Refund policy
Last updated: September 11, 2026
The short version. You have 30 days from delivery to return or exchange a hat. It needs to be unworn and in the condition it arrived in. Email us and we'll set it up — you cover the shipping back, we refund you within 10 business days of it landing. If a hat is defective, damaged, or not what you ordered, none of that applies: tell us and we'll fix it at our cost. Custom orders are final sale, because a hat with your logo on it can't go to anyone else.
Returns — the 30-day window
You have 30 days from the day your order is delivered to request a return on any of our designs. Custom orders are covered below.
To be eligible, the hat needs to be unworn, unwashed, and in the same condition it arrived in, with any tags still attached and in its original packaging. We'll need your order number, or a receipt or other proof of purchase.
We're reasonable about this. A hat you tried on in front of a mirror is still unworn. A hat you wore to a ballgame isn't.
How to start a return
Email us at hello@hatandpatch.com with your order number and what's wrong. We'll reply with a return authorization, the return address, and instructions for getting it back to us.
Please request a return before sending anything back. We're a small shop and packages that turn up unannounced can't be matched to an order or processed — we can't accept them, and we can't refund them.
Who pays return shipping
If you're returning or exchanging because you changed your mind — wrong size, wrong color, didn't love it — you cover the cost of shipping it back to us. Original shipping charges aren't refunded.
If we got it wrong — the hat is defective, arrived damaged, or isn't what you ordered — we cover shipping in both directions. You'll never pay to fix our mistake.
We recommend a trackable service. Until a return reaches us we can't be responsible for it, and a lost return is hard to resolve without tracking.
Exchanges
Want a different color instead of a refund? Say so when you contact us and we'll swap it. Our hats are one size — the snapback adjusts to fit most heads — so there's no size to exchange.
You send the original hat back, and once we've received and inspected it we ship the replacement out — at no shipping cost to you. You cover the return leg, we cover sending the new one. If there's a price difference, we'll charge or refund it before the replacement ships.
If the exchange is because we made a mistake, we cover both legs and we don't wait for the original to arrive before sending the replacement.
Refunds
We'll email you when your return arrives and let you know whether it's approved, usually within a couple of business days of it reaching us.
Once approved, your refund goes back to the original payment method within 10 business days. Your bank or card issuer may take a few days more to post it — that part is out of our hands.
If more than 15 business days have passed since we told you a refund was approved and you still don't see it, email hello@hatandpatch.com and we'll chase it down.
Damaged, defective, or wrong item
Please look your order over when it arrives. If a hat is defective, damaged in transit, or simply isn't what you ordered, contact us right away at hello@hatandpatch.com. A photo helps.
We'll remake it, replace it, or refund it — your call — and we cover the shipping. This applies to custom orders too.
Custom orders
Custom hats are final sale. A hat stamped with your logo or your town's area code can't be sold to anyone else, so we can't take it back because the order was larger than you needed or you changed your mind.
This is exactly why we offer a free digital mockup before we make anything. Ask for one and nothing goes into production until you approve it; order as designed and we make exactly what you built. If you ordered through the customizer and asked us to build your mockup, you have five business days from the day we send it to approve it or ask for changes. After that we treat it as approved and make the order as shown. Once you approve a mockup, we make what's on it. An error you approved — or submitted as designed — isn't something we can undo after the hats are made.
What we will always fix: if what arrives doesn't match the mockup you approved or the design you submitted, or the hats are defective, tell us within 30 days and we'll remake or refund them at our cost. Being final sale doesn't mean you're stuck with our mistake.
One thing that isn't a defect: every hat is stamped by hand in full-grain leather. Color, grain, and stamp depth vary a little from hat to hat, and screens don't show leather color accurately. That variation is the nature of the material — it's what makes the hats what they are — and it isn't grounds for a return.
Sale and clearance items
Items bought on sale or from clearance are final sale and can't be returned or exchanged. This doesn't affect your rights if the item turns out to be defective or isn't what you ordered — those are covered above, at any price.
Promotional bundles
If you bought under a multi-buy promotion (for example, buy three get one free) and you return part of the order so that it no longer qualifies, the discount comes off the refund. You can either send the free item back with the return, or we'll deduct its regular price from what we refund. We'll tell you which applies before we process anything.
Our lifetime warranty is separate
The 30-day window above is for returns and exchanges. It has nothing to do with our warranty.
We warrant every hat we make, for the life of the hat — patch, stamp, and hat — against defects in materials and workmanship. If the patch separates, the impression fails, a seam gives out, or the closure breaks under normal wear — whether that's next month or in six years — email us and we'll repair or replace it. It doesn't cover ordinary wear and tear: sun fading, sweat marks, and the patina leather picks up over time. Full details are in section 8 of our Terms of Service.
Undeliverable and refused packages
If a package comes back to us because the shipping address was incomplete or incorrect, we'll refund the order less the original shipping cost, or reship it once you cover shipping again — whichever you'd prefer.
Questions
If you're unsure whether something qualifies, just ask before you send it — we'd rather sort it out up front than have you pay for shipping twice.
613-408-6512