The Gothic Shop — store policies

Postage Rates

IMPORTANT - IF YOU LIVE IN NORTHERN IRELAND OR THE EU, PLEASE SEE OUR LATEST UPDATE HERE.

♦ If you purchase and pay for your order before 1pm on a week day your order will usually be posted that day. Orders placed after midday, bank holidays and weekends are posted the following working day.

♦ ALL items are in stock unless stated otherwise.

♦ We do not post on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays.

WITHIN THE UK

UK postage is a flat rate of £3.50 for 48h Tracked. This post usually arrives within 2-3 days but sometimes can take 3-10 days.

UK postage is a flat rate of £4.95 for 24h Tracked. Royal Mail aim to deliver most 24h Tracked mail by the next working day, including Saturdays, but this is not guaranteed and usually takes 1-3 working days.

If you require guaranteed next day delivery please select the Special Delivery option at checkout before 1pm. Special Delivery orders placed after 1pm may not be processed until the following weekday. Special Delivery prices are calculated on weight, starting at £7.50 for orders weighing less than 500g, and £10.90 for orders weighing 2kg.

Please note that we only post Monday - Friday, therefore a Special Delivery purchase placed on a Friday afternoon will be posted the following Monday to arrive on Tuesday.

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS - EUROPE - UNFORTUNATELY WE'VE HAD TO STOP POSTING TO THE EU & NI DUE TO NEW GPSR RULES INTRODUCED BY EU IN DEC 2024.

Postage and packaging (P&P) using Royal Mail International Tracked service is calculated on weight, starting at £7.50 for lighter orders.

Royal Mail aim to deliver International Signed For and Tracked Airmail within 3-8 working days to Europe, but please allow up to 30 working days. If an order consists of multiple items we may send 2 separate packages.

Import taxes: Your country may require you to pay local customs fees, import tax and duties on your order. These fees are payable to the courier or postal service at the point of delivery, these fees aren't included in your payment to us. It is the buyer's responsibility to pay these fees. We do not falsify information on the customs form as this is illegal.

We do not refund postage of orders that are returned to us if the buyer refuses delivery.

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS - REST OF WORLD (USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA ETC)

Postage and packaging (P&P) using Royal Mail International Tracked service is calculated on weight, starting at £9.50 for lighter orders.

Royal Mail aim to deliver International Signed For and Tracked Airmail within 5-10 working days to international locations outside Europe, but please allow up to 14 working days. If an order consists of multiple items we may send 2 separate packages.

For extra large or exceptionally heavy orders we reserve the right to amend shipping charges and we will send a Paypal payment request for the extra postage, or you may prefer to cancel the order. Some of our heavier items are marked not available to buyers outside the EU as postage of these items is exorbitant and we wish to keep postage rates of the lighter typical orders as low as possible. But, please contact us if you require a quote for the heavier items.

Import taxes: It is the buyer's responsibility to pay local customs fees, import tax etc. We do not falsify information on the customs form as this is illegal.

If you have any queries about the P&P please contact us.

Returns

Cancellation and returns:

Returns details and address are on the invoice which is attached to your parcel. According to the Consumer Contracts Regulations you have a right to return your purchases for a refund or replacement. Your right to cancel an order for goods starts the moment you place your order and the item must be returned to us within 28 days of receiving the item.

FREE UK RETURNS: Customers in the UK can get their FREE returns postage label here. This is a Royal Mail 48h Tracked label, this service usually takes 2-3 days to arrive, sometimes longer. Attach this to your parcel and include your completed invoice, and take the parcel to your local post office to obtain a proof of postage. This is necessary if the parcel goes missing and you need to make a claim with Royal Mail. If you need to return items from 2 orders at the same time, please put them in 1 parcel. If separate parcels are returned at the same time, we will deduct £3.50 from the refund for the second parcel. Don't have a printer? After you complete the returns form you will receive an email from Royal Mail. Take your packaged item to a Post Office branch. They will scan the QR code from the email on your phone, then they will print the label for you. We do not refund postage if you return your parcel at your own expense.

If you cancel, NON-UK customers must return the goods to us at your own expense. Please return to the address on the invoice, attaching the entire invoice to the front of your parcel (folded in 4 to show our address). Please tick the appropriate boxes on the invoice to state whether you require a refund or a replacement, and the reason for return (eg too small, too big, unsuitable, faulty). Please ensure that you take reasonable care of the goods before they are returned to us to prevent deterioration or damage, and that the goods are packaged adequately. Any returned clothing MUST have all tags attached and be in their original packaging. We do not accept returns of clothing that is covered in pet fur or makeup, that is dirty or stained, or that reek of smoke or any other obnoxious odours. These items will instead be returned to you.

International buyers must state on the customs forms that the items are a return.

If the item is faulty please contact us first as we are often able to accept photo evidence of the fault to save sending the item back. If we do ask you to return the item please write a note about the fault on the invoice and please state whether you would like a refund or replacement. If in the UK please use the free postage label mentioned above.

Once the item is received by us we can either replace the item (with the same item or same item in different size, if in stock) or we will refund the cost of the item. We do not replace with a different item.

EXCLUSIONS: We do not accept returns of hairpieces, earrings, tights (unless unopened), hair dye (unless unopened) and lace chokers due to hygiene reasons.

Refunds/replacements are usually processed within 5 working days after receipt of the item. If you require your replacement within the next few days we advise that you return the item for a refund and purchase the replacement item now, there is a quick turnover of stock and it is possible that your replacement size will be out of stock before your return is processed.

This cancellation policy does not affect your legal rights.

The return address is on the invoice which must be attached to the parcel. The address is:

The Gothic Shop,
c/o Ready Steady Store,
7 Broadfields Retail Park,
Bicester Rd,
Aylesbury,
Bucks,
HP19 8BU
UK

If you have lost your invoice please include a printout of your order email.

sales(at)the-gothic-shop.co.uk

Terms & Conditions

By accessing and using this site you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these, you may not wish to use this site.

How To Order From Us
Click Add to Basket to add the items you wish to purchase to your basket. Click Proceed to secure checkout to view the items in your basket. On this page you can delete products or update quantities by pressing the update button. Then click on Proceed to Checkout. Add your details to the form - name, address and telephone and select payment method and delivery method. Press Continue. You will now be asked to enter your credit/debit card details or paypal account details.

Secure Online Ordering
The Gothic Shop has been issued a QuickSSL™ certificate to enable server security. Click on the GeoTrust button at the bottom of any page for verification. In today's world security issues are at the forefront of our thoughts and GeoTrust QuickSSL gives online consumers and businesses peace of mind.

Sites secured by GeoTrust SSL certificates are providing up to 256 bit encryption thereby offering the highest level of encryption and security possible. This means you can rest assured that communications between your browser and this site's web servers are private and secure.

As well as an SSL certificate our website also has a 128 bit encrypted shopping cart.

Payment
We accept payment via SagePay, which includes all major card types, or Paypal.

SagePay is a Payment Gateway, also known as a Payment Service Provider (PSP), which provides the secure link between our website and our merchant bank to ensure that customers’ card details remain secure throughout the transaction process.

To help reduce the risk of card fraud all Sage Pay transactions are checked for authentication using 3D secure. Once you have entered your card details on the Sage Pay payment page you will be prompted on the confirmation page to register your card for 3D Secure where you provide a password for your credit card. 3D Secure is the latest fraud prevention initiative launched by the card schemes as a more secure method for authenticating the cardholder at the time of the transaction. 3D Secure is a culmination of Verified by Visa (VbV) or MasterCard Secure Code (MSC).

Payments processed by Sagepay can be made in GB Pounds (£) or Euros (€).

PayPal allows safe online payments by PayPal account and also by credit or debit card, so owning a PayPal account to pay via this method is not obligatory.

Payments processed by Paypal can be in GB Pounds (£), Euros (€), Australian Dollars (AUD) or US Dollars ($).

Stock Availability
All items listed are in stock, unless stated otherwise. If for any reason we've made a mistake with our stock levels and we don't have an item you've ordered, we will let you know via email as soon as we can, and alternative options may be suggested if possible. Otherwise the cost of the missing item would be refunded to you.

Delivery Schedule
Most items are posted within 24 hours for orders placed on weekdays, but we do not post on Saturdays, Sundays or UK Bank Holidays. Please allow up to 48 hours for processing during busy periods (eg: before Xmas). If we cannot process the order within 2 days we will notify you via email. We have postal collections from Monday to Friday only, and not over the weekend.

We cannot be held responsible for postal delays caused by extreme weather conditions, industrial action or other events outside our control.

We always send a dispatch notification email so that you're aware of when the parcel has been posted. If you are expecting a notification but haven't received one, please remember to check your spam / junk email box.

Postage & Packaging UK And Overseas
We're in the UK and post to all domestic locations and most international destinations too.

Please see the Postage Rates page for more details on postage costs.

Returns
Please see the Returns page for details.

Lost Parcels
For UK parcels, if items have not arrived after 15 working days we will submit a claim form on your behalf to Royal Mail. We will require a signed statement from you to submit with the claim, the details of which will be emailed to you. We either resend or refund the order 15 working days after it was sent, once your statement is received. For parcels posted to Europe we cannot accept a claim for loss unless at least 20 working days have passed since the dispatch date. For 'Rest Of The World' countries this is extended to 25 working days passing since the dispatch date.

Contract
Your order represents an offer which is accepted by us when we send an email confirmation to you that we have dispatched that product or products to you. That acceptance will be complete at the time we send the Dispatch Confirmation email to you.

We reserve the right to cancel and refund an order if the item is out of stock or a pricing mistake has been made.

Privacy Policy
The new standard for online privacy is known as GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation - and this supercedes the Data Protection Act, the previous standard.

The details of our privacy policy can be found here.

VAT Reg #
GB897512969 (deregistered 8 April 2025)

Premises
The Gothic Shop, c/o Ready Steady Store, 7 Broadfields Retail Park, Bicester Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8BU. Our phone number is 0844 3570866, but because we do not work typical office hours it is preferable to contact us by email (sales(at)the-gothic-shop.co.uk).

NOTE: We have no retail store and these premises are not open to the public.

Privacy Policy

The new standard for online privacy is known as GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation - and this supercedes the Data Protection Act, the previous standard.

The following is a short description of the information you provide us with and what we do with this data.

Placing An Order
When you place an order with The Gothic Shop (this site) you will need to provide us with the following information:

Your name
Your home address
Your preferred delivery address if different
Your telephone number
Your email address

For gift orders or vouchers we may also require the recipient's name, address and / or email address as applicable.

The information you provide when placing an order is used to process said order, and to provide us with contact information which is only used in conjunction with order processing, for example order updates and dispatch notifications.

Sometimes an order may be left 'pending', which means final payment was not completed. This can lead to you thinking you've paid for an order when you actually haven't. This could be due to a browser issue, internet issues, payment gateway problems, not pressing a 'final confirmation' button, or because you changed your mind.

If your order is left as 'pending' for an extended period of time, we may send you a cancellation email which explains that we have cancelled your order on our system due to non-payment. However, those items will still be in your basket the next time you login should you view this as an oversight and wish to complete the order.

Cookies
As with most websites, The Gothic Shop uses cookies. A cookie is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while a user is browsing that website. When the user browses the same website in the future, the data stored in the cookie can be retrieved by the website to notify that website of the user's previous activity.

Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember the state of the website or activity the user has taken in the past.

Our shopping basket uses a session cookie so that if you log out your items will be found in your basket the next time you log in. Also we consult Google Analytics which uses cookies to track how visitors find our site and the path they take through it. We do not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you.

If you would like to restrict or block cookies you can do this through your browser settings. As different browsers will have different configuration settings, you should consult your browser Help menu to understand how to adjust your cookie options.

Security & Payments
We take the security of your personal data seriously and any information you send us on this site is transmitted using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) server. You may see a padlock at the top of your web browser and also may see 'https://' at the beginning of the web address. The 's' indicates the use of SSL.

We do not handle online payments directly. Any payments are made through external secure gateways; either SagePay or Paypal, and as such we do not see or retain any credit or debit card information. Even so, we are obliged to review security procedures annually in order to remain compliant with the 'Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard' (PCI DSS), which we do.

Newsletters
You can opt-in to receive newsletters from us for details of new stock arrivals, special deals and discounts if you so choose. The email address you provide for this service is processed via Constant Contact whose Privacy Statement can be found here: https://www.constantcontact.com/uk/legal/privacy-statement

You can unsubscribe at any time via the appropriate link at the bottom of each newsletter or by contacting us at [email protected]

Your Personal Data
You are able to change your personal data such as address details and password by logging in to your account and selecting the appropriate link from the 'My Account' section at the bottom of any webpage.

If you wish to delete your account, please contact us via [email protected] with the appropriate details, and we will remove it as requested. This action will remove all relevant personal data and order history from our system.

About Us

Neil and Julia welcome you to The Gothic Shop. We specialise in gothic and alternative clothing and accessories for ladies and gents.

Many moons ago (2006 to be precise!) a fledgling version of the business was set up on Ebay and proved to be fairly successful in a comparatively short time period, so we set up this website a few months later to continue the business in a more stable environment.

Our current clothing range incorporates many items from several high quality gothic and alternative suppliers, including Dark In Love, Punk Rave and Sinister clothing amongst others. This allows us to provide you with a selection of gothic and alternative clothing from everyday wear through to stunning outfits for those special occasions. Our collection includes some amazing velvet and lace tops, punk mini skirts, gothic prom dresses, t-shirts as well as men's trousers and shirts.

And if you need some accessories to compliment your outfit; we have a splendid range of jewellery available courtesy of Alchemy Gothic and Dark Elegance Designs. Or if it's bags and decor you're after, perhaps we could tempt you with our handmade bags, wallets and embroidered picture frames by Nocturnis.

We trade solely on the internet, so you won't find us lurking behind any shop counters. However, you can visit us on Facebook and Instagram too if you wish.

Whatever your wardrobe requirements, we hope you find something you like at The Gothic Shop. Thank you for visiting, and please do come again.

Neil and Julia.

Contact Us

These are our most frequently asked questions. Please use the contact information at the bottom of the page if your question isn't below.

Q: How much is postage?
A: Please see our Postage Rates page.

Q: How long does delivery take?
A: Please see our Postage Rates page.

Q: Do you accept returns?
A: Yes, according to the Consumer Contracts Regulations you have a right to return your purchases for a refund or replacement. Your right to cancel an order for goods starts the moment you place your order and ends 14 days from the day you receive your goods. Please see our Returns Policy page for more details.

Contact Us By Email:

This is our preferred method of contact.
Please email [email protected]

Contact Us By Post:

The Gothic Shop, c/o Ready Steady Store, 7 Broadfields Retail Park, Bicester Rd, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 8BU, United Kingdom.
(these premises are not open to the public)