DuBuhDuDesigns's Shop Policies

Welcome

I often receive inquiring emails regarding my dolls (how much do they cost, do I take custom orders,what are they made of,etc.),so I have decided to list just about everything I can possibly think of to answer those questions while helping assist you in the purchase of one of my dolls!

Please let me know if you have any questions (not covered below) by contacting me at dubuhdudesigns [!at] aol.com (put "doll question" in subject line) or you can convo. me through Etsy.

For doll prices, please see ** Pricing** in the "Additional Policies and FAQs" section. Thanks :)

Drop by my blog at www.dubuhdudesigns.typepad.com to see my latest work~

**copyright info is at the bottom **


˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚

Payment

I only accept payment via Paypal. Items are sent out once payment has been received. Payments taking longer than three days (for Paypal) may be canceled (contact me if you know that it will be a few days).

See *Cancellation of Sale (under the Refunds and Exchanges section).

Shipping

Please read carefully before making your purchase. When purchasing items, you agree to the terms of shipping and refund policies as stated below.


Shipping Details (including Insurance Info.):

˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚


Shipping in General:
Prices for shipping listed in my shop may vary from region to region, especially in the United States. Unfortunately, Etsy only allows me to list one price so I do my best to calculate the cost. I personally hand deliver each package to my local post office and your box will arrive with the actual shipping cost printed on it. I will refund any difference in shipping costs if it equals one dollar or more. Please be sure that the correct address is listed on your Paypal and Etsy accounts as I do not always cross check both.

Here are the shipping prices as of June 2009 (and are subject to change at any time):

ship to: cost per doll:
Australia $15.50 USD
Canada $10.00 USD
France $12.00 USD
United Kingdom $15.50 USD
United States $12.50 USD
Everywhere Else $15.50 USD


Shipping within the United States:
It is important to me that each doll safely reaches her destination so every order sent within the U.S. includes delivery confirmation and insurance. Packages will be sent First Class or Priority Mail (depending on weight) via USPS. I will do my best to get your dolls out ASAP. Please allow 7-14 days for arrival.

I do not ship Fed Ex or UPS (or via any other carrier)..sorry!


International Shipping:
If you are in the UK, Australia, Canada ,France or elsewhere your item(s) will be shipped 1st class via U.S.P.S.( with certificate of mailing) if you buy one doll. If you purchase more than one doll at a time, it has to be shipped International Priority Mail. That costs considerably more ($20-35)so I will let you know the difference in price.
There is no way to track items overseas, from my understanding, unless it is sent Express International which is very expensive . International Priority Mail takes 6-10 business days, First Class time "varies" which means 2 + weeks. There is no guarantee of how long first class takes but having shipped dolls from France to Australia they usually arrive within a week :)

It is advisable to find out in advance what items your country will or will not accept and what ,if any, additional fees they may charge. Any customs fees are the responsibility of the buyer.



Insurance on International Shipping:
Insurance is NOT included in the shipping costs unless you specifically ask for it and I HIGHLY** recommend it. I will usually ask you if you want to add insurance before I send off your order but that is not a guarantee. It is up to buyer to ask for their items to be insured.
If you are outside any of the above countries listed, contact me and I will gladly get back to you with shipping costs (and insurance costs if you choose to include that) .
I will always do my best to accommodate you so don't feel like anything is set in stone. I can ship items Express, with or with out insurance, etc. Let me know what you want and I'll let you know the difference in fees, etc.

Refunds and Exchanges

Damaged goods:

I value my artwork a great deal and the last thing I want is for my art to arrive damaged in any way. I do my very best to wrap them safely.
I am not responsible for orders lost or damaged through the post. However if your doll does arrive damaged via the mail, and you purchased insurance, contact me immediately .I will send you your shipping receipts along with instructions on how to handle this with your post office.


Unclaimed packages:
If a package is sent back to me unclaimed I will contact you to let you know about this. You will be responsible for shipping costs and the item(s) will be sent back to you after shipping costs to send it again have been paid. Included in the shipping costs will be insurance and a signature confirmation.
If I do not hear back after two months (from the date I emailed you regarding the unclaimed package), the items will become the property of Du Buh Du Designs again. I will do my best to work with you as I realize people sometimes forget to update address changes, have emergency situations,go on vacations etc. Please note: I do not offer refunds.


*Cancellation of Sale:
I reserve the right to cancel or refuse any sale at any time. I more than likely will never do this unless customer does not pay, there is a severe lack of communication and/or I notice that buyer has significant negative feedback that refers back to these two reasons.



˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚


ALL SALES ARE FINAL.Once item has shipped, there are No refunds or exchanges.


˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚

Additional Policies and FAQs

** Pricing**
My dolls range in price, on average,from $120-$150 for 10"-12" dolls (does not include shipping). Dolls larger than that start at $140 on up.
I also create ornaments and sculpture busts from time to time. They vary in price from $40-$90. Depending on accessories added (hair, masks,etc.) and time spent creating, prices may be a bit more. As the quality of my work evolves my prices will need to reflect that.



** Reserves **
In fairness to all, I do not reserve dolls when I have a shop update. They are sold on a first come first serve basis. However, if the doll is still available after three days of the shop update I will gladly hold the doll(s) up to seven days for you~just let me know.


**Doll being "taken out of cart" at shop update **
I know how frustrating it can be to think you have purchased something only to find out when you go to pay for it, it has already been sold (I've experienced his before as a buyer). Please note that Etsy doesn't consider the item purchased until the item has been paid for via credit card or Paypal.
In other words three customers could have the same item in their "virtual cart" but the first to complete payment is the one who walks away with the item. I also know that by the time someone finishes looking at the images and reading doll descriptions the doll is often already sold.
To help remedy this I have started including all of the images and doll descriptions on my blog at least a day in advance to help out your decision making ahead of time as that is the best I can do.

I appreciate being informed when this occurs. However I think that it is best if you contact Etsy directly, as well, with your concern as the more complaints they hear about this matter the better the chances of their policy being re-examined, if not changed.


** Feedback**
As of June 2009,I have decided to only leave feedback for those who leave feedback on my site. I recognize that some purchases may have been made as a gift or that you simply do not want that info made known. I respect your right to privacy and not to have your purchase(s) made public to all for what ever reason (emails are always welcome instead!). And thank you to those who leave feedback ~I appreciate you taking the time to do so. Your input is of great value to me :)


** Custom Dolls**
Sorry~no custom dolls or requests at this time. If and when this changes I will announce it here and on my blog :)
I do not remake or copy previous dolls. Once a doll is gone I may make one similar but I find my work is best when I am open to whatever comes to me during the creative process.

** Age appropriate**
My dolls are very delicate and are meant for those ages 14 and older for display purposes only. These are not toys but pieces of art and should be handled as such ;)


˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚


** About the Construction of my Art Dolls, Sculptures and Ornaments **


The doll’s bodies are made entirely of a strong polymer clay and painted in multiple layers of acrylics and sanded a few times before several layers of a matte varnish is applied. Each doll has a solid “undergarment” painted on them in addition to socks/tights and shoes/boots. All dolls ,sculptures and ornaments have a wire armature running through their head and neck for extra support.

Arms and legs are movable and joined to the torso using double twisted wire and silver (or gold) spacer beads. The dresses and jackets are hand and machine sewn and aren’t removable (they’re glued in place). Buttons ,pins, and flowers adorning jackets and/or hair are purely decorative. Hats and crowns are not removable however masks are.

As of May 2009 I have started adding hair made of various fibers (silk,soy,bamboo,viscose,mohair) and each hair piece is glued into place. Please be delicate as fibers are often loose due to the nature of the material.Do not brush or pull on hair.

These dolls are very delicate and need to be handled with extreme care. Even though they have a protective varnish, they can easily scuff. Do not place item in or near extreme temperatures or in direct sunlight.

Dolls should be propped up on a shelf, chair or some other place for display as they don't always sit up on their own.



Each unique doll varies in height, head size, arm length, skin texture, makeup color,facial expressions, etc. Paint brush strokes and color changes are usually visible and an occasional thumb print will show up ~they are meant to be seen. Because I sculpt each piece and do not use molds, dents and uneven skin texture are the norm. Pencil markings and even the occasional brush hair may be visible . Fabrics, especially silks, may have imperfections and some fraying. Stitching is also visible.

My dolls aren’t meant to look machine made~ they’re one of a kind, "painterly" art pieces made of clay.The dolls are made in a primitive fashion;they each take time to achieve that unique mix of a primitive yet modern aesthetic. I do my best to photograph them as accurately as possible but due to differences in computer screens, etc. there may be differences in texture and coloring that I can not help.

Lots of love and attention to detail went into the making of these dolls. Please know that I only sell my very best~ I hope they bring you as much joy as they have to me!




˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚º˚



Whew~that was long and a bit dogmatic sounding,hopefully not too convoluted! It's necessary to post these rules as I run a very small but reputable business and I want my dolls to go from my studio to your home as safely as can be! Thank you for your time and understanding :)

Christine Alvarado
Proprietor of Du Buh Du Designs





* * * * I m p o r t a n t - C o p y r i g h t - I n f o. * * * *

The purchase of any of my dolls or artwork does not include the transfer of copyright in any way.
(Also I would appreciate if sellers would not copy my doll descriptions or shop policies. I put thought and time into "wording" both as should each seller for themselves).


All Artwork, Photography, Doll Designs and Written Content are copyrighted © Christine Alvarado, Du Buh Du Designs, 2007-2009.

Last Updated November 30, 2009

Etsy's Policies

Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Copyright Policy • DOs and DON'Ts