Shipping & Delivery

1. When the clock starts

This is the most common cause of confusion about delivery dates. A lead time does not start when you send your purchase order. It starts on the later of these two dates:

• The day your deposit reaches our bank account. A transfer can take 2 to 5 days to clear.
• The day you give written approval of the sample, the artwork or logo, the colours and the size run.

Craftsmen’s time is booked in production slots, so every day of delay in approval moves the shipment date by at least the same number of days. If you have a season deadline, tell us the date you need the goods to land and we will plan backwards with you.

2. Production lead times

We are a handmade factory with 30+ craftsmen, not an automated line. Our normal ranges are:

• Samples: 7 to 10 days. Stock samples are faster; a development sample to your specification takes the full period.
• 30 to 300 pairs: 15 to 20 days. Our most common wholesale order size.
• 300 to 1,000 pairs: 20 to 30 days.
• Above 1,000 pairs: quoted per order, with a firm production window in the quotation.

These are factory working days and exclude transit and Chinese public holidays. Chinese New Year, in late January or February, closes most factories and their suppliers for two to three weeks; the October national holiday closes them for about one week. We give the exact dates at the time of order, and recommend placing spring orders before the New Year break.

3. Shipping methods and transit times

We ship by express courier, air freight or sea freight. The right choice depends on quantity, weight, cost per pair and how soon you need the goods. Transit times start after the goods leave us.

LCL includes consolidation at both ports, so it can take longer than an FCL sailing on the same route. Transit depends on the destination port, the sailing schedule and customs clearance in your country, none of which we control.

4. Incoterms explained simply

The Incoterm decides where our responsibility ends and yours begins. Your Order Confirmation states which one applies. Our default is EXW Wenling or FOB Ningbo.

EXW (Ex Works, Wenling)

We pack the goods and have them ready at our factory. You or your forwarder collect them and pay for inland transport, export clearance, freight and insurance. Best if you already have a forwarder in China.

FOB Ningbo

We deliver to Ningbo port, handle export clearance and load onto the vessel your forwarder booked. From there, freight, insurance and the import side are yours. This is our most common wholesale term.

CIF (destination port)

We arrange and pay sea freight and basic marine insurance to the port you name. You handle import clearance, duty and delivery to your warehouse.

DDP (delivered duty paid), on request

We deliver to your address with freight, duty and taxes paid. Available on request for some destinations, quoted per shipment because duty rates and local delivery costs vary. Ask before you order.

Risk of loss or damage passes to you at the point set by the Incoterm. Under EXW and FOB we do not insure the goods, so please arrange your own cover.

5. Packaging and cartons

Handmade shoes must arrive in the shape they left in:

• Individual shoe box. Each pair is stuffed with tissue, wrapped and boxed. Straps and buckles are protected so they do not mark the upper.
• Polybag. Each boxed pair is bagged against moisture in sea transit.
• Master carton. A five-layer export carton with corner protection, holding approximately 12 to 20 pairs depending on style: flats and slippers pack tighter, heeled or wide-strap sandals pack fewer.
• Carton markings. Order number, style code, colour, size breakdown, pair quantity, gross and net weight, carton number (for example 3 of 24) and country of origin. We add your own shipping marks if you send them before packing.
• Batch label. A label inside each carton lets us trace the production run if you need to raise a claim.

We can produce branded shoe boxes, hang tags or barcode labels. Ask at the quotation stage: branded packaging adds cost and usually 5 to 7 days.

6. Shipping documents we provide

Goods cannot clear customs without correct paperwork. Every export shipment includes:

• Commercial invoice, showing buyer, goods, unit prices, total value in USD and the Incoterm.
• Packing list, showing carton count, size and colour breakdown per carton, and weights.
• Bill of lading for sea freight, or an air waybill for air and courier shipments.
• Certificate of origin, on request. Ask before shipment, as it is issued by a Chinese authority and takes a few days.

If your customs office needs specific wording or an HS code, tell us before we ship. Changing a document after the bill of lading is issued is slow and may carry a fee.

7. Customs duties and taxes

Prices quoted EXW, FOB and CIF do not include import duty, VAT, GST or customs handling fees. Those are set by your government and are the buyer’s responsibility, payable on top of the invoice, usually to your broker or carrier before the goods are released.

Duty rates depend on your country and the HS code for footwear, so check with your own broker before ordering. We cannot advise on another country’s rates, and we cannot under-declare a value or mark a commercial shipment as a gift. That is illegal and puts your goods and import licence at risk.

Under an agreed DDP shipment, duty and tax are included in the quoted price and we pay them.

8. Tracking and updates

We send a shipping notification the day the goods leave us: tracking or air waybill number, carrier, carton count, weight and copy documents. For sea freight we add the bill of lading number, vessel name and estimated arrival date.

Courier shipments update online within 24 hours of collection. Sea freight updates at milestones, so no movement for several days at sea is normal. If a courier number does not update for 7 days, contact us and we will chase the carrier.

9. Split shipments

If one style is ready and another needs longer, we may propose a split shipment. We agree this with you first, because it means a second set of freight costs and a second customs entry.

Each part shipment has its own invoice, packing list and transport document, and counts as a separate delivery for inspection. Where the split is our fault, we pay the extra freight. Where you ask for one, the extra freight is yours.

10. Delays and force majeure

Lead times and transit times are good-faith estimates, not guarantees. Some delays are outside anyone’s control: port congestion, vessel roll-overs, blank sailings, customs inspections, typhoons on the east China coast, strikes and public holidays.

We tell you as soon as a date is at risk, with a revised date and your options: wait, upgrade to air freight at an agreed cost, or split the shipment. Where the delay is beyond our reasonable control we are not liable for costs arising from it, but we will do everything practical to recover the schedule. If such an event lasts more than 60 days, either side may cancel the affected part of the order.

11. Address accuracy and undeliverable parcels

Check the consignee details on your Order Confirmation carefully: full company name, street address, postcode, country, contact name, a working phone number and an email address. Couriers and brokers in most countries will not clear a shipment without a reachable phone number, and many need a tax or EORI number.

Once cartons are marked and documents issued, an address change may not be possible, and carriers charge a re-direction fee that we pass on at cost. If a shipment is refused, unclaimed or returned because the address was wrong, the consignee was unreachable, or import charges were unpaid, the return freight, storage and re-shipping cost are the buyer’s.

12. Damaged or short shipments on arrival

Check your shipment on arrival and count the cartons against the packing list before signing. If a carton is wet, crushed or re-taped, photograph it before opening and write the damage on the carrier’s delivery receipt. A signed clean receipt makes a transit claim very hard to win.

Report any damage, shortage or wrong item within 14 calendar days of arrival, with photographs of the carton, the defect and the batch label. What counts as a defect, what counts as normal variation, who pays return freight and how refunds work are set out in our returns policy at /returns-refunds/.