrival, as set out in the guide on storing lyophilised peptides.
Transit times are the carriers’ own figures. They count working days from handover, not from the order, and they are averages: peripheral regions, public holidays and peak periods in the parcel networks add days. The full conditions are on the shipping page.
Orders are usually handed over to the carrier within 24 to 48 hours of payment being received. Items marked as pre-orders are dispatched later, in some cases up to 18 working days after the order; this is shown on the product page and at checkout. Questions about a specific dispatch date can be raised through the contact page, quoting the order number.
As soon as the parcel has been handed over, an e-mail with the tracking number is sent. The status can be checked at any time via order tracking using the e-mail address and the postcode from the order. A number that shows no movement for the first few hours is normal: the carrier records the parcel only at the first sorting centre.
All parcels leave from Germany and go to addresses inside the European Union. Within the EU single market no customs formalities arise for these shipments, so no customs declaration or import duty arises on the recipient’s side. Deliveries outside the EU are not offered. The goods are research-grade peptides for in-vitro research, not medicines, and are neither labelled nor declared as such.
Where a product is marked as pending, no report has been published for it yet; the process behind that marking is described in the quality-control guide.
Transport damage is easier to settle the earlier it is reported, because carriers work to their own deadlines for claims. Photograph the outer box before unpacking further and keep the packaging material until the matter is closed. For an incomplete parcel, the quantity on the delivery note and the vials actually present are the two facts needed.
Once the parcel is unpacked, how long the material stays usable depends on the store it goes into – temperature, light and humidity are covered in the neighbouring guide.
Related categories: Sets & Bundles
Dry, cold, dark: lyophilisates are robust but not indestructible. The key rules for unopened vials, opened vials and solutions.
Read more: Storing lyophilised peptides: temperature, light, humidity →Test method, purity in percent, test date, laboratory: a COA is only as good as the information it contains. How to check whether a certificate matches the vial in your hand.
Read more: How to read a certificate of analysis (COA) →