Policies

Shipping

• Single prepped footballs ship the next business day when you order before 3 PM Pacific time. The Nike Vapor Elite takes up to 5 business days. You'll receive a tracking number within 24 hours of ordering so you can follow your ball the whole way.
• We ship to the United States and U.S. territories only (including Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands). We don’t ship internationally, including to Canada.
• Shipping options are chosen at checkout: USPS Ground Advantage $10 (1–5 business days), Priority Mail $15 (2–3 business days), or Priority Mail Express $60 (overnight).
• Delivery times are carrier estimates, not guarantees, and start once your ball ships. Delays caused by the carrier (weather, holidays, sorting backlogs) are outside our control, and shipping charges aren't refundable for carrier delays. If your package seems stuck, contact us and we'll follow up with the carrier for you.
• 6- and 12-ball team packs ship within 3 business days. Custom Color GSTs may take up to 2 weeks.
• Larger custom team orders take longer because every ball is individually hand-prepped. Your quote will include a committed delivery date before you pay anything — we don't promise timelines we can't hit.
• All orders ship with a major carrier, with tracking. Any shipping cost is shown at checkout before you pay — no surprise charges afterward.
• If a ball arrives damaged in transit, take a photo of the ball and packaging and contact us within 7 days of delivery. We'll make it right with a replacement or a refund.
• If tracking shows a package as lost, contact us and we'll work the carrier claim — you won't be left chasing it alone.

Refunds & Returns

• Every ball passes a hand grip test before it ships. If your ball arrives and something is genuinely wrong with the prep — inconsistent texture, damage, not what was described — contact us within 7 days of delivery and we'll fix it: a re-prep, a replacement, or a refund, your choice after we've talked it through.
• Because each football is custom-finished by hand, we can't accept returns of correctly-prepped balls that have been used — once a ball has been thrown, kicked, or taken outside, it can't be resold.
• Unused balls in original condition can be returned within 14 days of delivery for a refund of the purchase price; return shipping is on the buyer. Contact us first so we know it's coming.
• Marked balls can't be returned. If a ball has been written on or marked in any way — initials on the stripes, a name, a number, a team logo — it can't be resold, so it isn't eligible for a return or refund.
• Custom Color GSTs can't be returned or refunded. Each one is made to order, so it can't be resold. If one arrives damaged or with a problem in the prep, contact us within 7 days of delivery and we'll re-prep or replace it.
• The honest standard we hold ourselves to: if we wouldn't be happy taking the ball into our own game, we don't expect you to keep it. One customer's order once shipped late because the prep didn't meet that standard and got redone — that's the policy working, not failing.

A Note on Ball Shape

• Leather footballs aren't perfectly shaped. That's how Wilson makes them: no two leather balls come out of the factory exactly alike, and it's normal for a ball to be slightly misshapen, most often at the nose.
• Prep improves grip and feel, but it doesn't reshape the ball. A small shape variation from the factory isn't a defect in our prep.
• We'll do our best to fix any blemishes we find on the leather during prep before your ball ships.

Send-In Prep Service

If you're mailing us your own football through our Send-In Prep service, here's exactly what it does and doesn't cover:

• Leather footballs only: we can't prep composite, synthetic, or rubber balls. Not sure what yours is? Text Sam a photo at 630-835-6035 before you order.
• What we do: full multi-step prep — mud, brush, condition, seal — plus a hand grip test before your ball ships back.
• Price and timing: $50, which includes a prepaid, tracked label to send your ball to us. We email the label after you order, usually within 1 business day. Return shipping is chosen at checkout (USPS Ground Advantage $10, Priority Mail $15, or Priority Mail Express $60). The whole process usually takes 2–3 weeks from order to delivery, often less.
• Bulk orders (12+ balls): $20 per ball when you send 12 or more footballs in one order. Order through Bulk Send-In Prep; return shipping is chosen at checkout and charged per ball. Bulk orders don't include a prepaid label: after you order, Sam emails our address, usually within 1 business day, and you ship your balls to us at your own cost with the carrier of your choice. Orders under 12 balls will be canceled and fully refunded, and you'll get an email letting you know. If a ball in a bulk order can't be helped by prep, we send it back with the rest and refund its $20.
• What we can't change: prep improves grip and feel — it doesn't repair damage, fix a lopsided or worn-out ball, or turn a composite/synthetic ball into leather. If a ball arrives that prep can't help, we'll tell you, send it back, and refund the $50 prep fee.
• Inbound shipping is at your risk. Until your ball is in our hands, it's in the carrier's. For single-ball orders, the label we send includes tracking; for bulk orders, choose a carrier with tracking. Pack balls in a sturdy box. We are not responsible for balls lost or damaged on the way to us.
• We're not responsible for balls we don't receive. This applies to single and bulk orders alike. If a package is lost, delayed, or damaged before it's delivered to us, that's a matter between you and the carrier, and we can't refund or replace the ball itself. If your ball never arrives, we'll give you a full refund for it: the prep fee and the return shipping you paid. Ship with tracking (and insurance if you want it), keep your receipt, and send us the tracking number.
• Return shipping includes tracking. Once prep is done, your ball ships back with a tracking number.
• Liability limit: leather prep involves mud, water, brushes, and conditioners — on rare occasions leather reacts unpredictably. If a ball is damaged while in our care, our responsibility is limited to the replacement cost of a comparable new ball or a refund of the service fee plus a comparable replacement, whichever we agree makes you whole. We will always tell you if something went wrong — you won't discover it when the box arrives.

Questions?

Anything unclear, or a situation these policies don't cover? Text or call Sam at 630-835-6035 or email sam@samsfootballs.com. A real person answers, usually the same day.

Last updated: October 2026.