Terms and conditions

These terms explain how FlipShip works, what we do for you, what we need from you, and what happens if something goes wrong. Please read them before you start shipping. If anything isn't clear, email info@flip-ship.com and we'll explain.

1. About these terms

1.1 FlipShip is a trading name of FLIPSHIP LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17372844, VAT number GB 526629179). Our registered office is 4 Swallow Close, Milford, Godalming, England, GU8 5DJ. In these terms, "FlipShip", "we", "us" and "our" mean FLIPSHIP LTD. "You" and "your" mean the business using our services.

1.2 Our services are for businesses only. By signing a FlipShip service agreement, activating your account or using our services, you confirm that you are acting for your business and you agree to these terms.

1.3 These terms work alongside our Shipping rules, our Prohibited goods list, your written approval and packing cards, and any agreement we sign with you. Section 21 explains which document wins if they ever disagree.

2. What we do, and what we don't

2.1 FlipShip helps businesses ship approved products, including everyday products classed as dangerous goods, through our delivery partners. We:

• review your products, packaging and shipping set-up;
• arrange approval with our delivery partner where it's needed;
• give you access to a shipping account so you can book collections and print labels;
• provide packing cards, guidance and ongoing support, including, for members, a one-off welcome pack with a first set of box markings and a monthly check-in. Further markings can be bought from us, added to your next invoice, or from any supplier as long as they match your packing card.

2.2 We don't run a delivery network ourselves, and we don't physically pack, label, collect or carry your parcels. You pack and label them; our delivery partner collects, carries and delivers them under its own terms of carriage.

2.3 A product review is a practical check of the information you give us. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, it isn't a laboratory test, a formal certification or legal advice, and it doesn't guarantee that a product or parcel meets every legal requirement.

3. Getting started

3.1 Your free product review doesn't commit you to anything, and it doesn't guarantee that we can support your product or route.

3.2 If we can help, we'll confirm in writing which products, packaging, quantities and services are approved for you. Your account goes live when we confirm it's active and ready to use.

3.3 We may ask for documents such as Safety Data Sheets, photos or product details, and for a sample of your packing to send to our delivery partner for approval. We'll provide the shipping label and marking for the sample. Please send what we reasonably ask for, and make sure it's accurate.

4. Your approved set-up

4.1 An approval only covers the exact products, quantities, inner packaging, outer packaging, markings, service and destinations it lists. It doesn't approve anything else, even if it's similar.

4.2 You must pack every parcel exactly as shown on your packing card and in your written approval.

4.3 You must tell us, and wait for our written confirmation, before you change a product, its packaging, quantities, markings or the way you ship it. We'll review changes free of charge.

4.4 If our delivery partner withdraws or changes an approval, or rules change, we'll tell you as soon as we can. We may need to pause the affected products until a new approval is in place.

5. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• describing your products accurately and only shipping products in your approval;
• packing, marking and labelling every parcel correctly, using packaging that's suitable for the contents;
• entering accurate addresses, postcodes, contact details, weights, dimensions and contents when you book;
• having parcels ready at the agreed place and time for collection;
• following our Shipping rules, your packing cards, the law and our delivery partner's requirements;
• keeping records of your bookings, labels and parcel contents;
• telling us promptly about any incident, error, refused parcel or concern.

We don't inspect each parcel. Our guidance doesn't move responsibility for packing and labelling from you to us.

6. Your shipping account

6.1 Keep your login details secure, share them only with people in your business who need them, and tell us straight away if you think someone else has used them.

6.2 Only use your account for your own approved shipments. Don't try to access anyone else's information, get around restrictions or ship anything outside your approval.

6.3 You're responsible for bookings made with your login, unless they were caused by our own failure.

7. What you must never do

You must not use FlipShip to ship anything that's unlawful, prohibited, misdescribed or outside your approval, give false information about a shipment, or use the service in a way that puts people, parcels, our delivery partners or FlipShip at risk. See our Prohibited goods list.

8. Our delivery partners

8.1 Collection, carriage, tracking, delivery, proof of delivery, returns and claims are provided by our delivery partner under its terms of carriage. These include service limits, claim deadlines and limits on compensation.

8.2 We can't control our delivery partner's operations, so we can't guarantee collection or delivery times. Next working day delivery is a target, not a promise.

8.3 If something goes wrong, we'll help you deal with our delivery partner. That doesn't guarantee a claim will be accepted, and it doesn't make us responsible for how they perform.

9. Where we deliver

We currently deliver to UK mainland addresses only. See our Shipping rules for the areas we can't reach. Don't book shipments to anywhere outside your approval.

10. Lost, damaged or delayed parcels

10.1 Tell us as soon as possible, and within 7 days of the expected delivery date. Include the tracking reference, photos and any other evidence you have. Our delivery partner's claim deadlines are strict, so the sooner the better.

10.2 Any compensation is set by our delivery partner's terms and depends on the service used.

11. Prices

11.1 Our prices are shown on our Pricing page or in your written agreement. If your agreement sets a different price, that price applies to you.

11.2 All prices exclude VAT, which we add at the current rate.

11.3 Each parcel is charged on the weight and size our delivery partner records. If those differ from what you booked, we'll pass on any resulting difference.

11.4 We'll give you at least 30 days' notice of changes to our own prices. If our delivery partner adds or changes a surcharge, such as a fuel or peak surcharge, that applies to your shipments, we may pass it on with as much notice as we reasonably can.

11.5 A one-off onboarding fee, shown on our Pricing page, is payable when your account is set up, unless we agree otherwise in writing. Your product review before that is always free.

12. Membership

12.1 Membership starts on the date your account goes live. It has a minimum term of 3 months, unless your signed agreement says otherwise. After that, it rolls over each month.

12.2 You can cancel by emailing us. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the minimum term, or after it, at the end of the month you've already paid for. We don't refund part-months. Pay As You Go has no monthly fee and no minimum term.

12.3 Cancelling doesn't cancel anything you already owe, such as shipment charges or surcharges.

13. Paying us

13.1 Unless we agree otherwise in writing:

• membership fees are collected monthly by Direct Debit through GoCardless;
• shipment charges are invoiced every two weeks during your first month of shipping, then monthly, and collected by Direct Debit;
• invoices are due within 7 days of the invoice date.

13.2 If you think an invoice is wrong, tell us promptly and say which items you're querying. We'll sort it out fairly. Please pay the rest by the due date.

13.3 If a payment is overdue, we'll remind you first. If it's still unpaid after that, we may pause new bookings until it's paid. We may also claim interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

14. Extra charges from our delivery partners

14.1 If a charge from our delivery partner is caused by something on your side, we'll pass it on to you at cost. This includes:

• wrong or incomplete addresses;
• failed or wasted collections;
• incorrect weights, sizes or services;
• parcels returned to sender;
• relabelling;
• parcels refused because they weren't packed as approved.

14.2 We won't charge you twice for the same thing. On request, we'll show you the details of any charge.

14.3 Charges that aren't caused by you won't be passed on automatically.

14.4 Returns from your own customers are your responsibility. If you book a return on your FlipShip account, it's charged at our delivery partner's rate for that service.

15. Losses you cause

15.1 If your business breaks these terms, ships something outside its approval, gives us inaccurate information or acts unlawfully, you'll cover the reasonable, evidenced costs, fines, charges and claims this causes us. This includes costs and claims from our delivery partners.

15.2 We'll tell you about any such claim as soon as we reasonably can and share the evidence. We'll also take reasonable steps to keep the cost down.

15.3 You won't have to cover losses we caused ourselves.

16. Our liability to you

16.1 Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that can't legally be limited.

16.2 We're not liable for indirect or consequential losses, or for loss of profit, revenue, business or anticipated savings.

16.3 Our total liability to you, for everything arising out of or in connection with our services, is limited to the FlipShip fees you've paid or owe us in the 6 months before the event that caused the claim. Delivery charges we pass through to you aren't counted in this total.

16.4 Claims for lost or damaged parcels are made against our delivery partner, as explained in section 10.

17. Pausing or ending the service

17.1 We may pause or end all or part of your service if:

• you seriously or repeatedly break these terms;
• you ship products outside your approval;
• a payment stays unpaid after we've reminded you;
• your account appears to be misused;
• our delivery partner withdraws the relevant approval;
• carrying on would create a real legal or safety risk.

17.2 Where we can, we'll explain why and give you a chance to put things right first. We may act immediately if safety, the law or a serious risk to the account requires it.

17.3 When the service ends, you must pay any charges properly incurred up to that date.

18. Data protection

18.1 We handle personal information as described in our Privacy policy.

18.2 When you give us, or our delivery partner, your recipients' names, addresses and contact details, you're responsible for having a lawful basis to share them. We use that information only to deliver and support your shipments. Where we act as your processor, we'll follow your reasonable instructions and the requirements of UK data protection law, and we'll sign a data processing agreement if you need one.

19. Confidentiality and our materials

19.1 We'll each keep the other's non-public business information, prices and account details confidential, unless the law requires us to share them.

19.2 Our packing cards, guides, branding and website content belong to us. You can use the materials we give you within your own business for shipping with FlipShip. You can't share or resell them.

20. Events outside our control

We're not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. These include:

• delivery network disruption;
• severe weather;
• strikes;
• system outages;
• government action;
• changes in the law.

We'll do what we reasonably can to limit the impact and get things running again.

21. Which document applies

If our documents ever conflict, they apply in this order:

1. your signed agreement with us, but only on the points it covers;
2. these terms;
3. your written approval and packing cards, for the shipments they cover;
4. our Shipping rules and Prohibited goods list.

Our delivery partner's requirements, and the law, always apply to the carriage of your parcels. Nothing in our documents overrides them.

22. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We'll publish the new version on this page and give existing customers at least 30 days' notice of any important change. If you don't agree with a change, you can cancel under section 12 before it takes effect.

23. Complaints

If you're unhappy with anything, email info@flip-ship.com with your account details and what's happened. We'll respond within 5 working days and aim to put it right quickly.

24. General

• These terms, together with the documents in section 21, are the whole agreement between us about our services.
• If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• You can't transfer your account to another business without our written agreement.
• Nothing in these terms creates a partnership or agency between us.
• No one else has the right to enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

25. Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales deal with any dispute.

26. Contact us

FLIPSHIP LTD, 4 Swallow Close, Milford, Godalming, England, GU8 5DJ. Email info@flip-ship.com.