Refund policy

Return & Refund Policy — Hortus Arcana

Last updated: July 6, 2026

Because we sell living plants, our policy is built around plant health and safe transit rather than typical retail returns. Please read the section that matches your tier before reaching out.

Live Arrival Guarantee (all tiers)

We guarantee every plant leaves our greenhouse healthy, well-rooted, and properly packed for its journey.

If your plant arrives damaged, declining, or DOA (dead on arrival):

  1. Contact us within 24 hours of delivery.
  2. Include clear photos of the plant and the packaging, taken during unpacking — before repotting or treating the plant.
  3. We'll review and offer a replacement, store credit, or refund at our discretion.

We can't cover damage reported after the 24-hour window, or issues caused by repotting/treating the plant before contacting us — once it's out of original packaging, we've lost the ability to assess what happened in transit.

The Collection

  • Health guarantee: 7 days from delivery. If the decline appears consistent with a health issue present at shipping — rather than a care or environmental factor — we'll offer store credit for the plant's value.
  • Change of mind: Not accepted for live goods once shipped, given the stress transit puts on the plant.
  • Not covered: decline consistent with underwatering/overwatering, inadequate light, pest infestations introduced after arrival, or shock from repotting too soon.

Curated Specimens

  • Health guarantee: 10 days from delivery, same terms as above.
  • Variegation/pattern disputes: Specimens are sold as pictured in their provenance card photo. Natural variation in future growth is not grounds for a refund — variegated aroids are inherently unpredictable.
  • Provenance card errors: If we made a documentation error (wrong parent plant, wrong acquisition date, etc.), let us know and we'll correct it or offer a partial credit if the error is material.

By Private Inquiry

  • Final sale. Given the rarity, value, and case-by-case negotiation involved in these acquisitions, these are non-refundable and non-returnable except under the 24-hour DOA guarantee above.
  • We strongly encourage a video call walkthrough of the specimen before purchase for this tier — ask if one hasn't been offered.
  • Custom TC lab imports and pre-order specimens are excluded from any guarantee beyond DOA, since they're sourced specifically for your order.

Shipping & Handling

  • Shipping and handling charges are non-refundable in all cases, including approved DOA claims.
  • We ship using USPS with heat/cold packs during extreme weather; we may delay shipping during unsafe temperature windows for the plant's safety — this isn't a refund trigger, just a hold until it's safe to ship.
  • Cold-weather and heat-wave holds are noted at checkout when active.

How Refunds Are Issued

  • Approved refunds are issued to your original payment method within 5 business days.
  • Store credit has no expiration and can be used across any tier.
  • Replacement plants ship in our next available shipping window.

What Voids Any Guarantee

  • Repotting, treating, or transplanting the plant before contacting us about an issue
  • Damage from your own care conditions after a healthy, confirmed arrival
  • Contacting us after the applicable window has closed

Questions

If something doesn't look right, reach out before doing anything to the plant — a quick photo at unboxing is the single biggest thing that determines whether we can make it right. Contact us at curator@hortusarcana.com with your order number.

This policy is specific to Hortus Arcana and may be updated as our sourcing and shipping practices evolve. Maryland treats perishable goods like live plants differently from standard retail returns, so terms here may differ from typical e-commerce policies you've seen.