Blick Art Materials

I'm a budding artist and have bought a some stationery and now some painting supplies, some big names and some Blick brands. I am not disappointed, it's nice buying some small things for less than a buck a pop. 1oz cups? I don't need two dozen of them Amazon, I just want one! Haha! Prices are good, too, didn't need to spend an arm and a leg for just a buncha 6B pencils.

Along with those pencils, I purchased a dip pen, ink, some gouache, brushes, some sketchbooks, etc, and they all shipped just fine. I must admit, shipping is sluggish, but I am very patient. It's nice to come home to a cute box with everything I ordered, packaged with care.

I noticed how much they get bashed with bad, grumpy reviews (rarely positive,) I thought I could chip in my good experience.

Don't order from them, they said on there sight shipping was free if you spent a certain amount I did and they canceled my order without informing me. Yes I checked all my emails and text and no notice about adding shipping to my charges and no notice about canceling my order.

A couple of months ago, Blick seemed to start screwing up more.
They've always shipped far slower than other on-line art dealers.
But suddenly I was getting things like leaky paint tubes, or instead
Of getting the small pastels I'd ordered, I got giant pastel sticks -
Difficult to use for small detail work. It seemed like Blick was pulling a
"bait and switch." I figured maybe it was just an innocent error.
Also, customer service became most unhelpful.
What clinched my dropping Blick: Their website promised free shipping
If you filled in the promo code.
I filled it in. A note popped up stating that my item would ship free.
But after I paid, I noticed that I was CHARGED FOR SHIPPING!
I immediately called customer service. (more time waste) They did some
Work, then said they made sure the item would ship free.
But they never sent me an email verification, so I could not believe them.
I had to call YET AGAIN.
Finally, the next customer service rep sent an email stating that the shipping
Charge would be refunded.
Ordering from Blick has become frustrating and time-consuming.
I don't feel like I can trust this company anymore.

Saturday I awoke to Bank Alerts, Insufficient Funds, and Declined Payments. Without notice, Dick Blick put a hold on my account for $1,172.04. Why? …
The day before Blick charged me $596.74. Blick miscalculated by charging for a $21.44 brush that they did not actually have in stock. No problem, give me a $21 credit. Its not an issue for me! Right?! One brush, a $21 value, no biggie!
No! Amongst themselves, the next day, Blick decided to charge my account an additional $575.30 together with the $596.74 hold totaling $1,172.04., on a Saturday. An account hold for five business days plus two weekend days with absolutely no notice!
Was I able to straighten things out over the phone? No! They told me, "that's our policy." and "we don't have to ask or tell you how often we bill or for how much we bill."
I explained that I was a 25-year loyal customer, never having any disputed charge. They responded, "well, we have no control over your bank. You must be confused about billings and holds. Call your financial institution on Monday."

I ordered a selection of black light paints and a large container of gesso from DickBlick last month. When the package arrived, I was disappointed to find that the black light acrylics were very transparent, requiring coat after coat to render the color somewhat opaque, but not quite. The gesso, however, was wonderful. I called customer service and was told that they would not refund my money, even though I had used very little of the product. I looked through the packaging and found the return slip which I filled out, along with my complaint, and sent the black light acrylics back to them, shipping at my expense, in hopes they would give me somewhat of a refund. It's been three weeks, and I have not heard a peep.
Just a few days after writing this review, I was contacted by a DB rep who was extremely helpful in procuring a full refund. She apologized for the horrendous treatment I received and even mailed me a $15 credit for the next purchase I make with DB. Ok, I accept their apology, and will definitely give them another shot. How about treating your customers right to begin with, guys?

I've bought a lot of stuff here for the past 25 years but even with changes in the postal service over the years it still annoys me that it takes almost 2 weeks to get my order.

Easy to find and dial in to the product needed. Good email communication for updates and quick delivery.
Plus, better prices than other art supply sites and stores!

So I purchased a printing press for my school. I have always received damaged merchandise from this company and received a return but this time it was a printing press the Carton was damaged and on the label stated.do not sign for this if carton is damaged. I called and was told to send email and pictures and would likely be taken care of by a return or a reduction in price. None of this happened in fact they said since I had not experimented with the press I would need to present the damage. They said I could send it back but would have to pay return shipping, Well sending it back was a large sum in which the school could not afford or my activity account. So I decided to use it and never buy anything again from this company. I have only tested it once seems ok but the fact is they have me over a barrel having to pay return shipping in order to replace this item. So beware of this and don't make the same mistake I did.
Thanks Brittany from Blick or dick Blick art materials

Sandy warr

Love this site! They have SO many art items that you just can't find anywhere else. They're a bit pricy on some things, but the shipping has always been fast & items have been well-packed.

I am both a teacher as well as a practicing professional artist. I have used Blick Art Materials for over 40 + years, and I have yet to find the same quality in both products and shipping that Blick provides for educators, professional artists, as well as hobbyists. My range of students includes Jr and High school students, as well as adults who attend classes and workshops. I do submit my own work to various shows, and I have received awards in several important mediums at different times of my life. Blick offers quality and price in any medium one might request, for projects of all dimensions. Blick includes a range of suppliers that are also high quality with a history of production excellence. The prices Blick gives for education bulk purchases is one of the best in the world. Blick guarantees a complete refund on any product that does not meet the expectations of the buyer. Dick Blick's own line of products are equally viable, and most useful for educators around the world. They are excellent for beginners, intermediate, and professional artists alike. I continue to order from Blick Art Materials because this company is trustworthy, generous, reliable and has given so much back to each community and persons who use the products they advocate. This review is meant to express my opinion over time. Thank you.
Joy Haverland Cowan

When they get my order right, it's great. More often than not, there is some type of issue. Their policy of holding the ENTIRE order for one back ordered item is ridiculous. Any other online retailer I've ordered from will send you what is in stock and the rest will come later. I also don't really like how they don't actually charge your card until they go to ship. On a few occasions there has been an issue with the card I have through my credit union, and instead of finding out immediately I find out later. So annoying. A few weeks ago I ordered a copper plate, was sent the wrong size, it took forever to get the new one, and then when I got the right one it was bent! Instead of trying to get them to fix it, I just went to the effort of flattening it out myself. On my most recent order I paid for overnight shipping, and I was on the phone with reps making sure my payment had gone through and was told everything was fine. It wasn't. I have the charge on two different cards now and no order. When I argued my point on the phone, the rep didn't even entertain the idea that it was their fault and I was entitled to a reimbursement of some shipping. When you pay 40+ dollars for shipping and it doesn't actually get there overnight, that is incredibly frustrating. If it's not here tomorrow, I guess I'm going to have to be one of those nasty customers on the phone, which I try not to be. This will probably be the last time I order from DB. I will drive two hours to the nearest decent art store and save myself the headache.

When I order from Blick I know I am getting competitive pricing. They have a large selection of products and take care with their packing and shipping.

I must report here that I've never had worse customer service than that which I am receiving now from dickblick.com.

At a point in the past, I created a wish list that I never intended anyone to see. I did not publish it.

Before Christmas I created a 2014 Christmas Wish List and sent it out to friends and family.

Not a single copy of my wish list arrived, not even the copy I sent to myself. Consequently, I received things I didn't want for Christmas from well intended family members. One family member searched the website for my name and only came up with the wish list that no one was ever intended to see. He purchased an item, an expensive easel.

Now I am trying to return the easel and I am also being charged the full freight to return plus a heavy restocking charge.

Repeated calls have failed to get any satisfaction at all. They accept no responsibility at all for their failure to have a manageable wish list or to stand by their service promises.

I am actually shocked at the poor customer service I have received.

I have ordered Materials many times in the past and always received great customer service and great products, plus their prices were usually the best anywhere!

I have been using Blick for several years now. I teach high school art and their prices and products have always been wonderful. I spend around $1000 each order.
My last order was back in August 2018. Due to my order being large, my shipment was delivered by an outside delivery truck. I was going to be charged a large amount extra to have the items carried off the truck and into our school office.
I do not have extra money in my account for such a fee and honestly feel I shouldn't be asked to pay an extra fee. Some of my students had to go outside and unload the items from the truck. I was extremely disappointed in this new system and so was our front office. Amazon or any other place that I have purchased items from deliver it to my door no questions or extra fees included.
I might could understand a bit more if my boxes were oversize and such but they were just normal size boxes. I just had several.
As sad as it makes me, I will have to find a new supplier if this is the new delivery system. My students should not have to do the work of the delivery truck driver and I should not have to pay so much more for him to bring them inside the building.
Very disappointing!
Susan L

I ordered a vice to assemble picture frames and I was hesitant to order from this website because it looks a little sketchy. Against my better judgement I went ahead and placed my order after really analyzing the whole listing for this tool. I saw that there were two things had almost identical names. One was out of stock and one was in stock. The one in stock happened to be cheaper. I was a little skeptical about this, but All of the pictures showed the whole tool, the descriptions were identical, everything matched. I was sure that I was getting the right thing. When it arrived, I was very disappointed to see that only a small part of the tool was shipped. I went back to their website to double check, and sure enough, it shows the whole tool and describes the whole tool. I called customer service and was told that even though it shows that picture and describes it that way, it's not what you get. If I wanted the whole tool, I'd have to buy the other out of stock part for $100. Don't trust the pictures or descriptions on this website.

UPDATE (4/24/17): They still haven't updated the listing to reflect the actual pictures or description of the product as they said they would.

I called to add an item to an order that I placed online last night. Customer Service (Kimmie)was super-helpful; and they got me what I needed. It's so refreshing to talk to a human!

I have used this website for my watercolor art supplies for over 5 years. I have never had a problem. Their prices are excellent and they have always gotten the order correct.

Initially I had a great experience with ordering the products I needed. However I received a damaged bottle that wasn't packaged properly, open paint leaked everywhere all over the package and dried. It was a mess when I received the package. When I contacted the company they made it sound like it would be a free replacement and then I would be refunded. Well fast forward (I had a couple backordered items as well) I get an email this week that says my PayPal is denying payment, well they were attempting to charge me additional charge for the bottle that they replaced so it's more than the original hold that they had so of course PayPal‘s going to deny it. The man I dealt with was extremely rude & would not attempt to work with me or even understand that it's not the customers fault that someone in your company didn't package and ship an item correctly, the customer shouldn't have to pay for it twice. I was charged, refunded, charged (for their mistake). It should just be refunded & a new replacement sent (that is how other companies work). Therefore I told him to cancel the remainder of my order and I would ship the current package that's been sent to me back when I received it since apparently I didn't pay for it because they tried to bill me incorrectly & for more. This will be the first and last time I ever order from this company and I will be sure to inform anyone else who needs art supplies not to order from them. As you can see in the attached picture if this is how you ship paint products then the company should eat the cost of replacements, not the customer.

I like the prices on DickBlick. The customer service is good. However the shipping is so slow, I feel I need to order 3 weeks ahead of time to get supplies I need

I am VERY upset and disappointed in this company! Currently, I am teaching K-8 art in a public school. I have 20 years of University teaching experience, a BFA and an MFA in Ceramics, a professional exhibition record in ceramic sculpture, and have taught ceramics to all ages from K-Graduate level in several states. I have mixed my own clay and ordered clay. I have used clay from this company for 30 + years and I have NEVER seem such a mess! I say this because when I received an order of 14 boxes of #25 at my school and opened it to find unusable soupy sticky clay and when I called Dick Blick, sent pictures and asked for usable clay, I was told that the clay looked fine to them. I was told to call back in 5 days to talk to a supervisor. I am right in the middle of clay units RIGHT NOW! The staff who was working today decided not to believe me, my expertise or my pictures. Yet the ONLY way to prove that this clay is unusable is for them to touch it themselves and try to use it with elementary kids themselves. I invited them to drive down here to see for themselves since they do not believe me. Of course that would be out of the question! So, how do I prove that this slop is unusable? How do I make them touch it thorough time and space? How do I get them to care about their customers? I will continue to research clay forums of social media about the down fall of this once great art company. PS the clay in the bin in the photo is not in boxes because the boxes were totally blown out from the soupy clay.

Great acrylic paints- even the ones Blick acrylic paint 2 oz. Brand, they do their job perfectly- and what I like the most of the Blick 2oz is the variety of hues they offer.

I placed an order for 300 pounds of clay on 8/15/2021, and am yet to receive it 9/13/2021. I paid $125 in shipping and handling. It sat in the warehouse for 10 days with each day a notification that it was going to be delivered the next day. Then, I called Blick customer service and was told I needed to call the shipping company to appointment to schedule a delivery, which I subsequently did. The appointment was for 9/8/2021, and the order did not arrive despite my husband waiting at our home for the 4 hour window. Next, I called the shipping company again on 9/9/2021, and was told by their representative that the freight was lost. Feeling that was unacceptable, I called back to Dick Blick and was told that the freight was not lost, the shipping company did not have a driver available, and that it would be delivered at the latest 9/13/2021 (today). Of course, it did not arrive. After calling customer service a third time today, they "checked" with the shipping company and were told that the delivery hadn't happened because the delivery company did not have my correct address! I am bewildered that the Blick representative considers that an appropriate response from a shipping company 28 DAYS AFTER THE ORDER WAS PLACED. I will never order from them again. I post this as a warning to future customers. I never complain about backorders or delayed shipping, but this has blown my mind.