- What is a wish deposit (意愿金) and how is it different from a real order?
- A wish deposit is a small, fully refundable pre-order reservation. Paying one signals your interest in a piece but does not commit either side to a completed sale. If enough wish deposits gather within the disclosed window, we place the group order with the original seller on your behalf and the wish converts to a deposit and balance order. If the threshold is not reached, every wish deposit is refunded in full. When a wish converts, your deposit is credited against the deposit and balance total. New wish listings are currently paused; existing wish orders continue to flow.
- How is "deposit and balance" different from "direct buy"?
- Direct buy is for pieces already available as finished goods from the original seller. You pay in full at checkout, we buy the piece on your behalf, inspect it when it arrives, and dispatch. Deposit and balance is a pre-order option for pieces the original seller only opens for pre-order. You pay a deposit at order (typically 30 to 50 percent of the piece price), and we place the pre-order with the seller. Once the piece arrives and passes our inspection, we invoice the balance (remaining piece price plus international shipping and any opted-in insurance) before we forward it to the international carrier. Both modes converge on the same fulfilment path once the piece is ready to ship.
- How long does international shipping take?
- International express typically takes 3 to 7 business days from dispatch to delivery. Parcels ship from our ingestion point in Ningbo, China via DHL Express, FedEx, UPS, EMS, or SF Express, chosen at dispatch based on the destination and the carrier quote. Estimated delivery time does not include customs holds, which are unpredictable and outside our control. Handling time (order acceptance to dispatch) is a separate 3 to 7 business days for direct-buy pieces; deposit and balance and wish modes add the seller’s production time in front of that.
- Who pays customs duty, import VAT, or GST?
- You do. Every VivyVeil shipment ships DDU / DAP (Delivered Duty Unpaid / Delivered At Place). You are the importer of record and pay destination customs duty, import VAT or GST, and any brokerage fee directly to the carrier at delivery. We do not offer Delivered Duty Paid and we do not collect or remit destination duty on your behalf. For a non-binding estimate of likely duty for a specific destination and piece before you buy, email support@vivyveil.com.
- Do you declare the honest value on the customs invoice?
- Yes, always. We declare goods at the actual commercial value on every customs invoice: the price you paid us, exclusive of international shipping and duty, consistent with the WTO Valuation Agreement. We never undervalue, mislabel, split a single piece across multiple parcels to dodge de-minimis thresholds, or misrepresent a purchase as a gift, regardless of instruction. If you ask us to undervalue, we decline and may cancel the order.
- Can I return a piece if I change my mind?
- Outside the EU and UK, no — and we would rather tell you that clearly before you order than surprise you afterwards. We are a proxy shopping service: we buy your specific piece from the original seller with your money, and we cannot send it back because you changed your mind. What you get instead are two real exit points. First, a 24-hour cancellation window from order confirmation, before we buy, with a full refund. Second, photo review: before the parcel leaves China we send you photographs of the actual piece and you have 5 days to approve or reject it. Rejecting there is the cheapest way out of a cross-border order, because return shipping inside China costs a few dollars instead of the sixty-plus it costs from your country. If you are a consumer in the EU or UK you also keep the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal from delivery, which we cannot and do not ask you to waive. Everywhere, a piece that arrives defective, wrong, or not as described is covered in full — see the next question. Full detail is in the Refund Policy.
- What is the photo review step before shipping?
- Every piece is inspected at our ingestion point in Ningbo before it is handed to the international carrier. When it passes, we email you the inspection: photographs of the actual garment you are receiving, the measurements we took, and any note from the inspector. You then decide. Approve and we dispatch. Reject and we do not ship it — we attempt a return to the original seller while the piece is still in China, and refund what the seller reimburses us minus costs actually incurred, passed through line by line. Do nothing and we dispatch after 5 days, because your order is already paid and we are not going to hold a paid parcel indefinitely; we send a reminder on day 3, and the clock only starts once our email provider confirms the notice reached your mailbox. Dispatch on timeout means we carried out the order you placed — it is not a waiver of any right you have. Use this step properly: check the measurements against your own and ask us before approving if anything looks off.
- What if the piece arrives defective?
- Email support@vivyveil.com within 7 days of delivery with photos and a description of the issue. Our pre-shipment inspection catches most problems, but when a defect slips through we cover it end to end: refund plus prepaid return, or a replacement at our cost, your choice. "Defective" here includes material flaws (open seams, snapped closures, misprinted panels), colour or trim deviation from the listing, and sizing outside the tolerance shown on the size chart. Normal wear from careful try-on within the return window is fine.
- Are these pieces authentic? Do you sell replicas?
- VivyVeil is a proxy shopping service. We buy each piece from its original seller on your behalf. We do not knowingly source or ship counterfeit, replica, or "factory copy" goods, and we do not have any partnership with the brands or designers we curate. If you see something on our archive that you believe infringes third-party IP, email us at legal@vivyveil.com and we will investigate and take action within 5 business days. Full policy is on the Authenticity & IP page.
- How do I know if a piece will fit me?
- Every product page shows the measurement chart per size (bust, waist, hip, length in centimetres). Because many of these are small-batch pieces, sizing conventions vary by maker. Always cross-check the chart against your own measurements rather than assuming a Western size letter (S / M / L) will map cleanly. Where a piece has structured tailoring or a fitted silhouette, we surface the close-fit tolerance in the size guide. For bespoke sizing questions on a specific piece, email concierge@vivyveil.com before placing the order.
- Which countries do you ship to?
- VivyVeil ships to most destinations served by DHL Express, FedEx, UPS, EMS, or SF Express. The most common destinations are the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the EU (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Nordics). Some countries are excluded for sanctions or export-control reasons; those orders are surfaced at checkout with a refuse-and-refund path. For unusual destinations not listed at checkout, email support@vivyveil.com and we can usually source a route.