Handmade Crafts Terms and Conditions

Apologies in advance if I bore you with this week’s blog post, but I am going to talk a little about website Terms and Conditions (T&Cs)...well I did warn you!

If you are selling online you will hopefully have Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) covering your website shop, including amongst other things shipping policies and returns/exchanges.

Selling online is very different to selling from a physical location such as a shop or store because the consumer can’t see or touch the item that they are buying. Because of this, the Distance Selling Regulations were introduced to protect the consumer in the UK.

 

Terms & Conditions example

I cannot claim to be an expert in this area but the following advice was given to me by my local Trading Standards Officer after I asked her to review my website Terms and Conditions. I got these things wrong in my website Terms and Conditions, and many people still do.

Returning Earrings

Whilst the returning of earrings can be seen a health hazard, they are still returnable. What you can do, however, is seal the bag with hygiene seals and ‘ask’ that if they are returned then the seal must not be broken.

Seven day return policy

#The seven day returns policy whereby a consumer can return their purchase without giving a reason, for example changing their mind about the purchase upon receiving the product.

The seven day return policy is seven working days, starting the day after receipt of the product. The consumers’ time limit does not start until the day after they have received the goods.

Return of goods in an unused state

You cannot state that the goods have to be returned in an unused state as legally the consumer does not have to return the goods. You can however, 'ask' that the consumer returns the goods as soon as possible.

Consumer responsible for returned goods

The Distance Selling Regulations also state that as soon as a consumer has posted the item for return or given it to a courier, the trader is then responsible for it. This means that you are responsible for any goods lost in transit and therefore you cannot put that you are not held responsible.

Displaying Prices

It is best if you include VAT on all of your prices when they are first displayed as this will prevent the consumer from being confused or mislead.

Geographical Address

The website must display your geographical address of the place of business to which the consumer may address any complaints

I hope that this was of some help and that I didn’t bore you too much. If you would like a good bed-time read, grab a copy of the Distance Selling Regulations...Enjoy!

Real Flower Jewellery - African Violet Pendants

I was given this custom jewellery order to make last week that involved taking some real pressed African Violet flower petals and setting them into resin jewellery.

The pressed flowers were taken from her Nan's favourite African Violet plant and were very special to her. She wanted them setting into a teardrop shaped resin pendant and I also added a sprinkle of glitter dust to give the jewellery an extra sparkle.

Real Flower Jewellery

When I opened the package containing the flowers I was met with a lovely aroma that obviously didn’t come from the African Violets. The source of the aroma was a lovely bar of handmade soap (Cedarwood Orange). It turns out that the customer produced handmade soap, so being a fellow crafter I did a nice swap with her!

Lots happening at the moment in the land of Shpangle Jewellery, including an order for twelve ‘name on rice’ pendants, so I might be a little quiet for a while.

If you would like to see more of my jewellery made with real flowers, please visit my Real Flower Jewellery website page.

A Pet's Name Necklace

I don't feel like I have blogged for a while so though I would show off one of the latest custom jewellery commissions that I was recently asked to make. This was for one of my name on rice necklaces but this time it was for a pet dog's name to be written on a grain of rice along with a image of a paw print.

Now, this took quite a few grains of rice to get the paw print right, it was a little like the difficulty I had drawing hearts; on paper fine but when you are trying to draw on a grain of rice less than one millimetre wide and not perfectly flat it is a different matter. I think I did a good job and I do like challenges but more importantly the necklaces new owner loved it.

Pets Name Necklace - Rice Jewellery

I have had several requests for my name on rice jewellery over the last few weeks and they are all very different. But I really enjoyed doing this one because it was for a lady who had recently lost her lovely pet dog. She had been searching for something on the internet that she could remember him by and came across my name on rice jewellery.

Please visit my Name Jewellery page for more examples of my name on rice jewellery.

Wedding Keepsakes – Wedding Dress Material Cufflinks

After spending many weeks making my lock of hair jewellery, the last couple of weeks I have had several requests for setting couples wedding keepsakes into jewellery.

The first custom jewellery order to be completed this week is from a lady who is getting married in a couple of weeks-time. She wanted some of her wedding dressing material set into a pair of cufflinks to give to the groom-to-be to wear on the big day. She actually asked for two pairs to be made, presumably the second pair was for either the best man or father of the bride. I set the wedding dress fabric into sterling silver cufflink blanks and sealed with a couple of layers of resin.

Wedding Dress Keepsake Jewellery - Cufflinks

Other orders that I am currently working on are another pair of cufflinks for a wedding, but this time containing flowers from the place that the young man proposed. I am also about to start working on some wedding flowers (roses) which are to be set into a pendant.

I am over the moon to think that my jewellery is actually being worn on a couples’ big day and what a special keepsake it is for them to treasure after the wedding. I know I have been complaining recently about not being able to start something new...but I really enjoy making these keepsakes for people. I love the idea of giving the groom something to wear and keep from his wedding day and that it contains something so personal to the couple. Whether it is flowers picked from the place that he proposed or a part of the brides dress, it gives him something to wear that is much more than just a pair of cufflinks.

If you would like to see more of my previous commissions please visit my website Wedding Keepsakes page.