Last updated: September 22, 2026

How we ship

We get orders to you three ways: UPS shipping, delivery by our own driver on local routes near the farm, and pickup. Frozen and chilled beef travels in insulated packaging with gel packs to keep it cold in transit. UPS collects at the farm on Tuesday and Wednesday, so those are the days a UPS order leaves the farm. An order that arrives after a week's collections goes out on the next one, which keeps your package from sitting in transit over a weekend.

We ship within the United States. We cannot deliver to PO Boxes or to APO/FPO addresses. For international shipment, call us at 828-484-1872 before ordering.

Rates and free shipping

Shipping is calculated at checkout based on destination and package weight, and your shipping charge is shown before you pay.

For an order that ships free, for pickup and for delivery by our own driver, the amount you see at checkout is final. For an order that ships by UPS at a paid rate, that amount is based on an estimated packed weight and can be adjusted afterwards, as set out under Weighed-box adjustment below.

Free shipping applies when both of these are true: your order subtotal is $150.00 or more, before shipping and tax, and the actual UPS charge for your shipment is $100.00 or less. Heavy or frozen orders traveling a long distance can rate above $100.00. When that happens free shipping does not apply and you are charged the full UPS rate for the shipment, not only the amount above $100.00. We may change these amounts.

Pickup is always free.

Weighed-box adjustment

The rate you are quoted at checkout is based on an estimated packed weight. Orders that ship by UPS at a paid shipping rate are weighed before they go out and re-rated against the actual box weight. We absorb any difference of $3.00 or less. If the real UPS charge comes out more than $3.00 above the estimate, we may bill you for the difference on a separate invoice, and we will contact you before we do. If it comes out more than $3.00 below the estimate, email us and we will credit you the difference. Orders that shipped free, pickups and local farm deliveries are never re-rated.

Delivery times

Checkout does not offer a choice of shipping service and there is no paid upgrade. We select the UPS service automatically based on where the order is going and whether it has to stay frozen. Frozen and chilled orders travel UPS 2nd Day Air to destinations far enough from Vilas that ground transit would put the cold chain at risk. Everything else travels UPS Ground. We do not publish a guaranteed delivery date at checkout.

For orders shipped by UPS, we email you a tracking number when the shipment leaves the farm, and UPS provides its own delivery estimate from that tracking number. Orders on our local delivery route are brought to you by our own driver and are not carrier tracked, so we contact you directly to arrange the day. Orders you have chosen to pick up are not shipped, and we email you when they are ready.

Local pickup

Choose pickup at checkout to collect your order at no shipping cost. We currently offer three pickup points:

The farm, 1699 Linville Creek Rd., Vilas, NC 28692
Train4Life, 434 NC Highway 105, Suite #1, Boone, NC 28607
FA Fitness, 7593 Valley Blvd., Blowing Rock, NC 28605

Available days and times for each location are shown at checkout when you choose pickup. Pickup points other than the farm run on set days, so please collect your order on the day you selected.

Address accuracy

Please make sure your shipping address is correct and complete before you order. We are not responsible for losses caused by an incorrect or incomplete address.

You do not need to be home. UPS does not require a signature, and your order is packed to stay cold for many hours after it arrives. You do need to bring it in and get it into a freezer or refrigerator promptly, so please plan for delivery day. We are not responsible for losses caused by a package that was left sitting after it arrived.

Questions? Contact Shipley Farms at beef@shipleyfarmsbeef.com, 828-484-1872, or 1699 Linville Creek Rd., Vilas, NC 28692.