Policy & Guidelines
01 G E N E R A L I N F O
PAYMENT
100% deposit is required to start any order and is due once the quote is approved. (Quotes are good for 30 days from the time it is sent. After the 30 days, pricing and availability are subject to change.) Production time starts the day after proof approval, which comes after the deposit is paid. Production time is generally 10-14 working days starting after everything is approved, but is subject to the arrival of items and amount of orders placed ahead of yours. We accept cash, check and credit card. If paying with a credit card there will be an additional fee added to your invoice, based on paying in person or over the phone. The remaining balance is due upon pickup or shipment of your order. Items will not be released without final payment.
TURNAROUND TIME
So first I’ll say this, no, we can’t get your order done in a day. Our production time is generally 10 working days starting the day after approval of quote and design. If you’ve asked for a specialty product or something additional ( like custom artwork ), note that this could add time to your order. If you’re not sure if this means you, ask! If for some reason you have a specific deadline that you’re looking to hit, please let us know when you’re placing your order. Keep in mind, if you’re asking for a rush, there’s most likely a fee that’ll be added to your order. As for unforeseen issues such as weather conditions, power interruptions, vendor shortages or errors, shipping errors or any supernatural occurrence, we aren’t responsible for missing a deadline due to any of these. In the chance that we are notified of any of these happening, we’ll certainly let you know ahead of time.
RUSH ORDER
Oh, so you want your order sooner? We’ll need to chat with you first before we can give you a final due date approval. As you see below, we’ve listed the typical rush fee percentages that correspond to the number of business days you’re asking us to complete your order in. If that doesn’t make sense, here’s an example: If you need your items in 4 business, that’s 6 business days shorter than our standard time, so you’ll add 60% of the total order to your invoice.
2 Day Rush :: 80%
3 Day Rush :: 70%
4 Day Rush :: 60%
5 Day Rush :: 50%
6 Day Rush :: 40%
7 Day Rush :: 30%
8 Day Rush :: 20%
9 Day Rush :: 10%
Rush fees, of course, are also based on our current schedule and definitely don’t include shipment times.
02 A R T W O R K
CUSTOM ARTWORK & OWNERSHIP
We have this really cool option to create custom artwork for you because we’re more than a screen printing shop, we’re a creative collective. Any artwork that is created by Rockford Art Deli is owned by the respective business. If you’re interested in having us create something for you, let’s sit down and chat first. This will help us come to the conclusion of what you’re looking for and how we can best produce it. From there we quote you a price which solely covers the labor and process to produce the artwork. If you’re interested in purchasing the rights to your artwork, you’re welcome to do so for an additional fee. If you’ve kindly submitted your artwork, you verify that this artwork is created and owned by you. We will never re-use or reproduce your work without your, or the owner’s consent.
SUBMITTING ART
There are a few ways that you can submit your artwork for print. Our favorite way would be a file that has been created in illustrator and is fully vector. Our second, acceptable way, would be a file that is in photoshop, left in it’s created layers at 300DPI and preferably at 14” wide so that we can scale it down to fit your item. If you don’t have either of these files for your artwork, you’ll probably submit something that’s not going to work for us. Examples : a photo from your phone, a tiny .jpg, .png, an image you pulled from the internet, a photo of previous items you’ve had printed or a business card. If we’re required to do some art preparation, that’s great! We have an hourly charge that we will do our best to quote you in the estimate, but will update when the art is approved. Even though we may be recreating your logo, you’re paying us for our time, meaning you do not own the newly created file. You still own the artwork, of course.
ART APPROVAL
We will always send you a digital proof with a mockup of your art on the item that you’re ordering. The proof must be approved either in a reply to that email or in person with a signed print out of the proof. Once the proof is approved the artwork is final. No more changes may be made, to the artwork or the items being ordered. Your approval gives us the go-ahead into production. We are not responsible for errors, misspelling or any other issue once the proof is approved.
03 G A R M E N T S & B L A N K A P P A R E L
OUT OF STOCK ITEMS
Rockford Art Deli is not responsible for items that are out of stock at the time of order. We purchase items on an order by order basis meaning we don’t keep any shirts stocked in our shop. When you inquire about an order we check availability on the pieces you want, but those available quantities can change on a daily basis. We always do our best to provide the most accurate information but aren’t able to hold items for you until a deposit is paid ( pending availability ). On the chance that your items are out of stock, we’ll certainly try our best to find a replacement and have it approved by you before ordering.
MANUFACTURERS DEFECTS
We are not responsible for any shirt that may come in with a defect, such as color inconsistencies, wrongly labeled sizes, wonky stitching, holes or other defects. We inspect the best we can each garment as we’re printing but cannot guarantee that each garment is 100% perfect. This rarely happens, but we have to let you know it’s a possibility.
DISAPPOINTED IN YOUR GARMENTS?
We are not responsible for you disliking the garment chosen at time of ordering. We will always do what we can to give an accurate description of the item you’d like, but our descriptions don’t help you understand the way they’ll fit 100% until you try them on. If you haven’t done any research on your end to figure out the type of items you’d like, we can only give you as much information that we have. We will always send a link to sizing specs upon request or if you have extra questions on the material, fit and a photo of someone in the shirt ( on the website they’re ordered from ).
04 P R I N T I N G
PRINTING MINIMUMS
Minimum orders depend on the type of printing we’re doing. For screen printing, we require 36 or more pieces with the same exact artwork in the same color & location.
FINAL PRINT SIZE
Your final print size will always be listed on the proof page. The size of the imprint will stay the same, regardless of your shirt sizes changing. If you require us to print over the seams, you may experience distortion, print imperfections or other small inconsistencies. We aren’t responsible for any issues when printed in an area we’ve warned you about.
PRINTING ON SEAMS
To further discuss what we’ve just stated above, we’re happy to print on the seam as long as you have the understanding that the imprint will not be consistent and is subject to imperfections or cracking due to the nature of the seam. We don’t love the way this looks, but if you insist, they’re ultimately your shirts. We cannot print over shoulder seams, all over the shirt or in other strange directions. Not sure if you qualify? Ask!
AFTERCARE
Once you take the garment from our shop we are no longer in control or responsible for what happens to the print or item. If you don’t take care of it, use harsh chemicals, are hard on it, etc, this is not our responsibility to replace it. There are very small circumstances where we know it’s our duty to replace, but this instance has only happened a few times in 11 years.
REORDER INK COLOR
We’re happy to have you reorder your items, that means you’re happy with them! We do have to let you know that if we’re using discharge or waterbased inks, that every time you order we mix a new color. This being said, we can’t guarantee that the mixture of ink & fabric will match exactly to the previous order. We do our best to make it as exact as possible, but with different fabric lots and ink colors, we just can’t guarantee it. If you’re aware of a re-order at the time or initial order, please let us know so we can make note or mix extra ( dependent on the type of ink we use ).
PLACEMENT OF IMPRINT
As you probably know, each shirt is loaded onto the press individually, but we do everything we can to ensure the image is placed in the most consistent location on all of your garments. There is always the possibility for small variations, and must be expected as we aren’t perfect or robots. We’re happy to listen to your special requests for placement, and if we have advice or thoughts we’ll let you know prior to printing.
CARING FOR YOUR GARMENTS
Please, adhere to the tag when applicable. If you aren’t sure, machine wash cold and tumble dry low! If you’ve ordered with discharge inks, you’ll receive a care sheet in your order’s box.
05 S A M P L E S
Nope. We don’t do samples.
06 P A C K A G I N G & S H I P P I N G
RECEIVING YOUR ORDER
Once you receive your order, please check it out. Count through the shirts, check them to make sure they meet your expectations. We’ll give you 3 days to let us know of any issues. After 3 days we’re not responsible.
DUE DATES
Please make sure to specify if there is a date you’d like them in your hands. If this date is faster than our normal production, you’re subject to a rush fee. Due dates are also subject to our production schedule. Rush jobs are approved on a job by job basis depending on how busy we are. If you do not specify a due date, your order is put into production based on the order date.
SHIPPING
We are happy to ship your order wherever you’d like. Make note, the shipment time isn’t included in the production time. We’ll be happy to supply a tracking number upon request. Shipping charges are added to the final invoice upon shipment, the cost is not ever included in the initial quotes. Once your items have left the shop and been handed over to the preferred shipping carrier, we are no longer responsible for the goods. If you’d like extra insurance added, you’re responsible for paying for that. We’re also not responsible if you gave us the wrong address upon approval of your order.
PACKAGING
We don’t special package your order. We fold all of the sizes together and box them up, nice and neat in a box.
07 C O N T R A C T O R D E R S
SET-UP FEE
Your set up fees are dependent on how many colors and locations you require for your job. Each color is $20 / screen. If you’re interested in our 4 color process, the screen fees are $35 ea.
08 M I S C
TAG REMOVAL
We’re happy to print custom tags for you, as you’ve possibly seen in our Rockford Art Deli shirts. There’s a fee to remove the tag and an additional print charge per each size tag being printed. You must run the minimum amount ( 36 ) in each size for custom tags.
SOCIAL MEDIA
If we love your product, we’re bound to share it! We do this by posting photos to sites like Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If for some reason you do not wish for us to share your items, please notify us before your order is completed. If you do not notify us, we assume you’re on board for us to post them online.
QUOTES & ESTIMATES
Our quotes and estimates are valid for 30 days from the estimate date. We’re happy to re-quote at any point if needed. Our quotes are always estimated until we have all of the final details, including artwork, for your order.
THE RAD GUARANTEE
We are really proud of the work that we produce and would defend it any day of the week, but we’re not perfect. If there’s a reason that we make a mistake while printing your order and is not something that was agreed upon, and ends up being something that falls outside of these guidelines, we’ll be happy to reprint your order within our standard production times. We never offer refunds.
CANCELLATION FEE
At the time you submit your deposit you are stating that the order is approved on all ends and is good to be put into production. If for some reason you need to cancel your order, you forfeit all rights to the deposit paid, and there will be a cancellation fee of 25% ( if the order hasn’t been started yet ). This is not negotiable as we order the garments the day after your deposit is paid.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
We reserve the right to change any of these policies, guidelines and terms at any point without notice but strive to keep them as accurate and transparent as possible.
QUESTIONS
We’d be happy to further discuss any of our policies and guidelines with you at any point. We hope that they’re informative enough that you don’t have any further questions, but if you do, we want this to be easy and understandable!
NON-PRODUCTION DAYS & HOLIDAYS
So we’re humans, ok? We need to take days off. Sundays and Mondays are not included in our production time. Neither are the major holidays. There are even holidays where we close the shop completely. Thanks for understanding!
