Policies
LAYAWAYS & RESERVES
♥ PLEASE READ BEFORE ASKING FOR EITHER ♥
I do accept reserves and layaways (payments by installments), with an immediate non-refundable deposit of at least $600, and subsequent payments within a period of two months (or as discussed).
Please DO NOT ask for a reserve/layaway if you cannot make an immediate first payment.
Please understand I cannot hold reserves without any deposit made within 10 hours after your initial contact -- timely communication would be greatly appreciated.
** Adopters who send payment in full upfront and purchase outright will have precedence. A listing will not be marked "Reserved" UNTIL a deposit is paid. Other potential adopters are free to inquire about the doll and put their names up to reserve/purchase as soon as the 10-hour time frame has passed **
Ideally, please DO NOT ask for a reserve/layaway if you are not going to honour it and see it through. PLEASE JUST DON'T. Reserves *are* a commitment to buy. Most sellers operate on faith and goodwill -- PLEASE don't abuse or take advantage of that.
Please also keep to the payment dates as discussed. If there is no contact within 24 hours of those times, the transaction will be cancelled.
** Please note that if there is a cancellation, I cannot refund payments made till that point **
SHIPPING
All parcels are sent via Singapore Speedpost, the only option for this size parcel (excluding the more prohibitively expensive options such as EMS which start at $150; please ask for this if you prefer).
The cost includes some insurance for loss, but please note that not all countries are covered; this includes Brazil, Israel and Russia (see here). Standard Speedpost or registered airmail to these countries has tracking, but no insurance. These options are lower in price; I will refund the overage if you choose this. I will also refund overage if you request to declare a lower value for insurance.
Please note -- I can/do declare the parcel as a gift, but please understand that insurance requires that I declare the actual value. Please also note that if the parcel is lost by your local post (i.e. it has already safely reached the destination country), claims can be long and drawn-out and you will likely not get all your money back -- I have no control over this.
** I cannot be held responsible for items lost or damaged once in the mail, or for any custom duties **
** Please brace yourself for the fact that you may well be asked to pay custom duties, depending on your country; this is universally understood whenever you buy any item of a certain value from a different country -- again, I cannot be held responsible for this! Check with your local customs department or post office first if this is a concern for you **
I will ship to your Paypal address (unless otherwise instructed). Most orders ship within 2-3 days, excluding weekends. Please allow at least two and a half weeks for your little girl to arrive :)
RETURNS & REFUNDS
We want very much for you to love us and what we do. Every little girl takes hours and days of heartfelt, painstaking effort. Each one is made entirely by HAND and by a HUMAN -- there may be flaws, tiny scratches, scrapes, etc etc. Of course, if it's a huge, glaring flaw -- like a big black splotch right on her cheek -- I will of course make that known, but to begin with, I would not even put her up for adoption.
As is usual, her faceup is sealed in a well-ventilated area with MSC and tiny dust particles may sometimes get caught in it. The Takara face plates are brand new and original but they can sometimes have impurities inherent within the plastic that show through. Scalps which aren't original to the doll often result in slight gapping or unevenness at the seams, but that is usually hidden by the hair. Sometimes the next set of eyes show a very little; this isn't a flaw but part of the original doll and the t-bar is cut so that all sets will gaze sweetly high enough -- a slight touch will lower eyes if need be. The Licca bodies are also brand new and direct from the manufacturer but sometimes do have small manufacturing defects like marks, funny bits and scrapes (as do the original Takara bodies).
So please remember every girl is a work of art and she is not perfect -- that is the nature of handmade (and my being human), and it makes her special and unique. I do my best and send each one of my girls out with all the care that is humanly possible -- I would not send them out with glaring flaws (I take pictures before and as I pack them!) and I pack them with extreme thoughtfulness (no skimping!), but I cannot be responsible for any injuries they may suffer once they are out of my hands and at the mercy of hosts of postal and airline staff. Please ask all questions before purchase, as all sales are final -- no returns or refunds.
Please consider carefully especially if you are not familiar with handmade art, or customized Blythes -- a lot of work goes into them and they are not perfect or pristine! Be sure before adopting that you will love your little girl, imperfections and all.
A LITTLE EXTRA NOTE
We cannot emphasise this enough -- customized dolls are NOT flawless or factory perfect. That is the nature of handmade. Please consider carefully especially if you are not familiar with handmade art, or customised Blythes -- a lot of work goes into them and they are not perfect or pristine! Be sure before adopting that you will love your little girl, imperfections and all.