Shipping, Refunds & Other Details

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Shipping

All shipments originate from Kunming, Yunnan, China and are processed within 1-3 days. Processing time may be extended during peak periods or for back-ordered items (additional 2-7 days).

We can’t stress enough that all shipping times are merely estimates based on past experience, and that deliveries may take longer than expected or have significant gaps between tracking events. This is a normal part of international shipping and usually not indicative of a problem.

US customers: All orders to the USA are shipped DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). This means you pay no additional tariffs or fees to receive your order. Orders ship via China Post with real-time tracking and typically arrive within 7-21 days. Free shipping on orders over $99; orders under $99 ship for a flat rate of $12.95.

Germany: All orders to Germany ship via DHL Courier (Delivered Duty Paid) – no additional duty or taxes at delivery. Shipping rates: $29.50 for orders under $99, $24.50 for orders $99-$199, and free on orders over $199. Please note that tracking updates will only appear once the package has been processed in Germany, with an additional 2-3 day delay before tracking is provided.

EU & UK – DDP Upgrade Available: Standard shipping to EU and UK countries is via China Post ePacket (free on orders over $99, or $12.95 flat rate). As an upgrade, we now offer DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) courier shipping – your order arrives tax and duty free with no surprise customs charges at the door. DDP pricing ranges from $32-$49 depending on your country, and orders over $299 receive free DDP shipping. Exact pricing is shown at checkout. Delivery time is approximately 10-21 days.

All other countries: Free shipping on orders over $99 (for most countries). Orders under $99 ship via China Post ePacket for a flat rate of $12.95 and typically arrive within 1-3 weeks, however, it’s not unusual for packages to exceed this timeframe. Countries not served by ePacket will ship via China Post Air or EMS for a variable flat rate between $12.95-$29.95, and may be eligible for free shipping, depending on the country. You can confirm the shipping fee for your country during checkout. If there is no shipping option available for your country upon checkout, or if you would like to inquire about alternate shipping methods to your country, please contact us so that we can add it as an option.

EMS Airmail (Signature Required): Available for most countries as a premium option at checkout ($29-35). EMS requires a signature at delivery, making it a good choice if your address has an unsecured mailbox or packages may be left unattended.

Tracking: All shipping methods include a tracking number. To track your order, enter your tracking number (included in the “order complete” email or found in my account) at 17track.net or look up the status using your order number and billing email here. If the package has not arrived in your country yet, there may be additional information in the Chinese section below on 17track.net, which can be translated using the function on the bottom right of the tracking page or by using Google Translate.

Important: International shipping times can be unpredictable. Some packages may take 1-2 months to arrive, or even longer. As such, we do not make any guarantees as to the timeframe for delivery. Please contact us if your order hasn’t arrived after 2 months, however, delays and long gaps between tracking events within this period are normal and likely just require waiting a little longer. We require a minimum of 90 days from the date of shipping before a package will be considered lost. If your order is time-sensitive or you would like to use an alternate carrier such as DHL, FedEx, or UPS, please contact us for an estimate.

Orders are shipped to the shipping address as provided at checkout. If your address has an unsecured mailbox or packages can be left on a porch, please use the provided tracking number to anticipate the date of delivery and coordinate appropriately. Alternatively, you can select EMS shipping, which requires a signature at delivery. We are not responsible for orders sent to incorrectly inputted addresses or orders that are stolen or lost due to delivery to an unsecured residence/location.

Domestic orders (China) ship free via Shun Feng and should arrive within 1-3 days. If you require domestic shipping, please ensure that your address is provided in Chinese characters and that the recipient’s Chinese phone number is provided in order to avoid delays.

See more details on shipping here.

Currency, Tax & Customs

All prices are in USD.

For orders shipped via DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) – including all US orders, all Germany orders, and EU/UK orders where the DDP upgrade is selected at checkout – all taxes and duties are prepaid. You will not incur any additional costs upon delivery.

For all other orders shipped via China Post ePacket or EMS, the buyer is solely responsible for any applicable taxes or duty that may be applied after the package arrives in the destination country. We are also not responsible for delayed packages that are held by customs for inspection. If you are in the EU and would like to minimize the chance of any delays upon entry to your country, please provide a VAT # at checkout to ensure timely delivery.

Any packages returned to us as a result of unpaid duty or taxes are subject to a 30% restocking fee if refunded (excluding tea, which is non-refundable). These packages can be reshipped once the buyer pays the cost of an additional shipping attempt.

In some instances, orders may be inexplicably returned to us after entering the destination country without a delivery attempt being made. We can re-send your order at no additional expense, other than the cost of shipping. Should you choose to not have the package re-sent, or if a package is unclaimed or refused according to the tracking information, a refund will be issued, less the shipping costs and a 30% restocking fee. Please note that any tea items are still non-refundable in this situation.

Returns & Refunds

If the tracking number for a package shows that it arrived in the destination country, then all shipping related fees and costs are 100% non-refundable.

Refunds can not be issued for tea in any circumstances, or for teaware items that have already been used. All consumable items (tea) are final sale and non-refundable. Gift certificates, store credit and all pre-sale purchases are non-refundable. Unused teaware may be returned for a refund within 14 days of receipt, provided there is a valid reason for return. In these cases, the buyer must cover the cost of return shipping. Refunds will be processed upon receipt less shipping and a 30% restocking fee. In all cases, shipping fees and costs are 100% non-refundable.

Orders that have not yet been shipped (marked “complete” in your account) can be cancelled and refunded. In these cases, a 7.5% fee will be charged in order to cover the non-refundable payment processing fees, currency conversion, and restocking of cancelled items. In some cases an order may be shipped before being marked “complete”, in which case cancelling is not possible.

Teas and teaware will be packed as safely and effectively as possible to ensure safe arrival. Orders that contain breakable teaware are packed using plenty of padding and extra durable 5 ply cardboard boxes. Even with these precautions taken, breakage can still occur when mailing ceramics and glassware across continents. If a received product is found to be damaged, incorrect, or significantly different than described in the listing, please contact us within 48 hours of receiving the package and we will resolve the situation ASAP by way of either a replacement (depending on availability) or refund, at no cost to the buyer. While we take issues regarding subjective defects (ie: smell/taste) seriously and will investigate, refunds or replacements may or may not be provided at our discretion. Please see about our teaware for additional information about our selection process and standards.

Wholesale & Sourcing

For wholesale purchases, we largely provide sourcing services for Spring and Fall teas based on the needs of businesses. For more information, please contact us here and indicate any relevant details regarding the tea you would like sourced.

Select teaware items are also available for wholesale purchase, however, many items in our catalogue are one of a kind or limited in stock. Please indicate which specific items are of interest and we can provide more information. We also offer wholesale pricing on custom ordered Jianshui teaware.