Before you buy

Shopping with Weird Fish

What it is good for

Weird Fish is easy-wear clothing: quarter-zip fleeces, jumpers, hoodies, printed tops, shirt dresses, chinos, coats and the artist T-shirts it is known for, plus accessories like scarves, bags and socks. It has been going since 1993, started in Cornwall, and has a loyal following for weekend and pottering-about clothes rather than anything dressy. The humour is part of the product: fish, bird and dog puns all over the place. It also runs partnerships with the Beano, the RSPB and the Angling Trust, which turn up as collections.

Delivery: the £60 line

Standard UK delivery is £3.95 and takes 3 to 5 working days, and it is free once the basket reaches £60. Express is £6.00 for two working days if you order before 3pm (free over £100), and DPD next day is £9.95 if you order by 2pm. Click and collect is free to a Weird Fish store and £3.95 to a Post Office, though collection is free to either over £60. The Scottish Isles, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and a list of mostly Scottish postcodes can take a few days longer, and next day and express do not cover the Highlands and Islands or Northern Ireland.

Orders are normally dispatched within 2 to 5 working days, which is slower than the big fast-fashion names. Items marked 'low in stock' (fewer than three in the warehouse) are not guaranteed to be sent, and you get an email if one is cancelled. Heavy orders can be split into more than one parcel without extra delivery cost.

Returns are properly free

You get 30 days from purchase to return unworn items with tags on, and returning them in the UK is free. The online route is paperless: log in, choose the items, and take the QR code to a Post Office. You can also return online orders to an official Weird Fish store with your order confirmation, but if you paid with Klarna, PayPal, Amazon or eBay the refund has to be processed online instead. One order per parcel.

The slow bit is the refund. The brand asks for about 7 working days for the parcel to reach it, then up to 5 working days to process it, then a few days to land. Underwear cannot be returned and swimwear only with its hygiene strip intact. Faulty items are covered for 6 months.

The trap is where you bought. Things bought from stockists, concessions or marketplaces (Debenhams, Matalan, Mountain Warehouse and so on) go back to that seller, not to Weird Fish.

Paying less

  • The sale section is the main route.
  • An email sign-up gives a first-order discount, and there is a refer-a-friend scheme.
  • Only one promo code works at a time and not alongside other offers.
  • Forgot to enter a code? You can phone with the order number before it ships and ask them to apply it.

I could not find a standing student or NHS discount on the site.