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This page contains FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) that have been posed more often than not through the years or that we believe may be of interest to customers (both prospective and existing). This section will be constantly updated.
Check the list below and click on the relative question in order to be redirected below. Questions are provided from customer's perspective, while answers from ours. Questions are divided per argument. If you cannot find an answer to your question, feel free to contact us, we will more than happy to answer. Please note that this section is not meant to substitute in any way the information contained in our TOS or in any official website of any third party.
1. PAYMENT METHODS
1.1. What payment methods do you accept? 1.2. What is a money transfer service? 1.3. What money transfer services do you accept and why? 1.4. How exactly money transfer services work? Are they safe? 1.5. Are money transfer services convenient? 1.6. How do I know how much to send? / How do you calculate my order's total? 1.7. Can I send you money via debit card / credit card? 1.8. Can I send you money in cash? 1.9. Can I send you money by bank transfer? 1.10. What payment method do you advise me to use and why? 1.11. What information do I (customer) need in order to send a payment? 1.12. Why don't you accept PayPal as a payment method?
2. MERCHANT-CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
2.1. What is a merchant-customer relationship? 2.2. As a first time customer, how can I trust you? 2.3. As a first time customer, how do I know if your items are good or bad?
3. PRODUCTS AND ORDERS
3.1. I want to order an item. Will you send me a picture before manufacturing it? 3.2. Can I buy graphics / templates of your items? 3.3. Can you encode / write data on chips, in barcodes, etc.? 3.4. Can you make holograms, stamps, foil embossing, badges or other insignia?
4. ONLINE PRESENCE
4.1. Where do you sell? 4.2. Why is this website not regularly updated? 4.3. Does this website contain all of the available items for sale? 4.4. Do you have an app I can download on my phone / tablet? 4.5. Are you on any social media? 1. PAYMENT METHODS1.1. What payment methods do you accept? At the present time we accept payments only via money transfer services, bank transfer and Bitcoin transfer, as per our TOS. 1.2. What is a money transfer service? A money transfer service is a trusted third party that acts as payment processor. It allows you to send money, and us to receive them in exchange of a fee on the transfer that is being made (just like any electronic payment processor). The difference with online payment processors (such as PayPal, Klarna, etc.) lies in that more often than not money transfer services have physical shops where sender and receiver can go to send and receive money, respectively. In addition to that, money transfer services also offer online processing via website or app, although this is hard to integrate in a website. 1.3. What money transfer services do you accept and why? At the moment we accept payments via Western Union and MoneyGram because of they are have a very strong network in most countries and operate very efficiently. The list of money transfer services is not fixed though. If you wish to use another one, please contact us to discuss in advance (before committing to an order or before sending the money), as we may not be able to access it and we must verify first. Should the verification be successful, we will be glad to accomodate your request. 1.4. How exactly money transfer services work? Are they safe? Money transfer services allow you (the sender) to send money, and us (the receiver) to receive them. In order to secure a profit and as a guarntee on the safety of the transaction, the money transfer service charges a fee on said transaction. In it's most basic functioning, this is the path the payment follows when using a money transfer service: Established and reputable money transfer services are safe and operate efficiently (Western Union and MoneyGram have been around for decades or even centuries). 1.5. Are money transfer services convenient? Yes, they are. Money transfer services we employ aren't just reliable but offer lower fees to you compared to online payment processor we can use. There are indeed some payment processors that offer faster and cheaper fees for transactions, but they may be either outside our reach (such as Venmo which operates only in the USA), not feasible to use alone (such as Payoneer, which requires merchants to sell via eBay, Etsy or similar platforms in order) or just not convenient for us at all (such as PayPal, see below for more information). 1.6. How do I know how much to send? / How do you calculate my order's total? How much you would need to send depends from a variety of factors: items ordered, addtional options, shipping rates and handling fees. We take care to calculate all of that when providing you with the order's total. The only element that is left out of the order's total is the fee that may be requested by the payment method in order to process the transaction. With online payment processor, the fee is normally on the merchant. In fact, in the past, we used to include the fee in the order's total as we knew that in advance. The current payment methods available do not allow us to know in advance the amount of such (a) fee/s as it/they vary according to the specific payment method selected by you. As per our TOS, such fees are not included in the order's total and are to be covered by the sender's and, in case of payment remitted through money transfer services or bank transfers, the currency that is to be received is Euro (EUR). Generally speaking, fees are the following: 1.6.1. Money transfer services: payment processing fees (often no fees on first transaction and/or below a certain amount). Currency conversion fees may be applied if payment is remitted in a currency different than Euro (EUR). 1.6.2. Bank transfer: payment processing fees (save for certain cases). Currency conversion fees may be applied according to your bank's policy. Fore more information see FAQ 1.10. below. 1.6.3. Bitcoin transfer: payment processing fees only (depending on the network and priority of the transaction). Please note that the above table has a purely illustrative purpose. You should check with the money transfer service / your bank / Bitcoin network how much the actual fees amount to before sending the payment. 1.7. Can I send you money via debit card / credit card? Yes, you can. One of the great advantages of using money transfer serivces is that they allow you to send payments via your debit/credit card. Actual fees depend on the money transfer service employed for the transaction. Generally speaking, they vary from 0-5 EUR for transaction of lower value to 20-30 EUR for transactions of higher value (1000 EUR or so). Please note this is a general figure and actual fees could be different. In order to know if there are any transaction fees and their amount, you would need to have an order's total, so please make sure to contact us first so we can calculate order's total. Because fees may vary according to whether or not you are a first time customer, we cannot check fees for you there unfortunately. You can run a simulation on the money transfer service website/app or contact your preferred location in order to get a figure of the actual fees once you will be given the order's total. Usually debit/credit card payments via money transfer services can be processed on their websites, via their mobile apps and also in physical locations where available. 1.8. Can I send you money in cash? Yes, you can. Another great advante of using money transfer services is that they allow you to send cash. This feature seems to be available only for physical locations though, so you would need to a store affiliated with the specific money transfer service and deliver cash phsyically to the counter. In order to know if there are any transaction fees and their amount, you would need to have an order's total, so please make sure to contact us first so we can calculate order's total. Because different locations offer different fees, we cannot check fees for you there unfortunately. You should contact your preferred location and check with them the actual fees once you will be given the order's total. We do not accept cash via postal service or courier at this time. 1.9. Can I send you money by bank transfer? Yes, you can. Actually, there are 2 ways to send a bank transfer: 1.9.1. Via your own bank: this is a proper bank transfer, from your bank's account to ours. 1.9.2. Via money transfer service: yes, some money transfer services allow you and/or us to send/receive money by bank transfer. In both cases, you would need to have an order's total, so please make sure to contact us first so we can calculate order's total. Because fees may vary according to whether or not you are a first time customer, we cannot check fees for you there unfortunately. You can run a simulation on the money transfer service website/app or contact your preferred location in order to get a figure of the actual fees once you will be given the order's total. 1.10. What payment method do you advise me to use and why? The best choice of payment method depends on what you prioritize first. There are 4 variables to take into consideration here: convenience, low fees, speed and safety. If you order of priority is convenience, low fees and safety at expense of speed, then you should opt for money transfer services or bank transfer. The actual choice depends on other factors such as the actual payment mean employed to make the payment (debit/credit card, cash, bank transfer), the platform used to remit the payment (website/app or physical location for money transfer services), currency used by sender (only if different than EUR). Generally speaking: If you are within the SEPA area and have an account with EUR: go for a SEPA bank transfer. Processing time amounts to 1 business day or so and fees are almost non existent (FREE or 1/2 EUR). If you are outside the SEPA area and/or do not have an account with EUR: go for a money transfer service and use a debit/credit card via its website/app. Processing time amounts to 1-2 business days and fees are generally low. On the other hand, if you prioritize safety, speed and low fees at expense of convenience, then you should opt for Bitcoin transfer. 1.11. What information do I (customer) need in order to send a payment? Depending on the payment method selected, you will need different information. After its selection, we will communicate you via e-mail the information required to initiate the payment. 1.12. Why don't you accept PayPal as a payment method? We have been loyal customers of PayPal for over 10 years with impeccable selling records, a ludicrous amount of disputes opened in comparison to the amount of transactions processed and not a single one being decided against us. Apparently, that was not enough and because of mounting disagreements and conflicts with the payment processor, we have decided it was no longer worth it to use it. Being historically the first in this field, PayPal is the most used online payment processor of the world and it offers customers (especially first time customers) a great degree of serenity when paying for purchases. It is truly unfortuante it does not display the same degree of consideration toward merchants (and a quick internet search will confirm it). Due to a series of events that have been pushing to the edge our patience toward the disservices caused by it, we have therefore decided to stop offering it as payment method for the forseeable future. 2. MERCHANT-CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP2.1. What is a merchant-customer relationship? The proper definition is somewhat redundant, a merchant-customer relationship is the relationship that is being established between a seller and a buyer during and after a purchase is made. It defines the way we work and interact with and provide information to our customers. If you spend some time reading some of the textual sections of the website (such as, but not limited to, our Home and TOS), it should be clear that we have a few, simple, core values at the base of our business model: transparency, honesty, quality, cooperation. The fact that we have been around for more than a decade stands as witness of the correctness of our business model and the foundational values at its base: - Transparency: it is important to us that everything is as clear as possible from the customer's perpective. In order for things to be clear they must be written in advance. This is why you will find clear and definied policies. Transparency is fundamental as it allows to set up a common ground and avoid misunderstandings. - Honesty: we do not aim at overpromising and underelivering. Everything is made clear in advance, so that anyone can check and ask questions first. We advertise prices publicly and we stick to them. If there is something we cannot do well, we are not afraid to admit it (such as passports). We believe in the importance of honesty because it allows customers to trust us and it allows us to build a positive reputation and strengthen the image of our brand. - Quality: we do not aim at providing an average or below average service. Same goes for our products. Quality is important because it is what allowed us to grow our business relationships with customers, both exsisting and new. - Cooperation: it is important for us to establish a cooperative relationship with customers as a satisfied customer is better than any paid advertisement. Cooperation usually manifests in customized orders, where a side-by-side work with customer is required in order to ensure a good outcome in terms of item/s being manufactured and relationship being established. This is the main reason for which we refuse to establish a complete autonomous system in order to provide scripted reply and gather information when it comes to side-by-side works. That and the prohibitive cost of the operation (we couldn't tell you, but if we didn't we would be lying and we do not like that). Apart from that though, as briefly outlined in our Home, we believe in the added value of human interaction for it allows us to provide a better service which eventually translates in higher customer satisfaction. 2.2. As a first time customer, how can I trust you? If you took time to read the previous FAQ 2.1., the honest answer is you can't. As everything in life, trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. That being said, we do our best to be as transparent and clear as possible in our policies and direct replies with (prospective) customers. If we were not, we would not have been around for so many years and disappear, just like other competitors did. 2.3. As a first time customer, how do I know if your items are good or bad? Honest answer here again is that, you won't know until you get them. We do our best to balance the need of customers to see what they are buying (photos on the website, descriptions, graphic previews, photographs of finished items) with our need to safeguard our products (no high resolution photos in order to prevent duplication). We always try to use photogaphs of real samples in order to give you an good idea of the products you may be interested in ordering. 3. PRODUCTS AND ORDERS3.1. I want to order an item. Will you send me a picture before manufacturing it? As per our TOS, if a "customized item" or a "totally custom item" is being ordered, a graphic preview will be provided. A digital copy of photographs that have had the background and/or clothes edited is always provided as well. A graphic preview is not available for in-stock items that have been ordered blank (without customization). 3.2. Can I buy graphics / templates of your items? No, this is not feasible. By sharing our graphics and/or templates we would be placing ourselves and others in great danger as we would have no oversight on the circulation and use of such items. 3.3. Can you encode / write data on chips, in barcodes, etc.? Although this is technically possible, we refuse to do it as this would turn our items from collectibles to fake IDs. 3.4. Can you make holograms, stamps, foil embossing, badges or other insignia? Yes, we can produce said items although the setup costs are normally high. If you have an interest in having a specific item not available from the website reproduced, feel free to contact us in order to discuss your request in detail. 4. ONLINE PRESENCE4.1. Where do you sell? This website is the main and only marketplace for the moment. 4.2. Why is this website not regularly updated? We try to keep up with the updates as much as possible. Unfortunately it is no easy task. It may not look trendy, but it is clear and functional and for the moment this is enough. We do not plan on keeping it that way, but good things require time and time is a scarce resource. 4.3. Does this website contain all of the available items for sale? Not really. Our libraries are plenty of references that we have to research, design, upload on the website. Therefore, if you are looking for something specific, feel free to contact us, chances are we may have it and have yet to update the website. 4.4. Do you have an app I can download on my phone / tablet? Not at this time. The website has been build to be as much mobile/tablet-friendly as possible. 4.5. Are you on any social media? We are currently on Facebook. For more info, please visit the Contact us section. |