How do I order regular items? 
You can now purchase the shop items you want through our store, simply click on the item you are interested in and you will be taken to the product page. You can then pay with PayPal. Once you have paid your items will be made and dispatched within 10 working days.
But what if I don’t want to use the site?
Don’t worry! If you have an Etsy account you can order through there (please be aware the cost will be higher due to Esty fees) I also sell through Amazon Handmade and eBay, you can find the links to these at the bottom of the page.
Can you make me a custom embroidery item?
Sadly at this time I am unable to do full custom items. I can however change the set colours of items, from those shown to something else, please just email me at: thecuriohamster@gmail.com.
What forms of payment can I use through The Curious Hamster shop?
At the moment I can only accept PayPal on the site. If you wish to use another from of payment you can do through my online markert place shops.
At shows and events we can accept Cash payment, credit/debit cards, as well as PayPal payments on the day.
What currency do you work in?
Great British Pounds (£/GBP). If you need to convert our currencies into your local currency; google “Currency converter”. The online market places should detect your local currency and adjust the page.
Do you do layaway?
Sadly not at this time.
Will you hold this item for me for X amount of days/weeks/months?
As all items are made to order, I cannot hold items for you. If you do not pay for your items within 7 days your order will be cancelled.
Do you ship internationally?
At this time the online store can only ship within the United Kindom. I hope to open this up at some point in the future, however the oline market place stores will ship to most contries.
How much will shipping cost me?
All items are sent with Royal Mail standard second class post. I do charge a small fee for packing materals.
How quickly do you ship?
This depends on what you order and when. Normal items will be made and shipped within 10 days of the payment being received by me.
Please note I do not ship on national or international holidays. When your item has been shipped you will receive a shipping notice. Please check the approximate shipping dates for items before you order, as items are handmade and made to order.
Why do orders take so long to be made?
Being a member of the chronic illness club I have to give myself a 10 day turnaround. All items are made and processed by myself and all the hand finishing is literally done by my own hand! Sadly some days my hands won’t cooperate and I have to take a day off, so to keep everything running smoothly I give myself extra time to make. If there is something you need faster, I might be able to help if I’m having a good week.
I haven’t received an email shipping notice, but my items have arrived! Whats going on?!
I send all of the emails by hand, none are automatic messages. Because of this, sometimes our postal system is faster than I am and the items have gotten to you before I’ve had a chance to send the email. This is particularly true at busy times of the year like Christmas. Other time, it might be that the email has simply gotten lost. I try my best to ensure that all emails go out as soon as possible to ensure that you know when to expect your package.
What about refunds or returns?
Refunds are available on change of mind, or if your item has arrived damaged, change of mind items will need to be ruturned to me for a full refund. With damaged items I might request a return depending on if I can fix the item.
You have 14 working days to contact me about a return of an item, please just eamil me at: thecuriohamster@gmail.com. YOu then have 14 days to send the item back to me and I will then issue a full refund once I have the item on hand.
If you were sent the wrong item by accident, you can send it back for either a replacement or a refund.
What about items lost in the mail?
Items do very occasionally go lost in transit, it is a rare occurrence, but it can happen.
If your item is lost in the mail, please email us at; thecuriohamster@gmail.com and I will try to take it up with Royal Mail first and then proceed from there, I will keep you updated at all times during this process.
How do I get in touch?
Email: thecuriohamster@gmail.com
You may also be able to contact us through my social media; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Etsy, etc. You can find the links at the very bottom of the page.
I have emailed you but not received a reply, whats going on?
Either the email has gone missing in cyberspace, or I have not yet had time to reply. If several days goes by with no reply, try re-sending the email and I will get back to you. If only a day or two has gone by then it’s likely just down to the fact that I just haven’t had time to answer.
I will answer all emails within 24 hours.
I may not be able to answer emails on weekends or national/international holidays. I ask that our customers read each email from us carefully, so as to not miss any information that may be vital to your inquiry.
Whats with the Hamster?
Tam the Hamster is our shop mascot and CEO! Check out the About Us page to find out more about Tam’s story. All our Tam the Tiny Hamster illustrations were created by the lovely PaperPlate Art.
What materials do you use?
The threads I use are a mix of the brands Madeira, Isacord, WonderFil and Marathon. The treads are all rayon and I use them for the durability and shine. If you want to know the colour and brand used in any item, just drop me a message and I can let you know.
The fabrics are a mix of cotton and polycotton, again for the durability as I want all my items to last and look good.
The stabilisers are made by Madeira and I use a “stitch and tear” and a dissolvable type.
Where do you get your materials from?
I try to keep everything as local as I can, to cut down on my climate impact. All the threads come from UK wholesalers, the fabric comes from a local independent fabric store and the stabilisers come from another local independent store.
However all of my materials are manufactured overseas and sadly there is no one in the UK manufacturing thread and fabric.
Are you interested in coming to our event/show/con?
I would love to attend shows and events as possible, and have plans to do some in the future. However I am limited by distance and my chronic illness makes travelling and making hard sometimes.
GDPR and you.
Information I Collect
To fulfil your order, you must provide me with certain information (which you authorised PayPal to provide to me), such as your name, email address, postal address, payment information, and the details of the product that you’re ordering. You may also choose to provide me with additional personal information (for a custom order of jewellery, for example), if you contact me directly.
Why I Need Your Information and How I Use It
I rely on a number of legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:
as needed to provide my services, such as when I use your information to fulfil your order, to settle disputes, or to provide customer support;
if necessary to comply with a legal obligation or court order or in connection with a legal claim, such as retaining information about your purchases if required by tax law; and
as necessary for the purpose of my legitimate interests, if those legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights or interests, such as 1) providing and improving my services. I use your information to provide the services you requested and in my legitimate interest to improve my services; and 2) Compliance with the PayPal Seller Policy and Terms of Use. I use your information as necessary to comply with my obligations under the PayPal Seller Policy and Terms of Use.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Information about my customers is important to my business. I share your personal information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:
PayPal. I share information with PayPal as necessary to provide you my services and comply with my obligations under both the PayPal Seller Policy and PayPal Terms of Use.
Service providers. I engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide services to my shop, such as delivery companies. I will share your personal information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these services.
Compliance with laws. I may collect, use, retain, and share your information if I have a good faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to: (a) respond to legal process or to government requests; (b) enforce my agreements, terms and policies; (c) prevent, investigate, and address fraud and other illegal activity, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property, and safety of my customers, or others.
Data Retention
I retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with my services and as described in my Privacy Policy. However, I may also be required to retain this information to comply with my legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce my agreements. I generally keep your data for the following time period: 5 years.
Transfers of Personal Information Outside the EU
I may store and process your information through third-party hosting services in the US and other jurisdictions. As a result, I may transfer your personal information to a jurisdiction with different data protection and government surveillance laws than your jurisdiction. If I am deemed to transfer information about you outside of the EU, I rely on Privacy Shield as the legal basis for the transfer, as Google Cloud is Privacy Shield certified.
Your Rights
If you reside in certain territories, including the EU, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. I describe these rights below:
Access. You may have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you by contacting me using the contact information below.
Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict my use of, or delete your personal information. Absent exceptional circumstances (like where I am required to store data for legal reasons) I will generally delete your personal information upon request.
Object. You can object to (i) my processing of some of your information based on my legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from me after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, I will delete your personal information unless I have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.
Complain. If you reside in the EU and wish to raise a concern about my use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with your local data protection authority.
