Samples are paid and freight is on the buyer — but the full sample fee credits back against your first production order. We'd rather you spec a sample, hold it, and order with confidence than hesitate.
Paid
Sample basis
Buyer
Sample freight
10–14days
Sample lead time
100%
Credit on first order
Five steps from clicking "sample" to having a pair in your store. The pattern matches a normal order — same configurator, same dashboard tracking — but on a single-pair basis with single-payment terms.
01
Open the configurator on the model you want to evaluate. Choose the leather, colour, sole, and lining you intend to specify in production. Add the size you'd like to receive (typically your house size, EU 41 or 42). Submit as a sample order — the cart automatically switches to single-pair pricing and removes the MOQ check.
02
Samples are paid in full at the moment of order. There is no 30/70 split on samples, because there is no production run to anchor a deposit against. Payment by SEPA bank transfer or, on request, card.
03
Sample shipping is invoiced separately and is the customer's cost. Standard option is courier (DHL / UPS / FedEx) on your account number, or against a flat freight quote we issue with the proforma. Express upgrades available — the price difference is exactly the carrier difference, no markup.
04
Sample production runs alongside, not inside, the standard factory queue at our European workshop. Turnaround is typically 10–14 working days from cleared payment. Where the leather you specified is in stock, we dispatch closer to the lower end of that window.
05
When the sample arrives, you have it in hand to assess. If you approve and place the production order within 60 days, the sample fee is fully credited against your first production invoice. If you don't, the sample remains yours — no return required, no further charge.
Sample price
A single-pair sample typically runs 2.5–3× the per-pair production price, reflecting the real cost of making one pair without a batch behind it.
Sample freight
Customer-paid. Either on the customer's own carrier account or invoiced as a flat fee with the proforma.
Sample lead time
10–14 working days from cleared payment, dispatched from our European production facility.
Customisations on samples
Any standard configurator combination is allowed. Bespoke (off-platform pattern) requires a separate sample-development quote.
Limit per account
No formal limit. We may flag accounts ordering more than five different samples without placing a production order.
Sample credit
100% of the sample fee is credited against the first production order placed within 60 days of sample dispatch.
Sample returns
Samples are not returnable. They are yours to keep, photograph, show clients, or hold for reference.
Defects
Manufacturing defects on a sample pair are remade or refunded the same way they would be on a production pair. Report within 14 days with photographs.
Plain answer
A sample is a single pair built by hand on a model the factory normally produces in batches of forty. Cutting one hide for one pair, lasting one shoe, finishing one sole — the unit cost is meaningfully higher than a production pair, and the time it takes from a closer is the same whether the run is one or one hundred.
Free sampling is sometimes offered by suppliers who recover the cost in a higher production price or by holding pre-stocked stock samples. We don't do either. Our production prices are net trade prices with no embedded sample subsidy, and every sample is built to your exact spec — same leather, same colour, same finish you'll receive in production.
The sample credit on the first production order is the structural fix: if sampling leads to a buying decision, the sample was free. If it doesn't, you've paid the actual cost of the work — and you keep the pair.
Open any model in the catalogue and switch the configurator to "sample" — same five-minute flow as a production order.