Alecrim Carmim

Terms of Service

The terms below have very important information in regards of our Regular commission slots, quote submission, Artistic Liberty slots and our general policies for production, communication, payment and delivery.

The following are valid from March 15, 2021 on. Please take an extra minute to read everything before contacting us about our terms of service.

AGE RESTRICTIONS

Clients must be at least 18 years old to send us an application since we do not accept orders from third party- even parents or legal guardians over the age of 18.

PAYMENT PLATFORMS

We only accept international payments through PayPal at this time. For Brazilian clients we can discuss other payment methods during the quote evaluation process.

PAYMENT PLANS

We accept Payment plans on Regular Commissions, Artistic Liberty Commissions and Auctions at the Dealers Den for values over 2500USD.

Every Payment Plan goes as follows:

The first 30% down payment is nonrefundable and has to be paid up front;
The rest of the project’s total price can be paid in monthly instalments of at least 500USD. A set date for invoices will be discussed during the quote process with the client;
A convenience fee is added to the final project value, depending on the number of installments for the payment (each case will be discussed beforehand with the client and may vary from project to project);
Payment plans can't be longer than 10 months;
Skipping payments two months in a row will result in a fee of 30% installment value for each due month delayed. This fee must be paid before the next installment is covered.
If the fursuit production was already started and the payment is delayed, the project will be removed from the queue until the payment is regularized. Have in mind that delayed payments will make the production and deliver time take longer.

The first 30% placed down is nonrefundable and considered a payment over our time, design process / materials and advertising costs. We do not accept refunds for instalments already paid.

We understand that problems may occur in the client's life and they might not be able to pay a certain month on the right date. If that’s the case, we ask to be informed as soon as possible so we can accommodate the situation and decide the best course of action together with the client.

Payment Plan projects have an estimated production starting time of when at least 60% of the total project value is paid (the queue order has to be taken in consideration and this is just an estimative).

Have in mind that projects paid with a Payment Plan will only be shipped when the full payment is done.

PREMADE SUITS AND AUCTIONS

Our premades are auctioned at The Dealers Den only, and any extra information will be provided through Alecrim Carmim’s official social media accounts (alecrimcarmim@gmail.com, Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook).

If the auction winner gives up on the item, it will be offered to the second highest bidder. If there is no interest from other clients, the item will be re-listed and a new auction will take place in the near future.

We do not accept refunds or returns for auction items or premades.

Our default shipping option is Economic International Shipping and has insurance for 30% of the product’s total value (we do not send packages without insurance). In case of loss or any problems caused during the shipping process, the studio is responsible for either offering a refund for the item or providing another option for the lost item.

The shipping method can be upgraded by the client only if they pay the full shipping price and insurance for the upgrade. Doing so is no longer covered by our free shipping convenience.

We are not responsible for fees or taxes that may incur on the package after shipping from customs or otherwise.

REGULAR COMMISSIONS: HOW TO ORDER

When we open for Regular Commissions, we'll provide a Quote Form (on Google Docs) for anyone who wants to fill for our queue at that time.

We will only analyse entries that provide us with all the character production information (a character reference with at least a back and a front poses + measurements and detailed descriptions of each part of the suit -as colors, length of handpaw cuffs, length of tail, foot size, etc). If an application doesn't receive an answer from us in a business week, that means some information provided by the client was mistaken / incomplete and a new entry must be sent for our consideration on said queue.

At the moment we are a very small team and it's not possible to attend to incomplete / failed commission requests due to the amount of messages we receive daily. Remember that we won't take quotes sent anywhere else but from the Quote Form link provided when we're open for commissions.

Our Quote Forms double as Quote Request and Order Placement; information provided won't be shared anywhere or used outside the business transaction with the customer.

Materials and design details may be discussed in this step and any extras need to be decided before the quote is fully approved. We won't start any kind of production (sketches, character models; digital or physical) before the commission quote slot is approved and paid by the client.

Due to COVID-19 our queues might be open on unregular times during the year, depending on production speed and delays on materials / shipping.

ARTISTIC LIBERTY COMMISSIONS: HOW TO ORDER

We’re always open for Artistic Liberty fursuit projects. Just fill our Artistic Liberty Quote and we’ll provide more information about the project.

We will only analyse entries that provide us with all the character production information (some visual references like a moodboard, photos, etc + detailed descriptions of each part of the suit -as colors, length of handpaw cuffs, length of tail, foot size, etc). If an application doesn't receive an answer from us in a business week, that means some information provided by the client was mistaken / incomplete and a new entry must be sent for our consideration.

Our Quote Forms double as Quote Request and Order Placement; information provided won't be shared anywhere or used outside the business transaction with the customer.

Materials and design details may be discussed in this step and any extras need to be decided before the quote is fully approved. Aside from the first watermarked sketch for client consideration, we won't start any kind of production (sketches, character models; digital or physical) before the commission quote slot is approved and paid by the client.

Have in mind that providing us a mood board, character specifications and extra information / visual reference during the quote process does not give the client any form of ownership over the concept created for the commission for as long as the project is not approved by both parties and paid.

Concepts created for those quotes are property of the studio until purchased by the client and can't be used/ shared/ distributed without our consent before the commission is paid. We reserve ourselves the rights to blacklist clients who disrespect these terms.

Artistic Liberty quotes might take longer to be delivered since those projects are made in between the production of our main queues.

ARTISTIC LIMITATIONS

We will analyze each application and prioritise the ones closer to our designs production and portfolio interests when picking the projects for our queue. The models provided will be adapted to our artstyle and sent to client's approval before actual production is started (on both Regular Commissions and Artistic Liberty Commissions).

We reserve ourselves the rights to not move forward with quotes that are incomplete or in disagreement with any of the terms of this document.

For short, these are the things we DO:

Cartoon heads and extras (multiple eyes, horns, etc);
Plush style designs;
Kemono style designs;
3D Eyes (follow me!);
Short, mid long or extra long cartoon tails;
Puffy / Cloven Hooves Handpaws (mid or long sleeves);
Puffy / Cloven Hooves Feet Paws (mid or long sleeves);
Wings (Cute or Edgy designs);
Mini partials (head, handpaws and tail);
Partials (head, handpaws, feet paws and tail).

And the things we DON'T:

Realistic or semi-toon designs;
Costumes for sexual purposes and related modifications;
Copyrighted characters (ex. Sonic, Mario, Digimon);
Copyrighted content reproductions (ex. logotypes, prop replicas, cosplay costume, etc.)
Fan characters (ex. Pokemon, FNAF, etc.) or species from existing, owned media;
Copies of someone else’s character;
Copies of other makers style;
Moving jaw (this kind of pattern requires a tight fit).

Since we’re still learning new techniques and testing designs, at the moment we’re not producing fullsuits and body suits for Regular Commission slots.

REGULAR COMMISSIONS: QUOTES AND PAYMENT

Regular Commission quotes are only valid when we are open for commissions. When our Commission Quote form (Google Docs) is closed, quotes sent and not approved become void. Feel free to send a new one as we open for a new queue but have in mind that prices might change from previous quote evaluations.

We do not work with “first come, first served”, since we prioritize orders that fit our style and Terms of Service the best + materials and production restrictions.

Price is influenced by the number of shades of color, markings, complexity of the character, materials used, and special add-ons such as spikes, horns, wings, and so on. When filling out a quote be sure to include what additional features (if any) are desired for the project.

Once the costume quote is approved, the client must be prepared to provide a 30% non-refundable down-payment before further communication and production begins. Our invoices are valid for 72 business hours and after that period the invoice will be void and the project will be retired from our queue.

After payment is made, the project is added to our Trello and weekly updates are sent to the client on our progress through the queue. The remaining 70% of the project price has to be paid when the project is finished and ready for shipping.

ARTISTIC LIBERTY COMMISSIONS: QUOTES AND PAYMENT

For Artistic Liberty projects the payment is made in the same way as for Regular Commissions: after the first watermarked sketch and quote is approved by the client, we’ll send an invoice for the 30% (non-refundable) down-payment. Our invoices are valid for 72 business hours and after that period the invoice will be void and the project will be retired from our queue.

Artistic Liberty designs are only sold with our fursuit projects (at the moment we do not accept concept art only commissions). If the client doesn't go through with the Commission Quote, the design created for this kind of project will be kept in our premade library and might be used in Premade future designs.

A second invoice for the remaining 70% payment will be sent when the project is complete and the fursuit is ready for shipping (that usually takes from 4 to 6 months). We can hold on to an unpaid complete project for up to 3 months and after that the rights to the produced fursuit parts and character are kept by the studio for these kind of commission.

PRODUCTION AND COMPLETION

The queue for project status can be followed on Trello, since it’s our main business platform for that kind of information. We also keep our social media updated with all production made on projects and weekly collective feedback is sent to all clients providing detailed information on each project status.

Our creative process for Regular Commissions has 3 main steps:

Character Style Adaptations and Colors

After the client’s quote approval and payment, we’ll send some sketches of the character in our style, and might send some fur fabric photos to make sure we can deliver the closest rendering to the client’s needs. At this point, the client may make up to 2 major alterations on the design/colors.

Foam Base and WIPs

We’ll send some photos of the character foam base or/and WIPs for consideration. The client can make 2 alterations on this step. Keep in mind that after the production was approved and started last minute changes can’t be done on the main design of the product.

Final Touches

We’ll send some pictures of the product at the final step. At this point, the piece is done but some small modifications or add ons might be accepted. Have in mind that some requests may increase the final price or just be declined by the studio.

Estimated completion dates will be based on when the commission is paid off and it’s position in the Commission Queue. Completion dates are subject to change. We usually take about 6-8 months to finish an order, but this deadline may vary due to communication (lack of payment, delayed feedback from customer during production, etc) and/or material shipping delays.

Due to Covid 19 our deliveries will be slightly delayed due to materials and shipping delays that are out of our control.

SHIPPING

We offer free Economic International Shipping for Mini partials and Partial orders. We do not offer free shipping for fursuit parts and/or props commissions only.

As soon as the package is sent to the client, the tracking number will be provided and we'll keep in touch with the customer for the whole delivery time.

Our default shipping option is Economic International Shipping and has insurance for 30% of the product’s total value (we do not send packages without insurance). In case of loss or any problems caused during the shipping process, the studio is responsible for either offering a total refund for the item or providing another option for the lost item. We are not responsible for fees or taxes that may incur on the package after shipping from customs or otherwise.

If the customer fails to provide shipping information within 3 months of project completion, the product will be retained and become property of the studio (we will make design modifications and sell it as premade to cover project production and storage costs). We do not refund for project abandonment in our studio.

COMMUNICATION

Despite having different social media accounts where we share our creations, for business subjects we use our official e-mail (alecrimcarmim@gmail.com). Customers must keep in contact with us during the creation of the fursuit.

If no contact is made within 3 months once the product is completed, the suit will be modified and sold off. In that case, no refund will be sent unless Alecrim Carmim is contacted in less than 3 months of the project abandonment by the client at our studio.

Refunds will be given based on a case by case analysis.

We do have a blacklist and reserve ourselves the rights to decline service if by any means communication becomes a problem (client providing repeatedly vague replies, messages taking more than a week delay to be answered by the client, fearmonger behavior, constant disrespectful language, continually delays caused by client side, etc).

PORTFOLIO AND MATERIALS

Most of our creations and processes are shared on our social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook) to spread the love. Since promotion is an important part of the business, we won’t be taking secret commissions.

Our quality is top priority and some of our processes take longer than others. For that reason we do not take rush orders and we do not work with pre set deadlines.

Unless stated by the client, our materials are faux fur fabrics available to us at the studio (from brazilian suppliers and BigZ Fabrics). The client supplying the materials does not change the price of the final order. If a specific color or material is desired to be used in the project, we ask in advance for that information so the materials can be ordered and extra fees can may be charged to help with shipping expenses and custom taxes of imported materials.

All our projects are made from scratch at the studio and we're proud of creating patterns and designs of our own. We do not share Alecrim Carmim's intellectual property outside business transactions and we do not take kindly to pushy behavior (spamming multiple questions about techniques and detailed explanations on our social media / business email, aggressive stalking, etc).

We reserve ourselves the rights to block and blacklist people who can't respect our creative and production privacy.

WARRANTY, REPAIRS AND RETURNS

Though we ask all of our clients to take extra care to regularly clean and maintain their costumes to make sure they last as long as possible, we understand that accidents happen.

All costumes come with a 30 day warranty on arrival. After the 30 days, repairs will cost a fee depending on the severity of the work. Our warranty covers any fabrication defects (photos will be solicited so we can analyse each case) and won’t apply for rough use of the product or any problems caused by third parties (weather, delivery services, etc).

The warranty is valid for the first owner of the project only (as stated in the Warranty digital file that comes with each Alecrim Carmim suit). If by any means the project ownership changes during the warranty period, the benefit becomes void and the studio won't take responsibility over any claims of warranty or repair services.

Any modifications made by the customer or other service providers to the fursuit parts produced by Alecrim Carmim will void the warranty provided by us.

If sending in a fursuit to get alterations or repairs, all shipping costs must be paid by the client. We also require that the suit must be clean before sending our way. We refuse to work on dirty parts for cleanliness and health reasons. An extra fee for cleaning will be applied if the suit received is considered dirty by our staff.

Popped seams can be easy to fix and we’re more than willing to assist fixing these over messages if the client is not sending us the fursuit/parts for repairs.

If parts are sent to us for repairs and the owner of the suit can not be contacted during or within 3 months after repairs are made, the product will be kept, altered and sold off. We do not refund for project abandonment in our studio.

We do not take returns, since each step was made according to client’s approval and made to fit the client’s measures.

CANCELLATIONS, COMMISSION TERMINATION AND REFUNDS

If the commission must be cancelled, please contact us as soon as possible. The first 30% placed down is nonrefundable and considered a payment over our time, design process and materials.

If a refund is requested, the rest of the payment made until that point (minus the nonrefundable initial 30%) will be refunded. Work completed will remain as Alecrim Carmim property -we might make modifications to the design and re-sell as a premade piece to cover the slot costs. The studio has no claims over client designs on Regular Commission projects.

If payments are still due on a commission, and there has been no contact with the client (via e-mail or other communication provided) within 3 months, the commission will be considered terminated without refund.

Refunds will be returned in monthly payments, dependent on the amount of the refund, and is on a case-by-case basis.

An order may be terminated at any time due to breach of terms by the client. An email will be sent to the client with the termination notice and reasons, and any quotes made to the client will be voided

BLACKLIST

We reserve the rights to blacklist clients that fail to adhere to these Terms of Service. Clients on the black list will be unable to receive quotes for evaluation or purchase premade designs that we may release in the future.