How shipping is charged

Whether you pay for shipping depends on the item subtotal: the amount after any discount, before shipping and tax. At USD 49.80 or above, shipping is free. Below USD 49.80, it is USD 5.00. Shipping itself does not count towards the threshold, so "it will be enough once shipping is added" does not work.

Order several pieces together and the threshold applies to the combined subtotal; we do not judge each item separately. Bundling genuinely helps here: two items at thirty dollars each in one order ship free, while split into two orders they cost USD 5.00 each. If something in your order is out of stock, we will first ask whether you want to wait, swap or cancel, and shipping is then recalculated on the subtotal of what actually ships.

Why there is a threshold

Cross-border postage is charged by weight and volume. A small parcel travelling on its own costs noticeably more per unit than one consolidated parcel. The threshold is not there to collect a few extra dollars; it is a middle path between two poor options — pricing shipping into every product, or losing money on every small order.

The figure comes from repeated calculation against average order values and carrier quotes, not from guesswork. Set it too high and small orders all lose money; set it too low and shipping is spread across every product, so people who buy a lot pay for people who buy a little.

Shipping is shown as a separate line, so at checkout you can see at a glance what the goods cost, what shipping costs, and the total. If you only want one small piece and USD 5.00 feels poor value, order with a friend, or choose a piece closer to the threshold. Buying something you do not need just to clear free shipping costs more in the end, and we see plenty of those orders.

Handling and dispatch

Within 1 to 3 business days of your order being confirmed, we pick, check and pack it. Business days exclude weekends and public holidays. A few pieces need an extra check — a size, colour or fitting we want to confirm with you — and for those the handling time starts from the day that confirmation is complete.

Once dispatched, the order page shows the carrier and the tracking number. Cross-border tracking is often a step behind, and a day or two of silence in transit is normal. If there is no record at all after five business days, write to us and we will chase it.

"Dispatched" here means the parcel has been handed to the carrier and a waybill created. It does not mean it has left the country of origin. A cross-border parcel passes through collection, sorting, export clearance, line haul, import clearance and final delivery, and any of those stages can stall for days.

Methods and delivery times

We ship direct from abroad. How long it takes to reach you depends on the destination country, customs, the carrier's schedule and the local postal service — usually 7 to 20 business days from the order. Year-end sales, the weeks around Lunar New Year, or tighter customs inspection in the destination country will all push that out.

We do not promise delivery within a set number of days. Too much of the cross-border chain is outside our control, and any guarantee tends to fall apart at the operational level. What we can promise is three things: dispatch on time, a trackable waybill number, and that we will follow up ourselves when something goes wrong.

When it is slow, it is genuinely slow. Within the same country, a coastal city and an inland town can differ by ten days or more.

Remote areas may carry a surcharge or a longer delivery cycle. If that applies, we will tell you before dispatch, and you decide whether to go ahead or cancel.

Import duties and customs

Prices do not include import duty, VAT or other clearance charges levied by the destination country. Those are paid by the recipient, at rates set by local customs. Allowances vary widely — a few tens of dollars in some countries, several hundred in others — and a few minutes spent checking your own country's rules on personal imports beforehand saves surprises later.

If a parcel is returned because the recipient did not clear it in time, did not pay duty, or supplied incomplete details, the shipping already incurred is not refunded. If customs detains a parcel we will provide the declaration documents, but release is not ours to decide; that is the customs authority's call.

Declared value is the actual amount paid. We do not under-declare. The duty saved is small; the inspection risk and the insurance dispute are not. If something does go wrong, insurance pays on the declared value, and the difference is yours.

Addresses and changes

Give us the full delivery details at checkout: name matching your ID, address down to the door number, postcode and phone number. Cross-border parcels often need a phone call at the delivery stage, and one wrong digit can leave a parcel sitting in a depot until it is sent back.

To change an address before dispatch, just contact us. After dispatch it depends on the carrier; some channels will not accept a change in transit, and the parcel has to come back and go out again, with the return postage on you. Checking once more at checkout is easier than chasing a parcel afterwards.

Damage, loss and other problems

Look at the outer box first. If it is visibly damaged, crushed or stained, photograph it on the spot — all six sides and the waybill — before opening. If the piece is damaged, contact us within 48 hours of delivery with photographs and your order number, and we will arrange a replacement or a refund depending on the case.

If the box is intact but the contents are broken, follow the same steps. Do not assume there is nothing to be done because the box survived. Padding absorbs knocks; it does not stop crushing.

If tracking says delivered and you have nothing, ask the local delivery office first — sometimes it is at a collection point, a locker or the building reception. If it is confirmed lost, come to us and we will open a case with the carrier. Cross-border enquiries usually take 10 to 15 business days, and there is nothing to do but wait.

If a parcel comes back to us, we check why: wrong address, refusal, failed clearance, uncollected after the holding period. Each is handled differently. Where the reason is on your side, the return postage is yours; whether we then resend or refund is something we agree together.

Where we cannot deliver

If the destination is outside the carrier's network, or the item is a category the country prohibits importing — jewellery containing certain animal materials, for instance, or pieces containing plant seeds — we will contact you before dispatch and refund in full. Restrictions differ by country and cannot be listed exhaustively; when we find one, we tell you immediately rather than shipping and hoping.

A few countries have extra requirements for metal jewellery: material declarations, precious metal assay and the like. If your order runs into that, we may need an additional document or a different delivery method, and we will explain before dispatch.

Common questions

Can I choose the courier? Not at present; we use our partner channels. Can two orders be combined? If neither has shipped, yes — contact us and we will merge them, recalculating shipping on the combined subtotal. Do you ship on public holidays? Usually not; handling time runs on from the next business day.

If I return something, is the original shipping refunded? That depends on the reason; the rules are on the Returns & Refunds page and we will not repeat them here. Can I get an invoice for the shipping? Yes — contact us once the order is complete, with the company name and tax number. My parcel has been in customs for ages; is that normal? A few days to two weeks is common. If there has been no update for more than three weeks, write to us and we will check.

Contact us

For delivery questions, email the shop; we reply within 1 business day. Include the order number — it makes finding the parcel much faster. For damage or loss, add photographs and a screenshot of the tracking; it saves several rounds of questions.

Checking the address before dispatch, adding a layer of padding when packing, saying something when an order looks wrong — doing these in advance is worth more than explaining afterwards. No cross-border service is accident-free, but every step should have someone answering for it.

Packaging

Standard packing is shock-absorbing padding in a rigid outer box; fragile items and stone settings get another layer. If you want gift packaging, leave a note at checkout — there is no extra shipping charge, though whether we can do it depends on the packaging materials in that batch. Enough padding, not a mountain of it.

Gift boxes are limited in quantity, so around holidays it is worth noting the request early.

A cross-border parcel is loaded and unloaded several times on the way, and how well it is packed decides whether the contents arrive whole. We do a basic drop test when packing. What happens in transit is beyond our control, so opening and checking on arrival is still something only you can do.