FAQs
Subscriptions
Distribution update
We are currently unable to deliver to the following countries. You can subscribe and enjoy full access to the digital content on Monocle and read every article from the current issue online on monocle.com/subscribe
Dominica, Fiji, Libya, New Caledonia, Niue, Nicaragua, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Russian Federation, Samoa, Syria, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Yemen, and Ukraine.
If you have any queries about your delivery, please contact your local postal service. Alternatively, feel free to email us at subscriptions@monocle.com.
Extended delays
Significant delays are expected for parcels sent to Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Chile, China, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, and the United States.
500g weight restrictions
Please note that transport capacities are currently substantially reduced for Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Australia and New Zealand. As such, special measures are required to maintain the dispatch of letters and parcels.
It is still possible to post items weighing up to 500g and with a maximum thickness of 2cm. But there is an extended timeframe for these parcels of four to six weeks from the date of dispatch.
Updated 18th January 2023
We offer free shipping for subscription, top-ups and some of our back issues.
Our top-up issues are delivered by standard mail and are dispatched from our distributors twice a week, within seven business days of purchase. Issues are shipped from Germany, so transit times will vary. Although we do not provide confirmation of shipping, we can offer the following estimated time frames for delivery.
Extended delays are expected in Australia and New Zealand. Top-ups and replacement issues will be dispatched along with the upcoming (new) released issues.
UK and EU: 5-10 business days from the shipped date.
North America and Rest of the World: 10-20 business days from the shipped date.
Australia, New Zealand and Asia: 25-30 business days from the shipped date.
We offer free shipping for subscription issues top-ups and replacement parcels.
An automated confirmation will be sent to you, which will detail the number of issues covered by your subscription and letting you know which issue will be the first you will receive. If you do not receive an email within 24 hours, please contact subscriptions@monocle.com. (First check your spam folder in case the confirmation email is in there).
Your first issue is determined by our publishing schedule. You can check the estimated date of delivery of your issues by logging into your account using the email address and password that you used to sign up for the subscription. You will also be able to see a list of all of the issues that you are due to receive under your current subscription.
Your gift(s) should arrive with your first issue. If you are based in Australia, New Zealand or the US, your gift will be sent separately. Please allow two to three weeks from the receipt of your issue; heavier parcels will take longer to arrive.
If you do not receive your gifts as specified above, please call us on +44 (0)20 7725 4349 or email subscriptions@monocle.com.
If you haven’t received our latest issue or the gift that accompanies your new or renewed subscription, we will send a replacement issue or gift to you by recorded post, provided that your address has been correctly supplied.
Please note that any claim for missing items is subject to the timeframes outlined in our “Subscription shipping times” section.
Claims for missing issues
Should your issue not arrive within the estimated transit window as detailed on your account page, please contact our team and we will arrange for a replacement to be dispatched via recorded delivery. If you’re making a claim for an issue other than the current one, please note that claims must be made within two months of the original forecasted delivery date.
Claims for missing gifts
Your subscription gifts should arrive with the first issue of your subscription (please see your confirmation email for information regarding your first issue) and not with any additional top-ups purchased at the time of subscription. If you do not receive your gift within seven days of the arrival of your issue, please contact our team. Note that any claim to replace a missing gift must be made within two months of its original forecasted delivery date.
Claims for top-ups
Top-up issues are delivered by standard mail (non-trackable) and are dispatched from our distributor in Germany. We do not provide shipping confirmation but do offer an estimated delivery timeframe of five to 20+ working days, depending on the country of destination. Should your issue not arrive during this window, please contact the subscriptions team and we will issue a replacement if applicable. Claims for missing top-ups must be made within two months of the order.
To contact us about a claim please email subscriptions@monocle.com or call us on +44 (0) 20 7725 4349.
If your magazine has been damaged during its journey to your address, please email our subscriptions team with a photo of the damaged issue attached. One of our team will arrange for a replacement copy to be sent to you via priority shipping.
For your convenience, your subscription will renew automatically for the same period as your original subscription. If you do not wish to renew your subscription, please sign in to your account and select the cancellation option in the Manage Subscription section. Please note that the cancellation request needs to be submitted at least two weeks before your next payment is due.
You can also contact our team by email at subscriptions@monocle.com. Please note that gift subscriptions will not be renewed automatically. If you have purchased a gift subscription, we will contact you in advance of its expiry to take your renewal instructions.
You can cancel the auto-renewal feature on your Monocle account by signing in your subscription page. Click on Manage Subscription. In this section, you will be able to click a button to cancel your auto-renewal.
Please note that when you deactivate auto-renewal, we will not process any future payments. You will still receive the remaining issues of your subscription and have access to your Monocle.com account until the subscription expires.
Be advised, if the renewal is successfully processed subscriptions are non-refundable. If you require more information regarding cancellations and refunds, please contact our team at subscriptions@monocle.com.
Sales invoices for settled subscription payments after May 2016 can be viewed by signing in and Manage your account. Please allow two business days from date of purchase for invoices to become available. For any other invoice enquiry please email subscriptions@monocle.com with your billing address and VAT number.
You can login to your account "Manage Subscription" to update your details. Please ensure any update is completed before the end of the month to ensure the following issue arrives at your new address.
You can also call us on +44 (0)20 7725 4349 or email subscriptions@monocle.com.
You can choose to send a subscription to anyone, anywhere in the world, from our main order page which you will find here.
You can choose to include a personalised letter with your recipient’s first copy. This will be enclosed in an envelope along with a note outlining our exclusive subscriber benefits.
Your chosen recipient will not receive an email notification when their first issue is despatched. They will receive these starting with their second issue.
Renewals can be set up by following the steps above.
Please note that we cannot reuse the same email address for the recipient of a gift subscription. If this is an issue for you, please contact our customer services team at subscriptions@monocle.com.
You can download a certificate for all our subscription plans:
Digital subscription certificate (PDF)
Print subscription certificate (PDF)
Shop
Due to postal restrictions that are currently in operation in some countries, the delivery of single magazines might be subject to a slight delay. This should only consist of a few days.
Distribution update
We are currently unable to deliver to the following countries via standard mail (Deutsche Post).
China, Dominica, Fiji, Libya, New Caledonia, Niue, Nicaragua, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Russian Federation, Samoa, Syria, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Yemen, and Ukraine
Extended delays
Significant delays are expected for parcels sent to Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, and the United States.
Note: if you use our shipping-included service or are awaiting your issues and items, our parcels might exceed the estimated time frames that were provided on checkout.
We advise you to monitor the local postal service for further information on the delivery of your issues.
Orders placed in USD may only be shipped to the US or Canada. Prices for shipment to all other countries will be shown in EUR, GBP, AUD and CHF where applicable.
After your order is placed, you will receive an email acknowledging that your order has been received. If any of the items you have ordered are unavailable from our warehouse, we will try our best to locate them. If this is not possible you will be quickly informed about the out-of-stock pieces and your payment for the items will not be processed.
If your order contains both pre-order items and products that are available now, we will ship the pre-order items separately as soon as they become available.
Please refer to the product page for the date of release. You will receive an order confirmation email covering both in-stock and pre-order items.
Please note that payment for pre-orders will be taken from your account as it would for a normal transaction.
Should your parcel fail to arrive within the estimated timeframe, please contact our team at customerservice@monocle.com and we will investigate.
Claims for lost issues must be made within two months of the original estimated delivery date.
If your selected courier is UPS or DHL, the claim must be made within 24 hours of delivery confirmation.
Please note: Claims made outside the above window will not be accepted.
Returns Policy:
Download Monocle's Return Form (PDF)
If you are unhappy with your purchase, you can return or exchange your goods within 14 days of receiving them. Please return the item(s) along with your completed return form. Monocle does not provide return labels. You are welcome to use a courier of your preference to return unwanted items. We strongly advise that you use a tracked service so that these returns can be monitored.
All subscriptions are strictly non-refundable.
Returned items must be unused, in a saleable condition and include all the original packaging, such as clothing tags. We cannot refund or exchange consumable items, including our fragrances, which have been used or removed from the original packaging. We are also unable to refund print items, such as magazines and newspapers.
For matters of hygiene, purchases of footwear, shorts or underwear are strictly non-refundable. Should a product be subject to further conditions relating to its eligibility for a refund or exchange it will be advertised accordingly.
You can cancel it, change the size or edit your billing and shipping details on the same day of purchase.
Please note, this service is not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate requests when possible
If you need to make any amendments, please contact us for further assistance at customerservice@monocle.com.
When ordering goods for delivery outside of the European Union, you will be subject to import duties and taxes that are levied once the package reaches the country of destination. Any such additional charges must be borne by you; Monocle has no control over these.
Customs policies vary widely from country to country. Please contact your local customs office for relevant information regarding these.
As of March 2016, US customers don’t pay import duties on internet purchases of up to £500.
As of July 2018, AUD prices will reflect the 10% Goods and Services Tax charged to foreign companies supplying goods to Australia.
Disclaimer
If you are not happy with the import charges of your order, we will do our best to have the item(s) returned and refunded.
Please be advised that this service is not guaranteed as the value and type of products imported determine the procedure followed by Customs.
If the return is viable, we will confirm the costs incurred to have your parcel returned and cleared by Customs. We will deduct from your refund any fees absorbed by Monocle during this process.
In the case where the return is not possible, it will be abandoned by the courier and will not be retrievable. In these circumstances, no refund will be processed.
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VAT (valued added tax) is not levied on magazines, newspapers and books in the United Kingdom, therefore no such tax is charged on these items regardless of delivery location. This also applies to print subscriptions, including subscription offers.
Monocle will charge VAT where appropriate on orders for all other goods despatched to countries within the European Union.
If you are in the UK and choose to have the goods shipped to the UK prices will be shown inclusive of VAT (where applicable) at the current rate. If the country of shipment is outside the UK but within the EU and dependent territories prices will be shown in euros inclusive of VAT. All other countries are shown a price excluding VAT as no VAT will be due on these orders.
Please send your enquiry to customerservice@monocle.com confirming your billing address and VAT number
Processing:
Online orders are dispatched from Germany every weekday via DHL or UPS, with the exception of our fragrances. Due to strict customs restrictions, we ship fragrances only to the United Kingdom, the EU and North America. Within North America, fragrances are sent via Canada Post from our Toronto shop or USPS from our LA shop. Please consider up to 10 days additional processing time.
Orders received during the week will be processed depending on selected shipping. Standard and Saver orders are processed within three days while express orders are processed on the next working day.*
*Standard and Saver orders received on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be processed on Monday for shipment within two business days.
*Express orders received on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be processed and shipped on Monday.
All merchandise (excluding magazines and books) does not include free shipping, but orders over £250 across the EU include free shipping.
Ecommerce magazine and book orders shipping:
We include worldwide untracked shipping on all magazines.
We offer free shipping on books to the EU, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.
Delivery times:
Delivery of online orders largely depends on the location of the intended delivery. Approximate transit times are listed below:
UK and EU: 5-15 business days from shipped date.
Australia, New Zealand and Asia: 16-20 business days from shipped date.
Rest of the world: 10-20 business days from shipped date.
We ask our customers to be aware that they are liable for all import duties, customs and local sales taxes levied by the country of destination. Payment of these are necessary to release an order from customs on arrival.
(Updated on the 21st of October, 2022)
No. If you have purchased multiple issues with shipping included, they will be sent separately.
Please email customerservice@monocle.com and we’ll look into this for you. When you get in touch with us, please provide your order number and photographs of your item. Please be aware that items which have been damaged as a result of normal wear and tear, by accident, or by your own misuse, will not be considered faulty. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Konfekt
If you subscribe to Konfekt between 12 May and 3 August, the first issue of your subscription will be our Autumn 2023 edition (issue 12) which is due to be published on 24 August.
We recommend the use of a fixed address but delivery details can be changed. Due to printing and publishing schedules, it may not be possible to make requested changes immediately.
For further assistance, please contact our subscriptions team at cs@konfektmagazine.com
We offer free shipping for subscriptions, top-ups, and some of our back issues.
Our Konfekt issues are delivered by standard mail and are dispatched from our distributors twice a week, within seven business days of purchase. Issues are shipped from Germany, so transit times will vary. Although we do not provide confirmation of shipping, we can offer the following estimated time frames for delivery.
Extended delays are expected in Australia and New Zealand. Top-ups and replacement issues will be dispatched along with the upcoming (new) released issues.
UK and EU: 5-10 business days from the shipped date.
North America and the Rest of the world10-20 business days from the shipped date.
Australia, New Zealand and Asia: 25-30 business days from the shipped date.
(Updated on the 19th of January, 2023)
Konfekt offers free shipping to any address in the world.
Digital
Both the Digital Editions, Print & Digital, and Premium subscriptions commence from the date of purchase.
For print subscribers, receipt of your first issue is determined by our publishing schedule. You can check the estimated date of delivery of your issues by logging in and Manage Subscription section using the email address and password that you used to sign up to the subscription. You will also be able to see a list of all of the issues that you are due to receive during your current subscription.
Our digital content cannot be shared or downloaded as a PDF file. This is to maintain the exclusivity of our content.
Our digital content cannot be downloaded or accessed offline.
No. However, our digital content will be available on monocle.com/magazine
Yes, this is an enhanced digital offering that can be accessed by subscribers via a browser on any device.
Yes. We will send you a monthly email advising of the launch of the new issue, you will be able to see the publishing dates of the issues covered by your subscription, including the current edition as well as any special editions.
If you are on a Digital Edition package, your gift will be dispatched within seven business days. With an estimated delivery timeframe of five to 20+ working days, depending on the country of destination.
If you do not receive your gift within seven days of your issue arriving, please call us on +44 (0)20 7725 4349 or email our team at subscriptions@monocle.com
We do not offer Digital trials. However, we would encourage you to visit the ‘Free to Read In This Issue’ section on monocle.com, which displays three articles from the current edition of the magazine and allows you to explore our content and features.
If you cancel your Digital Editions subscription within 14 days of the start of your subscription, we will refund any payments received from you using the same method of payment that you used to buy your subscription.
If you cancel after the first 14 days of the start of your subscription and/or your subscription includes our printed issues, you will not be eligible for a refund of your initial payment. If you would like to cancel your Digital Editions subscription, please contact our Subscriptions team at subscriptions@monocle.com from your registered email address.
