Clearance and Bonds
Why Your Consignment Stops Moving
Peptides and similar research materials travel under a discreet, pharmaceutical-declared air waybill. Handling agents will not break that seal on the apron, so the consignment is not opened and released at the airport. It is moved into a bonded facility at the destination and held there instead.
A bonded facility releases nothing on trust. Before it hands a consignment to the delivery agent it opens a clearance bond against it — an account in the name of that consignment, sized to the value declared on the waybill, so the facility is covered for the duty, storage and inspection exposure it carries while the parcel sits on its floor.
The bond is not a purchase and not a fee we keep. It is drawn in two instalments while clearance proceeds, and the whole of it — both instalments — is returned with the delivery. This page explains it end to end so nothing about it arrives as a surprise.
What the Bond Is — and What It Is Not
It is
A facility requirement, raised by the bonded facility and not by the carrier.
Assessed once, against the declared value of the consignment, and charged once per consignment — never per kit and never per vial.
Held in an account that carries the consignment number, and refunded in full, in one movement, with the delivery.
It is not
It is not customs duty, import VAT or a sales tax, and it does not depend on what the goods are — only on what the waybill declares them to be worth.
It is not an insurance premium that disappears. Every dollar put on the account comes back off it.
It is not affected by freight: the flat parcel charge does not reduce the bond, because the bond follows the value of the goods.
How the Assessment Is Worked Out
The facility assesses 20% of the declared value on the first band — stage two is then 60% of stage one — and the rate tapers as the value rises, so the bond always stays a fraction of what the consignment is worth rather than overtaking it. The band is set from the goods value of the order:
| Consignment value | Stage 1 assessment |
Stage 2 release |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $250 | $49 | $29 | $78 |
| $250 to $499 | $89 | $53 | $142 |
| $500 to $899 | $129 | $77 | $206 |
| $900 and over | $165 | $99 | $264 |
Stage two is always 60% of stage one, so the second line is the smaller step of the two. The exact figures for your own consignment are quoted in the carrier's first notice and shown against the consignment number on the tracking page — the table above is the schedule those figures come from.
The Two Stages, and When Each Falls Due
The first instalment opens the bond account. It covers the assessment the facility carries while the consignment sits unopened in bonded storage. Until it is on the account the consignment does not move at all, so this is the line the tracking page goes quiet for.
The second instalment is drawn against the same account only once the assessment is closed and the facility is ready to hand the consignment on. It is quoted to you at that point, never quoted up front with the first, because it can only be raised when the release is actually being prepared.
Two instalments is the whole of it. Once the second line is cleared the account is closed and nothing further is charged — not a storage line, not a handling line, not a duty line later.
How to Pay an Instalment
Instalments are paid in crypto, straight to the facility's account. The carrier's notice carries the exact amount, the address for that consignment and a link to its tracking record; the same address is encoded into a QR code on the notice and on the tracking page, so it can be scanned rather than copied.
A fresh address is issued for every consignment, and the consignment number goes in the payment note. That note is how the facility ties a payment to a parcel — an amount sent from the right wallet without the reference can take a day to place and will hold the consignment for exactly that long.
Cheapest to send and the fastest for the facility to confirm.
Settles to the dollar; the amount matches the notice exactly.
Accepted, though network fees make it the slowest to land.
Also taken. Use the asset's own network, never a wrapped or bridged form.
How the Refund Works
The bond is released when the delivery is completed. Because both instalments sit against the same consignment, they are refunded together and in full in a single movement — the whole of the table above, not a share of it.
The refund goes back to the address the bond was paid from, so keep the sending wallet reachable until the parcel lands. It is returned in crypto, in the asset it was paid in.
A bond that a consignment has drawn on early is not a credit note you have to chase: the delivery is not closed until the release is done, and the release is not done until the whole bond is back where it came from.
Still Have a Question About It?
The FAQ covers what the carrier will and will not quote, and the contact page reaches us if a notice ever arrives with a figure that does not look like this schedule. Payment methods are on the payment page.
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