When you order from a shop abroad, two things usually go wrong: the parcel takes three weeks, and a customs bill arrives after it. Both come from the same cause. The item crossed a border.
The order goes to the nearest workshop
Rippwiller does not ship from one country. Each order is routed to the print workshop closest to the delivery address, among five territories: the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Australia. The artwork file travels, not the shirt.
An order placed in Chicago is printed in the United States and posted as a domestic American parcel. The same design ordered in Lyon is printed inside the European Union and posted as a domestic European parcel. Neither shirt crosses a border.
What that changes, concretely
| Printed locally | Shipped from abroad | |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | 2 to 5 working days | 10 to 30 days |
| Shipping cost | domestic rate | international rate |
| Import duty | none | possible, payable by you |
| Customs delay | none | unpredictable |
The customs line is the one people underestimate. Inside the European Union, a parcel arriving from outside the customs union has been liable for VAT from the first euro since July 2021, plus a handling fee charged by the carrier, which is frequently larger than the duty itself. A domestic parcel avoids all of it because there is nothing to declare.
How long production takes
Your shirt does not exist yet when you order. Production averages under one working day in the United States and one to three working days in the other workshops. Delivery starts after that, which is why we publish the two numbers separately instead of one comfortable total.
Delivery services
- Economy, United States only, 4 to 8 working days.
- Standard, worldwide, 2 to 5 working days at home, 10 to 30 across a border.
- Express, United States only, 2 to 3 working days.
Does it change what I receive?
The blank is the same reference in every workshop, the same Comfort Colors 1717 in garment-dyed ring-spun cotton, printed the same way, direct to garment. What can vary slightly is the shade of a dyed colour between production batches, which is true of every cotton garment made anywhere, and the exact carrier.
If something goes wrong in transit
Send the order number to contact@rippwiller.com. A domestic parcel more than 10 working days past its window, or an international one more than 15, gets a claim opened with the carrier by us. You never have to argue with a carrier yourself, and a parcel lost in transit is replaced or refunded at our cost.