Shipping & delivery policy

Last updated: 29 October 2026

This policy explains how goods that brands order through Surple from factories on the Surple network are shipped and delivered, and when the factory is paid for them. It follows Surple's Shipping & Delivery Policy and the SurplePay Terms, published at surple.ai.

1. Where goods ship from and to

At launch, factories on the Surple network are located in Vietnam, India, Mexico, Thailand, South Korea and the United States, and manufacturing orders are for goods shipped to the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

2. Who ships

The factory that makes the goods ships them. Surple does not hold stock or carry goods itself. Every quote states:

• the Incoterm (Incoterms® 2020: EXW, FCA, FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP) and the named place;
• the lead time from the deposit (or full payment) to the goods being ready to ship; and
• what the factory arranges and what the brand arranges.

A brand with its own freight forwarder can ask for EXW with local delivery, where the factory sends the goods by courier to the forwarder. A brand without one can request door-to-door freight through Surple's logistics partner, quoted and booked from the order.

3. Before shipping

The goods ship only after they pass final inspection against the approved sample and the brand has paid in full under the order's payment terms. On an order paid through SurplePay, orders under US$1,000 are paid in full up front, and orders of US$1,000 or more are paid as a 30% deposit before production starts and the 70% balance when the goods pass final inspection, before shipment. SurplePay is launching soon and is not yet available; until it is made available for an order, the payment terms are agreed between the brand and the factory and stated on the order. The factory provides the commercial invoice, packing list, and the certificates and batch documents agreed in the quote, and packs and labels the cartons as agreed.

4. Tracking

When the factory books the carriage, it must enter the carrier and the tracking number on the order. Brands follow the shipment on the order page, with live status from the carrier where it is available.

5. Delivery and the inspection window

The goods count as delivered on the date of the carrier's delivery scan at the delivery address on the order, or the date the factory records delivery there.

The inspection window is 7 business days. It starts when the goods are delivered to the brand or, on EXW or other collection terms, when the factory makes the goods available for collection and notifies the brand. On collection terms, the window therefore runs while the goods are still being carried to the brand: a brand buying on those terms should arrange to check the goods at collection, or through an inspection it books before shipment, if it wants to report a problem within the window.

6. When the factory is paid

On an order paid through SurplePay, Surple holds the brand's payments until the inspection window ends. The factory is paid, less Surple's 5% fee, when the window ends with no open issue; if a problem is open, the money is released as the problem is settled. There are no early releases: no part of the payment, including the deposit, is paid out before the inspection window ends. Payouts go only to a bank account in the factory's own name, after Surple's payment service provider has verified the company.

7. Costs, duties and risk

• Freight and insurance are included in the price only where the Incoterm includes them.
• Import duties, taxes and customs clearance in the destination country are paid by the brand, unless the Incoterm is DDP.
• Risk of loss passes from the factory to the brand at the point set by the Incoterm.
• The brand, its importer or its local responsible person is responsible for import formalities and for the rules of the market where the goods are sold.

8. Delays and lost or damaged goods

The factory must tell the brand about any delay as soon as it knows of it; a change to the delivery date needs the brand's agreement. Goods lost or damaged before risk passed to the brand are the factory's responsibility. Missing, damaged or short deliveries are reported on the order within the inspection window, as described in the Refund & cancellation policy.

9. Surple Factory software

Surple Factory plans are software, used online and in the Surple Factory apps. Nothing is shipped for them.

Contact

Surple, Inc. (a Delaware corporation, USA)
Registered office: 131 Continental Dr Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713, USA
EIN: 37-2248237
Phone: +1 (628) 800-7088
Email: support@surple.ai
Support hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am–5 pm US Eastern Time
Contact page: surple.ai/contact