What To Do About A Missing Puzzle Piece?

Quality matters to us. We make our puzzles in small batches and check each one to be sure it has all its pieces before it leaves our warehouse. If you think a piece is missing, it’s probably hiding somewhere in your living room.
As you near the end of a wooden jigsaw puzzle, it can sometimes seem like a piece is missing. That’s actually a sign of a good challenge. If you complete the puzzle, it means the difficulty was just right!
If you finish your puzzle and still can’t find a piece, try these steps before contacting us:
  1. Check carefully around the area where you worked on the puzzle. Pieces often end up under tables, chairs, or sofas. Don’t forget to look between the sofa cushions as well.
  2. Look in nearby spots too, since pieces can move around. Some wooden pieces are small and have unique shapes, so they might get caught on your clothes.
  3. Check inside the bag and box the puzzle came in. If your puzzle has dark colors, a piece might blend in with the background and be easy to miss.
  4. Ask your family, friends, or even check with your pets to see if they might have taken the piece by accident.
  5. Wait at least a week to see if the missing piece turns up. Most of the time, it does!
If you still can’t find the missing piece, here’s what to do next.
Email us at help@nautiluspuzzles.com with the puzzle name or SKU number (NPXX-XXX-XXX) and your order ID from our website, Amazon, Etsy, or eBay. Please attach a photo of the finished puzzle so we can see which piece is missing. You can also text this information and photo to 1-800-674-3025.
If your puzzle is still in production, we’ll do our best to recreate the missing piece and send it to any US address. For puzzles that are no longer made, we may not be able to provide replacement pieces.
Since each wooden puzzle is cut individually, there might be a tiny difference in the image, but the piece will fit perfectly. Usually, you can’t tell it’s a replacement unless you look very closely.
Your first replacement piece is always free, no questions asked—even if your dog ate them- but we reserve the right to charge for repeated replacements. We send missing pieces by USPS Ground Advantage, which usually takes 5 to 14 days to arrive.
If you live outside the US, we’ll need to charge you for shipping to send a replacement piece.
PLEASE NOTE: We cannot replace pieces if you purchased the puzzle used (i.e., not directly from our website or from our stores on Amazon, Etsy, or eBay), as we can't control a puzzle's completeness once it leaves our warehouse. We also do not sell replacement pieces, as the economics just don't make sense.