Frequently asked · Mostly about plastic
QUESTIONS WE GET A LOT.
Sixteen answers, no fluff. If we missed yours, ask support.
The gist
Wait, is this a joke?
Is this a gag gift or a real gift?
Both, on purpose. It is the world's heaviest gag gift: funny enough to get a laugh when it lands with a thud, real enough that it sits on their desk for years.
Send "I'm sorry" and mean it, or send "congrats on the divorce" and don't. The format is the joke. What you write is up to you.
Sizes & lead time
How fast does it land?
How long until it ships?
Five days from order to mailbox for the Small and Standard. Seven for the Jumbo. Print starts the moment your preview is approved and payment clears.
USPS Ground Advantage handles the rest. We do not air-freight plastic.
Larger puzzle piece counts add 2 days to the lead time: Standard 17 or more pieces, Jumbo 37 or more.
Can I request a custom size?
Not yet. We ship three sizes: Small, Standard, Jumbo. Custom dimensions blow up the print queue. If you need something the size of a door, email us and we will tell you no in person.
Do you ship international?
Not yet. United States only at launch. We are working on it. Plastic slabs and customs paperwork are not friends.
Can I make a puzzle out of my slab?
Yes. Any size can be made into a puzzle. You pick the piece count in the composer: Small 4 to 12 pieces, Standard 4 to 63, Jumbo 4 to 81. The same handwriting, just cut into pieces. Friction-fit only, no magnets.
+$5 on Small and Standard, +$15 on Jumbo. Larger piece counts (Standard 17 or more, Jumbo 37 or more) add 2 days to the lead time. Toggle the puzzle add-on in the composer.
Will my message be readable across tile seams?
Letters that cross seams are part of the design. The act of assembling is the gesture. The slab still reads cleanly once it is together, but the seams stay visible. That is on purpose.
If you want a clean single-piece read, leave the puzzle toggle off in the composer. The puzzle add-on is built for moments that should make someone sit down to read.
Material & care
Plastic, paper, and care.
What is it made of?
PLA, printed on Bambu H2C machines in Detroit. PLA is a hard, dense, plant-derived thermoplastic. It will not melt in your mailbox. It will melt in a dishwasher or a parked car in July. Treat it like a record, not a mug.
What colors can I pick?
Default is white slab, black raised letters. We keep a working shelf of additional filaments at the Holdable print farm. Extra colors appear in the composer when stock allows. If you need a specific color for a gift, ask before you order.
How do I take care of it?
PLA likes shelves and walls. PLA dislikes dishwashers and direct sunlight above 50 °C / 122 °F.
Wipe with a damp cloth. Do not boil it. Do not leave it on the dashboard of a parked car in August. Otherwise it lasts a very long time.
Your message
What can I write?
How long can my message be?
Typed messages cap at 280 characters. We chose that number because it forces you to say something.
Uploaded handwriting has no hard character cap, but the mesh generator is sensitive to dense, lined paper. See the lined-paper warning below. If your scan is failing, email hello@thudletter.com and we will look at it by hand.
Why can't I use lined paper?
The horizontal rules on notebook paper get read as part of the handwriting and crash the mesh generator. You end up with a slab of fence posts.
Use a clean, unruled white sheet. Standard printer paper is perfect. Black or dark blue ink. No graph paper. No yellow legal pads. No dot-grid notebooks.
Shipping, returns, bulk
After it ships.
How does it ship?
USPS Ground Advantage. United States only at launch. Each piece goes out in a fitted box with a tracking number. You will get an email when the label is purchased and again when the carrier scans it.
What if it arrives busted or the print is wrong?
30 days from delivery. If a print arrives broken, illegible, or misprinted on our end, we replace it. Email a photo to hello@thudletter.com with your order number. We do not refund "I changed my mind" on a custom-printed object.
Do you do bulk orders?
Yes. Weddings, corporate gifts, runs of 10 or more. Email hello@thudletter.com with quantity, target date, and the message (or one message per recipient). We will quote you back, usually same day.
Do you gift-wrap?
It already arrives in a presentation box. That is the wrap. There is no upgrade tier with a ribbon.
Can I get extra puzzle pieces if one is lost?
No replacement SKU yet. Email hello@thudletter.com with your order number and which tile is missing. We will reprint at cost and mail it out.
Within 30 days of delivery, no charge if our pack-out was short. After that, we charge for the filament and the postage.
Still stuck?
Talk to a human.
Email hello@thudletter.com or open a support ticket. Reply within 24 hours, weekdays.