Delivery Information
- Will Covid-19 affect my order?
- Will Brexit affect my order?
- Where do you deliver?
- When will my order be shipped?
- How much does delivery cost and how long will it take?
- Do you always meet your estimated delivery times?
- What if an item isn't in stock?
- What courier do you use?
- Why isn't my shipment traceable yet?
- What happens if I order more than one product – am I expected to pay multiple postage fees?
- What if I’m not in when you make a delivery?
- Can I change delivery address after purchasing?
- Can I have free postage on my order?
- Will I get back the original postage and packaging charges that I paid if I cancel my order?
- Do you deliver on weekends?
- How will the order be packaged when it is sent to me?
- Can you ship to 'PO Box' addresses?
- Can you ship to BFPO/APO/FPO/DPO addresses?
- Will I get charged customs fees?
- I am from outside of the United Kingdom - can I make a purchase without VAT (British Sales Tax)?
WILL COVID-19 AFFECT MY ORDER?
Our factory is open Monday - Friday and we are despatching orders as normal.
UPS are currently operating as normal, however there may be small delays due to COVID-19. You can see the service status that UPS are giving to us here: https://www.ups.com/gb/en/service-alerts.page. If you do a Google search for 'UPS Service Status' (or similar in your language) you should be able to find UPS's advice for your country.
If the website lets you purchase an item we believe it to be in stock for shipping, usually the next working day. In the event of a stock error where an item ordered is sold out we will contact you if delivery will be delayed more than 3 days (this is very rare).
Please note that whilst COVID-19 is having very little impact on deliveries, shipments to the EU, especially Germany, Czechia, Poland, Spain and Portugal are seeing some delays due to Brexit - mentioned below.
We would ask for your understanding if there are problems during this difficult time, all delivery companies are busier than usual at the moment.
If you have orders or urgent issues then please contact us here.
WILL BREXIT AFFECT MY ORDER?
Customers in the UK and Isle of Man
Billingham is based in the UK therefore if you are in the United Kingdom nothing will change for you. You will be charged British VAT upfront on our website and will not have to pay anything extra upon delivery.
Customers in the European Union
If you are in the European Union and place an order on our website on or after 1 January 2021, you will NOT be charged British VAT. You will most likely be charged local VAT when your order arrives, plus an administration charge added by UPS. You will be asked to pay for this by UPS before your order is delivered or soon after delivery.
Additionally due to EU rule changes on 1st July 2021 we are temporarily suspending shipments to the EU where the order total is less than £165.
You can find more information towards the bottom of the page.
Please note that although we are still despatching orders out quickly - some parcels going to the European Union are experiencing a few days extra delay in delivery. Deliveries to Germany, Czechia, Poland, Spain and Portugal seem particularly delayed, some taking an extra 1-3 weeks compared to normal. Some shipments to Germany are taking over 1 month to arrive.
Customers in the Rest of the World
If you are outside of the EU/UK, nothing has changed. You will NOT be charged British VAT but will be subject to import duties (and an administration charge) on arrival before your order is delivered by the courier. There are no import duties (or administration charges) on orders sent to Hong Kong.
USA customers can order from www.billingham.com instead - orders on that site are shipped from California so there will be no customs fees etc to pay.
REMEMBER THAT IN ADDITION TO OUR WEBSITE THAT YOU CAN PURCHASE FROM OUR MANY STOCKISTS AROUND THE WORLD. SEE THE LIST HERE.
WHAT COURIER DO YOU USE?
We use UPS as our courier as they provide a reliable, around the world service.
WHERE DO YOU DELIVER?
We ship worldwide, with only a few exceptions due to UPS not delivering there.
This website no longer delivers to the USA. USA customers should order from www.billingham.com instead. They ship orders from stock held in California (www.billingham.com only ships to the USA).
Currently we are temporarily not delivering to Greece due to their rules since Brexit.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE/ HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
There are two main factors that affect how long the order will take to arrive.
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Despatch Time
We aim to despatch within 3 working days. If an item is in stock we can and do usually despatch much faster than this (sometimes the same day). The 3 days almost always gives us time to actually make the item if we need to.
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Delivery Time
Typical delivery times and costs are displayed below. Please note that delivery times may be longer than quoted for remote areas and offshore islands.
| Country/Region | Delivery Time | Charges |
| UK | 1-2 working days* |
£5 or FREE FREE when you spend over £20 |
Isle of Man |
3-5 working days* |
£30 or £20 or £15 or FREE FREE when you spend over £150 |
|
Canada Mexico |
2-4 working days* |
£35 or £25 or £15 Shipping cost reduces as you add more to cart. Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery. |
|
Belgium |
2-4 working days* |
£9.95 (£165 minimum order) VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
| Luxembourg | 1-4 working days | £25.00 or £20.00 (£165 minimum order) VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
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VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
|
|
3-6 working days* |
£9.95 (£165 minimum order) |
|
Portugal (exc Madeira & Azores) |
3-6 working days* |
|
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|
5-10 working days* |
£35 or £30 or £20 |
|
|
4-8 working days* |
£9.95 (£165 minimum order) VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
|
Greece |
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|
2-5 working days* |
£35 or £30 or £19.95 or £9.95 Shipping cost reduces as you add more to cart. VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
| Norway |
4-7 working days* |
£35 or £30 or £19.95 or £9.95 Shipping cost reduces as you add more to cart. VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
|
Cyprus Malta |
3-6 working days* |
VAT AND BROKERAGE FEE NOT INCLUDED IN SHIPPING FEE. THIS WILL BE PAYABLE WHEN THE ORDER ARRIVES. |
|
Australia Indonesia Japan Macao Malaysia Philippines Russia Singapore South Africa South Korea Taiwan Thailand |
2-6 working days* |
£45 or £25 or £15 Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery. |
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|
2-6 working days* |
Please note we do expect some delays on shipments to Hong Kong until the end of January due to temporary rules on flights going there. |
|
Belarus Bosnia & Herzegovina Faroe Islands Gibraltar Greenland Iceland Kosovo Macedonia Montenegro Serbia |
5-10 working days* |
£35 or £30 or £20 Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery. |
|
India New Zealand United Arab Emirates |
4-7 working days* |
£50 or £45 or £40 Shipping cost reduces as you add more to cart. Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery.
|
| China (Mainland) |
2-10 days* |
Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery.
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Rest of World |
CALCULATED DURING CHECKOUT Shipping cost reduces as you add more to cart. Shipping fees don't include duty and taxes which will be due on delivery. |
*Remember that despatch will add 0-3 working days on top of this number depending on stock levels and the time of day that you order. Items that are ordered before 10am British Time and are in stock are USUALLY despatched the same day but if we need to make the item that may extend to several days.
*Please check the UPS advice for your country particularly carefully here: https://www.ups.com/gb/en/service-alerts.page UPS warn of particular delays to some areas in your country.
Please note that although we are still despatching orders out quickly - some parcels going to the European Union are experiencing a few days extra delay in delivery. Deliveries to Germany, Czechia, Poland, Spain and Portugal seem particularly delayed, some taking an extra 1-3 weeks compared to normal. Some shipments to Germany are taking over 1 month to arrive.
DO YOU ALWAYS MEET YOUR ESTIMATED DELIVERY TIMES?
We do try our best to meet the delivery timescales that we quote, but occasionally a parcel can be late due to reasons that are out of our control. We do however try very hard to ship orders received before 10am the same day if we have stock (except at weekends) to give the best possible chance of a delivery arriving quickly.
WHAT IF AN ITEM ISN'T IN STOCK?
If the website lets you purchase an item we believe it to be in stock for shipping (usually next working day). Stock levels are almost live - in the event an item ordered is sold out we will contact you if despatch will be delayed more than 3 days.
WHAT COURIER DO YOU USE?
We ship all of our products via UPS. We use UPS as they provide a fast and secure end-to-end delivery service to a wide variety of countries.
There are a few countries (or areas within countries) that UPS don't operate in themselves - in that case they hand the parcel over to a partner in that country. Occasionally at times of exceptional demand or ill-health, such as COVID-19, parcels can be handed to a partner for delivery but this is a rare occurrence.
There are a few locations to which UPS don't deliver at all and in that case we will select a different carrier - it is our policy to only do this when UPS do not deliver themselves due to the extra work and cost involved, we will not charge you extra when we do this.
As with any courier, occasional delays due to things out of our control such as adverse weather conditions, mechanical failure, COVID-19 can happen.
WHY ISN'T MY SHIPMENT TRACEABLE YET?
We create the labels in the morning or early afternoon on the day of shipping (British time) however the parcel usually won't be traceable until the early evening (British time) when it arrives at the UPS depot.
We don't despatch any orders on a weekend. All of our parcels are sent with UPS tracking numbers and will be traceable after they arrive at the depot.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I ORDER MORE THAN ONE PRODUCT – AM I EXPECTED TO PAY MULTIPLE DELIVERY FEES?
No, if you order multiple items in a single order you will only pay delivery once - often at a rate much cheaper than if you had purchased separately.
WHAT IF I’M NOT IN WHEN YOU MAKE A DELIVERY?
Don’t worry, if nobody is available at your address to take delivery, our designated carrier will leave you a note saying they’ve called. There will be contact details via which you can contact them directly to rearrange delivery on a more convenient day.
CAN I CHANGE THE DELIVERY ADDRESS AFTER PURCHASING?
Unfortunately we can only post to the address that you provided when you ordered due to the rules of our payment processor. When paying by PayPal please make sure at every stage that you are asking for it to be shipped to the address you want it to go to. Also make sure that you get the 'Billing Address' and 'Shipping Address' the right way round if they are different.
If you need to change the shipping address then we can cancel your order and you can re-order with a new address.
The 'Billing Address' is the address on your bank/credit card statement. Your 'Shipping Address' is where you want the bag to go. The checkout will ask you for the 'Shipping Address' first.
WILL I GET BACK THE ORIGINAL POSTAGE AND PACKING CHARGES THAT I PAID IF I RETURN MY ORDER?
If you choose to return your whole order within fourteen days after the day you receive your goods, you must email us and we will send you instructions. All items must be returned in their original packaging, with tags and be in a perfect, un-used, un-soiled condition. Once we receive the item(s) back and they have passed inspection, we will refund the standard postage and packing costs you paid as part of that order (if any), in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations. If you paid extra for premium or express delivery, we will only refund the cost of standard delivery. Unless the products are faulty or not as described, you will have to pay the costs of sending the order back to us.
We will not refund any postage and packing charges if you cancel after the 14 days allowed under the Consumer Contracts Regulations or if you only cancel part of your order.
DO YOU DELIVER ON WEEKENDS?
No. UPS do not normally deliver on weekends. In some countries we can offer Saturday delivery - please contact us if you need this to get a quote.
HOW WILL THE ORDER BE PACKAGED WHEN IT IS SENT TO ME?
We ship all our bags out in a strong cardboard box to avoid damage during transit. Accessories will either be sent in a box or a padded envelope as appropriate to ensure they reach you safely. The packaging is discrete to avoid attracting attention but does feature our return address and company name in small letters on the shipping label.
CAN YOU SHIP TO 'PO BOX' ADDRESSES?
Unfortunately we are NOT able to ship to 'PO Box' addresses. Please make sure you enter a valid street address (such as a home or business address) rather than a PO Box.
CAN YOU SHIP TO BFPO/APO/FPO/DPO ADDRESSES?
Unfortunately we are currently unable to deliver to BFPO/APO/FPO/DPO addresses as they can't be shipped by UPS.
However, some of our retailers are able to ship to these addresses.
BFPO:
WEX Photo Video
Wilkinson Camera
Clifton Cameras
APO:
Adorama
WILL I GET CHARGED CUSTOMS FEES?
Customers in the UK or Hong Kong will not get charged customs fees.
Other customers who are outside of the United Kingdom may get charged taxes or customs fees on the import of items into their country. Unfortunately, for most countries, we can cannot predict what these would be as they vary from country-to-country and product-to-product.
The customer will be responsible for paying these taxes and fees and may have to make payment for them before the courier will hand over the goods (although sometimes the request comes in the post later).
Please note, if an item is refused by the receiver, any taxes & brokerage fees will still be due and therefore will be deducted from your refund in addition to any return carriage charges.
Below we have created a small list with information that we have gained from customer's experiences and government websites. As the rules can change from time to time, and as we are based in the UK, we cannot guarantee that customers will not be charged - so customers should always double check the rules in their country for themselves.
| Country | Notes |
Australia |
We are currently researching this based on customer feedback - please contact us with your experiences. Please note however that we do not collect GST therefore it is sensible to work on the assumption that this will be charged when the item arrives. https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/importing/cost-of-importing-goods/gst-and-other-taxes/gst-on-low-value-goods |
| Canada |
Canadian Residents can find a Duty and Taxes Estimator here: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/dte-acl/est-cal-eng.html Please note we cannot be responsible for inaccuracies of results produced. |
| European Union |
UPS (our courier) will usually collect this charge from you before delivery (this is what happens in the rest of the world). Additionally, UPS may charge a small processing fee (about £10-£15 for collecting this payment). Please note that, unlike before Brexit, British VAT is not being charged on orders to the EU - so you are at least saving this cost. Some shipments sent to Spain are being asked for a Tax ID number by UPS before delivery. Due to EU rule changes on 1st July 2021 we are temporarily suspending shipments to the EU where the order total is less than £165. |
| Hong Kong |
We note that customers in Hong Kong usually don't get charged customs at all. More information: here |
| Indonesia | Customers in Indonesia often have to pay quite high customs fees. You should bare this in mind when ordering. |
| Singapore |
It seems that Singapore customs use an estimated figure for shipping and insurance that is a bit higher than the shipping fee we charge customers. This means Singapore customs might think the value is slightly higher than it really is. |
South Africa |
Customers in South Africa may have to register as an importer if making more than 3 orders from abroad in the same year - this total includes orders made from other sellers (Amazon etc). UPS are likely to ask you for your 'Importers Code' once the item reaches South Africa if this is the case - we have no way of knowing this before we ship the item to you. If this might apply to you you should get register and get this code before ordering from us to avoid problems with the delivery. More information: https://www.sars.gov.za/faq/faq-do-i-need-to-register-as-an-importer-if-i-buy-personal-goods-from-abroad-e-g-from-amazon/ |
| Switzerland |
Orders shipped to Switzerland may be charged customs fees - you can find out more here: https://www.ch.ch/en/ordering-goods-abroad/ |
| United Kingdom | Customers in the UK will not be charged customs charges as the items ship from our factory at Cradley Heath (in the West Midlands) in England. |
| USA |
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This website can provide estimates of what duties may be: https://www.simplyduty.com/import-calculator/ although please note these are only estimates - we are unable to give refunds if this website produces incorrect estimates. Further we would certainly advise that you budget for a little more than the amount quoted as if duties or taxes are charged then the courier may place a 'brokerage fee' on top.
Please note, that for shipments outside the United Kingdom, British sales tax (VAT) will be not be charged. So even if you are asked to pay customs charges by your government at least you will have saved from having to pay the British sales tax (VAT). The website will do its best to automatically display prices including VAT to customers in the UK and excluding VAT to customers outside the UK (it will say next to the price if VAT has been included).
On a related note:
To comply with British law the tax calculation is based on shipping destination, not billing address. For example, if you come on holiday to England and have your order delivered to a hotel British sales tax (VAT) will be added to your order and you won't be able to claim back that tax.
I AM FROM OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM - CAN I MAKE A PURCHASE WITHOUT VAT (BRITISH SALES TAX)?
Yes! If you make an order to be shipped outside the United Kingdom then British tax will automatically be deducted from the price - so if you are having it shipped to the Hong Kong, China, France, Germany etc you won't have to pay British VAT (although remember to read the note about customs fees above).
The website will do its best to automatically display prices including VAT to customers inside the United Kingdom and excluding VAT to customers outside the United Kingdom (it will say next to the price if VAT has been included).
If you have it shipped inside the United Kingdom you will have to pay VAT and won't be able to get a refund of that tax from us (or customs officials at the airport). VAT is based on shipping address not billing address.
There is one exception - some retailers in the United Kingdom (especially London) are able to give you a form to reclaim the VAT at the (British) airport. This only applies to some shops, only to transactions made in person and never to internet or phone orders (because of restrictions in UK law). You can find more info here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/taxfree-shopping and find our list of retailers here: https://www.billingham.co.uk/retailers