Refund policy

BlackWhole Magazine sells custom print-on-demand physical goods and instant-access digital media. We do not hold stock in a warehouse: every physical item is manufactured after you place your order. This policy sets out exactly what we will and will not do, and where your local law gives you more than this policy does.

1. Cancelling before production

You may cancel any physical order free of charge at any time before we submit it to the printer. In practice this is a window of at least 12 hours from the moment you order, and often longer.

To cancel, email BlackWholeMagazine@gmail.com with your order number and the word CANCEL in the subject line. If your order has not yet entered production we will cancel it and refund you in full, to your original payment method.

Once an order has been submitted to the printer it cannot be cancelled, because the item is already being manufactured for you specifically. Sections 2 and 5 still apply after that point.

2. Damaged, defective or misprinted items

If your item arrives damaged, defective, misbound, miscut or with a clear printing error, we will replace it free of charge or refund you in full. You will never be asked to pay for a manufacturing fault.

To make a claim, email BlackWholeMagazine@gmail.com within 30 days of delivery and attach clear, well-lit photographs showing:

  • the entire product;
  • a close-up of the specific defect, misprint or damage;
  • the outer packaging and shipping label, if the damage occurred in transit.

Please do not post the item back to us. We do not need the faulty item returned, and return postage would cost more than the replacement. Keep it or dispose of it as you prefer.

Once our production team has verified the fault, a replacement is placed into production at no cost to you, or we refund you in full — your choice.

3. Change of mind

Because every physical item is manufactured to order and cannot be resold, we do not accept returns, refunds or exchanges for change of mind, including:

  • deciding you no longer want the item;
  • ordering the wrong size, colour, edition or variant;
  • finding the item elsewhere at a different price;
  • disliking the artwork, writing or editorial content.

Sizing: exact size charts and garment measurements are published on every apparel product page. Please measure a garment you already own and compare it before ordering. We cannot absorb the cost of a reprint for a size that was available to check at checkout.

This section does not reduce any statutory right you may have under Section 5 below.

4. Digital content and access passes

Digital access passes, downloadable files and gated web content grant immediate, irreversible access to copyrighted media. All digital sales are final and non-refundable.

At the point of purchase you expressly request immediate access and acknowledge that, once access has been granted to your account, you lose any right of withdrawal or cancellation you would otherwise have had. This waiver is presented to you before payment and applies in every jurisdiction that permits it, including the EU and the UK.

If a digital item genuinely fails to load, download or unlock for you, that is a technical fault and not a change of mind — contact us and we will fix your access or refund you.

5. Statutory cancellation rights (EU, UK, Israel and elsewhere)

If you are a consumer resident in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Israel, or any other country whose law grants you a mandatory right to cancel a distance purchase, that right applies to you and nothing in this policy reduces it. Where this section and any other section conflict, this section wins.

Where such a right applies:

  • You have 14 days from the day you receive the goods to tell us you are cancelling. Email BlackWholeMagazine@gmail.com with your order number and a clear statement that you are cancelling. You do not have to give a reason.
  • You must then return the goods to us within 14 days of telling us, unused, undamaged and in their original condition and packaging, to the return address we give you by email when you contact us. Please do not send anything to our registered office address or to any printing partner's facility — those addresses cannot receive returns and parcels sent to them will be refused and lost. Always write to us first and wait for a return address.
  • You bear the direct cost of returning the goods. We do not issue prepaid return labels. Our returns address is outside the EU and the UK, so please be aware that return postage, and any duties or handling charges, will frequently cost more than the item itself — for a single magazine, t-shirt or deck it is normally more than you paid for it. We cannot calculate this in advance for every country; please obtain a quote from your carrier before deciding.
  • We may reduce your refund to reflect any loss in the value of the goods caused by handling them beyond what is necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning — for example, a worn, washed or stretched garment, or a canvas removed from its frame.
  • We refund you within 14 days of receiving the goods back, or of receiving your proof that you have sent them, whichever is earlier. Refunds go to your original payment method.
  • This right does not apply to digital content where you gave express consent to immediate access and acknowledged the loss of the right (see Section 4), nor to sealed goods unsealed after delivery where health or hygiene protection applies.
  • Where local law permits us to charge a cancellation fee, we reserve the right to do so up to the permitted maximum.

These cancellation rights are separate from, and in addition to, your rights in respect of faulty goods. Nothing in this policy limits your legal guarantee of conformity, your right to reject faulty goods, or any other right you have that cannot be excluded by contract.

6. Lost, delayed and undelivered packages

Incorrect or incomplete address. If the address you provide at checkout is wrong or incomplete and the shipment is returned to our printing partner, you are responsible for the cost of reshipment once you confirm a corrected address.

Unclaimed packages. Shipments left unclaimed at a post office, parcel locker or customs office and returned to the facility are treated the same way: you are responsible for the cost of reshipment.

Not arrived. If your package has not arrived 10 business days after the end of the estimated delivery window in our Shipping Policy, contact us and we will open a trace with the carrier. Please do not contact us before that point — international transit times vary widely and most delayed packages arrive.

Marked as delivered. If tracking shows the package was delivered to the address you provided but you do not have it, contact us within 14 days and we will open a carrier investigation on your behalf. Where the applicable law places the risk of loss on us until you physically take possession of the goods — as it does for consumers in the EU and the UK — we will replace or refund the order once that investigation concludes. Elsewhere, a carrier confirmation of delivery is treated as delivery, and we cannot cover theft from a doorstep or mailroom.

7. Exchanges

We do not operate an exchange programme. A faulty item is replaced under Section 2. Any other situation is a cancellation under Section 5, followed by a fresh order.

8. Fair use of this policy

We reserve the right to decline a claim, refuse a refund or refuse future service where we identify a pattern of abuse — for example, repeated damage claims across multiple orders, claims unsupported by the photographs requested, or repeated non-collection of shipments. We will always tell you if we are relying on this section.

9. How to contact us

All cancellations, claims and questions go to BlackWholeMagazine@gmail.com. To help us resolve things in one message, please include your order number, the name of the item, and — for a damage claim — the photographs listed in Section 2.