FAQ

Circular is is a pioneering clothing retailer changing the fashion industry by putting the world we live in, first. Inspired by the circular economy, our mission is to encourage maximum wear and re-use of a garment, which helps reduce waste and offset the harmful effect new clothing production has on the planet - did you know that the fashion industry contributes 10% of all climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions?

Decisions, decisions... You can buy or rent an item from Circular, it's up to you. If you buy something from Circular it’s the same as when you go shopping – you hand over the cash and you become the owner of the item. When you rent from Circular it’s a bit different. You can use the item as long as you like, but Circular remains the owner of the item. This means that you need to keep the item in good condition (fair wear arising from regular use is okay) and you need to return the item to Circular when you are finished with it.

It’s up to you! There is no set date you must return an item by. Instead, you decide how long you want to keep using and paying for an item. Just like Netflix, but for clothing.

When you order an item you enter your credit or debit card number into our Shopify-driven website, which charges your card every month while you have the item. So, if you rented a t-shirt on the 1st of a month and then you decided you wanted to add one of our hoodies to your wardrobe on the 15th of a month, your card will be charged on both the 1st (for the t-shirt) and 15th (for the hoodie) of each month going forward. You get charged in advance, just like Netflix. Once we receive an item back from you, we stop the charge to your card - so you won’t be billed again for it.

4! One for every Saturday night dinner party/rave of the month

We start charging you the day you place your order. It may take a couple of days to arrive, but rest assured we do this as quickly as possible - we send out items daily using CourierPost.

Just send it back. If the item arrives with us before your next anniversary date for that item, you won’t be charged another month for it. If it doesn’t arrive in time, you will be charged another month for it.. Charging a month in advance is standard for subscription based services such as Netflix or Spotify.

Our returns address is already on the free courier label we sent out to you so you don't need to worry about it. But if you're interested, here it is!

Circular Returns

PO Box 90377

Victoria St West

Auckland 1142

NZ

You will need to be at least 18 years old and have either a NZ drivers license or an NZ passport. We have these requirements because we are a rental business and we need to know who has our clothing at all times. If you don't meet these requirements you are definitely still welcome to buy an item outright from us.

Anything that we consider fair wear arising from regular use is fine. That means things like pilling, the fabric looking older, pinholes developing, small stains etc. 

What we can’t accept is major damage - so things like a large stain which doesn’t come out when the item is cleaned, or a long tear, etc. If you return an item which has major damage, we will charge you a fee which is calculated based on how many months you've already had the item and what it was originally worth (you can check out this calculation in our t&c). We won’t send the item back to you after this fee is charged so it pays to tell us at hello@circularstore.co.nz as soon as you’ve damaged an item, and we can talk it through.

It depends on whether you tell us or not. If you don’t tell us, you’ll keep getting charged the monthly fee (we’ll assume you’re just loving the item too much to return it). If you do tell us, we’ll charge you a fee, which is calculated based on how long you've already had it and what it was originally worth, so that we can cancel your subscription and you can stop paying.

The items you receive from Circular often won’t be in as good condition as if bought from another retail store because they may have already been worn by someone else. The lack of “newness” is kind of the point.

So please allow for this when you receive an item. We let you know when you’re looking at our website what type of condition it is. If the item is clearly damaged (for example, somehow the courier bag has been cut in half along its journey), we will of course refund you for it. Get it touch at hello@circularstore.co.nz if that’s the case. This applies whether you rent an item from us or buy it outright. 

Sorry, just like most retail stores, we can’t give refunds for an item not fitting or not looking right. But - unlike a normal retail store if you’re renting the item, just return it to us before its next renewal date, and we’ll stop charging you. There’s no refunds for change of mind or sizing if you buy outright from us either.

We’ll keep trying for a few days to charge the card, and we’ll also send reminders to the customer to check the card situation. This scenario is a breach of our terms and conditions, so if it is not sorted out quickly we’ll have to take some more drastic action. We deliberately collect quite a few details about our customers upon sign up so that it is easier for Circular to chase any debts that are owed. We will enlist a debt recovery organisation of our choosing to track down any customers who have defaulted on their payment. We may also publish the bad debt which may affect the defaulted customer’s ability to secure credit from organisations in the future (e.g. credit card, car loan, etc). This is probably not a great outcome for anyone, so we suggest the rules are followed and then we can all carry on with making the world a better place.

Yep, easy. We can arrange for you to buy it without having to send it back. Flick us a DM or email hello@circularstore.co.nz and we'll let you know how to pay.

Very. Both the package and the label is compostable in your home compost. We stock courier bags that are certified home compostable and we even make sure the label your address is printed on is compostable (most address labels aren't). We also use a thermal printer to transfer your address onto the label, so no harmful ink is present on the labels either.

It’s going to be tough to convince some of you that renting clothing is the future of the clothing industry. In the meantime, we’re giving you a choice to rent or buy outright from us.

We stock vintage clothing from New Zealand and around the world. We aim to bring in quality clothing, from quality brands that will stand the test of time.