Shipping Policy

1. Where We Ship

We ship to 50+ countries across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Middle East, and parts of Asia and Africa. The exact carrier and route are confirmed in your quote. If your country isn't on our standard list, contact us before placing the order — we will confirm feasibility and quote separately if needed.

2. Shipping Cost

Free worldwide shipping is included on every order, regardless of order size, to every country we ship to. The cost is built into our factory-direct pricing — we do not add a separate shipping line item at checkout or in the invoice.

Express service (DHL, FedEx, or equivalent tracked international courier) is the default. Standard carrier options may be available on bulk orders by request.

3. Production & Lead Time

Production begins after you approve the mockup and your deposit clears. Standard lead time is approximately 2 weeks of production + 4–7 business days of tracked express shipping = roughly 3 weeks total from approved mockup to delivery at your address.

Lead times are estimates, not guarantees. They can be affected by:

• Order size (very large orders may exceed the 2-week production window)
• Custom decoration methods (heavy embroidery or tackle twill add 2–4 days)
• Peak season volume (Aug–Oct and Jan–Feb)
• Courier delays or customs holdups outside our control

Rush production is available on request when you have a hard deadline — confirm with your sales rep before placing the order; rush capacity is not guaranteed automatically.

4. Tracking

Once your order ships, we provide a tracking number by email along with the carrier name and expected delivery date. Most international shipments are visible end-to-end through the carrier's online tracking tool.

5. Customs Duties & Import Taxes

Import duties, VAT, and any country-specific customs fees are the buyer's responsibility and are not included in our pricing. These fees are levied by the destination country's customs authority and vary by country and order value.

If your country imposes import duties on the value of the shipment, the courier will typically collect them on delivery or hold the shipment until paid. We declare the actual invoice value on the customs paperwork — we cannot under-declare values, as this constitutes customs fraud.

6. Damaged or Lost Shipments

Inspect your shipment on arrival. If a carton arrives visibly damaged:

1. Photograph the damage to the outer carton before opening (with the courier's barcode visible)
2. Photograph any damaged contents inside
3. Email sales@empirefive.com within 48 hours of delivery with the photos and order number

For shipping-related damage we will replace the affected pieces at no charge and re-ship via express. We file the carrier claim on our side — you do not need to deal with the courier directly.

For lost-in-transit shipments (carrier confirms shipment is lost), we reproduce and re-ship the order at no charge.

7. Wrong Address or Failed Delivery

If a shipment fails delivery due to an incorrect or incomplete address provided at quote time, or because no one is available to receive the package after the courier's standard re-delivery attempts, the buyer is responsible for any re-shipping costs to a corrected address.

8. Multi-Carton Shipments

Large orders may ship in multiple cartons, occasionally on different flights. All tracking numbers are sent together. If you receive partial delivery and the remaining cartons haven't arrived within 5 business days, contact us so we can investigate with the carrier.