Returns & Refunds

Effective date: 1 July 2026

Quick Summary

• Change of mind: We don't offer returns for change of mind, all sales are considered final. We put a lot of love into each item, so please check product photos and descriptions carefully before buying.
• Faulty or damaged items: If your item arrives genuinely faulty or damaged (not just a little bent from the post), let us know within 7 days of delivery and we'll sort it out, your choice of a replacement, store credit, or a refund.
• Please contact us before sending anything back: We can’t process returns that are sent back without communication.
• Not eligible for return: sale items, gift cards, competition prizes, custom/personalised orders, and digital products (once accessed).
• Refund timing: approved refunds are issued within 10 business days of approval.
• Market purchases: Anything bought in person at a market is final sale, no returns or exchanges, so please check your items before you walk away.
• Return shipping: If a return is approved, you'll cover the cost of sending it back, unless the fault is on us.
• EU customers: you have a legal right to a 14-day cooling-off period for any reason, regardless of our general change-of-mind policy, you'll cover the return shipping cost, and we'll refund the item price plus standard delivery cost.
• No response = abandoned: if we're waiting on you at any stage of a return and don't hear back within 14 days, we'll close the request and no refund/replacement/credit will be issued, and if you’ve already sent the item back, we won't be obligated to return it to you.

Full Policy

1. Our approach

Always Friends is a small, one-person operation, every zine, sticker sheet, and riso print is packed and sent out personally. We want you to love what you get, and we're always happy to help if something's gone wrong. At the same time, because our margins are tight and our stock is limited-run, we don't offer change-of-mind returns. Please read product descriptions, sizing, and photos carefully before purchasing, or reach out first if you're not sure.

2. Change of mind

We do not accept returns, exchanges, or refunds for change of mind, including (but not limited to):

• You ordered the wrong item or size
• You no longer want the item
• It didn't look how you expected

All sales made through our online store and at markets are final in these circumstances.

3. Faulty or damaged items

If your item arrives with a genuine fault or is damaged in a way that affects its use or appearance beyond minor, expected transit wear, we want to make it right.

What counts as faulty/damaged:

• Printing errors, missing pages, or manufacturing defects
• Items that arrive broken, torn, or unusable
• Significant damage clearly caused in transit (e.g. crushed packaging resulting in a ruined art print)

What doesn't count:

• Minor bends, creases, or corner damage that can reasonably happen to paper goods in the post
• Natural variation in riso printing (slight registration shifts, ink density variation, and colour differences are part of the riso process, not a fault)

How to report it: Contact us within 7 days of your delivery date at hello@alwaysfriends.shop, with your order number and photos of the fault/damage. Claims made after 7 days may not be eligible, since it becomes harder to confirm the item wasn't damaged after receipt.

Please don't send anything back before we've confirmed the return. Items sent to us without first getting approval from us won't be eligible for refunds or replacements and we will keep the item.

What happens next: Once we've confirmed the fault, you can choose one of the following:

• A free replacement (where stock allows)
• Store credit
• A full refund to your original payment method
• We'll cover the cost of return shipping in these cases, and organise this with you directly.

4. How to make a return

If a return of the physical item is needed, we'll send you instructions and the address to send it to.

Currently, approved returns should be sent to:

R Powell-Hughes, EP Australia

Building 19, Disney Studios Australia

38 Driver Avenue

Moore Park, NSW, 2021

Australia

Refund timing: Once we've received and inspected a returned item, we'll let you know whether the refund/replacement/credit has been approved. If a refund is approved, it'll be issued to your original payment method within 10 business days. Please note it can take your bank or card provider some additional time to process and display the refund. If more than 15 business days have passed since we approved your return and you still haven't seen it, contact us at hello@alwaysfriends.shop.

On rare occasions we may approve a return outside the above categories at our discretion. In these cases, the customer is responsible for return postage costs, and we recommend using a tracked shipping method, we're not responsible for returns lost in transit back to us.

5. Items that can't be returned

Regardless of fault, we're not able to accept returns or offer refunds on:

• Sale or clearance items
• Gift cards
• Competition or giveaway prizes
• Custom or personalised orders (see our Wholesale & Custom Order Policy)
• Digital products, once delivered or accessed (see Section 9)

If you have a question about whether a specific item is eligible, get in touch before purchasing and we're happy to advise.

6. Market and in-person purchases

Anything purchased directly from us at a market, pop-up, or event is final sale. We're not able to offer returns, exchanges, or refunds on in-person purchases, including for faults, as we're unable to verify the condition of the item at the time of sale versus after. We encourage you to check your items thoroughly before leaving our stall.

7. Your rights under Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in this policy limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Regardless of what this policy says, if a product has a major failure (it's unsafe, significantly different from its description, or doesn't do what it's supposed to do), you're entitled to choose between a replacement, refund, or compensation. For minor problems, we're entitled to choose how to fix it first (repair, replace, or resolve). Nothing here is intended to override or reduce your ACL rights, it simply explains how we handle everyday requests outside of that scope.

8. European Union: 14-day cooling-off period

If your order is being shipped into the European Union, you have a legal right to cancel or return your order within 14 days of receiving it, for any reason and without needing to justify it, this applies even though we don't otherwise offer change-of-mind returns, as it's a right granted under EU consumer protection law rather than our own store policy.

To be eligible, your item must be returned in the same condition you received it, unused, with any tags, and in its original packaging, along with your receipt or proof of purchase. Contact us at hello@alwaysfriends.shop to start this process; we'll confirm the return and provide instructions.

Return shipping costs: if you withdraw under this 14-day right, you are responsible for the cost of returning the item to us. We'll refund the price you paid for the item and the original standard delivery cost (excluding any premium/express shipping upgrade) within 14 days of us receiving your withdrawal notice.

This section applies specifically to orders shipped to the EU and doesn't extend our general change-of-mind policy to other regions.

9. Digital products

If any product is sold as a digital download (e.g. a digital zine or PDF), no refunds or returns are offered once the file has been delivered or accessed, as the product cannot be "returned." If a digital file is faulty (corrupted, doesn't open, wrong file), contact us and we'll resend it via a secondary method.

10. Contacting us for returns

For any return, refund, or fault query, email us at hello@alwaysfriends.shop with your order number, we'll aim to respond within 3 business days.

11. Abandoned return requests

If we're in the process of handling your return or refund request, at any stage, whether that's confirming a fault, arranging return shipping, or following up on missing information, and we don't hear back from you within 14 days of our most recent attempt to contact you, we'll treat the request as abandoned.

Once a request is marked abandoned:

• We're no longer obligated to issue a refund, replacement, or store credit for that request
• If you've already sent the item back to us and we haven't heard from you, we're not obligated to return it to you.

If you're still within any applicable reporting window (e.g. the 7-day fault window or the EU 14-day cooling-off period) and would like to restart the process, get in touch and we're happy to help, but requests outside those windows may not be eligible to reopen.

12. Contact us

For any questions about this policy, contact us at:

Email: hello@alwaysfriends.shop
Address: 18-22 Sydney Street, Marrickville, NSW, 2044