Tools Shipping Policy

This Shipping Policy governs every worldwide-shipped sale on the Tools Marketplace — the orders processed by Stripe. In-person sales and rentals do not involve platform shipping: the parties meet and exchange the tool directly, per the In-Person Safety addendum and the Rental Terms. This policy is an addendum to the Tools Marketplace Terms, the Seller Agreement, the Buyer Terms, and the Fee Schedule.

1. The worldwide shipping stack

• Carriers are selected per destination through Shippo. We support domestic carriers in France (e.g. La Poste / Colissimo, Chronopost, Mondial Relay), EU carriers, and cross-border options (DHL, UPS, FedEx, and others Shippo exposes for the lane). The exact carriers available depend on the destination and the parcel characteristics.
• Labels are purchased on behalf of the Seller by ChefSphere and funded by the Seller's Label Wallet (section 3). Sellers do not need a separate carrier contract.
• Tracking events are ingested from Shippo and pushed to Buyer and Seller in-app and by email.

2. Shipping price at checkout

• The Seller configures regional shipping rates on the listing. The app picks the rate matching the Buyer's destination at checkout.
• Free-shipping thresholds configured by the Seller apply to the whole cart at checkout.
• Customs duties and import VAT are not included in the shipping price unless delivery-duty-paid (DDP) is explicitly offered (section 7). Where DDP is not offered, the Buyer pays customs directly to the carrier on delivery (DDU).
• Returns shipping, where paid by the Buyer, is not a pre-checkout cost; it follows the rules of the Return & Refund Policy.

3. The Seller Label Wallet

Every approved Full Seller offering worldwide shipping has a pre-paid Label Wallet that funds label purchases:

• Minimum top-up: €20.
• Maximum top-up per transaction: €1,000.
• Daily top-up limit per Seller: €2,500.
• Low-balance warning threshold: €30.
• Minimum hold per label: €15 for domestic (France), €25 for Europe, €50 for the rest of the world.
• Minimum absolute hold amount: €15.

On label issuance the wallet holds the expected cost, then reconciles against the actual cost returned by Shippo:

1. the label is generated and the exact cost becomes known;
2. if the actual cost is less than the hold, the difference is released to the available balance;
3. if the actual cost is more than the hold, the shortfall is drawn from the available balance;
4. a platform markup (when applied by the carrier tier) is recorded as a separate transaction.

If the wallet lacks funds to cover a label, label generation fails and the Seller is asked to top up. Orders that cannot be shipped for lack of funds are eligible for Buyer cancellation and full refund.

4. Dispatch obligations

By accepting a worldwide order the Seller agrees to:

• generate the label within the committed dispatch window (set on the listing), typically 1 – 3 business days;
• accurately declare weight and dimensions, package contents, and declared value;
• hand the parcel to the carrier within the dispatch window;
• upload the tracking number to the order if the carrier does not do so automatically;
• pack the tool so that it survives normal transit (manufacturer packaging, internal padding, fragile labelling, moisture protection where needed).

Failure to dispatch by the committed window, without a documented reason, counts as a missed dispatch. Repeated misses can demote the Seller's trust level and trigger a Buyer-initiated cancellation with full refund.

5. High-value orders — signature on delivery

For every worldwide order with a total value of €500 or more, the platform enforces:

• Signature on delivery (additional carrier service).
• Additional Buyer verification before the Seller is authorised to ship (identity-document check prompted in-app).

The Seller must purchase a label with the signature option; labels without signature are rejected for high-value orders. The platform marks these orders as high-value in the defence package used for chargebacks (see Chargeback Policy).

6. Prohibited and restricted items in shipping

In addition to the Marketplace's own prohibited list, Sellers must not ship:

• dangerous-goods categories not authorised by the carrier (lithium batteries above the class allowed by the carrier, pressurised vessels, flammable liquids above the personal threshold, etc.);
• items subject to export controls or sanctions applicable to the lane;
• items that violate the destination country's import rules (example: certain blade categories, regulated electronics, battery chemistries with labelling requirements);
• counterfeit, stolen, or recalled items.

Sellers are responsible for knowing and complying with carrier Dangerous Goods Regulations (IATA for air, ADR for road in Europe) and with their national export-control law.

7. Customs, duties, and VAT

• The default incoterm on cross-border worldwide sales is DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid): the Buyer pays customs duties and import VAT directly to the carrier on delivery.
• Where DDP is explicitly offered by the Seller and the carrier supports it, the Seller is responsible for remitting duties in advance.
• VAT on consumer sales is collected by ChefSphere at checkout where required (see Tax Information). For B2B cross-border sales, reverse-charge rules may apply and are shown on the invoice.
• Sellers are responsible for declaring the correct HS codes, country of origin, and value on customs documentation. Under-declaration to reduce Buyer-side duties is prohibited and voids chargeback defence.

8. Delivery times

• Estimated delivery times are provided by Shippo and carrier data and are not guaranteed.
• For worldwide cross-border lanes, typical windows are 3 – 10 business days for express carriers and 5 – 21 business days for economy services, subject to customs holds at the destination.
• The platform does not consider a parcel late until the carrier's own guaranteed-by date has passed, if any.

8.1 EU default delivery deadline — Art. 18 CRD

Where the Buyer is an EU consumer and the Seller is a professional (trader) and unless the Buyer and the Seller have expressly agreed a longer delivery date, the Seller must transfer possession of the tool to the Buyer without undue delay and in any event not later than 30 days from the conclusion of the contract (Art. 18(1) of Directive 2011/83/EU). If the Seller fails to deliver within that deadline, the Buyer may set an additional period appropriate to the circumstances; if the Seller still fails to deliver within that additional period, the Buyer may terminate the contract and obtain a full refund without undue delay (Art. 18(2) CRD). Where delivery time was an essential element of the contract, or where the Buyer informed the Seller prior to the contract that delivery by a specific date was essential, the Buyer may terminate immediately. For a consumer who also wishes to exercise the 14-day right of withdrawal, ChefSphere hosts the statutory model withdrawal form (Annex I(B) of Directive 2011/83/EU) at /legal/tools/withdrawal-form; the Buyer may however notify withdrawal by any unambiguous statement (see the Return & Refund Policy §12a).

8.2 Passing of risk — Art. 20 CRD

Where the Buyer is an EU consumer, the risk of loss or damage to the tool passes to the Buyer only when the Buyer (or a third party designated by the Buyer, other than the carrier) has acquired physical possession of the tool (Art. 20 of Directive 2011/83/EU). Risk does not pass to the Buyer merely because the Seller has handed the parcel to the carrier. Consequently, a parcel lost or damaged in transit before the Buyer takes physical possession is at the Seller's risk, and the Seller is responsible for either replacing the tool or refunding the Buyer in full. This rule does not apply where the carrier was commissioned by the Buyer without being among the carriers offered by the Seller.

8a. Address changes after dispatch, undeliverable parcels, delivery refusal

• Address change before dispatch. The Buyer can update the delivery address on the order page until the Seller has generated the label. After label generation, the address is locked; only the carrier can re-route a parcel, and most carriers charge a fee that the Buyer pays.
• Address change after dispatch. Contact the Seller and the carrier directly; redirections are not guaranteed and may fail for customs reasons. If a redirection fee is charged it is the Buyer's cost.
• Undeliverable parcels. A parcel is undeliverable when the carrier cannot reach the Buyer after the contractually agreed number of delivery attempts, when the address is wrong or incomplete, when customs blocks the import, or when the Buyer refuses delivery without cause. Undeliverable parcels are returned to the Seller; the outbound and return shipping costs are deducted from any refund to the Buyer, along with any destination-country customs fees already paid. Where the failure is the Seller's fault (wrong label, missing customs paperwork), the Buyer gets a full refund and the Seller absorbs the return cost.
• Delivery refusal. A Buyer who refuses delivery must use the in-app return flow so the return is recorded against the original order. Refusing without a valid reason (the parcel matches the order, was delivered on time, and is undamaged on the outside) is treated as a Buyer-initiated cancellation after dispatch: outbound shipping is not refunded, and the Seller may deduct a reasonable restocking fee within the caps of the Return & Refund Policy.
• Carrier storage / pickup point. Where the carrier holds the parcel at a pickup point or a locker, the Buyer has the storage period published by the carrier to collect it; an uncollected parcel becomes undeliverable.

9. Lost, damaged, or stolen parcels

• Lost in transit. If the carrier fails to deliver within a reasonable period after the latest estimated delivery date and Shippo confirms the parcel as lost, the Seller refunds the Buyer through the in-app flow and opens a claim with the carrier through Shippo. Platform fee returned to the Buyer as usual.
• Damaged in transit. Buyer photographs the parcel and damage, opens a return under the Return & Refund Policy with reason "damaged in transit". The Seller may replace or refund. Carrier insurance claims are handled by the Seller through Shippo.
• Stolen after delivery. For orders with signature on delivery the signed scan is authoritative. For orders without signature, the Buyer must produce a police report where required; if the evidence is insufficient, the chargeback defence uses the carrier's GPS delivery scan.

10. Returns-shipping integration

Sellers may attach a prepaid return label when approving a return (see Return & Refund Policy section 5). When enabled, these labels are generated through Shippo and funded by the Label Wallet or charged to the Seller's balance.

11. In-person and rental flows — no platform shipping

In-person sales and rentals do not use the Label Wallet, Shippo, or any platform carrier integration. The parties meet in person per the In-Person Safety addendum and exchange the tool directly. Any logistics around that meet-up (public location, counterfeit-cash checks, photo documentation of condition) are the parties' responsibility, supported by the in-app tools.

12. Changes

We will post a new version when carriers, hold amounts, dispatch rules, or regulatory obligations change materially. Material changes take effect 30 days after in-app and email notice; safety-critical or regulatory changes may take effect sooner to comply with law.

13. Contact

• Shipping support: [email protected]
• Billing / Label Wallet: [email protected]
• Legal notices: [email protected]