Store policies
Shipping policy
I ship orders Monday - Friday. I use Royal Mail 1st class post for sending standard orders within the UK. This service does not offer tracking information but is usually fast and reliable. For commission/high value orders I may use Royal Mail 1st class signed for.
International orders are shipped using Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed, for the additional traceability and higher compensation values it provides.
Shipping costs
Please note my store uses specific shipping costs for different products within my store. This is to avoid unnecessarily high postage costs for items such as greetings cards, flat art prints etc, and to ensure sufficient postage is paid for items that require 3D packaging such as A3 alphabets, boxed decorations etc.
For orders that include multiple different product types, the online shop may charge separate shipping charges for each product. It is not possible to automatically combine those charges at this time, however please rest assured that if the amount you pay for shipping is over the amount required, I will refund you the excess shipping cost.
Order fulfilment
In-stock products: usually 1-2 days from receipt of the order.
Commissioned products: I will usually be in touch about when you can expect to receive your order, but in general I ask customers to allow 2 weeks from receipt of the order + information/photos required to produce the illustration. In busy periods it may take up to 4 weeks to produce the commission and receive it back from the printers. I will communicate with you if I expect there will be a longer timeframe than usual to produce the illustration, and I may ship other parts of an order separately to avoid delay.
I endeavour to print multiple illustrations at a time where possible, in order to minimise printing and postage costs with the printers - printing single art prints is the most expensive way to do it!
If I can send multiple illustrations to print in one go, within a sensible timeframe, I will do. If this will incur a small delay to your order I will get in touch with you.
Clothing and mug orders
Clothing/mug orders and returns are fulfilled and shipped by Teemill. I have no involvement in those processes but please be assured that Teemill have excellent customer communication and order fulfilment timescales. Find out all about Teemill’s store policies via the footer links here helenleslieillustrator.teemill.com
Last-minute orders
Please get in touch with me helen@helenleslie.com if you’d like to place an order with a short turnaround time - I may be able to fulfil this for you, please ask.
If it isn’t possible to complete a commissioned order in time for your deadline (birthday gift, Christmas etc) then I can suggest pre-printed alternatives or a gift voucher for a commission.
Local pick-up/delivery
I am based in Liverton, Devon.
If customers are nearby then I welcome in-person pick-up (or delivery may be possible depending on your location). Please arrange this before ordering via email helen@helenleslie.com, and I will give you a code to remove shipping costs at checkout.
If pick-up is arranged after ordering and shipping fees were paid, I am happy to refund the shipping cost.
Returns policy
Please email me in the first instance to action a return helen@helenleslie.com.
Returns are accepted on non-commission items only, within 30 days of purchase. Items must be returned in original packaging and in ‘as new’ undamaged condition, ie I must be able to sell them.
Return shipping costs are at the customer’s expense. I will refund the cost of the product minus the original shipping costs when the product has been received in an acceptable condition.
Please contact me helen@helenleslie.com to action the return and I will let you know where to post the return.
I should be able to action a refund as soon as the returned product is received by me in an acceptable condition; customers should expect to receive the refund within 1-2 working days depending on the payment provider/bank.
Damaged goods
If your order is damaged in transit or appears to be damaged when you open it, I will be happy to refund the full cost of your order including the shipping costs, on receipt of an email and photo showing the damage. If required, and if available, I will send you a new product (non-commission items).
Please email me as soon as you are aware that your order seems to be damaged helen@helenleslie.com.
Commissioned items
Commissioned, bespoke or personalised orders are not eligible for returns.
If you are unhappy with the quality of your commissioned order item, please contact me via email helen@helenleslie.com in the first instance.
If your item is damaged in transit or you believe the quality is unsatisfactory, please contact me to discuss.
If it is possible to send you a replacement of a commissioned item, for example a re-print of an illustration, I will be happy to do so if the order received is not in a satisfactory condition.
Occasionally issues may occur during the printing process, eg a scratch to the surface of a print. This is out of my control. I will communicate with you if a delay ensues due to reprinting. If I decide an order needs to be reprinted due to an issue such as described above, I will absorb any costs incurred for this.
Errors in commissioned items
If your order contains an error, for example a name misspelled or other error, please contact me helen@helenleslie.com in the first instance.
It may be possible to amend and re-print the illustration for you. If the error was my mistake there will be no charge for this and I will absorb any costs incurred. If it is a customer error, for example the name provided was misspelled in the original order, there will be a charge to cover the cost of printing and postage (approximately £10-20 depending on product).
In a nutshell
Your satisfaction is of the utmost importance to me, so I would encourage you to contact me helen@helenleslie.com if you have any concerns regarding the quality of your order once received.
Privacy policy
Analytics
This website collects data to generate site analytics, including:
Information about your browser, network, and device
Webpages you visited prior to coming to this website (eg a referring site that mentions my product or links to my website)
Your IP address
Geography (country only)
This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:
Clicks
Internal links
Pages visited
Timestamps
This information is shared with Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.
Cookies
This website uses cookies and similar technologies, which are small files or pieces of text that download to a device when a visitor accesses a website or app.
These functional and required cookies allow Squarespace, our hosting platform, to securely serve this website to you.
Analytics and performance cookies are used on this website, as described above, only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. This website uses analytics and performance cookies to view site traffic, activity, and other data.
Online shop
When you buy something on this website, we collect only personal information from you necessary to fulfil the order (and/or contact you in the event of a query with that order). We collect information such as your:
Billing and shipping address
Details relating to your purchase (for example, name required to be illustrated)
Email address
Name
Phone number
Our payment processor(s) [Stripe Payments and/or Paypal] will also collect payment information from you in order to fulfil your order. You can read their privacy policies on their websites.
As you go through checkout, this site may auto-complete your shipping and billing address by sharing what you type with the Google Places API and returning suggestions to you to improve your checkout experience.
Abandoned cart communication
You’ll receive an automated email within 24 hours after you abandon your shopping cart, if all of the following occur:
You enter your email address at checkout
You add a product which is in stock to your shopping cart
You close your browser or leave this website without completing your purchase
The email will link back to this website, where you can pick up where you left off and complete your purchase. You can unsubscribe from these messages at the bottom of the email if preferred.
Marketing communications
You will only receive marketing emails from me regarding my products, services, sales or special offers, if you have subscribed to my newsletters by entering your email on my website form or online shop checkout where indicated for the purpose of subscribing to my newsletters.
Newsletters and emails are only written and sent out by me (Helen Leslie). No details or subscriber information is shared with any other person.
Subscriber information is never used for any purpose other than Helen Leslie Illustrator email newsletters.
You can unsubscribe from marketing newsletters by clicking the link at the bottom of the email at any time. This will remove your name from the subscribers list and future emails will not be sent to you. This does not remove your email address or name from the customer area of my online shop if you have previously made a purchase or make a purchase in the future.
Contact information
Your name and email information is stored by Squarespace and/or Mailchimp for the purposes of building a subscriber email list and sending marketing emails on my behalf.
I use Squarespace, my email marketing provider, in order to fulfil marketing emails. Your contact information may be shared with Mailchimp in order to fulfil marketing emails.
I may also use Mailchimp to manage and send emails on my behalf. Your contact information may be shared with Mailchimp in order to fulfil marketing emails.
No 3rd party, including Squarespace or Mailchimp, will send emails to subscribers without my knowledge or consent, email newsletters are actioned manually by myself but may be scheduled ahead of time.