Due to COVID-19, we are working through various interruptions and delays to our business. We are still taking orders, making orders, and shipping orders, but we have suppliers that are going through the same issues who might have reduced work forces, extended production times, and all of the shipping methods available to us here in the US are experiencing various delays. Please check out the questions below and follow us on social media (especially our twitter) for more information and updates. If your question isn't answered here or you have a specific question about your order, feel free to shoot me an email through our contact page and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
How is the business currently being affected by COVID-19?
Are you still accepting new orders?
Are you still shipping orders?
How will I know if my order is delayed?
Do you all have a customer service team?
For anyone who is unaware, this is an extremely small business, mainly ran by myself and my girlfriend, Alison, so all updates and communication right now are being done by the two of us--Alison has been handling the majority of our email correspondence while I'm responsible for our social media and website updates.
As of right now, we do not have the manpower to respond to social media DMs about order status, so if you've been unable to reach us through social media I'd really encourage you to send us an email or put a message in our chat service -- there isn't a bot who answers you, you'll be speaking directly to one of us. If you contact during off hours or when no one is available, the system will ask for your email to send me a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. If you don't feel like leaving an email address, you can also come back to the site later to check for a response, but leaving an email is the most reliable way to make sure you see our response.
Keep in mind as well that despite things moving slower during the pandemic we're receiving more emails than ever during this time so we are working through a lot of requests at any given time. Because of this, it might take a few days (even up to a week) for us to respond to your message. Don't worry if this happens, and please avoid sending a second email to "bump" your request up unless it's been longer than that. We answer emails in order of when they were received, so adding another email to the end of our pile doesn't help to get a response faster, and it can delay other people getting help or cause confusion on our end (as I've seen that a lot of these "bump" emails come in with different information than what was given in an initial request) which could mean even longer before getting a proper response.
We're super dedicated about giving people updates and answering all communication we receive from you all, but still have fairly limited resources at our current size--so we really appreciate you all contacting us in the way that we're able to best help you!
Are you all still handling returns/exchanges?
Absolutely, though with more care than normal, and this might cause some delay in reviewing your returned merchandise before giving you the go ahead for a return or exchange. Out of an abundance of caution, we're waiting at least 4+ days before handling a return based on the CDC guidelines for how long COVID-19 can be active on plastic and cardboard surfaces. I'm a disabled creator who is immunocompromised and have been sheltering in place since mid-March 2020 to protect myself. If you have any reason to believe you are sick, please let us know before returning your package so we can properly sterilize the returns before handling them.
Because we've been quarantining pretty intensely and going above and beyond on most CDC guidelines to keep myself and our family safe, I know our household is safe and virus free, so you can be reassured while receiving anything from us.
How can I stay updated as the COVID-19 situation changes?
Any major updates will be announced on all our main social media accounts (instagram, facebook, tumblr, twitter) but twitter is really the best place to go for the most current news since it's the quickest for us to update.
Once we are starting to hit our normal production times again without regular delays, and are back to our pre-pandemic timelines, we'll make sure to make a big announcement about this on all of our social media as well as remove this FAQ + other mentions of current delays on our website to make sure everyone is aware of the updated situation. The current circumstances we're in change daily, especially with new variants emerging in various parts of the country, so we probably will not be properly updating everything until we are running at our normal pace for at least a month or two. However, small updates on the day to day situation will still be available on our twitter for folks who want to keep up to speed!
Say it's winter, what should I know about ordering gifts for Christmas?
At this time, we are not able to guarantee any shipments in time for Christmas, regardless of when you place your order. News outlets nationally have been warning customers about supply chain delays affecting the holidays as early as September, and we spread that news on to our customer base in hopes that all Christmas gifts were purchased early. We believe that the upcoming supply chain interruptions will be similar to what we've been seeing since the pandemic started, but it's hard to judge what the delays the media are warning about will look like until that time comes.
If you are viewing this FAQ in hopes of buying a Christmas gift that you would like the receiver to have in time for the holiday, I would encourage you to purchase one of our physical gift cards. We have actual physical gift cards that are ready to ship and do not require any production time, unlike our normal items that take at least 6-10 weeks of production time before they are ready to ship out. Though we are still not able to guarantee delivery as we are unsure of the level of severity of shipping delays that we will see this upcoming holiday season, this is still the best chance to get a gift from us in time for Christmas. We can also put custom amounts on these gift cards and email a code instead if you'd rather order one later, not rely on the mail, and just print out the certificate yourself to give to your loved one instead!
We also have developed a specific ready to ship section just for things we have in stock to send as gifts--I would also recommend checking there if you're looking to buy something for a specific date or as a gift!
Can I just pay extra to speed things up?
In most cases, this is just not possible. If you are placing a late order expecting it for the holidays we are similarly at the mercy of the postal service/customs office/our suppliers and do not have the ability to rush any of their processes, our business is too small and does not have the financing to influence their speed. The one exception is we might be able to upgrade your shipping after we have an item in hand and have finished what we have to do in studio--you would know your item is at this stage because you'd receive a "ready to ship" notification from us.
The best thing to do if you are hoping to receive an order from us by a certain date or time is to message us ahead of time letting us know the exact item and color/size you intend to order. There are sometimes pieces that we have in stock for various reasons (cancellations, popular items we made a few extras of, etc) and we can check to see if there is something we have and can ship instantly and give you more information on what we could do to help you. We might be able to work out something special or have a combination of things in house and things that would come later that could work for your gift recipient and are happy to talk that sort of thing through with people!
Also just because I feel like people regularly misread our intent in these scenarios: in all of these circumstances we want to provide the items and service for you, and fully ! We just aren't willing to promise something that we can't do, and don't want to disappoint you if it's something we can't make happen for you. We would much rather tell you this up front so you can make alternate plans than be unable to deliver later.
That's also why we ask folks to contact us first, otherwise we have to assume you're aware of the situation and just proceed as normal! There are plenty of folks who still buy things for themselves during the holiday season and even other folks who are okay with special gifts like these coming a little late!
