Terms & Conditions

1. Who's who

In these terms, "Smelly Kiwi", "we" and "us" means The Excellence Group Limited, a New Zealand registered company trading as Smelly Kiwi. "You" means the person or business placing an order with us.

By placing an order, you agree to these terms.

2. Our products

We make custom branded air fresheners ("Smellys") for businesses across New Zealand. Every order is custom, made-to-order to your spec, and delivered to your door anywhere in NZ.

3. Quotes, orders & pricing

• All prices on our website and order form are in New Zealand dollars and inclusive of GST.
• Standard NZ-wide delivery is included in every order.
• A confirmed order is one you've submitted via our online order form (or one we've manually entered on your behalf and confirmed by email).
• We may refuse or cancel any order at our discretion if we can't fulfill it for any reason — for example, if the artwork supplied infringes someone else's intellectual property, or if the requested shape can't be reliably die-cut. We'll always let you know why.

4. Design service

You can choose between two design tiers when you order:

• Standard design — free. We prepare your artwork with your logo, brand colours, and any contact details, QR code, or short message. Includes 2 revision rounds and a digital proof for your approval.
• Premium design — $199. For more complex designs, including cartoons, mascots, illustrations, or tricky layouts. Includes up to 3 design concepts and 3 revision rounds.

For larger orders you can split the run across multiple designs. Each additional design beyond the first is $50. For example, an order of 1,000 units split across 4 different designs is the standard order plus 3 × $50.

If you supply your own print-ready artwork, you don't pay any design fee — but please note that you're responsible for the artwork's quality, dimensions and copyright clearance (see section 8).

5. Proof approval — the most important step

No production starts until you've approved your proof.

We email a digital proof to you (or you'll see it in your customer portal) and you sign off with an e-signature confirming you're happy with it. Once you approve the proof:

• We accept that approval as your final go-ahead to manufacture.
• Your invoice (if not already paid) is due in line with section 6.
• Change-of-mind refunds are no longer possible — we've started a custom run that we can't repurpose for anyone else.

If you spot something on the proof, just don't approve it — request the changes via email or your portal and we'll revise.

If we don't hear from you for 14 days after sending a proof, we may follow up by phone or email. We'll never start production without your explicit approval.

6. Payment

• We generate your invoice when you submit your order. You can pay any time, but payment is due before manufacturing starts — which is normally a few days after you approve the proof.
• We accept bank transfer (fee-free) and credit / debit card via Stripe (Visa, Mastercard, Amex). Both options are on every invoice.
• Card payments incur a small surcharge of approximately 2.5% to cover our card-processing costs. The exact surcharge is shown on the payment page before you confirm. Bank transfers have no surcharge.
• Standard turnaround does not begin until both proof approval and payment are received.
• If we don't receive payment within 7 days of proof approval, we may pause your order and contact you to confirm next steps.
• For wholesale account holders, payment terms are as agreed in your wholesale agreement.

7. Production, delivery & turnaround

• Standard turnaround is approximately 14 business days from proof approval to ship date. Most orders ship faster than this; some larger orders (5,000+) can take a few extra days.
• Once shipped from us, freight to your NZ address takes 2–3 business days. Rural addresses can take a day or two longer.
• We'll email you tracking once your order ships, and the same info appears in your customer portal.
• Delivery dates we quote are estimates, not guarantees. We try our best to hit them, and we'll always tell you if something will be late.
• We currently ship within New Zealand only. International orders are by arrangement — get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

8. Your artwork — copyright & responsibility

When you give us artwork, a logo, photos, or any creative material to print, you confirm:

• You own the rights to the artwork, or you have permission from the rights holder to use it.
• Smelly Kiwi has your permission to reproduce the artwork on the Smellys you've ordered.
• You'll cover us for any third-party claim that the artwork infringes their copyright, trademark, or other rights.

We retain copyright on any original illustrative work our designers create from scratch (e.g. a cartoon mascot under our Premium design service), but we grant you an unlimited, royalty-free licence to use that artwork on Smelly Kiwi products. If you want broader rights to use the design elsewhere, just ask.

We may use anonymous photos of finished work in our portfolio, social media, and case studies — without naming you — unless you tell us not to.

9. Cancellations & refunds

• Before proof approval: you can cancel any time. If our designers have done significant work on your artwork already, we may charge a small design fee to cover that time. We'll tell you upfront if so.
• After proof approval: because we've started a custom production run, we can't accept change-of-mind refunds.
• If something's wrong with your order: please email us within 14 days of receiving your Smellys. If they don't match the approved proof, are damaged in transit, or have a manufacturing defect, we'll fix it — that's our promise. We'll either reprint the affected units or refund you, whichever you prefer.

These rights are in addition to your statutory rights under the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

10. Product longevity & shelf life

• Standard scent strength lasts approximately 7–14 days of in-car use.
• Premium scent strength (+30%) lasts approximately 14–20 days of in-car use.
• These are typical ranges and depend on the environment — heat, humidity and ventilation all affect how quickly a freshener releases its fragrance. Some scents naturally last longer than others.
• Unopened Smellys stored in a cool, dry, dark place have an expected shelf life of approximately 12 months. They'll often last longer than that with only minor scent and ink fading.

11. Wholesale & referral programmes

If you're a wholesale account holder, your applicable trade discount is automatically applied at checkout when you're signed in to your account. Trade pricing is confidential and not to be shared with end customers.

Our referral programme rewards you with $20 store credit for every new customer you refer who places and pays for an order. The new customer gets $20 off their first order. Credit is automatically applied to your next order. We reserve the right to claw back credit if a referred order is later cancelled or refunded. Self-referrals (using a different email at the same business) don't qualify.

Wholesale and reseller customers acquire Smellys for the purpose of business, not personal use. Under section 43 of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Act's provisions don't apply to those purchases — your protections are governed by these terms and the Sale of Goods Act 1908. This carve-out doesn't apply to direct customers buying Smellys for their own use (e.g. as branded giveaways) — those orders retain the full benefit of the Consumer Guarantees Act.

12. Limitation of liability

We do everything we reasonably can to deliver the right product on time. But to the extent permitted by law:

• Our maximum liability for any single order is limited to the amount you paid for that order.
• We're not liable for indirect or consequential losses (lost sales, lost profits, etc.) — only for the actual order we made for you.
• Nothing in these terms limits any rights you have under the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or Fair Trading Act 1986.

13. Privacy

We comply with the Privacy Act 2020. We collect your contact and order information only to fulfill your orders, contact you about them, run our customer portal, and meet our tax obligations.

• We don't sell your data or share it with third parties for marketing. We share it only with the operational tools we rely on to run our business — currently our payment processor (Stripe), our accounting software (Xero), and our email service provider.
• We keep order records for 7 years to meet IRD requirements, and then delete them on request.
• You can request a copy of what we hold, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it (subject to that 7-year retention) by emailing hello@smellykiwi.co.nz. We aim to respond within 20 working days.
• Marketing emails: by placing an order with us, you agree we may include you in occasional marketing or promotional emails (new product launches, seasonal offers, customer stories). Every marketing email includes a one-click unsubscribe link — opting out won't affect any transactional emails about your active orders.

14. Force majeure

If a major disruption outside our reasonable control — earthquake, flooding, pandemic, prolonged courier or supplier failure, government lockdowns — prevents us from delivering on time, we'll let you know as soon as possible and work with you to either extend the timeline or, if you'd prefer, refund any payment for work we haven't started.

15. General terms

• These terms are the whole agreement between us — they replace anything said by phone, email or quote unless we've explicitly written it into your order.
• Severability: if any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
• No waiver: if we don't enforce a term once, that doesn't mean we're giving it up for the future.
• Assignment: we may transfer our rights under these terms to another company (e.g. if our business is restructured). You may not transfer your obligations without our written consent.
• Notices: any formal notice under these terms should go to hello@smellykiwi.co.nz. We'll write to the email address on your most recent order.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time as our business evolves. For active orders already placed, the version that applies is whichever was in force when you placed the order. Material changes will be highlighted on our website.

17. Contact & governing law

Got a question, complaint, or a great idea? hello@smellykiwi.co.nz or 03 925 7874.

If something can't be resolved by email or phone, we'll work with you on a fair outcome. For unresolved disputes, the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal handles claims up to $30,000 and is a low-cost option for both sides.

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand and any dispute will be handled in the New Zealand courts.