General information:

Orders are shipped out daily Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).  We ship directly from the College Store in Lewiston, ME and orders are handled and processed directly by College Store employees. Orders are shipped with USPS or UPS and are subject to those carriers following their departure from our building. 

We strive to process and ship orders as fast as possible. Please note:

  • Orders received after 2:00 PM Eastern on Monday  through Thursday may not be processed until the following day.
  • Orders received on Friday after 2:00 PM Eastern or on Sat/Sun will not be processed until the following Monday (excluding holidays).

While the carriers are responsible for final delivery, if you need to receive your order by a certain day, please let us know!  You can leave a note in your order during the checkout process, email us, or call us at 207.786.6121 during business hours.

Holiday Season (November - December):

We typically process and ship your order the same day it is placed (within the window described above). Due to increased order volume during the holidays, orders may take an additional business day to process.

International Orders:

We have enabled many, but not all, international shipping zones requested by our customers. Don't see your country listed? Please email us!

Please note: International shipping rates do not include taxes, tariffs, duties, or any other fees that may be required by destination country at time of delivery and we are unable to estimate these extra costs at the time of the order.

Our international shipping rates reflect average order sizes and packaging requirements. Please contact us if you need a custom quote and include full shipping address and a list of the items you are interested in purchasing.

Order Pickup:

In-Store pickup is available during regular business hours (see page footer for current hours)

Current students/faculty/staff:
  • Your order will be handed off to Post & Print for fulfillment. 
All other customers:
  • Pickup is available during regular business hours.
  • Our store address is: 65 Campus Ave. Lewiston, ME 04240

If you need assistance, please email bookstore@bates.edu or call 207.786.6121.

Return Information:

We will gladly accept returns within 30 days of purchase. We offer two preferred methods for facilitating returns.

Method 1: We generate a USPS return shipping label for you at your expense

  1. Send an email to bookstore@bates.edu with your contact information, order number, and which item(s) you wish to return.
    1. OR: You may also reply directly to your order acknowledgement email or any of our automated emails which contain your order information. Let us know which item(s) from the list you would like to return.
  2. Once we receive your emailed request, we’ll generate and email you a USPS return shipping label.
  3. Print the label, apply it to the return shipment, and drop it off at any outgoing USPS location.
  4. Once we receive your shipment back, we will process a return to your original card and deduct the cost of the shipping label from your total refund.

Method 2: You ship the item(s) back to us at your expense using any carrier

Please ship your return to:

Bates College Store
ATTN: Returns
65 Campus Ave
Lewiston, ME 04240

Please include your name, email, phone, and packing list (or order number). For your protection, DO NOT include your credit card information. Once we receive the merchandise back, we will credit your original purchase method.

Exchanges

The fastest way for an exchange is to follow the return instructions above and place a new order for your desired item today. That way you’re not waiting for transit/processing times and there’s a smaller chance of your desired item going out of stock.

Please click here for our full return policy.

If you have any questions about these processes, please contact us at bookstore@bates.edu