First, the 24-hour window
If your kit arrived in the last 24 hours, stop here and read this bit, because it is the most generous route we have and it is the only one where opening the box does not count against you.
The 100% Curiosity Guarantee. Open the kit, build something, and if the first hour doesn't hook them, email us within 24 hours of your parcel being delivered. You get the full price of the kit back along with the shipping you paid to receive it. No restocking fee, and we pay for the return label. Send everything back in the case. It does not need to be resellable, only complete.
If the parcel was delivered while nobody was home, say so in your email and we will work from the day it actually reached you.
After that first 24 hours this route closes and everything below applies instead.
Changing your mind after the first day
You have 60 days from delivery to change your mind. We send you a prepaid return label, so you never pay postage up front. Two amounts then come out of your refund: a 10% restocking fee, and the cost of that label.
We would much rather you knew that before you post the kit than find out when the money lands.
Outside the first 24 hours, a change-of-mind return only qualifies while the kit is still sealed. If you have opened it, read "Already opened it?" below before you do anything else.
What you actually get back
Here is a real example, using our $149 Intro to Circuits Kit.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Intro to Circuits Kit | $149.00 |
| Restocking fee, 10% | -$14.90 |
| Return shipping (example label) | -$15.00 |
| Refunded to your card | about $119 |
That is the change-of-mind arithmetic. On a Curiosity Guarantee claim inside the first 24 hours, neither of those two deductions applies and you get the whole $149 back plus the delivery you paid.
Return shipping is not a fixed amount. It depends where the kit is travelling from and which service we buy. The $15 above is a realistic example for a kit going back inside the United States. If you want the exact figure before you commit, ask when you email us and we will work it out for you.
The fee scales with the order. A $932 return would carry roughly $93 of restocking fee, plus the label.
The rules, all of them
- The first 24 hours are different. Inside that window the Curiosity Guarantee above applies, opened or not, with nothing deducted.
- 60 days from delivery. Contact us within 60 days of the day the kit arrived.
- After the first day, the kit has to be unopened and resellable. This is the rule that catches people out, so plainly: outside the 24-hour window, a change-of-mind return only qualifies if the kit is still sealed, with all original parts and the packaging undamaged. Once a kit has been opened we cannot sell it on, so we cannot take it back as a change of mind.
- Email us first. Do not just post it back. We send you a prepaid label with the correct address on it. See How to start a return.
- A 10% restocking fee comes out, calculated on the price you paid for the items coming back. This does not apply to a Curiosity Guarantee claim.
- The return label cost comes out too, again except on a Curiosity Guarantee claim, where we pay it.
- The shipping you paid to receive the order is not refunded on a change-of-mind return. The refund covers the purchase price of the kit. If the return is our fault, because we sent the wrong thing or it arrived faulty, we refund that shipping too and we do not take the restocking fee. We also refund it on a Curiosity Guarantee claim.
- The refund goes back to the card or account you paid with, once we have received and inspected the kit. See How long a refund takes.
Already opened it?
If you are still inside the first 24 hours after delivery, you are covered in full by the Curiosity Guarantee at the top of this page. Opening it is the point.
Past that, a change of mind after opening is not something we can refund. But two things are still worth an email:
- If anything is faulty, missing or damaged, that is a completely separate route and it is always free, opened box or not. Nothing comes back to us and we send a replacement. Email your order number and a photo.
- If the kit is not working out for your child, tell us what is happening before you give up on it. A good share of what gets reported as a fault turns out to be a connection that needs breaking in, or a speaker waiting on its Siren IC. See My LED, motor or block isn't working.
When we waive the fee
If the reason for the return is our mistake, you get the full amount back and we pay the shipping. No 10%, no deduction. That covers things like:
- We sent you the wrong item
- We got something wrong in how the product was described
If you are not sure whether your situation counts, say so in your email before you send anything. We will tell you straight.
Three things that are not returns at all
Your kit arrived damaged, or a part is missing. That is a free replacement. Nothing comes back to us, nothing is deducted, and there is no fee. Email your order number and a photo.
You want a different kit. We do not run automated exchanges. Return this one and order the one you want, or email us first and we will help you work out which kit fits.
Your order has not shipped yet. Then do not return it, cancel it. Cancelling costs nothing. See Can I cancel my order?.
If you ordered from the EU or the UK
The rules are different for you, and better. See If you ordered from the EU or the UK.
