Customer Care

Our Commitment to You

Thank you for visiting our online wholesale catalog. We've worked tirelessly over the past 25 years to create a strong channel of exchange between Africa and the world. Your orders honor the creativity and skill of individuals across Africa, providing a vital source of income that makers use to shape their world by their own design.

With a rotating inventory of more than 3000 products available for purchase, it's easy to become overwhelmed. We want you to have a pleasant shopping experience, so we strive to make shopping our site fast and easy.

QUICK FACTS

Our minimum online wholesale order is $100.

In order to view wholesale pricing and place orders, you must be a registered buyer planning to resell our products through a store or online catalog (register here).

Reselling Swahili products on Etsy and similar maker marketplaces is a violation of the platform's rules for handmade goods.

We ship via UPS ground, and charge you for the cost of shipping plus a small boxing fee.

We accept credit card payment and PayPal for all orders. Net 30 terms are available for selected approved accounts after two years of positive purchase history and six completed orders.

We strive to promptly ship orders from our warehouse in Eugene, Oregon. We typically ship orders within 7-10 business days after they are placed.

We strive to keep all items stocked in our warehouse. If an item sells out, we will indicate its expected arrival date on the product detail page.

A small selection of our items are available for sale to the general public at swahilimodern.com.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

Credit Card:

If you are a privately owned store, your orders must be prepaid by either credit card or PayPal. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Your information is securely processed via our merchant gateway. If you wish to know your order total before we charge your credit card, please contact Customer Service.

PayPal Express:

Clicking the PayPal Express button during checkout gives you the option to pay for your orders with your PayPal balance, or with PayPal Credit. Click here to learn more about this financing service.

About Authorization and Capture:

When you place an order using a credit card or PayPal, an authorization is created that holds the funds for the amount of your order until we are ready to ship and finalize your payment. At final capture, we add shipping costs to the original authorization and complete the payment, thus fulfilling and closing the authorization.

Net 30 Terms:

We extend Net 30 terms for selected accounts, as well as approved customers who provide positive credit references.

Museums, zoos and government institutions are awarded Net 30 terms automatically. Please advise if invoices must be mailed or emailed to a separate billing department address.

Companies with at least two years' purchase history and a minimum of six paid invoices may apply for Net 30 terms for up to $1000.

To apply for Net 30 terms, please contact Customer Service.

Orders shipped on Net 30 terms should be paid within 30 days of the invoice date. Additional orders will not be shipped until the prior open invoice is paid in full. Should you have an issue that prevents prompt payment, please contact Customer Service to discuss your options.

Repeated failure to pay your open invoices on time will result in revocation of your Net 30 privileges. Should your company check be returned due to non-sufficient funds, you will be charged all applicable bank fees and your Net 30 terms will be revoked immediately.

RUSH ORDERS

We are happy to expedite processing of your order, upon request. Rush orders will incur a $25.00 rush fee during final invoicing and must be placed before 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. To request a rush order, please leave us a note in the Comments field during checkout, or call 541-684-0688 to speak with Customer Service. We reserve the right to inform you if a rush order is not possible due to extenuating circumstances.

PRIVACY RIGHTS

We welcome you to use our product images on your website and in your social media. If you need high resolution product images, please contact Darla.

Maker's Right to Privacy:  We do not authorize the use of artisan images displayed on our website. We also kindly request that you respect each maker's humanity and right to privacy in any copywriting on your website or in printed materials. Using phrases like "our artisans" implies ownership, and should not be used to refer to other individuals. We prefer to instead use terms that highlight the talent and individuality of our entrepreneur partners. There's an important difference between stating "Artisans in Northern Ghana handcraft baskets from elephant grass..." and "Our artisans in Ghana handcraft baskets from elephant grass". We hope you understand and adhere to our commitment to represent all individuals respectfully on global networks.

SHIPPING COSTS

We ship most domestic orders via UPS Ground shipping. We receive a commercial discount based on volume of boxes shipped that helps save you money. We also ship smaller orders via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate.

We strive to keep shipping costs as low as possible for our customers while ensuring the safety of the merchandise during transit. With every order requesting a unique variety of products in all shapes, sizes, weights and levels of fragility, we unfortunately cannot make a general rule about what percentage of your order total shipping costs will comprise.

Here are a few guidelines for shipping costs:

• Large items, even if they are lightweight, incur higher shipping costs due to the volume of the shipping box.
• Heavy items, even if they are small, incur higher shipping costs due to the weight of the shipping box.
• Fragile items like ceramics often incur higher shipping costs, as additional packaging is required to ensure no damage to the item occurs.
• Orders comprised mainly of closeout merchandise are often subject to higher shipping-to-total percentages since the merchandise is being sold at a lower price.

We are happy to provide you with a shipping estimate before your order is finalized. Please contact Customer Service if you would like to be contacted with a shipping estimate.

International Shipments:  We require international businesses to utilize a freight forwarding service located in the United States. We will ship your order via UPS Ground to the forwarder, and they will consolidate your order with other shipments going to your country.

Click here to search the Federal Maritime Commission's list of licensed freight forwarders.

Click here to visit forwarders.com to search for air freight forwarders.

Returns

We understand that on occasion, a buyer may not be completely satisfied with merchandise received due to personal taste. To arrange a return, please contact Customer Service or call us between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific time at 541-684-0688. All returns must be initiated within 7 business days from receipt of merchandise, and are subject to a 15% restocking fee. Items damaged in return transit due to inadequate return packaging will not be refunded.

Damage Claims

Our order fulfillment team works hard to ensure that your order arrives in perfect condition. Occasionally, conditions beyond our control during shipping result in damage. If your merchandise arrives damaged, please submit a Damage Claim Form through the link below within 7 business days to arrange a claim, replacement or account credit.

To expedite processing of claims, please complete this form and upload images of the damage.

Claims for damaged merchandise will not be honored after 30 days from receipt of the order. Please keep all packaging materials and merchandise in the original box for UPS inspection.