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SingleShare.com offers framed stock certificates to be given as gifts. Each certificate represents ownership of a single share of stock in a real company, and provides numerous benefits to the recipient:
- Durability. A share of stock will not wear out or break. It does not require regular maintenance. We use museum-quality framing materials to guard against fading and corrosion. How many other gifts can you expect your friend or loved one to hold dear for decades?
- Beauty. Most stock certificates are works of art, pleasing to the eye and suitable for display.
- Benefits of ownership. The owner of a single share will receive all shareholder benefits, such as annual reports, invitations to shareholder meetings, proxy voting instructions and any dividends. Additionally, many companies offer investment plans that allow a shareholder to make additional stock purchases with low or no fees.
- Education. Owning stock makes the world of finance "real" to people who otherwise would have no occasion to open the business section of a newspaper. It provides an excellent introduction for any budding JP Morgan, John D Rockefeller or Donald Trump.
- Pride of ownership. Many stockholders (especially children) have been heard to exclaim, whilst driving past a McDonald's or Wal-Mart "I own that one."
- Collectibility. Many certificates become collector's items in later years, even if the underlying company goes out of business!
We are careful to point out that by itself, the purchase of a single share of stock should not be considered a financial investment. However, considering the personal benefits your friend or loved one will receive, you may find your "return" to be quite high.
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If you are giving stock as a gift, our order form offers a place for you to provide the "surprise date" on which you will present it. If we need to clarify spelling, shipping instructions, etc., we will contact you instead of the recipient up until this date to maintain your surprise.
Because your purchase represents ownership in a real corporation, that corporation will need to communicate with the new shareholder (by mail) to provide reports, dividend checks, inquire about tax status, etc. These communications are outside of our control, and may begin as soon as the shareholder is registered, or about two weeks after you place your order.
If your surprise date is more than two weeks away, and you are afraid these communications will spoil your surprise, we suggest you provide the recipient's Social Security Number if possible. The most common initial shareholder communication is a request for a taxpayer ID number. If you provide a SSN in the space provided on our order form, we will forward the information to the corporation, which will usually prevent it from requesting one by mail.
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If you or the recipient do not provide us with the new shareholder's social security number, we can still fulfill your order. The purchased company will mail an Internal Revenue Service "Request for Taxpayer ID" (W-9) form to the recipient. If the recipient is outside of the United States, a form for certification of foreign status (W-8) will be sent. In any case, without a valid SSN or foreign status certification, any dividends paid will be subject to 31% backup withholding, which is usually not refundable. We recommend providing the SSN on our secure order form to avoid the additional paperwork.
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Choosing a password gives you access to our automated order status system, where you may confirm spellings and addresses, check your order's progress and estimated delivery date, link to the UPS package tracking site, and more.
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The CVV number is the last three digits after the credit card number printed in the signature area on the back of most US-issued credit cards. It helps credit card companies prevent fraud by requiring that purchasers hold the card in hand when making purchases.
If your credit card does not have a CVV number printed on it, then leave this field blank on the order form. Please note, however, that if your bank reports a CVV number should be present, and you do not provide one, your order will be declined.
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Since the acquisition of a stock certificate can take a long time (two to six weeks), we recognize the importance of keeping you informed about how your order is coming along. We will send you emails when the process reaches important milestones and when the gift has been shipped, along with the appropriate tracking numbers.
You may also log into our website at any time
to view your order status and current estimated delivery date.
In the rare event the estimated delivery date passes and the gift hasn't arrived, you are encouraged to contact us via email or phone to alert us to the problem.
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We prefer to be contacted by email and will normally reply within a few hours if the message arrives before 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Alternately, you may contact us via telephone 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific, Monday through Friday.
See our contacts page for complete information about contacting SingleShare.com.
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Yes. We offer a generous commission on sales attributed to clickthroughs from affiliates' websites. See our affiliate site for details.
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The stock price shown is generally the price listed at the close of the previous business day, although we reserve the right to update prices mid-day if the market changes significantly.
Our transfer fee covers the cost of acquiring the stock and transferring its ownership to the shareholder you specify. When you select from the "SingleShare 100" popular stocks, the transfer fee is $39. If you have a special request for a stock that we do not typically carry, you may initiate a custom order, and a higher transfer fee will apply.
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It isn't.
If you're comparing our $39 transfer fee to an online broker's fee of, say $15, you're not comparing apples to apples. To register the stock in an individual's name (not the broker's street name) and mail you the certificate, a broker will charge an additional $25-$75, and will ship the certificate to you folded. Most brokers have a minimum initial deposit requirement of $1000 or more for opening an account; we don't.
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SingleShare.com is not a registered securities broker or dealer and our product should not be considered a financial investment. Government regulations require we mat, mount and frame each share of stock we sell. If you intend to provide your own frame, or simply need an option that's more economical than wood, you'll be happy to know we offer clip frames at a significantly reduced cost (they're FREE in most cases).
Clip frames feature a sheet of glass (real glass is used to prevent scratching), clipped to a sheet of hardboard with a single mat and your stock certificate sandwiched between. The clips can also act as hangars for display on the wall. If you don't need our frame, we suggest you order the clip frame and remove the certificate when it arrives.
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We are only allowed to sell one share of stock per frame. To give multiple shares of the same stock to one person, we suggest you acquire the shares through a registered broker, ask that a certificate be issued, then have it framed at your choice of local frame shop.
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No.
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We offer just about every stock listed on the US exchanges.
If you know the stock's exchange symbol (e.g. DIS for Disney, KO for Coca-Cola), enter it on our "search by symbol" form. If you don't know the symbol, use our "search by company name" form.
Please note that the most popular gift stocks listed on our "SingleShare 100" list carry the lowest transfer fee at $39. We offer stocks not shown on the list as a courtesy to those with a special need, but the transfer fee will be higher to reflect the higher cost of filling custom orders.
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Sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive information about all our discounts and promotions, including:
- Our "Featured Stock" schedule. Every week we offer a different stock at a $10 savings to the general public. We publish this schedule ahead of time in our newsletter and allow subscribers to pre-order these stocks at the reduced price until the promotion ends.
- Referral program. Tell your friends about our unique service and earn $10 in credit toward your next purchase for every order your friends place!
- Collector's Club. Want to add to your loved one's or your own personal collection of stock certificates on a regular basis? Join our Collectors Club, which offers substantial discounts to members who purchase once per month from our club selections (announced in our newsletter).
- Seasonal promotions. Check our website or newsletter for announcements of occasional specials to commemorate various holidays and seasons.
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Our stocks represent ownership in a real corporation, with all the benefits thereof. The certificates are issued by the underlying corporation to the person you specify and mailed to us for framing.
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If you or the recipient do not provide us with the new shareholder's social security number, we can still fulfill your order. The purchased company will mail an Internal Revenue Service "Request for Taxpayer ID" (W-9) form to the recipient. If the recipient is outside of the United States, a form for certification of foreign status (W-8) will be sent. In any case, without a valid SSN or foreign status certification, any dividends paid will be subject to 31% backup withholding, which is usually not refundable. We recommend providing the SSN on our secure order form to avoid the additional paperwork.
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Our order form allows you to purchase a stock to be shared by multiple recipients (e.g. "Dave Steele and Mary Steele" or "Dave Steele and Mary Wood"). This is referred to as a "joint tenancy," and all persons sharing the stock must be over 18. Simply follow the directions on the order form to select this registration method.
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A child may not have stock registered in his or her own name, so an adult must be appointed as "custodian." Our order form allows you to specify the child's name and SSN, along with the name and state of residence of the adult custodian. The resulting registration will look like this: "David Steele cust Brittany Steele under MA Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act," where David is the custodian, Brittany the child, and Massachusetts the state of residence.
When the child turns 18, the certificate can be reissued solely in his/her name by contacting the corporation's transfer agent (you can usually determine the transfer agent name by looking at stock-related correspondence you've received from the company or visiting the corporation's "Investor Relations" website).
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Sorry, joint tenancy only works for persons over 18.
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No. However, we can issue a full-color gift announcement (view sample) which you may present to the parents
in lieu of the actual stock certificate, and we will purchase the stock on the child's behalf. When the baby is born, contact us with the child's name and we will complete the registration and ship the actual framed certificate. It is best that you contact us by phone to place this type of order.
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Of course. While our gifts are meant to be treasured for a lifetime, they represent real corporate ownership and can therefore be sold or given away. If you know who you wish to transfer the stock to, there is a form on the back of the certificate to fill out and mail to the corporation's transfer agent (similar to transferring vehicle title).
If you don't have a buyer in mind, you will need to open an account with a registered broker, deposit the certificate into your account, place a "sell" order (on which you must pay a commission), then withdraw the cash from your account.
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Yes, Non-US citizens may own stock. The new shareholder will be mailed an IRS "Certificate of Foreign Status" (W-8) form, which must be returned to avoid having 31% backup withholding deducted from dividends.
Please note that the shipping charges listed on the order form are for US ground shipping only. Please submit your order, and if the shipping address is outside the United States, we will contact you to discuss your preferred shipping method and additional charges.
You may also be responsible for the duty/customs tax if one applies for your destination.
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A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) is a program offered by many corporations allowing existing stockholders to purchase additional shares of the corporation directly from the company, without the help or fees of a stockbroker. To qualify, an enrollee must already own a minimum number of shares (usually one), registered in his or her name (not held in a broker account).
Since we register the share in the recipient's name, the stock we provide meets the ownership requirement for most reinvestment plans, if the company offers one and the requirement is only one share of stock.
SingleShare.com does not provide investment advice or assistance. For investment information, we suggest you perform an Internet search for "investment plan" and the name of the company you're interested in. Informative articles on the subject are available all over the Internet (try a Google search). We also suggest  ShareBuilder.com, which offers DRIP-like investing either on a low monthly fee or per-transaction basis.
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Acquisition, registration and shipment of a stock certificate takes time: anywhere from two to six weeks, with an average delivery time of three weeks. While we feel we have devised a system that affords the shortest turnaround possible at a reasonable price, and as much as we would like to ship our products instantly, there are elements and organizations involved in the transaction that work on their own timetables.
If you need to present the gift before the actual certificate arrives, we offer a beautiful full-color gift announcement (view sample) that you may give in lieu of the actual stock certificate, to let the gift recipient know his or her unique gift is on the way. You may view and print the certificate on your printer, send it as a link in an email, or have us color-laser-print and send it via US Mail, all free of charge.
We are diligent about keeping you informed via email as to your order's status, sending you notices of important milestones in the process and expected delivery date. You are also welcome to login to our website any time to check your order's status.
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We consider all of our orders "rush" orders. Most of the time is spent waiting for paperwork to be processed, and there is little, if anything, we can do to speed it through.
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No.
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Our $10 shipping fee includes UPS Ground shipping in the United States.
If your shipping destination is outside the United States, please complete your order with the standard UPS Ground shipping option selected, and we will contact you via email with international shipping options.
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If you wish to cancel your order, your refund depends on how far your order has traveled the acquisition process:
- If you cancel your order before we purchase the stock (usually within one business day), you are entitled to a full refund.
- If you cancel after we have purchased the stock for you, but before we have registered it, we will refund all your money, less a $25 handling fee.
- If you cancel after we have registered the stock, it belongs to the new registered owner and we are obliged to complete the order. No refund can be given.
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If we have made a mistake in processing your order (a misspelling, for example), or there is some defect in the product shipped, we will gladly pay for return shipping, correct the problem, and ship a new product as quickly as possible. Simply contact us via email or telephone to explain the situation, and we will provide return instructions. If you are still unsatisfied, we will provide instructions for returning ownership of the stock, as well as the framed product, back to us for a full refund.
If there is a problem with the order for which we are not at fault, such as a typographical error or misspelling in your order entry, we will be happy to help you correct it, but we ask that you reimburse us for any actual costs we incur in solving your problem. Contact us via email or telephone with your need.
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