Terms of service
Terms governing your use of the TUNL platform and shipping services.
These Terms of Service (“Terms“) govern your use of the TUNL platform and services at tunl.to (the “Platform“), operated by TUNL (Pty) Ltd (“TUNL“, “we“, “us“). By creating an account, accessing the Platform, or booking a shipment, you (“you“, “the Merchant“) agree to be bound by these Terms.
TUNL is a software platform that provides South African merchants with access to international shipping, customs, and compliance services. We work with third-party carriers (including FedEx and UPS) and third-party service providers (including Zonos for landed-cost calculation and duty remittance, and Paystack for card payments). By accepting these Terms you also agree to the applicable terms of our service providers, see section 15.
1. Definitions and interpretation
1.1 In these Terms, unless the context indicates otherwise:
“Carrier“ means a courier providing international shipping, customs clearance or final-mile services via the Platform (currently FedEx and UPS).
“Goods“ means any item consigned by a Merchant through the Platform for shipment.
“Grow“, “Launch“, “Scale“ mean the plans described in section 3.
“Losses“ means any losses, damages, claims, expenses, penalties, fines, taxes, duties, surcharges or liabilities of any nature whatsoever, excluding indirect, incidental, consequential or special damages.
“Online Store“ means a merchant storefront on Shopify, WooCommerce or another supported platform integrated with the Platform.
“Personal Information“ has the meaning given to it in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA“).
“Platform“ means the TUNL web application at tunl.to, including any related applications, APIs and admin consoles.
“Rebill“ means a supplementary charge raised against a Merchant after a shipment has been invoiced, to recover a cost adjusted or passed through by a Carrier (see section 5.3).
“Shipment“ means an individual booking made through the Platform.
“Shipment Protection“ means the optional per-shipment cover described in section 13.
“Trade Agreement“ means a preferential trade agreement listed in section 11.4.
“Zonos“ means Zonos Inc., our landed-cost and duty-remittance service provider.
1.2 Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. References to a section are references to a section of these Terms. The singular includes the plural and vice versa. “Including”, “includes” and “in particular” are not words of limitation.
1.3 Capitalised terms used but not defined in these Terms have the meanings given to them in POPIA, where applicable.
2. Account
2.1 You must be a legally registered business entity (sole trader, close corporation, (Pty) Ltd or equivalent) to open a TUNL account. Personal accounts are not supported.
2.2 You are responsible for keeping your login credentials, billing details, and company information accurate and up to date. TUNL bills the company whose details are entered at signup, regardless of which users log in or book shipments on the account.
2.3 You are responsible for all activity on your account, including activity by additional users you invite. You must notify TUNL promptly at support@tunl.to of any unauthorised access or suspected security compromise of your account.
2.4 You may invite additional users to your account, including employees, authorised consultants, and third-party agents acting on your behalf (for example, bookkeepers or 3PL partners). You remain responsible for all activity on your account under section 2.3. User access is not restricted by plan at launch; this may change on notice.
2.5 You may close your account at any time via the Platform or by written notice to support@tunl.to. Uninstalling, abandoning or stopping use of the Platform does not of itself cancel your account, your plan, or any outstanding charges. Outstanding balances must be settled before closure takes effect, see section 5.
3. Plans
TUNL offers three plans:
Plan
Monthly fee (ex VAT)
For
Launch
R 0
Pay-as-you-go shipping with full access to rates, bookings and quoting
Grow
R 249
Launch, plus Shopify / WooCommerce order sync and one-click booking
Scale
R 999
Grow, plus monthly settlement (15-day terms), a named account manager, multi-store, and hands-on exception management
3.1 Launch is free and does not require a card on file.
3.2 Grow and Scale are paid plans. Both require a valid card on file and are billed via Paystack. See section 4 for billing mechanics.
3.3 Shipping rates on international shipments are the same across every plan. Your plan does not change what you pay per shipment.
3.4 You may upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your plan at any time via the Platform. There is no minimum term and no notice period.
3.5 TUNL may change plan features, pricing, or the inclusion of features in each plan on reasonable notice. See section 21.
4. Subscription billing (Grow and Scale)
4.1 Payment method
Grow and Scale subscription fees are charged to the card you add to your account via Paystack. We do not accept EFT, invoice billing, or any alternative payment method for the subscription fee itself. Shipping charges continue to follow their own billing method (see section 5).
4.2 Billing cycle
Scale: charged in advance on the 1st of each month. The subscription appears as a line on your monthly statement alongside shipping and other charges.
Grow: charged in advance on the day your 14-day trial ends, and on the same day of each month thereafter. If you signed up for Grow without a trial (because the trial has already been used, see section 4.3), you are charged on signup and on the same day of each month after.
4.3 Grow 14-day trial
New Grow signups receive a 14-day free trial before the first charge. The trial is once-off per TUNL account. The trial does not reset if you cancel, downgrade, upgrade, or move between plans. If you have used the trial and later return to Grow, billing starts on day one.
4.4 Pro-rata on signup (new Scale signups)
Where you sign up for Scale mid-month, your first charge is pro-rated to cover the remainder of the calendar month. You are billed in full on the 1st of each month thereafter.
4.5 Failed charges
If a subscription charge fails, we will notify you and retry the charge. If the subscription is still unpaid by the time your next monthly statement is due, your account will be paused until the balance is cleared. You can un-pause your account by updating your card details and settling the outstanding balance.
4.6 Upgrades and downgrades
You may upgrade or downgrade any time via the Platform.
Grow → Scale (same month): your full Grow payment for that month is refunded as shipping credit.
Scale → Grow or Launch: change takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle; no refund of the current month.
Downgrades do not forgive outstanding charges. Any outstanding shipping balance remains payable before the downgrade takes effect.
4.7 Cancellation
You may cancel Grow or Scale at any time via the Platform; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle.
Cancellation of a plan does not cancel your TUNL account. Your account reverts to the Launch plan and you can continue shipping on a pay-as-you-go basis.
5. Shipping charges and payment
5.1 Pay-as-you-go (Launch and Grow)
5.1.1 Shipping charges are invoiced at the time of booking and are payable immediately. Your shipping label is released once payment has been received.
5.1.2 Statements are issued monthly for reconciliation purposes.
5.2 Monthly settlement (Scale only)
5.2.1 Scale merchants are billed on a monthly settlement basis: a single statement at month-end, payable within 15 days.
5.2.2 Monthly settlement is a Scale-plan feature. Downgrading from Scale returns you to pay-as-you-go terms for new shipments.
5.2.3 Any outstanding monthly settlement balance remains payable in full regardless of plan changes.
5.3 Carrier adjustments and Rebill invoices
5.3.1 Carriers (FedEx, UPS) regularly audit shipments in transit, and may adjust the final charge for a Shipment on any basis permitted by the Carrier’s own terms of carriage, including (without limitation):
Weight and dimension discrepancies between what was declared at booking and the Carrier’s own measurement (reweighs and dim-weight re-measurement);
Additional handling surcharges, including oversize, overweight, non-conveyable, dangerous-goods packaging, and similar charges applied by the Carrier;
Packaging-related charges, including charges for inadequate, non-compliant, or re-packaged parcels;
Service-area surcharges, including residential, remote-area, extended-area, and out-of-delivery-area surcharges;
Any other accessorials, duties, taxes, or charges levied by the Carrier under its own terms of carriage.
These adjustments may be raised by the Carrier at any time, including after the Shipment has been delivered to your customer. The specific criteria, thresholds, and amounts for each type of adjustment are set by the Carrier in its published rate guides and surcharge schedules, see the Carrier terms of carriage referenced in section 11.1.5
To support your right to dispute a Carrier adjustment, we strongly recommend that you keep a record of each Shipment at the time of handover, including photographs of the parcel showing the waybill, packaging, declared weight and dimensions. Disputes submitted without this kind of supporting evidence are unlikely to be upheld by the Carrier.
5.3.2 Notification. Where a Carrier adjustment is passed back to TUNL, the Carrier bills TUNL for the adjustment amount. TUNL will notify you of the Carrier adjustment in the Platform and by email, with supporting detail (carrier reference, reason, breakdown), before raising a Rebill invoice.
5.3.3 Your 10-day response window. You have 10 days from TUNL’s notification to either accept the Carrier adjustment or dispute it, through the Platform. If you take no action within the 10-day window, the Carrier adjustment is automatically accepted.
5.3.4 Outcome.
If you accept, or do not respond within the 10-day window: TUNL will raise a Rebill invoice to you for the full adjustment amount, together with any Carrier handling or administration fee.
If you dispute within the 10-day window: your dispute enters a dispute flow. You submit supporting evidence through the Platform, and TUNL lodges the dispute with the Carrier on your behalf. If the Carrier accepts the dispute, no invoice is raised for the disputed amount. If the Carrier rejects the dispute, TUNL will raise a invoice for the full adjustment amount at the point of the Carrier’s decision.
Invoices under this section are payable in accordance with your plan’s billing terms (section 5.1 or section 5.2).
5.3.5 Delayed Carrier adjustments. Carrier adjustments may be received by TUNL weeks or months after collection, including after the Shipment has been delivered to your customer.
You remain liable for a validly supported invoice regardless of the time elapsed between Shipment and the Carrier’s adjustment. The 10-day response window in section 5.3.3 runs from TUNL’s notification, not from the date of the Shipment.
5.4 Taxes
5.4.1 All amounts are quoted exclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise. South African VAT at the prevailing rate is applied where required.
5.4.2 Subscription fees (Grow, Scale) are subject to standard-rated VAT.
5.4.3 Shipping, duties, taxes and other fees are zero-rated for VAT purposes.
5.5 Invoices and statements
5.5.1 Invoices. TUNL issues a separate invoice for each charge, including each shipping charge, subscription charge, and Carrier adjustment Rebill. Each invoice is a valid tax invoice for South African VAT purposes and is available in the Platform.
5.5.2 Monthly statement. TUNL issues a monthly statement to all merchants summarising shipping charges, Rebills, subscription fees, and payments received in the preceding month. The monthly statement is for reconciliation purposes.
5.5.3 Amounts owing. The amount reflected in the Platform and on your monthly statement is the amount owing by you to TUNL at that time. Platform and monthly-statement records constitute prima facie proof of the amount owing.
5.6 Disputes about shipping invoices
5.6.1 How to raise a dispute. If you believe a shipping invoice (other than a Rebill, see section 5.3 for the Rebill dispute process) has been raised in error, email TUNL at support@tunl.to, or contact your named account manager if you are on the Scale plan. Please include the invoice reference and the basis for your dispute.
5.6.2 Dispute window: 14 days. You must raise any dispute about a shipping invoice within 14 days of the invoice date. Shipping invoices not disputed within that window are deemed accepted and are not disputable thereafter.
5.6.3 Review. TUNL will review your dispute in good faith and respond with a decision within a reasonable period. The disputed amount remains payable in accordance with your plan’s billing terms unless and until the dispute is upheld, at which point TUNL will issue a credit or refund as applicable.
6. Refund policy
6.1 When shipping charges are refundable. A shipping charge is refundable only where you cancel the Shipment on the Platform within 30 days of booking and the Carrier has not collected the parcel. Partially fulfilled Shipments are not refundable.
6.2 Your responsibility to cancel. It is your responsibility to monitor your Shipments and to cancel on the Platform any Shipment that you have decided not to send. Shipments that are not cancelled within 30 days of booking are deemed shipped for refund purposes, because TUNL remains liable to the Carrier for those bookings regardless of whether the parcel is handed over. No refund will be issued for a Shipment cancelled after 30 days.
6.3 No refunds are issued for:
Shipping charges where the Shipment has been collected by the Carrier;
Shipping charges where the Shipment is cancelled on the Platform more than 30 days after booking;
7. Scale plan eligibility
7.1 The Scale plan carries additional commercial risk to TUNL because it extends monthly settlement credit. Scale is therefore available only to merchants who demonstrate consistent on-time payment.
7.2 Default. If you fail to settle a monthly statement balance in full by the due date, TUNL may at its discretion consider you in default, taking into account the amount outstanding, the length of time overdue, your payment history, and the quality of your communication with us.
7.3 On default:
TUNL will attempt to recover the outstanding balance by charging your card on file for the full amount outstanding. By accepting these Terms you authorise TUNL to make this charge.
Your account will be moved from Scale to Launch (or Grow, where applicable) and monthly settlement will be withdrawn.
You will not be eligible to re-subscribe to the Scale plan until TUNL is satisfied, in its discretion, that your payment history has stabilised.
TUNL may, at its discretion, impose additional conditions (card-on-file requirement, lower credit limit, prepayment) before readmission to Scale.
7.4 This clause does not limit any other remedy available to TUNL under these Terms or at law for non-payment.
8. Shipment cancellation
8.1 You may cancel a Shipment through the Platform at any time before the Carrier has collected or you have dropped off the parcel. Cancellation voids the label and reverses the shipping charge (see section 6.1).
8.2 If you cancel a Shipment on the Platform but still send the parcel (whether handed to the Carrier, dropped at a PUDO point, or shipped under the cancelled label by any other means), you remain responsible for all charges relating to that Shipment, including the base shipping charge, any applicable surcharges, duties, taxes, and Carrier adjustments.
8.3 It is your responsibility to notify TUNL in writing at support@tunl.to if you have sent a Shipment under a cancelled label. If you do not notify us, TUNL will identify the Shipment through Carrier reconciliation and re-raise the full charge to your account. Re-raised charges are subject to the standard pay-as-you-go or monthly settlement terms applicable to your plan at the time the Shipment was sent.
8.4 Re-raised charges are not disputable on the basis that the label was cancelled on the Platform.
9. Account suspension and termination
9.1 Suspension triggers. TUNL may pause your account where:
A shipping invoice remains unpaid after the due date (section 5.1);
A Carrier adjustment invoice (or other invoice) remains unpaid beyond the applicable due date;
A monthly statement balance remains unpaid beyond the terms in section 5.2;
A Grow or Scale subscription charge has failed and remains unpaid at the next statement run (section 4.5);
You breach these Terms (including section 8, section 11, section 12 or section 18);
A Carrier declines to carry further Shipments on your behalf.
9.2 Reinstatement. A paused account is reinstated once the outstanding balance is settled and any underlying breach is resolved. For resumptions following a default event, section 7.3 may apply.
9.3 Termination. TUNL may terminate your account with 30 days’ written notice. We may terminate immediately where you materially breach these Terms, where there is credible evidence of fraud or sanctions-list exposure, or where a Carrier terminates your access to their network.
9.4 On termination, outstanding balances remain payable. Shipments in transit at the time of termination continue to be fulfilled; charges relating to those Shipments remain due.
9.5 TUNL’s right to refuse or discontinue service
TUNL reserves the right, in its reasonable discretion, to suspend your account, decline a specific booking or Shipment, or terminate your account where TUNL determines that your conduct, Shipments, or use of the Platform presents an operational, reputational, compliance, or safety risk to TUNL, its staff, Carriers, or other Merchants. This includes (without limitation) repeated breach of Carrier rules, misdeclaration of Goods, shipping goods that are legal but higher-risk than TUNL is willing to carry, abusive or threatening conduct toward TUNL staff, or any pattern of behaviour that is incompatible with normal commercial engagement. This right is in addition to the suspension and termination grounds in sections 9.1 and 9.3.
9.6 Collections and credit reporting. If any amount owing by you to TUNL remains unpaid after reasonable notice, TUNL may:
Refer your account to an external debt collection agency, attorney, or similar credit-recovery service;
List your account with any registered credit bureau for the purposes of credit reporting;
Take any other step available to TUNL to recover the outstanding balance.
You will be liable for all collection costs (including commission payable to the debt collection agency) and TUNL’s legal costs on the attorney-and-own-client scale (see section 24).
By accepting these Terms, you authorise TUNL to share your business and billing information (including your company name, directors, contact details, outstanding amounts, and payment history) with debt collection agencies, attorneys, and credit bureaus to the extent reasonably necessary for the recovery and reporting of outstanding amounts owing to TUNL.
10. Platform availability, order sync and live rates
10.1 Platform availability. TUNL does not warrant uninterrupted or error-free access to the Platform and does not offer a formal uptime service level agreement at this time. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to keep the Platform available and to notify you of planned maintenance.
10.2 Order sync (Grow and Scale). The Platform integrates with Online Stores (Shopify, WooCommerce and others) to import order information for one-click booking. TUNL is not liable for Losses arising from:
A delay in order information being imported;
Order information failing to be imported;
Order information being imported incorrectly as a result of a change, outage or configuration on the Online Store side.
It is your responsibility to monitor orders in your Online Store and in the Platform and to raise any discrepancy with support promptly.
10.3 Live rates at checkout. Where you use TUNL’s live rates feature to display shipping rates in your Online Store checkout:
Rates shown at checkout are estimates based on the information available at that point and are subject to adjustment per section 5.3 (Carrier adjustments and Rebills);
TUNL is not liable for variations between the rate your customer paid at checkout and the final charge invoiced to you;
TUNL is not liable for losses arising from the live rates feature being unavailable, misconfigured, or returning no rate (including, for the avoidance of doubt, lost sales from cart abandonment).
11. Service lines
11.1 TUNL Express (FedEx, UPS)
11.1.1 Express Shipments are collected by, and carried by, FedEx or UPS under their published terms of carriage. Delivery times are typical, not guaranteed, and depend on Carrier network conditions and customs clearance.
11.1.2 DAP (Delivered at Place) is the default incoterm for Express exports. Under DAP, your customer is responsible for VAT, duties, and any customs clearance fees levied on arrival, and may be contacted by the Carrier for payment.
11.1.3 DAP non-payment and chargeback to TUNL. Where a Shipment is sent DAP and your customer fails to pay the duties, taxes or clearance fees levied on arrival within the period specified in the applicable Carrier’s terms of carriage (typically 45 days from the Carrier’s first invoice to the receiver), the Carrier may charge those amounts back to TUNL under the Carrier’s own terms. TUNL will pass these amounts on to you, together with any Carrier handling or administration fee, as a Rebill under section 5.3. You remain responsible for recovering those amounts from your customer.
11.1.4 DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is available on supported lanes. Under DDP, TUNL (via Zonos) calculates landed cost at booking, you pay duties and taxes at booking, and the Carrier delivers without further charge to your customer. DDP is not supported on all lane/Carrier combinations.
11.1.5 Carrier terms bind the Shipment. When you book an Express Shipment, you accept and agree to be bound by the Carrier’s own terms of carriage for that Shipment, which govern the Carrier’s handling, liability limits, delivery commitments and claims process. These are available at:
FedEx: https://www.fedex.com/en-za/terms-of-use.html and the FedEx Conditions of Carriage applicable to the origin and destination countries
UPS: https://www.ups.com/za/en/support/shipping-support/legal-terms-conditions
Where there is a conflict between these Terms and a Carrier’s terms in respect of the physical carriage of a Shipment, the Carrier’s terms prevail for the Shipment itself. These Terms continue to govern your relationship with TUNL (billing, Platform use, and compliance obligations).
11.1.6 Return shipments
Where an Express Shipment cannot be delivered, for example because your customer refuses delivery, the address is undeliverable, the destination customs authority rejects or seizes the Shipment, or (for DAP Shipments) duties and taxes are not paid, the Carrier may return the Shipment to origin or dispose of it under its own terms of carriage. All costs associated with the return, storage, disposal, re-direction, or abandonment of the Shipment (including any return freight, warehousing, or Carrier administration fees) will be billed to TUNL by the Carrier and passed through to you as a Carrier adjustment invoice under section 5.3.
11.1.7 TUNL’s liability for Express Shipments
TUNL does not carry or handle Goods and is not liable for loss, damage, delay, theft, non-delivery, misdelivery, or seizure of any Express Shipment caused by a Carrier, customs authority, or any other third party. This exclusion covers (without limitation) the declared or replacement value of the Shipment, shipping charges, duties, taxes, carrier fees and any customer-facing consequences such as refund demands, chargebacks, lost sales, lost customers, or reputational impact.
11.2 TUNL Economy
11.2.1 Economy consolidates South African merchants’ parcels into a weekly air freight to the United States, with UPS or USPS as the final-mile carrier at destination.
11.2.2 Drop-off only, no collection. Economy does not include door-to-door collection by TUNL or any Carrier. You must deliver your parcels to TUNL’s nominated Cape Town warehouse (address available in the Platform and in the help centre) or an approved PUDO locker by close of business on Tuesday for inclusion in that week’s consolidation. Parcels received after cut-off ship with the following week’s consolidation.
11.2.3 Risk in transit to the warehouse. TUNL’s responsibility for an Economy Shipment begins only once the parcel has been received at TUNL’s nominated warehouse and scanned into our system. TUNL is not liable for loss, damage, theft, or non-delivery of parcels during transit to the warehouse or PUDO locker, whether the parcel is carried by you directly, by a third-party courier you have arranged, or by the PUDO network. You are responsible for arranging appropriate cover for this leg if required.
11.2.4 Delivery. TUNL targets 10–14 working-day delivery to US addresses; delivery may take up to 20 working days. Delivery times are targets, not guarantees — TUNL does not accept liability for delays, whether within or beyond the target window.
11.2.5 Economy is a United-States-only service. The aggregate declared value of Shipments to the same recipient may not exceed USD 2,500, and no single parcel may exceed 30 kg actual or volumetric weight (greater of the two). US Customs may aggregate multiple parcels to the same recipient when assessing duty and entry-threshold obligations. If you exceed these limits, including by splitting consignments to the same recipient to stay below the aggregate value threshold, you will be liable for any additional customs duties, formal-entry fees, clearance charges, or other costs levied by US Customs or the Carrier.
11.2.6 DDP only. Economy is a DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) service only; DAP is not available on Economy. All duties, taxes and clearance fees are included in the shipping rate quoted at booking. Your customer will not be charged duties or clearance fees on arrival.
11.2.7 TUNL’s role for the Economy consolidation leg. For the Economy service, TUNL acts as the carrier for the leg of transit between acceptance of a parcel at the TUNL warehouse and handover to the US final-mile carrier (currently UPS). This includes warehouse receipt, storage pending consolidation, consolidation, air freight to the United States, US customs clearance, and handover to the US final-mile carrier. TUNL may engage sub-contractors (freight forwarders, airlines, US warehouse operators, customs brokers) to perform parts of this leg; their acts or omissions are treated as TUNL’s for the purposes of this clause.
For this leg, TUNL’s liability for loss, damage, theft, or non-delivery of a parcel is limited to the lesser of (a) the declared value at booking and (b) USD 100 per parcel.
TUNL is not liable for:
Delays of any kind (delivery times are targets, not guarantees, see section 11.2.4);
Loss or damage caused by inadequate or inappropriate packaging by you or your packer;
Loss or damage caused by inherent vice, defect, or ordinary wear and tear of the Goods;
Loss or damage caused by weather, flight cancellations, customs holds, strikes, labour disputes, or other force majeure events (see section 20.5);
Loss or damage caused by inclusion of prohibited or restricted items (section 12.3), including seizure or destruction by customs or the Carrier;
Any loss, damage, or delay occurring after handover to the US final-mile carrier, those are governed by section 11.1 and the Carrier’s own terms;
Any indirect or consequential loss, including lost sales, lost customers, or reputational impact (see section 20.2).
Where you want cover beyond the limits in this clause, you may purchase Shipment Protection at booking subject to section 13.
11.3 TUNL Imports
11.3.1 TUNL Imports is a FedEx-only service for South African merchants importing from international suppliers.
11.3.2 Payment of duties, taxes and clearance fees. When an import Shipment arrives in South Africa, duties, taxes and clearance fees are payable before the parcel can be released. You have two options:
Pay TUNL upfront. You pay TUNL for the duties, taxes and clearance fees at booking. TUNL then settles with FedEx on your behalf and the parcel is released without delay.
Pay FedEx on arrival. FedEx will contact you on arrival and hold the parcel until the duties, taxes and clearance fees are paid directly to FedEx. The parcel will not be released or delivered until payment is received.
11.3.3 HS classification. HS codes applied to import Shipments are calculated by Zonos based on the goods description provided by you or your supplier, or entered manually by you at time of booking.
11.4 TUNL Trade Agreements
11.4.1 TUNL offers duty-free clearance under eligible trade agreements between South Africa and the European Union (EU-SADC EPA), the United Kingdom (UK-SACUM), and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland (EFTA-SACU) (“Trade Agreements“).
11.4.2 Eligibility. Not all goods qualify. Goods must satisfy the applicable rules of origin under the relevant Trade Agreement. TUNL will indicate eligibility at booking based on the HS code and declared country of manufacture.
11.4.3 Mechanism. TUNL applies the Trade Agreement preference via an invoice declaration on the commercial invoice. For Shipments below the applicable value threshold (EUR 6,000 for the EU; GBP 6,000 for the UK), no separate certificate (EUR.1, EUR-MED or equivalent) is required.
11.4.4 TA fee and duty guarantee. TUNL charges a Trade Agreement fee for applying the preference and underwrites a duty guarantee: if the preference is challenged and duty is subsequently levied, TUNL will settle that duty with the Carrier and/or customs authority. The TA fee is zero-rated for VAT (section 5.4.3).
11.4.5 Documentary requirements. You remain responsible for maintaining upstream supplier evidence (mill certificates, supplier declarations, bills of materials) sufficient to demonstrate origin should the preference be audited by the destination customs authority. If you cannot produce such evidence on audit, the Trade Agreement preference may be revoked retroactively and the consequences in section 11.4.7 (passthrough of all duties, taxes, penalties, interest, and Carrier administration fees) will apply. The Trade Agreement fee is not refundable where the preference has been underwritten but subsequently revoked for lack of supporting evidence.
11.4.6 Scope and limitations
TUNL’s Trade Agreement preference service is limited to:
The three Trade Agreements listed in section 11.4.1 (EU-SADC EPA, UK-SACUM, EFTA-SACU);
Destinations covered by those agreements (EU member states, the United Kingdom, and EFTA states);
Shipments below the applicable value threshold where preference can be claimed via invoice declaration (section 11.4.3);
Shipments that are not routed under Zonos’ Landed Cost Guarantee product (which operates independently and is not compatible with TUNL’s Trade Agreement workflow).
TUNL does not support manual Trade Agreement claims above the applicable value threshold, trade preferences under any other trade agreement, or Trade Agreement claims that require formal certificates (EUR.1, EUR-MED, or equivalent). If you want preferential treatment outside TUNL’s supported scope, you must arrange it directly with the Carrier and the destination customs authority.
11.4.7 Misdeclaration and invalid preference claims
If you under-declare the value of a Shipment to stay below the applicable value threshold, provide inaccurate country-of-manufacture, HS classification, or rules-of-origin data to qualify for preference, or produce an invalid, forged, or ineligible invoice declaration, TUNL will pass through all duties, taxes, penalties, interest, and Carrier administration fees levied by the destination customs authority to you as a Carrier adjustment invoice under section 5.3. The Trade Agreement fee is not refundable in these circumstances. Repeated or deliberate misdeclaration may result in suspension or termination of your account under section 9.
11.5 Platform role
For all service lines, TUNL operates as a software platform providing access to third-party Carrier services. TUNL does not itself carry Goods, except where expressly stated in these Terms — specifically TUNL’s role as carrier for the Economy consolidation leg set out in section 11.2.7. Except as expressly provided (including the Trade Agreement duty guarantee in section 11.4.4, Shipment Protection in section 13, and section 11.2.7 below), TUNL is not liable for the acts or omissions of Carriers or other third-party providers.
12. Merchant responsibilities and compliance
12.1 Accurate data and waybill warranty
12.1.1 You are responsible for the accuracy of all information entered into the Platform for a Shipment, including (without limitation):
Recipient name, address, phone and email;
Package weight and dimensions;
Line-item descriptions, HS codes, declared values, quantities, and country of origin / country of manufacture;
Incoterm selection (DDP/DAP) where offered;
Compliance identifiers (Customs Code, EU Product Identifiers, FDA registration numbers, CPSC certificates, manufacturer IDs).
12.1.2 You warrant that all information provided by you for the purposes of completing a waybill or commercial invoice is accurate and complete.
12.1.3 TUNL does not independently verify this information. Additional charges, delays, customs holds, abandonments, destructions, fines, and penalties arising from inaccurate information are the Merchant’s responsibility and will be passed through plus any applicable TUNL handling fee.
12.1.4 HS classification and reclassification. You are responsible for the accuracy of the HS codes applied to your Shipments, whether entered by you at booking or calculated by Zonos based on your goods descriptions. TUNL does not independently verify HS classification. Any additional duty, VAT, penalty, or fee raised by SARS or by a destination customs authority as a result of HS reclassification is your responsibility and will be passed through to you as a Carrier adjustment invoice under section 5.3.
12.2 Regulatory compliance (destination-country rules)
12.2.1 The Platform may require you to provide, upload, or confirm specific information before a Shipment can be booked to certain destinations, including (without limitation):
European Union: Product Identifiers for all B2C shipments valued at €150 or below, from 1 November 2026; General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) authorised representative details where applicable.
United States: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) certificates (General Certificate of Conformity or Children’s Product Certificate) for applicable products; manufacturer identification (MID) codes where applicable; FDA registration where applicable to the product category.
South Africa (imports): Importer and consignee details sufficient for SARS clearance.
12.2.2 Shipments that do not satisfy destination-country rules may be:
Blocked at booking;
Held pending additional documentation;
Levied additional charges (e.g. UHF);
Returned, abandoned, or destroyed at destination.
Charges, delays or Losses arising from non-compliance are the Merchant’s responsibility.
12.3 Prohibited and restricted items
You may not use the Platform to ship:
Consumables (perishables, food), alcohol, tobacco, or vape products;
Firearms, ammunition, explosives, or weapons;
Dangerous goods (including flammable liquids, lithium cells unless packaged to IATA PI 965–970) unless specifically agreed in writing with TUNL;
Live animals, human remains, biological specimens;
Counterfeit goods, goods infringing intellectual property, or goods subject to international sanctions;
Items prohibited by the applicable Carrier or destination country.
A current list is maintained at https://help.tunl.to/en/article/prohibited-items-1mqktd8/ and may be updated from time to time.
12.4 Packaging and labelling
12.4.1 You are responsible for packaging parcels to withstand international carriage and for affixing the TUNL-generated label on the parcel. Labels should be printed on A5 adhesive paper, or on normal paper placed in a clear waybill sleeve.
12.4.2 Commercial invoices generated by the Platform must accompany the Shipment.
12.4.3 TUNL may charge additional fees for Shipments collected with incorrect address, incorrect declared weight or dimensions, missing labels, or inadequate packaging.
13. Shipment Protection (optional)
13.1 Nature of Shipment Protection. Shipment Protection is an optional per-Shipment cover offered through our insurance partner, Cabrella Shipping Insurance Solutions (“Cabrella“), underwritten by an insurer appointed by Cabrella. TUNL facilitates the purchase of Shipment Protection and the claims process through the Platform. TUNL is not the insurer and does not underwrite the cover. The cover is subject in all respects to Cabrella’s policy wording, available via the Cabrella portal at https://app.cabrella.com/claims/tunl/.
13.2 Where Shipment Protection is not purchased. TUNL is not liable for loss, damage, theft, or non-delivery of the Shipment.
13.3 Claims. Where Shipment Protection is purchased, claims are managed by you through the Platform. You must submit a claim within the timeframes required by the insurer, and provide the supporting evidence requested, including preserving the original packaging and damaged goods until the claim is finalised. Failure to do so may result in your claim being denied.
13.4 Conditions and exclusions. Coverage is subject to the insurer’s conditions, limits and exclusions. In particular (without limitation), coverage may be reduced, limited or declined where:
You have not declared the correct address, weight, dimensions, service area, Customs liability, contents or declared value at booking;
The Carrier has not scanned acceptance of the parcel for carriage;
The Shipment is routed through an unmanned collection point (e.g. a Carrier drop-box or PUDO locker);
The destination is subject to international sanctions, or the Goods are prohibited under section 12.3 or the insurer’s policy wording;
You knew, or ought reasonably to have known, of the loss before purchasing the cover.
We recommend you review Cabrella’s full policy wording before relying on Shipment Protection.
13.5 Premium. The Shipment Protection premium is added to your shipping charge for the relevant Shipment and is non-refundable once the Shipment has been collected by the Carrier.
14. Tracking and communication
14.1 Tracking. TUNL provides door-to-door tracking for all Shipments. Tracking updates may be sent to your customer by TUNL and/or by the Carrier (FedEx or UPS, as applicable). Your customer may also access tracking from the link you add to your webstore.
14.2 Contact with your customer. Both TUNL and the Carrier may contact your customer in connection with a Shipment, including to send tracking updates, to confirm or rectify delivery, and, for DAP Shipments,to collect duties, taxes or clearance fees on arrival.
14.3 Order support is your responsibility. TUNL’s communication with your customer is limited to tracking updates and delivery coordination as described above. TUNL will not contact your customer to explain shipping delays, resolve issues with their order, or provide any other form of order support on your behalf. Order support, including communication about delays, exceptions, lost or damaged parcels, refunds, exchanges and after-sales queries, remains your responsibility as the merchant. The TUNL support team is available to you, not to your customer.
15. Third-party service providers
15.1 In using the Platform, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms of our third-party service providers, including:
FedEx: https://www.fedex.com/en-za/terms-of-use.html and conditions of carriage
UPS: https://www.ups.com/za/en/support/shipping-support/legal-terms-conditions
Zonos: landed-cost calculation, duty remittance, and (for DDP Shipments) the Zonos Landed Cost Guarantee: https://zonos.com/docs/legal/zonos-terms-of-service
Paystack: card payment processing: https://paystack.com/za/terms?q=/terms#terms
15.2 TUNL is not responsible for acts or omissions of these third parties, except where expressly provided in these Terms (e.g. the Trade Agreement duty guarantee in section 11.4.4 and Shipment Protection in section 13).
16. Support
16.1 TUNL support is available on every plan, including Launch, via the channels published in the Platform and the help centre at help.tunl.to.
16.2 The nature of support differs by plan: Scale merchants receive proactive exception management from a named account manager; Grow and Launch merchants receive standard support when issues are flagged.
17. Personal Information and POPIA
17.1 Roles. In relation to the Personal Information of your customers and recipients Processed through the Platform, you are the Responsible Party and TUNL is your Operator. TUNL will only Process that Personal Information on your mandate and for the purposes of providing the services described in these Terms, and will apply reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect it.
17.2 Your warranties and indemnity. You warrant that you have a lawful basis to collect, use and share the Personal Information you submit to the Platform, including for cross-border transfer to Carriers, Zonos, and other third-party providers used to deliver the services. You will indemnify TUNL against any fines, penalties, claims and reasonable legal costs arising from a breach of your POPIA obligations as Responsible Party.
17.3 Security Compromise notification. If TUNL becomes aware of a Security Compromise (as defined in POPIA) affecting Personal Information Processed on your behalf, we will notify you in writing without undue delay. You remain solely responsible for notifying the Information Regulator and affected Data Subjects within the timeframes required by POPIA.
17.4 Written Operator Agreement and further information. This section 17 operates as our written Operator Agreement under section 21 of POPIA. Further information about how TUNL processes Personal Information, your rights, and how to contact our Information Officer is set out in our Privacy Policy and our PAIA Manual.
18. Intellectual property and acceptable use
18.1 Ownership. The Platform, the TUNL name, logos, trade marks, and all software, code, interfaces, documentation, and content made available on the Platform (excluding your Content and your customers’ Personal Information) are the property of TUNL or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.
18.2 Licence to use. TUNL grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Platform for the purpose of operating your business, subject to these Terms.
18.3 Your Content. You retain ownership of the content you upload to the Platform (including commercial invoices, product data, labels, and brand assets). You grant TUNL a non-exclusive licence to use that content solely for the purpose of providing the Platform and the services described in these Terms.
18.4 Prohibited use. You may not:
Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Platform;
Resell, sublicense, white-label, or make the Platform available as a service to any third party, without TUNL’s prior written consent;
Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, including shipping prohibited items (section 12.3), evading sanctions or export controls, or defrauding Carriers;
Interfere with the operation, security, or integrity of the Platform;
Scrape, mass-download, or systematically copy content from the Platform;
Use the Platform to transmit malware, spam, or materially harmful content.
19. Merchant warranties
19.1 You warrant on an ongoing basis that:
You are duly organised and in good standing in your jurisdiction of incorporation;
You have full legal authority to accept these Terms and to use the Platform;
Your use of the Platform complies with all applicable laws and regulations, including customs, export-control, sanctions, consumer protection, and data-protection laws;
You are not listed on, and do not act on behalf of a party listed on, any applicable sanctions list;
The Goods you consign through the Platform are owned by you (or you are authorised to consign them) and are not stolen, counterfeit, or otherwise unlawful.
20. Liability and indemnity
20.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, TUNL’s aggregate liability under or in connection with these Terms (whether in contract, delict, or otherwise) is limited to the lesser of (a) the Losses actually suffered and (b) the total fees paid by you to TUNL in the six (6) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
For the purposes of this clause, “fees” means amounts retained by TUNL as revenue, including subscription fees for Grow or Scale (section 3), Trade Agreement fees (section 11.4.4), and TUNL’s margin on shipping charges. “Fees” does not include amounts paid by TUNL to third parties on your behalf (including Carrier shipping costs, duties, taxes, surcharges, Carrier adjustment amounts, and insurance premiums).
20.2 TUNL is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages, including loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of sales, or loss of goodwill.
20.3 Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
20.4 Merchant indemnity. You indemnify TUNL and its directors, employees and agents against all Losses suffered or incurred by them as a result of:
Your breach of these Terms (including section 8, section 12, section 17, section 18 or section 19);
Your submission of inaccurate, incomplete, or unlawful information to the Platform;
Any claim by a Carrier, customs authority, Data Subject or third party arising from your use of the Platform.
20.5 Force majeure. TUNL is not liable for delay or failure arising from events beyond its reasonable control, including (without limitation) Carrier strikes, customs authority actions, natural disasters, pandemics, war, cyberattacks, utility or telecommunications outages, and governmental restrictions.
21. Changes to these Terms
21.1 TUNL may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified to you by email and / or in-platform notification at least 14 days before they take effect.
21.2 Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of a change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
22. No cession or assignment
22.1 You may not cede, assign, delegate or otherwise transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without TUNL’s prior written consent.
22.2 TUNL may cede, assign or delegate its rights and obligations under these Terms, including as part of a reorganisation, financing, or sale of all or substantially all of its business, on written notice to you.
23. Severability
23.1 If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, that provision will be severed to the minimum extent required and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
24. Legal costs
24.1 Should TUNL be required to take legal action to enforce any provision of these Terms or to recover any amount owing by you to TUNL, you will be liable for TUNL’s reasonable legal costs on an attorney-and-own-client scale, including tracing fees, collection commission, and VAT thereon.
25. Governing law and dispute resolution
25.1 These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
25.2 The parties agree to submit any dispute to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Western Cape Division of the High Court.
25.3 Before commencing formal proceedings, the parties will attempt to resolve any dispute in good faith through direct discussion between a TUNL director and an authorised representative of the Merchant.
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