When a hide is wrong, and when it is simply a hide.

The 14-day window

You have 14 calendar days from the day the parcel is signed for to tell us you want to return a piece. The window starts on the delivery date shown by the courier, not the invoice date and not the day you open the box. Write to BIGDOG202614@outlook.com inside those 14 days and we will issue a return authorisation. The piece itself must reach us within 21 days of that authorisation.

What can come back

A piece can come back if it is unused, unworn and still in its original wrap, with the care card and any CITES copy we sent. The handle should not have been carried, the belt should not have been sized or punched, the card holder should not have been loaded. If you tried the piece and put it straight back in the tissue, that is fine. If it has spent a week in your pocket, it is not.

Return the paperwork with the piece. The CITES copy is part of the goods for a crocodilian shipment; without it we cannot re-import the item into our own record, and the return cannot be completed.

Hide variance is not a fault

Crocodilian hides vary by batch, by animal and by position on the animal. Belly tiles differ in size, the flank softens, the tail ridge runs at its own angle, and the depth of colour moves across the skin. Two briefcases cut from two hides in the same lot will not match each other, and neither will match the photograph on this site. Hand-cut pieces also carry a size tolerance of roughly two to three millimetres against the listed dimensions, because the cutter follows the scale flow instead of a steel die.

None of that is a defect, and none of it is a reason for a refund. What you are buying is a skin that grew, not a printed surface. If the variance is not what you want, you may still return an unused piece inside the 14-day window under section 01 — we simply will not treat the hide as faulty.

What we do treat as a fault is a failure of the work: a split seam, a lifting edge, a brass fitting that will not close, a lining glued short, a piece that does not match the SKU on the invoice, or CITES paperwork that does not correspond to the hide supplied.

What cannot come back

We cannot accept the following, whether or not they are inside 14 days. Pieces carrying body oils, perfume, rain marks, ink or scuffs from use. Belts that have been cut, punched or worn on a waist. Pieces whose edges or surface have been oiled, waxed, dyed or treated by you, because a conditioned hide cannot be resold or honestly assessed. Anything damaged by keys, knives, solvents, heat, mould or prolonged humidity. Personalised or embossed pieces, unless they are faulty. Items sold as workshop samples or final-sale, where the listing said so. And any piece returned without its authorisation number or its CITES copy.

Genuine faults: repair, replace or refund

If a piece is genuinely faulty, you choose the remedy. We can repair it in our workshop, replace it from the same hide lot where stock allows, or refund it in full. We pay the freight in both directions for a confirmed fault, and we refund any import duty you can evidence having paid on that piece. Repair is usually the fastest route for a stitch or hardware failure; replacement depends on whether the hide lot is still in the workshop, and if it is not we will say so rather than keep you waiting.

How to start a return

Email the order reference, the SKU, the reason for the return and photographs of the piece, the inner wrap and the outer carton. Do not post anything back before you receive a return authorisation number — a parcel that arrives without one sits unopened because we cannot match it to an order or a reason. We reply within one business day and usually issue the authorisation the same day the photographs are clear.

Freight and address

Return to BIG DOG TRADING LIMITED, ROOM B, UNIT 9, 7/F, WAH SHING CENTRE, NO. 11 SHING YIP STREET, KWUN TONG, HONG KONG. Use a tracked service and declare the parcel as a return of goods; a return that arrives with duty and tax payable will be refused by the courier and the shipment will come back to you. For a change of mind you pay the return freight and any import charges on the return leg. For a confirmed fault we reimburse reasonable return freight up to the amount we quote with the authorisation, so ask before you book an expensive courier.

Refunds and exchanges

Once the piece is back and inspected, we refund within 10 working days to the original payment method, in USD, less the outbound freight where the return is a change of mind. Bank or provider fees are not recoverable. If you paid by bank transfer, tell us the account to refund and expect the bank to take its own time. Exchanges are subject to hide stock: we will tell you what is available in the same lot before you send anything back, so you are not left without a piece.

Transit damage

Photograph the outer carton, the moulded pulp cradle, the tissue and the piece itself on the day the parcel arrives, before you use anything. Send the images with the order reference. We replace or refund the damaged piece and cover the freight, and we open a claim with the courier. A damage claim is much harder to win a week later, so if the carton looks crushed, photograph it before you open it.

Warranty and returns are different

The 14-day window is a change-of-mind right. The warranty is separate: for 12 months from delivery we will repair or replace a piece whose stitching, edge finish or brass hardware fails under normal use. The warranty does not cover wear and tear, grain or scale variance, darkening of unlacquered brass, colour shift from sun, water damage, mould, or damage from a conditioner or solvent you applied. A warranty claim does not need the original wrap, only the order reference and photographs.

Personalised pieces

Embossed initials, foil names, custom lengths and made-to-order colourways cannot be returned for a change of mind, because nobody else can own them. They are covered by the 12-month workmanship warranty and by every remedy in section 05 if they arrive faulty. If you are unsure about a finish or a size, ask for a photograph of a comparable hide before you commit to personalisation.

EU and UK cooling-off

If you are a consumer in the European Union or the United Kingdom, distance-selling law gives you a 14-day right to cancel from the day you receive the goods, and our window runs alongside it. Tell us in writing before it expires; you then have 14 days to send the piece back. We refund the goods and the standard outbound delivery cost. Personalised goods and sealed items that cannot be resold are excluded by that law as well, so section 11 still applies.

Stopped by customs

If a shipment is refused, held or returned by customs because an import permit or CITES clearance for your country was not obtained, we refund the price of the goods less the outbound freight, the return freight and any duty or storage we have had to pay. The CITES documentation stays with the order record on our side and we will send you a copy. See terms for how permits and clearance are allocated, and shipping for dispatch times.