How To Shop and Order
We take credit cards directly (securely on-line, or over the phone if you prefer).
We also accept direct PayPal payments. Checks are accepted for in-person purchases only (not for mail order).
It's easy to order:
Summary (details below):
- Get Shipping costs (email what you want & your shipping zip code (or Country if not USA), we email you back your shipping costs -- no obligation).
- OR for faster processing or to purchase a costume immediately (will for the most part insure YOU get it). You send payment for merchandise only, no need to contact me (unless you have questions). Using this method means you agree to pay at least Standard shipping, which I calculate from your order and you pay in a second transaction. Standard shipping in the continental US for a single costume will rarely be more than $17, normal range $10 - $15. Cost depends on weight, value, and where you are. I charge you my exact cost, plus a small handling fee, $1 - $5 depending on costume value, packaging costs, complexity of shipping (international orders, for example, require multiple forms and standing in line; the $5 fee would be for an expensive, international order). See Reserve Ordering for full details.
- Make Payment (credit card via
secure online form
or call 352-373-4991; or
PayPal ). International orders have slightly different procedures, see "How To Pay - International Orders," below.
- You're Done!
- Order processing time (time it takes to process, check/prep/any minor fixes required on your costume, and get it shipped) is 1 to (rarely) 7 days, unless you are told otherwise.
How To Shop and Order, Details:
Get Exact Shipping Cost Quote
We will send you the cost of shipping (no obligation for asking).
Email to 
, or call (352)373-4991 (leave a voice message with the information below).
Include:
- Item numbers AND, please, title/brief descriptions of items you are ordering.
- The zip code or, if outside the USA, the country we're shipping to. Note: if we are shipping to a P.O. Box charges are different, please let us know or your amount will be wrong.
- If you are leaving your message on the phone, leave your phone number including area code and also preferably your email address (speak slowly!).
- We will email you the exact costs for standard shipping (domestic). If you want faster shipping let us know in your initial email. For international orders we send you costs of all options available for your situation.
How To Shop and Order, Details:
Shipping Carriers and Rates
USA and Territories
- Continental USA: Regular shipping to physical addresses is via Federal Express Ground. USPS Priority Mail is used for PO Boxes, Hawaii, Alaska, or if you request it. Expedited shipping is via USPS Priority Mail or FedEx's express services; request expedited costs when you submit your shipping cost request.
- Transit time for regular shipping (Fed Ex Ground) is 1 to 7 business days; an exact (but not guaranteed) estimate is given to you with your shipping cost. USPS Priority is officially 2 to 3 days; in practice almost always 2 days in the continental US and 3 days to Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico. Also not guaranteed. For guaranteed shipping time, you must purchase an expedited form of shipping.
- Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico: we use USPS Priority mail as it is much more economical at this time than FedEx. Transit time is usually 3 business days.
- For expedited shipping with guaranteed delivery dates, we offer Fed Ex Saver (by 7 pm on 3rd day, Two day (7 pm), and Overnight (First 8:30 am, Priority 10:30 am, Standard 3 pm).
- Rates are based exactly on what the carrier charges (which is calculated by weight, value of contents, and where it's going), plus small fee to cover packing materials and handling. Cost depends on weight, value, and where you are. I charge you my exact cost, plus a small handling fee, $1 - $5 depending on costume value, packaging costs, complexity of shipping (international orders, for example, require multiple forms and standing in line; the $5 fee would be for an expensive, international order). Total shipping and handling charges for a bra/belt or standard pro costume (rates raised by carriers for 2008) rarely more than $17 for Fed Ex Ground in the continental US, usually more like $10 to $15.
- Fed Ex Ground costs include full insurance automatically. If your item is lost or damaged during shipping, refund/reimbursement will come from Fed Ex, not Belly Dance With K. Belly Dance With K will handle filing the claim for you. Any funds will be released to you as soon as but not before Fed Ex makes payment on the claim. Insurance with USPS is optional. However, if you do not purchase insurance and a package is damaged or lost during shipping (or after it has been shipped), the Belly Dance With K Boutique is NOT responsible for any reimbursement or refund. If you purchase insurance, you are purchasing it directly from the USPS, not Belly Dance With K. Payment/reimbursement for loss or damage will come from the carrier, NOT Belly Dance With K. You, the customer, are responsible for filing the insurance claim. However, Belly Dance With K will do whatever is needed in the way of providing forms or communicating with the carrier in order for your claim to be filed.
Gainesville Florida Area
- Delivery in Gainesville: Any single delivery (any number of items), $3.00.
- Are you local? You can probably pick up your item in Gainesville, no charge; just let us know.
International
- Yes, we ship internationally.
- We use the US Postal Service Global services for all international orders. You will be given the costs for all speeds/options available for your circumstance.
- Sales are final on items shipped outside of the United States.
- You will likely have to pay customs taxes on receipt of your package. We declare the full retail invoiced value for customs purposes. Please do not ask us to declare your package a "gift" or to place a reduced value on it.
- Paying for shipping insurance is your option. However, if you do not purchase insurance and a package is damaged or lost during shipping (or after it has been shipped), the Belly Dance With K Boutique is NOT responsible for any reimbursement or refund. If you purchase insurance, you are purchasing it directly from the carrier (USPS), not Belly Dance With K. Payment/reimbursement for loss or damage will come from the carrier, NOT Belly Dance With K. You, the customer, are responsible for filing the insurance claim. However, Belly Dance With K will do whatever is needed in the way of providing forms or communicating with the carrier in order for your claim to be filed.
How To Shop and Order, Details:
When Will My Order Be Shipped?
Barring unforseen circumstances or issues, orders are shipped out from one to seven business days after receiving your complete payment, under normal business traffic figure on closer to seven. At times this range will be extended due to heavy ordering. In these cases announcements are placed on the website and in ordering information emails you receive so that you know well before sending in your money what the longest wait time may be.
You may wonder how it could possibly take seven or more days to box up and ship out a costume that is on hand. I don't just throw your costume in a box as is. This is the time it takes to send you email(s) confirming your order, do the paper/computer work to move your money, prep your costume including cleaning up loose thread ends, tightening significantly loose beads and/or seams, replacing major bead loss, replacing ANY missing crystals (all of these are normal and endemic to imported costuming, and normally you would be doing these things - or not :) ), carefully packing, filing and printing online labels, filling out customs forms for international packages, driving to the shipper, waiting in line at times. In the meantime I'm taking other people's orders, answering 100's of emails and phone calls a week, posting new merchandise, performing, raising a daughter, and attempting to have a life. And there's only one of me.
How To Pay
Credit Card or PayPal (Money Orders or Personal Checks in-person only).
You add your shipping to your merchandise total. If you are in Florida, add Florida sales tax of 6.25% calculated on merchandise AND shipping. You then pay
via one of the methods below.
Domestic (Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii):
- Credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover) - enter securely online, or phone or fax in your order
(352-373-4991). To Credit Card Payment Form. Entering your order directly online is the fastest method and will help expedite your purchase.
- PayPal payments gladly accepted, please follow the PayPal Payment Instructions.
Payment is received instantaneously and there is NO DELAY; items shipped within three business days.
- Money Orders and Checks are accepted for in-person purchases only, no money orders or checks accepted for internet/mail order.
International Payments.
Payment must be in US Dollars, and may be made via PayPal or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover). If you have a PayPal account, that is the easiest method to make an international payment, but you may also pay me directly with a credit card using the credit card order form directly on my web site. Read whichever payment method applies to you:
- Credit Card, directly: use the secure form at my web site. HOWEVER if you are using a card drawn on a non-US bank you need to first let me know so that I can change security settings to allow non-US Cards, otherwise your card will be declined. Just send me a note when you are ready to order, I can leave the setting changed only for a limited time. Links to the form are on the front page of the site and in the Table of Contents that is always visible on the left side.
- PayPal, using cash from your PayPal balance (NOT a credit card through PayPal): Send money to my account
. Important: Please include with the payment a daytime phone number and the item(s) that you are ordering.
- PayPal, using a credit card: Send money to my account
. IMPORTANT: Please include with the payment a daytime phone number and the item(s) that you are ordering.
Local (Gainesville, Florida) Shipping and Shopping
Delivery in Gainesville of any amount of items is $3.00. Delivery will be within three business
days of payment reception
(Credit Card payment is instantanous; for others will be longer, see "When Will My Order Be Delivered").
If you are here in Gainesville and would like to pick your order up (no charge!), let us know. This may not be an
option in some cases due to scheduling, but we'll do everything we can to arrange this for you.
Reserve Ordering (guaranteeing you get a costume - probably)
If you KNOW you want an item regardless of shipping cost (rarely more than $13 - $14 for a fancy costume within the continental US) and want to decrease the chance of someone buying it before you, you may pay for the item FIRST (before getting shipping cost). You may use either a credit card through the online order form, or PayPal (see How to Pay, above; for the amount you will fill in/send only the merchandise cost). I'll then send you the shipping you owe, which you pay in a second transaction. You must pay the shipping cost within 36 hours of receiving it or the sale will be cancelled AND you will be charged the 8% restocking fee (accepting your money means I have to pay hefty fees, myself, whether or not you end up with the costume).
This is as close as you can come to "guaranteeing" you get a costume before anyone else, however it isn't absolute. It's possible someone has already purchased the costume and I haven't had a chance to update the website. I do try very hard to keep the web site up to date, but especially during very busy times (such as when new stock is posted), it can be difficult. If you send in a payment and it happens someone has beat you to it, I will void the payment with no penalty to you (there is a short time window within which I can void payments without incurring charges).
Returns
Summary
You can return anything for any reason subject to the below:
- Return postmark MUST be within
5 days of when you received it
- you must contact us for Return Code BEFORE returning.
-
you are charged a 8% restocking fee, minimum of $5.00
- all refunds are via check
- shipping is not
refunded and you pay return shipping
- items are carefully inspected before they are shipped; damaged items will not be refunded.
- failure to follow rules may result
in additional fees
Details
We put a lot of work into taking pictures of exact items and giving detailed
desriptions and measurements. PLEASE read them carefully, and actually measure
your body NOW to compare! This is the best way for you to be happy with your purchase.
And don't hesitate to
ask Karolinka any questions at all before ordering, either via email or
phone.
Even with some charges to you, we still lose money on all returns,
so we definitely want you to be satisfied!
- You can return anything, no reasons needed.
However, you must contact us immediately for approval
before returning anything: 352-373-4991,
- All Returns: Items must be postmarked for return within Five Business Days (including Saturdays) after you receive
them. Example: if you receive it on a Monday, you must send it back no later than Saturday . If you
receive it on a Friday, you must send it back no later than Thursday.
-
If you ignore the two points above and return it anyway, we reserve the
right to do any of the following:
1) add additional restocking fees;
and/or 2) refuse the item and return it to you
and/or 3) keep the item and not refund you.
- All refunds are via check, regardless of method of payment.
- There is a 8% restocking/handling fee, minimum $5.00 which will be subtracted from your refund.
- Your original shipping charges are not refundable; you are responsible for return shipping.
- Be sure and insure your item fully; if items are lost or damaged in return you are responsible for
filing any insurance claims (we will refuse any damaged packages).
- Previously used items were non-returnable; we've changed our return policy to include used items. They are subject
to all the same fees here (shipping is not refundable, 8% restocking fee/minimum $5).
- Items must be in new and undamaged condition. Returnable used items must be
in the SAME condition as you received them.
A Note About "Defects": It is EXTREMELY unklikely that anything will be shipped to you in any condition that would require its return for a refund. In other words, if you want to return something that has some sort of "defect", we have no choice but to assume that it occurred in shipping or at your end. In both of these cases, you are responsible for any costs; we will not refund for a damaged item. All items are carefully inspected before shipping to you. Any issue that affects the appearance or value of the item is documented in the item description, which you will have read, or accounted for in the price. We will make every attempt to let you know about even "borderline" issues which we feel do NOT compromise the appearance or value of an item (such as minor loose threads, pinpoint spots, etc).
This applies to both new and used items.
If you are new to purchasing dance costuming: it's the nature of any imported
costuming that there
are some loose threads, a few beads inevitably coming off, hooks sometimes need to be added, etc. Often the costumes have been tried on quite a few times and will show it. It is rare that a cosutme will be "perfect" either in fit or finish.
If an item has a known issue it would
be fully described in the catalog.
Why a restocking fee? We don't like doing it either. But the alternative is
charging more for EVERYTHING. We've found that it helps you, the shopper, shop carefully
and ultimately have a happier experience.
We take a lot of time taking measurements, pictures of actual items, and making detailed
descriptions. Use them!
Errors on the Website
Of course I do everything I can to prevent errors. However, typos and other errors do happen.
Costumes will not be sold at a price that is posted in error.
There will be no remuneration for any other error made in good faith. Typo errors in costume sizing which to
a reasonably intelligent customer can easily be spotted as errors (a bra size in a range of sizes that is completely
out of whack with the other sizes, for example) are not cause for remuneration.
It is the responsibility of the customer to carefully read policies, descriptions, and sizes, and ASK QUESTIONS.
Contact Us
Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns!
Email us at
, or call (352)373-4991. If you'd like us to call you on our nickle, just email us your name and phone number.
We are located in Gainesville, Florida, USA. Any mail correspondance or payment should be sent to our mailing address,
Belly Dance With Karolinka
P.O. Box 90332
Gainesville, FL 32607
USA
Privacy
We hate spam and unsolicited advertising, and we know you do, too!
We take your contact information only to ship things to you and insure we can
get in touch with you if there are any difficulties.
We will NEVER sell or give your name or any of your contact information to anybody, period.
We do not store your information anywhere on the web site or other internet accessible computer.
Please note that PayPal is not under our control and has their own privacy policies. However, we have been very happy with their service and it appears that we have
not received spam that is traceable to them.
About PayPal
PayPal is a well known and trusted company owned by the auction site Ebay. They provide free on-line, secure
transferring of money. You set up an account (very simple) based on your email address, associate
a bank account or credit card with it, and you can "send" money to anybody else with a PayPal account.
We have been very happy with PayPal as far as solicitations and/or SPAM -- none of the email addresses we've
used with PayPal has received spam as a result of signing up with PayPal, and we are VERY picky about avoiding
spam.
For information, visit the PayPal site at https://www.paypal.com.
