WELCOME

We source beautiful beads and fabrics from Africa, paying the gifted craftspeople their asking price upfront. Working mostly in small villages where there are simply no jobs, their craft is a lifeline, without which they would have no income, and so your purchase helps them earn a living.

ORDERING

After submitting an order, you will receive an email with details of the product(s) you have ordered. Please note this email is an acknowledgement only and not an acceptance of your order. All orders placed are subject to acceptance. If your order includes products which are not available from stock, we will email you and issue a full refund.

PAYMENT METHODS

Card payment through PayPal or Stripe is the easiest method to pay even if you have no account with them.  If you would like to make a bank transfer, please request details by email.  Orders paid by bank transfer may be delayed as payment has to clear first.

Shop in confidence: your card details are handled by PayPal and/or Stripe.

Your delivery details and chosen products will be collected by the shopping basket system on this website. At the final stage of the checkout process you will be directed to a PayPal or Stripe secure web server to make your payment securely. Upon successful payment you will be directed back to our website for your receipt.

FOREIGN BANK TRANSFERS

Due to high bank charges on foreign transfers (outside the UK) if you opt to pay by this means, please select to pay the cost of the transfer.  For the same reason we will not be able to issue foreign currency refunds for payments made by bank transfer.

PRICES AND PAYMENT

Prices may change at any time prior to, but not after, acceptance of your order. We cannot accept your order until you have paid for it in full.

By using a credit/debit card to pay for your order, you confirm that the card being used is yours. All credit/debit card holders are subject to validation checks and authorisation by the card issuer. If the issuer of your card refuses to authorise payment then we will not accept your order and we will not be liable for any delay or non-delivery and we are not obliged to inform you of the reason for the refusal. We are not responsible for your card issuer or bank charging you as a result of our processing of your credit/debit card payment in accordance with your order.

In the unlikely event that the price of an item has been incorrectly advertised on the website, we will contact you by email. If you are not happy to proceed with the order at the correct price, we will cancel it. We are not obliged to supply products at the incorrect price

CANCELLATION

Cancellations need to be made as soon as possible, ideally within one hour of order being placed.  Orders marked as in progress have been packaged ready and to go out, and cannot be cancelled. Once sent out, orders cannot be cancelled.

For fabric orders, we cannot accept cancellations once your cloth has been cut (and we will let you know if this is the case or not if you request to cancel).

RETURNS

You have 14 days after receipt of your order to return an item.  Unless we have sent the wrong item or it has been damaged in transit, the customer pays return postage. Your refund will not include outward postage unless item is faulty or the wrong one. This applies even if you change your mind, failed to read item details correctly, your address is incorrect or your parcel was unclaimed/courier could not deliver it.

Fabrics cut to size cannot be returned unless I have sent a wrong or faulty item.

Silk, leather and any other beading cord cut to size cannot be returned unless we have sent a wrong or faulty item.

Sorry we do not accept returns outside the 14 day period.

Please notify us first by email if you need to send an item back.

Please ensure items are packed securely, and obtain proof of posting so that in case parcel goes missing you can claim from carrier. On any customs declaration forms please indicate your return are “personal belongings” in accordance HMRC guidelines so they do not attract VAT or customs duty.

FREE DELIVERY RETURNS

Return of free delivery items is at the expense of customer: customer pays return postage.

REFUNDS

Refunds will be made by the same means you paid us once we are satisfied with the condition of the returned item(s). Your refund will not include outward or return postage unless item is faulty or the wrong one. Card payment fees are also not returned (as the companies do not refund them to us).  This applies even if you change your mind, failed to read item details correctly or to collect securely sent items from carrier depot.

If customer refuses to pay destination taxes or their address is wrong and parcel is returned we will refund them minus:

  1.  cost of postage and packaging
  2. payment processing fee (payment processing companies do not refund these fees when we refund your order)

DISCOUNT REFUNDS

If you received a discount based on the size of your order, this will be taken into account in the event we need to issue a refund for returned goods.

DELIVERY CHARGES

The cost of delivery is based on the weight and size of your package.  We do not make a profit on this service; charges go towards the actual shipment plus a small amount to cover packaging.

POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS

Sometimes when you buy several items, you may end up paying more postage than you should.  When that happens we will refund some money back to your account after posting your parcel.

PACKAGING

In doing our bit to save our planet’s resources we will sometimes reuse packaging to send your items without compromising on quality.

TAXES

Customers are responsible for paying all taxes applicable in their own country.

If customer refuses to pay these taxes and parcel is returned we will refund you minus:

  1.  cost of postage and packaging
  2. payment processing fee (payment processing companies do not refund these fees when we refund your order)

PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy describes how and when I collect, use, and share information when you purchase an item from me, contact me, or use my services in any other way through www.africanbeadsandfabrics.com or its related sites and services.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that we do not own or control.

PERSONAL INFORMATION I COLLECT

To fulfil your order, you must provide us with certain information your name, email address, postal address, and the details of the product that you’re ordering. We do not see any of your financial information. When you order custom jewellery or other item, you may choose and need to provide us with additional personal information either by the options in the listing or by contacting us directly.

WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT

From the information you give we print your name and address to send your order, details which are then deleted. We do not save or keep this information. Your parcel then goes on to the delivery company. Proof of postage (receipts for accounting records) has only your address and post code, not your name, and we are obliged to keep for 6 years in in line with accounting requirements.

For some secure delivery services, the company requires your phone number and you will be asked for this via email explaining why. When you give it, it is printed on the address label should the carrier need to notify you about your delivery.

In the course of my email correspondence with you we may need to contact you again, for example if an out of stock item becomes available again. We will ask your permission first and will only email you if you agree.

Apart from the purposes outlined above, I do not use your data for anything else.

THE LEGAL BASIS ON WHICH WE COLLECT, SHARE AND USE YOUR INFORMATION

Why We Need Your Information and How We Use It

We rely on a number of legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:

  • As needed to provide our services, such as when we use your information to fulfil your order, to settle disputes, or to provide customer support;
  • when you have provided your affirmative consent, you may revoke it at any time, such as agreeing to be emailed about new stock
  • 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 our legitimate interests, if those legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights or interests, such as providing and improving our services. We use your information to provide the services you requested and in my legitimate interest to improve our services.

INFORMATION SHARING AND DISCLOSURE

Information about our customers is important to our business. We share your personal information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:

  • Delivery services as outlined above.
  • Compliance with laws. We 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

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with our services and as described in our Privacy Policy. However, we may also be required to retain this information to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. We generally keep your data for the following time periods: 6 years.

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. These rights are described below:

  • Access. You may have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the contact information below.
  • Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict our use of, or delete your personal information. In the absence of exceptional circumstances (like where we am required to store data for legal reasons) we will generally delete your personal information upon request.
  • Object. You can object to (i) our processing of some of your information based on our legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from us after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, we will delete your personal information unless we 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 our 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.

HOW TO CONTACT US

For purposes of EU data protection law, I, Grace Abankwa, am the data controller of your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me at africanbeadsandfarics@gmail.com. Alternately, you may write to us at:

African Beads & Fabrics, P O Box 710, Swansea SA1 9QG, UK