Shipping policy

Shipping

We process orders five days a week (Monday – Friday) and ship from our workshop in Sydney, Australia.

For international orders we ship via DHL Express, which gives us reliable transit times and lets us handle customs clearance on your behalf for the destinations listed below.

Free shipping

We're happy to offer free international shipping on a range of orders depending on where you are and what you've added to your cart.

Australia and New Zealand: free shipping on orders over AU$500. Rest of the world: free shipping on orders over approximately €1000 EUR.

The discount is applied automatically when you reach the minimum cart value at checkout, and works out to roughly a 5% reduction on shipping costs.

Duties and taxes — paid at checkout (recommended destinations)

For the destinations below, all import duties and taxes are calculated and paid at checkout. You see the full landed cost — product, shipping, and duties — before you complete your order. There are no surprise fees on delivery. We call this Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping.

DDP applies to:

  • 🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇪🇺 European Union (Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and 16 other member countries)
  • 🇨🇦 Canada
  • 🇳🇿 New Zealand
  • 🇩🇰 Denmark

For these countries, the duty line item you see at checkout is the duty you pay. Nothing more is owed at delivery.

We've also configured automatic claims for preferential tariff rates under applicable Free Trade Agreements (AU-UK FTA, CPTPP, AANZFTA, and others) — meaning if your purchase qualifies for a reduced rate, you'll see it reflected at checkout rather than paying the standard rate.

Duties and taxes — other destinations

For destinations not listed above, your country's customs agency will assess duties and import taxes at the time your parcel arrives. You'll be responsible for paying these charges to the carrier or customs before the parcel is released to you.

The amount varies depending on your country's import rules, the value of your order, and the type of goods. Your local customs authority sets these charges — they're not added by us, and we have no control over the rate.

If you're unsure what to expect, your country's customs website usually has a duty calculator, or you can ask your local DHL/FedEx/UPS office before you order.

What happens if you refuse delivery or don't pay duties

We strongly encourage you to be prepared for any duties or taxes your destination country may apply.

For DDP destinations (US, UK, EU, Canada, NZ, Denmark): duties are already paid at checkout, so there are no surprise fees at delivery. If you still refuse delivery, please refer to our returns policy.

For other destinations: if you refuse to pay duties and the parcel is returned to us, please be aware that:

  • We deduct shipping costs from your refund — both the original shipping out, and the return shipping back to us
  • A 15% restocking fee may be applied to cover costs associated with the return and processing

These charges are not punitive — they're the real costs the carrier passes back to us when a parcel is refused. We'd much rather you receive your order, so please check what your country charges before you place the order.

A note for knife orders into the UK

UK regulations require an adult signature on delivery for kitchen knife shipments. Please make sure your delivery address has someone over 18 available to sign, or use a delivery address (such as your workplace) where this is practical. Without a valid adult signature, the parcel may be returned to us.

Restricted destinations and products

A small number of our products — folding and tactical knives in particular — have destination-specific restrictions under local weapons and offensive-weapons laws. If you order one of these products to a destination where it's restricted, we'll contact you to discuss options before charging your card.

Questions

If anything about shipping, duties, or delivery isn't clear, please reach out to info@moderncooking.com before placing your order. We'd rather answer questions upfront than fix problems after.