Order windows
This shop is a small operation, so it’s not open for orders all the time. Instead there are one-month order windows a few times a year. Everything is restocked at the start of the month, so order as early as possible to make sure what you want is available. If there’s plenty of stock left then prices will be reduced towards the end of the month.
The shop is currently closed, and will reopen in autumn 2025. Follow the mailing list or social media to get updates and reminders.
Delivery works differently depending on whether you’re ordering from inside the UK or internationally.
Great Britain delivery
For delivery to England, Wales, and Scotland you can choose from two postage options:
- Royal Mail 1st Class (£2.50). Delivery generally takes 1-2 days from dispatch, but can rarely take up to two weeks.
- Royal Mail Special Delivery (£7.50). Delivery is guaranteed by 1pm the day after dispatch.
Orders are usually dispatched within a week, but may take up to a month. If you want your order sent before or after a certain date, let me know and I will do my best. But be aware that 1st Class doesn’t give a guaranteed delivery date.
For orders of up to around ten cuttings, I usually use flat packages which fit through a normal letterbox. Bigger orders may be in boxes. All orders come with a plant passport as required by UK law.
If there’s a problem
Plants are perishable items, so they are exempt from the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations right to cancel and I cannot accept returns if you change your mind.
If your plants are lost, damaged, or dead on arrival, contact me straight away at hello@tradescantia.uk or by replying to any order email.
I will provide a refund or replacement if the issue was caused by:
- The courier losing, damaging, or destroying the package –
- If Royal Mail 1st Class takes more than two weeks to arrive
- If Royal Mail Special Delivery takes more than two days to arrive
- If the box was damaged in transit, and that caused damage to the contents (make sure to send photos of the damaged box and contents straight away)
- Sending incorrect or unhealthy plants (make sure to send photos of the problem straight away)
I cannot refund or replace for issues caused by:
- A mistake in the address you gave when ordering
- The way you cared for the plants after they arrived
Northern Ireland delivery
Delivery to Northern Ireland requires a phytosanitary certificate like the rest of the world. Read the international delivery section below for details on how the process works. The only difference is that deliveries to Northern Ireland are sent using Royal Mail Special Delivery. This means:
- The delivery cost is £7.50 (on top of the phytosanitary fees),
- The delivery is guaranteed to arrive the day after dispatch,
- The delivery is insured up to £750 of contents.
Everything else is the same as for international delivery, below.
International delivery
Exporting plants legally requires expensive inspections and phytosanitary certificates. Sending a batch of orders at the same time reduces the fees and makes the admin easier. So international orders will be processed and exported all together after the order window closes. In the unlikely event that there aren’t enough international orders to cover the fees by the end of the order window, I will cancel and refund all of them.
Exports from the March order window are scheduled for dispatch on 8th April 2025.
Prices
The delivery cost for an international order is £20 for shipping, plus £25 for phytosanitary certificate fees. This price is the same for anywhere in the world, and covers any quantity of any plants. I don’t make a profit from these fees, they are purely to cover how much it costs me to export and send the order.
Separate and combined orders
If you have already placed an international order and you want to add to it before the end of the month, you can choose the “add to existing order” shipping option, which will not charge shipping fees. Make sure you use the same email as you used for the previous order, or write your order number in the note at checkout, to be sure I add your extra items to the correct order. I will combine all the items into one order, and they will be sent in a single package with the combined total value.
If you place multiple international orders using the “Royal Mail International Tracked” shipping option, you will be charged shipping and phytosanitary fees for each one. I will treat them as separate independent orders, and they will be sent in separate packages with their own phytosanitary certificates. You might want to do this if your order total is going to be more than £250, if you are concerned about insurance coverage (see below).
Tracking
When you place your order, you’ll get a confirmation of the scheduled dispatch date for exports. You’ll get an email with the tracking information a couple of days before dispatch. Deliveries are always sent with Royal Mail International Tracked, which is expected to take 3-7 working days from dispatch, but may very rarely take up to six weeks.
Royal Mail customer service cannot help with delayed or stuck packages until their own time estimate has run out. So there’s no need to contact them – or me – if the tracking doesn’t update for a few days. See below for details on when Royal Mail will consider a package lost.
Legal requirements
For international orders, I provide the phytosanitary certificate and customs documents (in English) as required by UK export law. But you are still responsible for meeting any import law requirements in your location. Check your local laws to find out whether you need to have the delivery sent to a particular place, arrange inspections, pay additional taxes, notify authorities about the delivery, or send me any additional paperwork to include with the package.
I can’t do much to help you with this part, because the laws are different everywhere. So make sure to check the requirements and prepare for your import in advance. The best way to be sure about what you need to do is to contact the relevant government department directly and explain your situation to a helpful human. You need to do this before the end of the order window, because I will start to prepare the exports immediately after the shop closes.
If you are in the US, here is a rough guide based on what previous customers have told me. Please don’t rely on this to be completely accurate though, you still need to check for yourself!
- You’ll need to apply online for an import permit, which is free. Some information suggests you don’t need a permit if the package contains less than 12 specimens.
- When the application is accepted (which is apparently pretty quick), you’ll be sent a permit and some green-and-yellow shipping labels. You’ll need to send both of those to me, and tell me which inspection centre you want the order delivered to.
- I will include the permit in the package, and update the order shipping address to the inspection station you chose.
- When your order arrives at the inspection station, they’ll contact you to arrange shipping to your personal address after it’s inspected.
If there’s a problem
Exporting plants is very difficult. International shipping services are often slow, and almost every courier refuses to provide insurance for live plants. On top of that, every country has its own customs and inspections process for imports and there’s no way to predict how long that might take. I do everything I can to make sure the plants arrive safe and sound as quickly as possible, but I cannot make a 100% guarantee for international orders.
Royal Mail International Tracked shipping includes insurance for up to £250 of contents. That means that in some cases, the maximum refund is limited to £250 no matter how much your order was worth. If you want to be absolutely sure that you are fully insured for loss and damage during shipping, you can place multiple separate orders worth less than £250 each. You will need to pay separate shipping and phytosanitary fees for each order, because every package has to have its own phytosanitary certificate.
If there is an issue with your order, contact me at hello@tradescantia.uk or by replying to any order email. Below are details about whether, how much, and how you can get a refund for particular issues.
If Royal Mail lose the package
Royal Mail will only consider an international package lost if it hasn’t been delivered after:
- 25 working days to Europe (by 15th May for exports on 8th April)
- 32 working days to the rest of the world (by 27th May for exports on 8th April)
If your package still hasn’t arrived after that time runs out, contact me to let me know. I can provide a refund of up to £250 plus the shipping cost.
If that time hasn’t run out yet, but the tracking hasn’t updated for a while, there’s nothing I can do until the time does run out. If your package arrives intact within that time, even if the plants have suffered from the trip, I cannot provide a refund.
If Royal Mail damage or destroy the package
Take photos immediately, showing:
- The damaged box from the outside.
- Each individual damaged plant from the order.
Send me those photos and a description of the damage, within 48 hours. I can provide a refund of up to £250 to cover the damaged plants.
If the package arrives intact but the plants are sufffering dehydration or rot because of the travel time, I cannot provide a refund.
If plants are incorrect or missing
Take photos immediately, showing:
- The entire contents of the box.
- Each individual plant you have an issue with.
Send me those photos and explain the problem, within 48 hours. If I made a mistake when packing the order, I will fully refund the value of any missing or incorrect plants.
If the export paperwork is invalid
Send me details of the issue, including copies of any letters or emails from the authorities. If I made a mistake with the export paperwork, I will fully refund a lost package, or partially refund plants that were damaged due to delay.
If there are import issues
If the package is lost or delayed by import authorities for any reason apart from invalid export paperwork, I cannot provide a refund. This includes:
- If you didn’t arrange the necessary inspections or notify authorities.
- If you needed to pay customs fees or taxes.
- If you didn’t send me the necessary import permits or other documents to attach.
- If there was a long queue for processing.
- If you didn’t tell me the package needed to be delivered to a specific inspection station.
If the address is wrong
You can contact me to update the address on your order any time up to the end of the order window. This includes if you need to have your order delivered to an inspection station instead of your personal address.
If you don’t contact me in time and your order is shipped to the wrong address, I cannot provide a refund for loss or delays.
If plants die after they arrive
If the package and plants are damaged when they arrive, contact me immediately (see above). If the plants decline or die for any reason after they arrive, I cannot provide a refund.
