Shipping policy

SHIPPING AND DELIVERY POLICY

Last updated: 15 August 2026

This Shipping and Delivery Policy applies to artworks and other items acquired from ETHOSALIS through our website, private quotation, invoice or written order confirmation.

ETHOSALIS may use designated logistics facilities, customs brokers, export agents, specialist art handlers and third-party carriers to fulfil an order. These parties act as service providers and do not become the contracting seller unless expressly stated otherwise.

DISPATCH AND FULFILMENT

Orders may be fulfilled through logistics facilities and specialist service providers selected by ETHOSALIS.

The dispatch location, export route, customs broker and carrier may vary according to the location and customs status of the artwork, the delivery destination, applicable restrictions, security requirements and the most appropriate transport route.

The place from which an artwork is dispatched does not determine or alter its artist, country of origin, provenance, authenticity, attribution or condition.

PROCESSING TIME

Processing begins after:

  • payment has cleared and the acquisition has been accepted;

  • the delivery address, recipient name, email address and telephone number have been confirmed;

  • any customs, tax, identity or importer information reasonably required for shipment has been supplied;

  • any special packing, documentation or delivery requirements have been agreed; and

  • any additional condition report or documentation expressly requested before dispatch has been completed.

Orders are ordinarily prepared for dispatch within 3–7 business days. High-value, fragile, oversized, specially packed or customs-controlled artworks may require up to 10 business days or another period agreed in writing.

Processing times exclude weekends, public holidays, carrier transit time, customs clearance and delays caused by incomplete customer information.

If a material delay becomes known, ETHOSALIS will contact the collector using the contact information supplied with the order.

Where applicable law requires delivery within a particular period unless otherwise agreed, any longer delivery period will be disclosed or agreed before the acquisition is finalised.

SHIPPING CHARGES

Shipping charges may be calculated according to:

  • destination;

  • size, weight and declared value;

  • specialist packing or crating;

  • transit insurance;

  • carrier and service level;

  • remote-area or special-handling surcharges;

  • customs routing and documentation; and

  • any optional service requested by the collector.

Applicable shipping charges will be shown at checkout or stated in the quotation, invoice or written order confirmation before payment.

Shipping, packing, insurance, duties or other charges are included in the artwork price only where expressly stated.

SHIPPING METHODS

ETHOSALIS may use recognised international express carriers, postal services, regional couriers, specialist art logistics providers or another qualified carrier appropriate to the artwork and destination.

We may change the carrier, service level or route where reasonably necessary for artwork protection, regulatory compliance, security, carrier availability or delivery reliability, provided that this does not materially reduce the agreed level of protection.

Delivery to a post-office box, parcel locker, hotel, temporary accommodation or other unattended location requires prior written approval and may not be available for valuable or fragile artworks.

ESTIMATED TRANSIT TIMES

Typical transit estimates after dispatch are:

  • international express service: approximately 5–12 business days;

  • economy, consolidated or specialist service: approximately 10–30 business days.

These periods are estimates and are not guaranteed delivery dates.

Transit may be affected by customs inspection, import licensing, adverse weather, public holidays, security screening, carrier congestion, local delivery conditions, industrial action, transport disruption or other circumstances outside ETHOSALIS’s reasonable control.

If delivery by a particular date is essential, the collector must notify ETHOSALIS before completing the acquisition. A delivery date becomes binding only if expressly accepted by ETHOSALIS in writing.

TRACKING

Tracking information will normally be sent by email after dispatch. Tracking may require 24–72 hours to become active and may display only significant transit or customs events.

Collectors should monitor tracking and respond promptly to reasonable requests from the carrier, customs authority or ETHOSALIS.

Failure to monitor tracking does not by itself transfer transit risk earlier than required by applicable law, but the collector may be responsible for reasonable additional costs caused by an avoidable failure to respond.

EXPORT, IMPORT AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

Certain artworks, materials or destinations may be subject to export licences, import permits, cultural-property controls, protected-species restrictions or other regulatory requirements.

ETHOSALIS may request information or documents reasonably required to assess or complete a lawful shipment. We may delay, reroute or decline a shipment where a necessary permit cannot be obtained, the destination presents a material compliance risk, or the proposed transport would be unlawful or commercially impracticable.

The collector is responsible for confirming that the artwork may lawfully be imported into the destination country and for supplying any recipient-side permit, tax number, importer registration, identity document or authorisation required by the relevant authorities.

ETHOSALIS will prepare customs and shipping documents in good faith using accurate transaction and artwork information. We cannot agree to describe an artwork as a gift, materially understate its value, use false commodity information or make another inaccurate customs declaration.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AND SHIPPING DOCUMENTS

The country from which an artwork is dispatched may differ from its country of origin.

Shipping, customs or insurance documents may identify a logistics provider, exporter of record, customs broker or fulfilment facility. The appearance of such a party on operational documentation does not make that party the seller and does not alter the artwork’s authorship, origin, provenance, attribution or authenticity.

CUSTOMS DUTIES AND IMPORT CHARGES

The checkout, quotation, invoice or order confirmation will indicate, where reasonably possible, whether import duties or taxes are:

  • included in the price;

  • prepaid by ETHOSALIS;

  • collected at checkout; or

  • payable by the recipient on import.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, artwork prices and shipping charges exclude destination-country import duties, value-added taxes, sales taxes, customs brokerage fees, disbursement fees, storage charges and other governmental or carrier-imposed import costs.

These charges are determined by third parties and may be outside ETHOSALIS’s control. A customs estimate is not a guarantee of the final amount assessed.

The collector must provide any information reasonably required for lawful customs clearance. Customs processing or a delay caused by missing recipient information does not by itself establish loss, damage or breach by ETHOSALIS.

A refusal to pay import charges that were properly disclosed or imposed by the destination authorities does not automatically cancel the acquisition.

DELIVERY ADDRESS

The collector is responsible for checking the complete delivery address, recipient name, postcode, email address and telephone number before confirming the acquisition.

Any requested address change must be submitted in writing within 24 hours of the order confirmation and before carrier booking, preparation of export documents or dispatch, whichever occurs first.

ETHOSALIS will make reasonable efforts to accommodate a timely request but cannot guarantee that an address can be changed after processing has begun. Changes requested after carrier booking or dispatch may result in additional transport, storage, customs or administrative costs.

For fraud prevention, sanctions compliance, payment verification or insurance purposes, ETHOSALIS may require the delivery address or recipient identity to correspond with verified order or payment information.

SIGNATURE, INSURANCE AND DELIVERY

A signature may be required for delivery. Adult signature, recipient identification or appointment delivery may be required for high-value shipments.

Where reasonably available and appropriate, ETHOSALIS may arrange transit insurance up to the invoiced or declared value of the artwork. Insurance is subject to the insurer’s or carrier’s terms, exclusions, evidence requirements and claims procedures.

The arrangement of insurance does not guarantee that every claimed loss will be accepted by the insurer and does not constitute an admission of liability by ETHOSALIS.

Where ETHOSALIS selects or offers the carrier, risk of loss or damage remains with ETHOSALIS until the collector or a third party designated by the collector, other than the carrier, takes physical possession of the shipment, to the extent required by applicable law.

Delivery to an adult recipient, authorised representative or other person expressly designated by the collector at the confirmed delivery address may constitute delivery to the collector, subject to applicable law.

If the collector independently appoints a carrier that was not selected or offered by ETHOSALIS, risk may pass when the artwork is handed to that carrier, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

ETHOSALIS will not authorise an artwork to be left unattended unless this has been expressly agreed and is permitted by the carrier and insurer. If a collector independently instructs a carrier to leave a shipment unattended or redirects it without ETHOSALIS’s approval, any resulting loss may fall outside available insurance protection.

DELIVERY ATTEMPTS, REFUSED AND UNCLAIMED SHIPMENTS

The collector must cooperate with reasonable delivery and customs-clearance requirements.

A shipment may be returned, stored or treated as undeliverable where delivery fails because of:

  • an incorrect or incomplete address;

  • repeated recipient absence;

  • failure to provide required customs or identity information;

  • refusal to pay properly disclosed import charges;

  • failure to collect the shipment within the carrier’s period; or

  • refusal of delivery without a legally valid reason.

A refusal or failure to accept delivery does not by itself cancel the acquisition or create an automatic right to a refund.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, ETHOSALIS may recover or deduct reasonable costs actually incurred as a result, including return carriage, storage, customs charges, re-import charges, redelivery and necessary third-party administrative expenses.

Any refund that may be due will be considered only after the artwork has been safely recovered and inspected and will remain subject to the Refund Policy and applicable law.

CANCELLATIONS BEFORE DISPATCH

A cancellation request should be submitted within 24 hours of the order confirmation and before carrier booking, preparation of export documentation or dispatch, whichever occurs first.

A cancellation is effective only when acknowledged by ETHOSALIS in writing.

We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate an eligible request. However, cancellation cannot be guaranteed after specialist packing, insurance, export documentation, customs processing or shipment arrangements have begun.

Any reasonable and non-recoverable third-party costs may be deducted only where permitted by applicable law and properly disclosed.

Once an artwork has been dispatched, any cancellation or return request is governed by the Refund Policy and applicable mandatory law.

INSPECTION ON DELIVERY

The collector should inspect the external packaging before or immediately upon accepting delivery.

Where damage, crushing, puncture, moisture or interference is visible, the collector should:

  • photograph the shipment before opening it;

  • ask the carrier to record the damage on the delivery record;

  • retain any written exception or damage notation;

  • follow the carrier’s procedure concerning acceptance or refusal; and

  • contact ETHOSALIS immediately.

Where safe and reasonably possible, a visibly damaged shipment may be accepted subject to a written damage notation so that the contents can be inspected. Where the carrier instructs that a severely damaged shipment should be refused, the collector should follow that procedure, document the condition and notify ETHOSALIS immediately.

The collector should retain all packaging, labels, inserts and documents until the artwork has been inspected and any potential claim has been resolved.

TRANSPORT DAMAGE

If an artwork arrives damaged, the collector should notify inquiry@ethosalis.art as soon as reasonably possible, preferably within 48 hours of delivery.

The 48-hour period is requested to preserve carrier and insurance evidence. It does not remove a consumer right that cannot legally be limited.

The notification should include, where available:

  • the order or invoice number;

  • photographs of every side of the unopened package;

  • photographs of the shipping label;

  • photographs or video of the unpacking process;

  • photographs of internal packaging;

  • clear photographs of the artwork and damage; and

  • any delivery record or carrier notation.

The collector must not discard packaging, use, wash, soak, clean, repair, restore or alter the artwork while a transit-damage claim is being investigated.

An artwork should not be returned without written authorisation and return instructions from ETHOSALIS.

We may ask the collector to cooperate with a carrier, insurer, conservator or specialist assessment. Such cooperation does not limit any mandatory legal right.

Because many artworks are unique, a like-for-like replacement may not be possible. Depending on applicable law, the evidence, the nature of the damage and the collector’s agreement, an appropriate remedy may include return, refund, conservation assessment, repair, price reduction or another agreed solution.

DELAYED OR LOST SHIPMENTS

A tracking delay, customs hold or missed scan does not necessarily mean that a shipment has been lost.

Where a shipment appears materially delayed, ETHOSALIS may open an investigation with the carrier, customs broker or insurer. The collector may be required to confirm non-receipt and provide supporting information.

If the shipment is confirmed lost, or other reasonable evidence establishes that delivery is no longer likely, ETHOSALIS will provide an appropriate remedy in accordance with applicable law and the circumstances of the order.

Because artworks may be unique, replacement may not be possible.

RETURN SHIPPING

All returns require prior written authorisation and shipping instructions from ETHOSALIS.

The correct return destination may depend on customs status, insurance, artwork location and the reason for return. A collector must not return an artwork to a published business address, fulfilment facility, customs broker, export agent or previous dispatch address unless expressly instructed in writing.

An unauthorised or incorrectly routed return may be refused and may create additional transport, customs, storage or insurance costs.

Return eligibility, return condition, packing requirements, allocation of costs, diminished value and refund procedures are governed by the Refund Policy and applicable mandatory law.

EVENTS OUTSIDE REASONABLE CONTROL

ETHOSALIS is not responsible for delay caused solely by circumstances outside its reasonable control, including severe weather, natural disaster, armed conflict, epidemic, government restriction, customs action, carrier interruption, transport shutdown, industrial action or failure of essential infrastructure.

ETHOSALIS will take reasonable steps to communicate a material disruption and reduce its effects.

Nothing in this section excludes a mandatory delivery, cancellation, refund or consumer right, or permits ETHOSALIS to retain payment where performance has become legally or practically impossible and applicable law requires repayment.

CONTACT

Questions concerning shipping, customs documentation, delivery arrangements or an existing shipment may be sent to:

inquiry@ethosalis.art

Website:

https://ethosalis.art

Please include the artwork title and order or invoice number where applicable. Do not send payment card details, passwords or confidential financial information by email, website form or social media message.