Terms of service

1. Who these terms are with

These terms are between you and Shop Gold Gift, an independent gold gift studio at Keizersgracht 241, Unit 4B, 1016 EA Amsterdam, Netherlands. In these terms, “we” and “us” mean Shop Gold Gift, and “you” means the person or organisation buying from us.

You can reach us about anything in these terms at info@shipgoldgift.org, or about an order already placed at support@shipgoldgift.org.

2. What these terms cover

These terms apply to all sales of gold jewellery, coins, bars, plated keepsakes, engraving services and gift sets supplied by us, and to the use of this website.

We sell to consumers and to businesses. Where a customer is acting in the course of a business, the consumer protections described in sections 7 and 11 do not apply, and our business terms agreed in writing take precedence where they conflict with anything here.

This website is a catalogue and an enquiry channel. There is no shopping cart and no online checkout, and no contract is formed by browsing or by sending an enquiry form.

3. How an order is formed

The sequence is deliberately unhurried, because gold is expensive and mistakes are costly to undo.

1. You enquire. You write to us with the occasion, your budget and anything you know about the recipient’s preferences. Nothing is binding at this stage.
2. We propose. We send two or three concrete options with photographs, stated fineness and measured or estimated weights, and an honest note on which we would choose.
3. We quote in writing. For a firm quotation we need the specific piece in front of us and weighed. The quotation states the metal, fineness, measured weight, the benchmark reference used, our fabrication and presentation premium as a figure, delivery cost, and the date we expect to dispatch.
4. You confirm. A contract is formed when you confirm the quotation in writing and we acknowledge it. Until both have happened, either of us can walk away and no money changes hands.
5. We invoice and make. Where a piece must be cast, engraved or assayed, work begins after confirmation and, where we have asked for it, after payment of a deposit.

Quotations are valid for five working days unless the quotation states otherwise, because the gold benchmark moves. If the benchmark moves materially while a quotation is open, we will tell you and re-quote rather than quietly absorbing it or quietly passing it on.

4. Pricing and the gold benchmark

Prices for solid gold items have two components, and we show both.

• Metal value — the published London gold benchmark for the relevant fineness on the day you confirm, applied to the measured weight of the specific piece.
• Our premium — a stated figure covering fabrication, finishing, hallmarking, packaging and our time. It is quoted as an amount, not as a vague percentage.

Indicative prices shown on this website are guidance for budgeting. They are not offers, and they are not binding until we have weighed the piece and issued a written quotation.

Prices are quoted in euros and include Dutch VAT where it applies. For deliveries outside the European Union, VAT is not charged on the export, but import duties, taxes and customs handling charges levied by the destination country are the recipient’s responsibility. We cannot predict or control those amounts and we will not misdescribe a shipment to reduce them.

5. Payment

We accept payment by bank transfer and by the payment methods stated on your quotation. Payment details are sent with the invoice and are never changed by email after the fact — if you ever receive a message claiming our bank details have changed, treat it as fraudulent and call it out to us before paying anything.

Unless we agree otherwise in writing:

• Stock items are payable in full before dispatch.
• Bespoke, cast and engraved pieces require a deposit of fifty per cent on confirmation, with the balance due before dispatch.
• Corporate and volume orders are payable on the terms stated in the proposal, which is usually thirty days from invoice for established accounts.

We may decline or cancel an order where a payment cannot be verified, where an order appears fraudulent, or where we are required to by law. If we cancel for one of those reasons and you have paid, you receive a full refund.

6. Shipping and delivery

Every order ships insured, tracked and with signature on delivery. We do not offer an uninsured option, because the risk in transit would then sit with you and we would rather carry it ourselves.

Dispatch times

Stock items normally leave us within two to four working days of confirmation. Engraving adds two to three working days. Bespoke casting adds approximately three weeks. Where you need a piece by a specific date, tell us the date at the enquiry stage and we will confirm in writing whether we can meet it. We would rather decline a date than miss it.

Risk and ownership

Risk in the goods passes to you on delivery. Ownership passes to you when we have received payment in full. Where a shipment is lost or damaged in transit while insured, we will deal with the carrier and with our insurers, and you will receive either a replacement or a full refund. You do not need to pursue a carrier claim yourself.

Failed deliveries

Because shipments require a signature, please make sure someone can receive the parcel. If a delivery fails and the parcel is returned to us, we will contact you to arrange redelivery. We may ask you to cover the additional insured postage, and we will tell you the amount before sending.

7. Returns and refunds

Your statutory right to change your mind

As a consumer in the European Union, you have the right to withdraw from a distance contract within fourteen days without giving a reason. The withdrawal period begins on the day you, or a person you nominated, physically receive the goods. To withdraw, tell us clearly in writing at support@shipgoldgift.org before the period expires. You may use the model withdrawal form if you wish, but any clear written statement will do.

Where you withdraw, we refund the price paid and the standard cost of delivery within fourteen days of being told, using the same means of payment you used. We may withhold the refund until we have received the goods back or you have shown that you sent them, whichever is earlier. You bear the direct cost of returning the goods.

The longer window we offer voluntarily

We extend the period to thirty days from delivery, which is longer than the law requires. Within that window, an unworn piece returned in its original packaging with its certificate card is refunded in full, and we refund within five working days of receiving it back. Where the fault is ours — a wrong item, a defect, damage in transit — we also pay the return postage and we will send a prepaid label.

What is excluded

Consumer law allows certain items to be excluded from the right to change your mind, and the following fall into those categories:

• Engraved and personalised pieces. Goods made to your specification or clearly personalised cannot be resold, so they are excluded from the right to withdraw. This does not affect your rights if the engraving is faulty or does not match the proof you approved — in that case we remake or refund.
• Bespoke cast pieces. Items made to order to your specification are excluded for the same reason. This is stated on the quotation before you pay a deposit.
• Sealed bullion cards. Where a coin or bar is supplied in a sealed, tamper-evident card and the seal has been broken, the item can no longer be sold as new. If you want to inspect a sealed item before committing, ask us for additional photographs or an in-studio viewing instead of opening it.

Condition of returned goods

You are entitled to handle a piece as you would in a shop, but you are responsible for any reduction in value caused by handling beyond that. In practice this means unworn, unaltered, with the original packaging and certificate card. If a piece shows signs of wear, sizing or repair by a third party, we may make a reasonable deduction and we will explain any deduction before applying it.

Faulty goods

If a piece is faulty, not as described, or does not match the specification in your quotation, your legal rights apply and are not limited by the periods above. Tell us what is wrong and we will repair, replace or refund. Under Dutch law, conformity defects that appear within the first twelve months are presumed to have existed at delivery unless we can show otherwise.

8. Engraving, personalisation and bespoke work

For any engraving we send a proof image for your approval before anything is cut. The proof stage is free and we will revise the layout as often as needed.

Once you approve a proof, the wording and layout in that proof are what we cut. Please check spelling, dates, initials and diacritics carefully at that point, because we cannot un-cut metal. If we cut something different from the proof you approved, we remake the piece at our cost. If the proof itself contained an error you approved, we will quote for a remake at our normal price and will not charge for the design work.

You are responsible for making sure you have the right to use any text, symbol or design you ask us to engrave. We will decline to engrave content that is unlawful, or that reproduces a protected trademark or a third party’s design without their permission.

Hand engraving is a manual process. Small variations in depth and spacing are inherent to it and are not defects. Proofs show layout and wording; they cannot show every nuance of a hand cut, and we will say so plainly where a design is likely to vary noticeably.

9. Descriptions, weights and hallmarking

We describe what we sell as accurately as we can, and we keep the evidence.

• Fineness. Solid gold items over the legal exemption weight carry an assay office hallmark. Items below that weight are described by fineness on the certificate card.
• Plated goods. Plated, vermeil and gold-filled items are identified as such in the item name and on the certificate card. We do not use terms such as “gold tone” or “gold colour” to describe solid gold, and we do not use the word “gold” alone to describe plating.
• Weights. Measured weights are stated to two decimal places on the certificate card, taken from a calibrated scale. Where a weight is an estimate because a piece has not yet been made, we say that it is an estimate.
• Photographs. Product photographs are taken by us against a neutral grey card. Metal colour varies with lighting and screen calibration, so a photograph cannot be a guarantee of exact hue. If colour is critical, ask for additional photographs in different lighting or arrange a viewing.

Nothing we sell is offered as an investment, and nothing on this website is investment advice. We are not authorised to provide financial advice, we do not forecast gold prices, and we make no claim about future value. Bars and coins are supplied as gifts and collectables.

10. Care, wear and ageing

Gold is soft relative to steel or platinum, and all gold jewellery will acquire fine surface marks with wear. This is normal and is not a defect. Rings and bracelets worn daily will show it sooner than pendants and earrings.

• Store pieces separately in the box supplied, so they do not scratch one another.
• Remove jewellery before swimming, bathing, cleaning with abrasives, or handling chlorine.
• Keep plated and vermeil items away from perfume, hairspray and household chemicals, which accelerate wear through the plating layer.
• Have claws, settings and chain links checked annually if a piece is worn daily.
• Use a soft, dry cloth. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners on plated pieces, on set stones, and on any piece with a hand-engraved finish.

Plating wears with use; that is what plating does. Where a plated piece is re-plated within twenty-four months of delivery and the wear is normal rather than the result of chemical exposure, we will arrange it at cost.

11. Our responsibility to you

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for breach of your statutory rights as a consumer, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Subject to that, where we are liable to you, our liability is limited to the price you paid for the goods in question, together with any delivery charge. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as the cost of a replacement gift bought elsewhere, or losses arising from a delay that was outside our control.

Where you buy as a business rather than as a consumer, we exclude liability for loss of profit, loss of business, and indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability is limited to the amount invoiced for the order in question.

We are not liable for any loss or damage caused by a third party who repairs, resizes, alters or re-plates a piece after it has left us, and our responsibility for a defect ends where unauthorised third-party work begins.

12. Events outside our control

We are not in breach of these terms, and not liable for delay or failure to perform, where the cause is outside our reasonable control. That includes carrier strikes or failures, extreme weather, customs or border disruption, assay office closures, failures in the gold supply chain, and government action.

Where such an event delays an order, we will tell you promptly, keep you updated, and where the delay becomes substantial you may cancel the affected order and receive a full refund of anything you have paid for it.

13. Our content

The text, photographs, design and layout of this website belong to us, as does the Shop Gold Gift name. You may read, print and share pages for your own non-commercial use. You may not copy our photography or written descriptions to sell your own goods, and you may not present our content as your own.

Engraving designs we create for you are yours to use on the piece we make. We may keep a photograph of the finished piece for our own records and, where you have not asked us not to, may show it in our portfolio without identifying you.

14. Complaints and disputes

If you are unhappy with anything, tell us first. Write to support@shipgoldgift.org with your order reference and what has gone wrong. We will acknowledge within one working day and aim to resolve the matter within fourteen days, and we will keep you informed if it takes longer.

We are a small studio and we would much rather fix a problem than argue about it. If we cannot resolve a complaint between us, you may refer the matter to a consumer dispute body, and you always retain the right to bring proceedings in the courts described in section 15. Nothing in this section obliges you to use any particular dispute resolution route, and we will never require you to give up your right to go to court.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of the Netherlands.

If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection afforded by the mandatory consumer law of the country in which you habitually reside. Where you are a consumer resident in the European Union, you may bring proceedings either in the courts of the Netherlands or in the courts of your own country of residence, and we may bring proceedings against you only in the courts of your country of residence.

Where you are buying as a business, the courts of Amsterdam have exclusive jurisdiction.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time, and the date at the top of this page shows when they were last changed. The terms that apply to your order are the ones in force on the date you confirmed the quotation, and we keep a copy of each version. Changes we make later do not apply retrospectively to orders already confirmed.

17. Contact

• Enquiries and quotations: info@shipgoldgift.org
• Orders, returns and complaints: support@shipgoldgift.org
• Post: Shop Gold Gift, Keizersgracht 241, Unit 4B, 1016 EA Amsterdam, Netherlands

Our privacy notice explains how we handle personal information, and our contact page has the full details of how to reach us.