Frequently Asked Questions

How do I search for books?

From anywhere in our website, you may search via:

1. Search Bar - Type any title or author or keyword that you're looking for
2. Search for Books link on the menu - Click on a category that's applicable to what you're looking for

What books can you recommend for my child?

We recommend ALL the books that we carry at The Learning Basket Book Shop. That's how we started, actually -- people were asking about the books that were being featured on the blog, so we decided to make the wonderful books we have been reading to our children available to other families as well.

We label all the books on the shop (unless we forget, which sometimes happens) according to the following critera:

1. By age - We try to identify for what age group each book is. You can use our recommendations as a guide.
2. Board Books - Perfect for 0-2 year olds as these books are sturdy and can stand a lot of loving from little hands!
3. Picture Books - Our first love! Picture books are not "just" books with pictures. Oftentimes, especially with good pictures books like what The Learning Basket offers, illustrations add to the stories that they accompany.
4. Philippine Published Books - We don't offer all the Philippine published books out there, because there are a lot, and we can't keep up with all the new titles coming up! But when we do discover books that are really nice that we use or want to use with our children, we make them available for you.
5. CM Homeschooling / Living Books - These are books that we also use as Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. We are very careful in choosing what books to classify as living books, and don't just label them as such just because.
6. Classics - These are books that have been enjoyed by generations of children. We include some modern classics here too.
7. Catholic Books - To serve other Catholics, we are continuously sourcing Catholic books that can be used for homeschooling as well as to grow the family's Catholic culture and faith.
8. Award-Winning Books - Find Caldecott Winners, Newbery Honor and Medal winners, National Book Award winners, and many more here. Books win awards for a reason, but we also screen which books we carry.
9. Educational Toys and Materials - Find toys and materials that you can use at home. Your children don't need a lot, just really good ones!

My friend bought ____ from your shop but I can’t find it. Help!

Email us at shop (at) thelearningbasket.com and we will check if we have it in our stocks that have not yet been uploaded to the online shop.

Out of stock items are also not shown when you search because it can get frustrating to see the book there, but it ends up being unavailable!

Are your books pre-loved or brand new?

We have both!

We first started with pre-loved picture books and classic children's books in 2012, added new Philippine published books in 2013, and added more books (both pre-loved and news) as our children grew.

Our picture books are mostly pre-loved, while living books and classics are often brand new.

How will I know the condition of the book?

Each book's condition is stated in its product page. From the shop, you can click on any book (instead of just Add to Cart) to go to its page so you can see the condition plus additional information.

We make it a point to only offer pre-loved books in Good to Like New condition. Here's how we determine the condition:

• Like New - Usually overstocks from publishers and haven't really been used. These usually look like new and unused. We just don't want to claim that it's new if it's been sitting in a warehouse for a long time.
• Very Good - Pre-loved or overstocks that look really good, without markings or tears of any kind.
• Good - Pre-loved book that looks Very Good but may have some writing (name) on the inside cover, first page, or back page. Markings are usually indicated too in the book description. Cover may also have a bit of creasing, scuffs, and slight tears.

How do I order from your shop? I’m not “techie” at all!

All orders must go through the shop. We're sorry that we can't accommodate individual requests out of the shop so we can track our inventory properly.

1. Click on Add to Cart
2. Keep clicking on Add to Cart on other books 😀
3. Once you're ready to check out your order, click on the View Cart button that appears after you click on one Add to Cart button. You may also go to the link Shop > View Cart on the Menu above.
4. If you do not have an account yet, you will be prompted to create one.
5. If you already have an account and have forgotten your password, go to the link Shop > My Account and you will have the option to reset your password.
6. Checkout as prompted.
7. Your invoice will be displayed and emailed to you, with payment instructions.

Why did a book I ordered is suddenly not available after all?

We're really truly sorry when this happens. Sometimes, we make mistakes in the quantity or availability of books in the back-end of the shop system.

When this happens (rarely!), we inform you right away and ask for your bank details for your refund. You may also choose to replace the book with another in our system, just order again. Deposit the difference if the replacement item has a higher amount than the original, suddenly-unavailable book, or we'll send you a refund if it's less than the original amount to be replaced.

Where do I pay and send my proof of payment?

Invoice with bank details will be displayed AND emailed to you after you click the final Checkout button. Reply to this invoice email when sending your proof of payment.

Check your Spam folder or Promotions folder if the invoice from shop (at) thelearningbasket (dot) com isn't in your inbox after you submit your payment.

Email us at the same address if the invoice is not in your inbox, spam or promotions folders.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept BDO and BPI payments. If you only have GCash, you may send payment to our bank accounts too through that payment gateway.

I sent my payment x days ago and I haven’t heard from you!!! What’s going on?!?

When you send your proof of payment to shop (at) thelearningbasket (dot) com, you will receive an auto-email. This means that we received your email and are processing your order. You may check the timelines stated under the question When Will My Order Be Delivered?

If you didn't receive any acknowledgement at all (or have not heard from us, in someone's words), this means that we did not receive your email. It might have gone to Spam and we forgot to check it (again, our apologies). In this case, kindly send us an email again or a message over Facebook to alert us.

Should we have completely overlooked your payment, we ask for your patience and kindness in following up... we are just two moms working on this passion project. Let's set a good example to our children, even if they do not see what we are writing in our messages to other people.

What does consolidated shipping mean?

When you check out your order, you will see a shipping option called Consolidated Shipping. This is for your additional orders to be consolidated with your previous, un-shipped order. This way, you will only be charged one shipping fee.

How much is shipping fee in and out of Metro Manila?

Shipping fee is currently P95 within Metro Manila, and P185 outside the metro. These rates include insurance according to our default courier, Entrego.

Depending on how many books you ordered and if shipping address is in the province, LBC may also be used. This will be coordinated with you via email prior to shipping your order.

Do you ship outside of the Philippines?

Yes. We use LBC and follow their rates stated on the following link --> https://www.lbcexpress.com/rates

When will my order be delivered?

All payments are verified first before we get an order ready for shipping. Unfortunately, there are people (hopefully not parents!) out there who try to scam others.

With that said, we are able to confirm BPI payments a day or two after a payment is made, especially when payment is made on a weekend (Friday to Sunday). BPI only displays "TXN AFTER CUT-OFF" on the day, and sometimes the day after the deposit. We need to see who a payment is from, to safeguard everyone's payment.

Inter-bank transfers for both BPI and BDO also take time, usually 1 to 2 days, again, especially when payment is made on a weekend (Friday to Sunday).

We schedule pick-up of order for the day after we confirm payment, and not the day after you email us your proof of payment. Sometimes, due to various reason, we set a day for pick for the week, but we inform everyone who sends payment.

Once the courier picks up your order, delivery timelines are out of our hands as they are a third party service. Kindly follow up with the courier service given your tracking number via Track.entrego.com.ph or lbcexpress.com/track for provincial orders.

All in all, please allot 3 to 5 working days from the time you send your proof of payment until you receive your order.

We request for kinds words when you follow up with us, no threats please, our children are watching us. Thank you!

Do you allow pick-up via Lalamove or Grab?

Yes. You can choose that as a shipping option. Once we confirm your payment, we will let you know if and when you can already have your order picked up, together with the pick-up address. Please note that afternoon pick-ups are the best.

Do you accept pre-orders of books?

Sometimes, we open certain arriving titles for pre-ordering. These are the books with a Pre-Order button instead of an Add to Cart button.

As these are considered reserved books, payment is required in order to secure the pre-order.

I want to cancel my order. How do I go about it?

Cancellations are only for unpaid orders. Please reply to the invoice email that you received with the request to cancel so we can make the books in your order available for others again.

If your order is already with the courier, we're sorry but we cannot give a refund for that anymore.

I accidentally ordered two copies of the same book or I want to change my order. What do I do?

No problem!

Email us immediately at shop (at) the learning basket (dot) com with your order number and request for a new invoice. Alternatively, you may respond to the invoice email you received.

If you have already paid for your order before noticing the mistake in your order or before changing your mind about something, email the above email address with your bank account for your refund. If your order hasn't been picked up by the courier yet, please give us 2 to 3 days to transfer your refund back to your account. If it has already been shipped, we're sorry but we can't take it back anymore.

If you have not yet paid for your order and changed your mind or noticed something that you want to change, go ahead and deduct the extra order from the total, pay, and email us of the change and the proof of payment together with your order number.

I want to add to my order. What do I do?

If your order has not yet been paid or hasn't been picked up yet by the courier, you may create a new order at the shop, and choose consolidated shipping as your shipping option. This will let us know that you are combining your orders in one shipping fee. In case your total order will not fit in one pouch, we will inform you if you need to add for your shipping fee.

If your order has been paid but not yet picked up, you may proceed to do what's outlined in the above paragraph.

If your order has already been picked up by the time you we see your message, we're sorry but you'll have to order again and pay for another shipping fee.

I’m still waiting for some titles to be in stock. Can I reserve the books that I want that are already in stock?

Yes! Just proceed to check out the books that you want that are already in stock, and wait for the other books that you're waiting for to be available before you pay just one time.

Our system will hold your checked-out but unpaid orders for two weeks. If the books you're waiting for will take longer than this to arrive, feel free to already pay for your first books, and state in your email with your proof of payment to hold the shipping of your order until the other books arrive.

Where can I download the freebies that go along with some of the books?

You can find the downloadable files in your TLB Dashboard. You need to login to your account so go to the Shop menu on top of the page and click on My Account. You will see Downloads link on the left side. Click and see all your downloads.

How do I download the free TLB Guide for Philippine Picture Books?

Add to Cart the TLB Guide that you want and check out as you would any other product.

After check out, you will see in the order summary the product download. Click on the red button that says TLB Guide: (Title).

Alternatively, you can also find the file in your TLB Dashboard. You need to login to your account so go to the Shop menu on top of the page and click on My Account. You will see Downloads link on the left side. Click and see all your downloaded guides.