Policy and FAQ for Minidolls.com

My business is home based and has evolved over the last ten years into what has captured my varied interests, one of which is to provide products for those who enjoy doll making and dressing, especially miniature dolls, my love. But there are also goodies for those practicing a variety of sewing arts, including heirloom sewing, quilting and wearable art. I carry a wide range of fine imported materials and trims to enhance your project to make it really special. My materials are of only the highest quality and cannot generally be found at your local fabric store.

I do business only via the internet and snail-mail orders. I sincerely hope that the items I have included on this site will meet your discriminating needs. If there are items you are looking for and just cannot find, let me know and I will search for them. I love discovering new and exciting things to bring to my customers.

Have fun shopping,
Michelle

Q&A

•	Having problems with the shopping cart? Want to know about cookies and why they are important?	This and other Web sites store information in a small text file, called a "cookie," on your hard disk. "Cookies" must be enabled in your browser for the shopping cart to work properly. Check the "Help" section of your browser to see how to do this if you are experiencing any shopping cart problems. If you do not have cookies enabled then you will not be able to put more than one items in my shopping cart at one time. Cookies contain information about you and your preferences. For example, if you inquire about a flight schedule at an airline's Web site, the site might create a cookie that contains your itinerary. Or it might only contain a record of which pages within the site you visited, to help the site customize the view for you the next time you visit. Only the information that you provide, or the choices you make while visiting a Web site, can be stored in a cookie. For example, the site cannot determine your e-mail address unless you choose to type it. Allowing a Web site to create a cookie does not give that site access to the rest of your computer, and only the site that created the cookie can read it.

•	What forms of payment do you accept?	We accept both VISA and MasterCard. You may provide the card information (card number & expiration date) as part of the checkout process. If you are uncomfortable providing this information online (even though we have a secure site), you may select the payment option of "Call or fax credit card information" and then call me with your card information. But please process your order fully as this is our means of tracking. You may also select "pay via check or money order". Your order will not processed until payment is received. Please process your shopping cart fully even when sending in a check/money order payment as this is our means of tracking.

•	Do you sell outside the United States?	Yes, we are pleased to fill international orders via VISA or MasterCard. We ship via US Air Mail. International shipping will be billed at actual cost plus a nominal handling charge (just for box and packaging materials). Insurance is available to most countries. If you elect NO INSURANCE or if your country does not support package insurance all items are shipped at "buyer's risk." There is a $20 minimum for international orders.

•	How do you handle out-of-stock situations?	Due to time constains and excessive shipping costs all out of stock items with a value of less than $5 will be deleted from your order. Over that value, if an item is not currently in stock, it will immediately be ordered for you. If the item is already on order I may wait for the item to come in to complete your order. I will inform you of these delays and give you the option canceling or waiting for these items. For further information about backorders see below.

•	What is the minimum quantity of cut yard goods that can be ordered?	The minimum length of ordered cut goods, such as ribbon, lace, silk, etc., is 1 yd, some trims the min is 2 yds. All minimums are noted under the items description. Silks may also be ordered as fat 1/8's or fat 1/4's.

•	Do you offer a catalog?	Yes I have a paper catalog that is $4.00. It has a color charts for the stock ribbons, bunka and doll hair. My website is always the most up to date though and has color charts for all items.

•	Should I use my computer screen to match colors?	NO....I try to have the scans accurate on my screen but it is impossible to match colors on all screens. They should only be used for general matching purposes. If you have a color sensitive project please ask for a swatch.

If your question is not addressed in this list, please feel free to email us for a response.

Shipping and Handling

We try our best to fill orders within 5 - 7 WORKING days of receipt. However, from time to time this is impossible. Please keep in mind that orders received after 3:00 PM Fridays may not be mailed until the following Monday or Tuesday, especially if there are special details such as insurance, overseas shipping, or other reasons they must receive direct attention from the Post Office. We do not fill orders on Sundays or holidays. Kits take 6 - 8 weeks to complete as they 100% handmade. International Shipping may take longer as a special trip to the Post Office is required.

We ship via USPS Priority Mail.

Book Orders: When possible, an order with books will be shipped Priority Mail. However, due to the recent substantial USPS Priority Mail rate increases, heavier book orders will be shipped via USPS Media Mail to save you shipping costs. The USPS quotes estimated delivery times of 3(East Coast) to 7(West Coast) days for Media Mail. My experience suggests that 7 to 14 days is more the norm. If you want the faster (2-3 days) Priority Mail for your book orders, please select Priority Mail when you checkout. Estimated delivery times always increase near holidays.

Your order will be carefully packed and shipped to your home or office. A longer period may be required for clearance of personal checks. Note that items that are ordered together are not necessarily shipped together.

Packages are shipped insured per the chart below. In case of damage, you must file a claim at your Post Office. Be sure to save all the packaging. Contact me regarding the situation so that I can provide you the insurance receipt. In case of non-delivery, I will file a claim after the waiting period (30 days) prescribed by the USPS.

Totals
From	To	Shipping Added**
$0	$36.00	$4.70
$36.01	$45.00	$5.00
$45.01	$70.00	$5.45
$70.01	$100.00	$5.85
$101.01	$150.00	$6.45
$150.01	$300.00	$6.85
$300.01	$500.00	$7.85
$500.01	above	$8.25 + $1.00 for each additional $200

**An additional shipping charge of $0.50 will be added for every doll kit.

Totals
From	To	Insurance Added
$45.00	$50.00	$1.30
$50.01	$100.00	$2.20
$100.01	above	$2.20 + $1.00 for each additional $100

We try our best to have all merchandise in stock. However, sometimes we have exceptional demand for some items which may lead to a slight delay in shipment or the manufacturer is backordered the item. In this case, you will be advised of the expected delivery date and given the opportunity to agree to the delay or cancel that portion of the order.

All International shipments are sent via Air Mail. Shipping will be charged per the US Postal Service fees. For estimated International Rates follow this link to the US Postal Service International rate calculator http://ircalc.usps.gov/. All orders over $50 will be sent insured unless Buyer declines. Insurance is available to most countries. If you elect NO INSURANCE or if your country does not support package insurance all items are shipped at "buyer's risk." Some countries my require insurance on lesser amounts and will be sent registered. I will not know the exact shipping amount until the order is packed.

Backorders

If an out of stock item is valued less than $5 it will be deleted from your order. No backorder will result. Backorders may take 20 or more business days to arrive from the manufacturer or distributor and are shipped to you upon arrival here. Even if the price of the item has increased, you will be charged at the original price at which you ordered it. If there is an expected than longer delay in receiving our stock then the be deleted from you order and you will not be charged. All backorders are shipped at our expense. The only exemption to this is books as they are to heavy to ship at no charge. I will send you a note when this comes up. If the cost of the items being backordered is less than $10.00, the charge for them will show up on your initial shipment. If the cost is more than $10.00 we will charge your credit card when we ship the items. If you do not wish to have items backordered, please click the cancel backorder button while in the checkout process and out of stock items will be deleted from your order.

If you want your supplies sent separately from your kits then you will be charged shipping on the kits at the time they ship. You will not be charged for the kits until they ship. If you have paid via check your check will not be deposited until the kits are ready.

For International orders all out of stock merchandise will be deleted from your order. I am sorry I cannot send backorders at no charge.

Privacy Policy

We are sensitive to the private nature of information you provide to us over the Internet. Our Privacy Policy is designed to maximize your ability to protect your personal, private information while at the same time giving you the opportunity to obtain interesting and useful information, products and services via our newsletter. When you register on our site and purchase products you will be providing personal information to us. Personal information includes your name, phone number, address, e-mail and other information by which you can be personally identified. This information will not be shared with anyone else.

Your credit card information is passed to us via a secure channel called a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This high-grade encryption ensures that no one can intercept your credit card information while it is in transit from your computer to our web server.

Your personal information will NEVER be sold. I hate Spam as much as you do.

Return Policy

Our desire is that you be fully satisfied with your order. If you are not happy, please contact us by phone or email for a return authorization. We will generally accept returns within 14 days if all items are in original condition. Sorry, we cannot accept returns on copyrighted materials (books, patterns, etc.), kits or cut yard goods unless defective.

We have the right to refuse to accept returns that are not in their original excellent condition. These items will be sent back to you.

Large special order quantities are not returnable unless defective.

A refund or credit to your account will be made upon receipt of the goods. Sorry, we cannot refund shipping or handling costs. You must pay for return shipping. Collect shipping will be refused. Do not return goods without prior authorization.

For return authorization, send us an email. Explain your reason for wanting to return an item. Please reference your Order ID#. We will provide you the shipping address for the return package.