Shipping & Returns

Effective Date: 27 October 2026

Prestige Peptides dispatches all orders from our Gauteng fulfilment facility nationwide across the Republic of South Africa via The Courier Guy (direct to your door) or PUDO locker-to-locker. Because our products are sterile, contamination-sensitive, and temperature-sensitive laboratory research reagents, please read our shipping, locker collection, storage, and returns rules carefully before completing checkout.

1. Quick-Reference Summary

2. Shipping Destinations, Door Delivery & PUDO Locker-to-Locker

• Nationwide South African Coverage: We ship across all nine South African provinces (Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, and Northern Cape) with two convenient fulfilment options:
  • Door Delivery via The Courier Guy: Tracked door-to-door delivery directly to your residential, commercial, or institutional street address. Please include your street address, suburb, postal code, and unit/complex name at checkout.
  • PUDO Locker-to-Locker (Powered by The Courier Guy): Tracked delivery to your nominated PUDO Smart Locker nationwide. When choosing PUDO locker delivery, please specify your preferred PUDO locker name/location (e.g. in your delivery address or order notes) and ensure your South African mobile number and email address are accurate so you receive your secure locker collection PIN via SMS and email.
• No Post Office P.O. Boxes or Facility Walk-Ins: We do not ship via the South African Post Office (no P.O. Boxes or Post Office counters). For facility security and sterility reasons, we do not allow walk-in collections or third-party driver pickups at our Gauteng dispatch hub.
• Shipping Fees: Delivery charges for The Courier Guy (to door) or PUDO locker-to-locker are calculated in South African Rand (ZAR) at checkout before you submit your order.

3. Payment Confirmation, Dispatch Schedule & Transit Protection

• EFT Payment Clearance: Orders are released for packing only once full payment reflects in our bank account. Please use your Order ID as your payment reference. Unpaid orders without proof of payment after 5 business days are automatically cancelled and reserved stock is released.
• Weekday Quality-Control Dispatch Schedule: To minimise transit time and prevent laboratory compounds from sitting in warm courier depots over weekends, we prioritise dispatch on business days (excluding South African public holidays) as follows:
  • Within Gauteng: Dispatched Monday to Thursday (and Friday morning for local express routes)
  • Outside Gauteng (National): Dispatched Monday to Wednesday / Thursday morning so parcels arrive before the weekend; national orders cleared late Thursday or Friday are dispatched on Monday morning.
• Lyophilized Stability During Transit: All peptides are supplied as freeze-dried (lyophilized) powders sealed under vacuum/inert atmosphere in sterile glass vials. Sealed lyophilized peptides remain stable at ambient room temperatures during normal domestic courier transit prior to reconstitution. Upon receipt, vials should be transferred promptly to cold storage (2°C–8°C for routine storage or –20°C for long-term storage, protected from direct light).
• Discreet & Protective Packaging: All vials are individually protected with bubble wrap and packed in plain, unmarked courier boxes/sleeves with no external product descriptions.

4. Tracking, PUDO Locker Collection, Delivery Completion & Failed Deliveries

• Waybill & PUDO Tracking: As soon as your parcel is booked with The Courier Guy or PUDO, you will receive an email with your waybill/tracking number (trackable at thecourierguy.co.za or pudo.co.za). For PUDO locker orders, PUDO will also send you an SMS and email containing your unique locker collection PIN as soon as the parcel is placed inside your chosen locker.
• Delivery Completion & Transfer of Risk (Door vs. PUDO Locker):
  • Door Delivery: Delivery is deemed complete when the parcel is signed for or recorded as delivered by The Courier Guy at the nominated street address.
  • PUDO Locker-to-Locker: Delivery is deemed complete—and risk of loss or temperature exposure passes to the buyer—at the moment the parcel is deposited into the nominated destination PUDO locker and the collection notification/PIN is dispatched to the mobile number or email address provided at checkout.
• Prompt PUDO Locker Collection Required: Because PUDO smart lockers are unrefrigerated metal kiosks and PUDO enforces a strict collection window (typically 36–48 hours from locker deposit before uncollected parcels are removed to a courier depot), buyers must collect PUDO parcels promptly upon receiving their PIN and transfer vials into cold storage (2°C–8°C or –20°C). Prestige Peptides is not responsible for peptide degradation, locker expiry fees, or return-to-sender delays resulting from late or missed PUDO locker collections.
• Address Errors, Uncollected Lockers & Re-Shipping Fees: The buyer is responsible for entering an accurate street address or PUDO locker name and a reachable South African mobile number at checkout. If a parcel is returned to us or held at a depot due to an incorrect address, an uncollected PUDO locker expiry, refusal, or failed door-delivery attempts, a re-shipping/locker re-booking fee will apply—and if the returned material’s storage integrity has been compromised, it cannot be resold or refunded.
• Non-Delivery Investigation Window: Courier and PUDO locker transit windows are estimates, and delays caused by courier operations, full lockers at a chosen kiosk, extreme weather, public holidays, or route disruptions do not constitute grounds for order cancellation or refund. If a parcel has not arrived within 21 calendar days of dispatch, please notify hello@prestigepeptides.co.za so we can lodge a formal carrier loss investigation.

5. Returns, Refunds & Replacements Policy

5.1 Why All Sales of Dispatched Research Vials Are Final (No Change-of-Mind Returns)

Our products are sterile, temperature-sensitive, single-batch laboratory research reagents. Once a vial leaves our controlled storage environment, we can no longer verify its temperature history, light exposure, sterility, or chain of custody. Returned research vials cannot be re-tested, re-certified, or re-sold to another researcher and must be destroyed for safety and quality-assurance reasons.

Accordingly, in line with Section 42(2) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (Act 25 of 2002) and public-health/sealed-goods exceptions under the Consumer Protection Act (Act 68 of 2008), we do not accept returns, exchanges, or refunds for:

• Buyer change of mind or no longer requiring the compound;
• Ordering the wrong compound, concentration, or quantity;
• Products that have left our controlled storage environment where storage conditions cannot be verified;
• Any vial that has been opened, unsealed, punctured, reconstituted, mixed, tampered with, or altered;
• Products damaged after delivery through improper storage (heat, UV light, freezing after reconstitution) or mishandling; or
• Courier transit delays outside our control.

5.2 Damaged in Transit, Defective, or Incorrect Items Received

We stand behind the physical integrity and accuracy of every shipment. If your parcel arrives with a visibly broken or leaking vial, a compromised crimp seal, or an incorrect item compared to your order invoice:

1. Notify Us Promptly: Email hello@prestigepeptides.co.za within 48 hours of delivery for visible transit damage, or within 7 calendar days of delivery for an incorrect or missing item.
2. Include Verification Evidence: Provide your Order ID, a brief description of the issue, and clear, high-resolution photographs showing:
   • The outer courier packaging and waybill label;
   • The inner protective packaging; and
   • The unopened vial(s) showing the product label, batch/lot details, and intact flip-off cap/seal.
3. Retain Packaging & Do Not Open Wrong Items: Keep all packaging and products until your claim is resolved. If an incorrect item was sent, it must remain completely unopened and unsealed for courier collection before a replacement is released. Do not return any item without prior written Return Authorisation from us.
4. Inspection & Resolution: Where reasonably necessary (as recognised by the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud under the CPA), we may arrange at our cost to collect and inspect the affected item. Once verified, we will, in accordance with your rights under the CPA, dispatch a free replacement at our cost or issue a full refund in ZAR.

5.3 No Refunds Based on Research Outcomes or Non-Compliant Use

Because all products on prestigepeptides.co.za are supplied strictly as chemical reagents for in vitro laboratory research and are not intended for human or veterinary use, we will never entertain or issue refunds, credits, or replacements based on:

• Any observed or perceived biological, physiological, or subjective effects (or lack thereof);
• Changes in human or animal biomarkers, laboratory panels, or health status;
• The success, failure, or outcome of any research experiment or assay; or
• Any use of a product outside its stated laboratory research purpose (including human consumption or self-administration).

Important: Any indication that a product has been used for human or animal administration immediately voids all return, replacement, and warranty eligibility.

5.4 Refund Method & Processing Timeline

Approved refunds are paid in ZAR via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) strictly into a verified South African bank account in the original purchaser’s name (bank account verification may be requested to prevent fraud). Once approved, refunds are processed within 5–7 business days (your bank may take 1–3 additional business days to reflect the funds). Where the return is due to our error or verified transit damage, we also refund or cover the applicable courier fee.

5.5 Order Cancellations Before Dispatch

You may request to cancel an order by emailing hello@prestigepeptides.co.za with your Order ID before the order has been packed and handed over to the courier. Once an order has been dispatched and assigned a waybill, it cannot be cancelled.

5.6 Statutory Consumer Rights & Goodwill Non-Waiver

Nothing in this policy is intended to unlawfully exclude or restrict any mandatory right or implied warranty of quality under Section 56 of the South African Consumer Protection Act (Act 68 of 2008) where such right lawfully applies to a transaction. Any replacement, credit, or refund granted outside the strict timeframes of this policy is a commercial goodwill gesture only, does not constitute an admission of liability or defect, and does not waive our right to enforce these terms strictly in the future.