Shipping & Return Policy
Last updated: Aug 5, 2026 Effective: Aug 5, 2026
This Shipping & Return Policy applies to product orders placed through Mellifera's website. It does not govern cancellation of a Mellifera VIP Membership; VIP cancellation is explained in our Terms and Conditions and on the VIP account-management page.
1. Where We Ship
Mellifera processes and ships orders from our facility in Rhode Island. We ship to eligible physical addresses, P.O. boxes, and military (APO/FPO/DPO) destinations within the United States. Available shipping services and estimated delivery windows are shown at checkout.
We do not currently target or actively market to customers outside the United States, though we may occasionally accept and fulfill an international order at our discretion. We will update this Policy before actively offering international shipping. Where we accept an international order, you are responsible for all duties, import taxes, customs brokerage fees, and other charges assessed by the destination country, and for meeting that country's import requirements. Mellifera is not responsible for border delays, package inspections, or customs seizures, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Some shipping offers or promotions may be limited to particular regions, products, or service levels. Any material exclusions or conditions will be disclosed with the offer or at checkout.
2. Shipping Charges, Carriers, and Signature Service
Shipping charges, available services, and estimated delivery windows are displayed at checkout. Standard carriers include the United States Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx. Your order will be shipped with the carrier selected at checkout. We are unable to guarantee any estimated delivery date shown at checkout.
We offer free shipping on orders over $120. Exclusions apply for this offer, including: any excluded products, overweight items, and any delivery addresses outside of the contiguous United States.
VIP Membership free shipping policy can be found here.
Orders that qualify for free shipping at checkout will be shipped via standard UPS Ground.
For high-value merchandise, a signature is required upon delivery for orders exceeding $400 (excluding shipping charges and taxes). We may also require a signature for other orders based on product value, destination, fraud prevention, or delivery risk. You may request signature service for any order, at no additional charge, by emailing support@mellifera.com or through our contact form within 12 hours after placing your order.
3. Order Processing and Delivery Times
Orders will generally shipped within 1-2 business days after placement. Orders placed on weekends, public holidays, or during announced closures will begin processing the next available business day. If you have an urgent need for your order to be processed same day, email us at support@mellifera.com or use the contact form to reach us.
Tracking information is provided by email when the shipment is prepared; you may receive a tracking number the carrier physically receives or scans the package. Allow 24-48 hours for the carrier to update tracking information after receiving a tracking number.
If we cannot ship you order within a reasonable time, we will notify you by providing an estimated shipment date and offer you the choice to accept the new date or cancel the order for a full refund.
We will make every reasonable effort to ensure your order is well-packed for shipping. However, once a package is entrusted to a shipping carrier, we cannot make any guarantees for the delivery time or care taken during transit.
4. Delivery Estimates and Delays
Carrier delivery dates are only estimates and not a guarantee. Weather, carrier capacity, service interruptions, holidays, and events outside the carrier's control may cause delays after shipment.
A carrier delay does not necessarily mean an order is lost. Delivery is normally shown by the carrier's delivery scan, delivery photograph, receiver's signature, or other digital delivery record. If an order seems to be lost or delivered to the wrong address, please check your tracking number first and ask other members at the destination address to confirm you have not received the package. If you still believe it is lost, please contact us at support@mellifera.com or through our contact form, listing your order number so we can review the shipment and, if appropriate, open a carrier inquiry.
Nothing in this Policy limits rights or remedies that cannot legally be waived.
6. Addresses, Delivery Access, and Returned Packages
Orders will be shipped to the address provided during checkout. Contact us at support@mellifera.com or through our contact form immediately if an address needs correction. We are unable to make any changes once the order has been handed to the shipping carrier.
If you will not be home during the estimated delivery, we encourage you to consider an alternative secure delivery address to help protect your order from theft and weather, such as a workplace, or to a secure carrier pickup location such as a UPS Access Point or FedEx Office. Delivered packages should not be left unattended in intense heat, heavy rain, or freezing temperatures.
If a package is returned to us by a shipping carrier because of an incorrect or incomplete customer-provided address, delivery refusal, failure to collect, or any other reason, we will contact you.
You can request that we reship your order. Additional shipping costs will be required before we ship the order again.
If a refund is requested instead, we will deduct the original shipping charge and any carrier return charge from the refund amount, except where the problem was caused by us or where law requires otherwise.
Consumable products returned after leaving our warehouse may be ineligible for resale and refund for safety reasons.
7. Lost, Misdelivered, Damaged, Incorrect, or Incomplete Orders
Contact us at support@mellifera.com promptly. Please include your order number, a description of the problem, and photos if this is related to damage.
If this is relating to a lost or mis-delivered package, contact us as soon as possible.
If this is relating to shipping carrier damage, please contact us within 3 days after receiving your order.
If this is relating to an incorrect or incomplete order, please contact us within 7 days after receiving your order.
Lost or missing packages
If tracking shows your package as delivered but you cannot locate it, first check with other household members and neighbors, and look in discreet spots where a carrier may leave a package to protect it from weather or theft. If it is still missing after 24 hours, contact us at support@mellifera.com with your order number. We will review the carrier's delivery record, open a carrier investigation where one is available, and may ask you to confirm the shipping address or provide a short signed statement for the carrier's investigation. If the package is confirmed lost or misdelivered, we will, at our option and subject to product availability, replace the affected products or refund the affected amount, including the applicable standard outbound shipping charge.
Damaged, defective, or incorrect deliveries
Please inspect your package thoroughly immediately upon arrival. If any item (consumable or non-consumable) is damaged, defective, or incorrect, you must contact our support team within 7 calendar days of delivery at support@mellifera.com or through our contact form. To process and validate your claim, you must provide your order number, clear photographs of both the damaged product, packaging, and the original shipping box.
Please do not attempt to use the item, and do not discard any damaged products, shipping boxes, or packaging materials until we have fully reviewed and authorized your claim, as our carriers may require further proof.
We will review the submitted photos to validate the damage and file a complaint with our shipping partners. At our discretion, we may arrange to replace or refund the damaged item.
Some products, such as coffee grinders and other appliances, carry a manufacturer's warranty covering any future failures. If needed, we can direct you to the manufacturer's website and warranty page; warranty claims are handled directly between you and the manufacturer.
Missing items
If an item is missing from your order, notify us within 7 calendar days after delivery with your order number. If the item was accidentally omitted during fulfillment, we may either ship it at our expense or refund the affected amount.
The reporting periods above help us investigate quickly and preserve carrier remedies. They do not eliminate a right that applicable law does not allow us to limit.
8. Returns of Consumable Products
For health, safety, and quality-control reasons, all coffee, tea, cacao, sweeteners, food products, and other consumable or perishable items are final sale and cannot be returned or exchanged.
If a product isn't working for you, contact us at support@mellifera.com or through our contact form; we're happy to offer advice or assist with selecting a better-fitting product.
The final-sale rule does not apply when a consumable product is not what you ordered, is materially defective, or is otherwise eligible for a remedy under applicable law. If you believe a product is unsafe, contaminated, spoiled, or materially defective, do not consume it; contact us at support@mellifera.com or through our contact form within 7 calendar days after delivery with the order number, photographs, and any lot or date information visible on the package.
9. Returns of Non-Consumable Products
We accept eligible returns of non-consumable products — kitchenware, handmade mugs, brewing equipment, and grinders — requested within 30 calendar days after delivery, subject to the conditions below.
Before sending anything back, contact us through the website contact form or at support@mellifera.com and include:
- your order number;
- the item you want to return; and
- the reason for the return.
We will provide return instructions, a return authorization when applicable, and a prepaid return label (see Section 10 — for a change-of-mind return, the cost of return shipping is deducted from your refund). A return sent without authorization may be delayed or refused. Once your return is authorized, please ship it promptly: the return package must be accepted by the carrier within 14 calendar days after the authorization date, or the return may be refused.
To qualify for a change-of-mind return, the item must be unused, unaltered, undamaged, and in resalable condition with its original packaging, labels, components, instructions, and accessories. We inspect returned items before approval and may deny a refund or make a reasonable deduction for missing components, use, alteration, or customer-caused damage, subject to applicable law.
Kits and bundles: Only the non-consumable components of a kit or bundle may be returned — the consumable components are final sale (see Section 8) and are yours to keep. The refund covers only the returned non-consumable components, valued at their share of the discounted bundle price rather than their individual retail prices, and is subject to the same inspection and condition requirements as any other return.
A note on handmade ceramics: Handmade pieces feature natural variations in color, glaze density, and surface finish. These variations are characteristics of artisanal production, not defects or damage.
10. Return Shipping
For a change-of-mind return, Mellifera provides a prepaid return shipping label and deducts the actual cost of that return shipping from your refund. There is no restocking fee. Return shipping costs vary with your location and the item's size and weight; as a rule of thumb, returning an item costs about the same as shipping it to you did.
The return shipping deduction is waived if you choose to receive your refund as a Mellifera digital gift card. Simply tell us you'd like the gift-card option when you request your return — email is fine — and we will confirm your choice in writing before processing. If you don't make a choice, your refund is issued to your original payment method.
VIP members: the return shipping deduction is waived. If you are an active Mellifera VIP member when you request a change-of-mind return, we will not deduct the cost of return shipping from your refund, whether it is issued to your original payment method or as a Mellifera digital gift card. Every other condition still applies: the item must be unused and in its original packaging as described in Section 9, the return must be requested within 30 calendar days after delivery and authorized before shipping, and consumable products remain final sale (Section 8).
If a return is required because Mellifera sent an incorrect item, we will provide a complimentary prepaid label and a full refund of the product price and outbound shipping — nothing is deducted.
Package the item carefully using the label and instructions we provide. You are responsible for packing the return securely — reuse the original packaging where possible. If the original shipping packaging is damaged, punctured, or crushed, use different packaging that contains and protects the product in a manner similar to how it was originally shipped. If an item is damaged on its way back to us because it was not adequately packed, we may deny the refund or make a reasonable deduction. Do not reuse carrier-branded packaging in a way that violates the carrier's service rules (for example, USPS Priority Mail packaging must be used with USPS Priority Mail service).
11. Refunds
Returned items are inspected within 3 business days of arrival at our Rhode Island facility. After inspection, we will email you whether the refund is approved. Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method (or, at your choice for change-of-mind returns, a Mellifera digital gift card). Your bank or payment provider may need an additional 5–7 business days to post the credit.
For a change-of-mind return, the refund covers the approved product price, minus the return shipping deduction under Section 10 (waived for VIP members, or if you choose the gift-card option). Original shipping charges and optional expedited or signature charges are not refundable. If the return results from Mellifera's error, transit damage before delivery, or another circumstance requiring a full remedy, we will also refund the applicable standard shipping charge.
If an order is canceled because Mellifera cannot ship it as promised (see Section 3), we will process the full refund — including any shipping or handling amounts paid for the unshipped merchandise — to your original payment method within 7 business days.
12. Exchanges and Order Cancellations
We do not guarantee direct exchanges. The simplest option is usually to return an eligible non-consumable item and place a new order.
You may request cancellation before shipment by contacting support@mellifera.com. We will make a reasonable effort to stop fulfillment, but cancellation is not guaranteed after processing begins. Once shipped, the applicable delivery and return terms above apply.
13. Abuse and Fraud
We may refuse a return, replacement, or other remedy where we reasonably determine that a claim is fraudulent, abusive, materially incomplete, or inconsistent with the order and carrier records. This does not limit non-waivable consumer rights.
14. Contact
Questions, delivery problems, and return requests may be sent to:
Mellifera LLC 805 West Shore Rd, #9239 Warwick, RI 02889, United States Customer support: support@mellifera.com Privacy email: privacy@mellifera.com Contact form: https://www.mellifera.com/contact//