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synecdochic_decants2014-07-25 03:59 am
synecdochic) wrote in synecdochic_decants2014-07-25 03:59 am
Entry tags:
Basic decant-circle policies
Unless I say otherwise, assume that I'll be decanting all of the Lab's "unimpable" releases, with the exception of the monthly Lunacies. I'll try to get the signup post up within a day or two of the release's announcement; if it's been more than two days since the release was announced, feel free to poke me.
Unless otherwise specified at the time of signup, these are the assumptions all of my decant circles run with:
1. Decants are 1/5 dram vials (the size the Lab uses for imps) filled as close as I can get to the top of the cap without overflow. Caps are wand caps without the pen clip. Both vials and caps are always new and unused; I do not recycle vials or caps. Labels are Avery 8160 (1" by 2 5/8", also the size the Lab uses). I use bottle art for labels when available and include the Lab's description of the scent's notes. You can see sample labels from the Kabuki/Gatekeeper decant circle.
2. Bottles are gently rolled to blend the oil before opening them, then mixed via drawing with the pipette. Each scent decanted gets a clean fresh pipette and pipettes are never re-used.
3. I do not secure imp vials with plumber's tape before shipping. (I do check for leaks before packing.)
4. All orders are shipped in new bubble mailers, using first class mail with tracking and delivery confirmation. Vials are wrapped in bubble wrap before being placed in the bubble mailer. (Sometimes the bubble wrap is recycled from orders I've received from the Lab or elsewhere; the mailers are always new.)
5. All orders must be paid via PayPal. I send out invoices through PayPal to the address you give me when you sign up. Unless you let me know you need to do otherwise, PayPal invoices must be paid within 72 hours -- after that point, if there's a waitlist for any of the scents you want, I reserve the right to drop you from the list and give your slot to the first person on the waitlist, although you can still have any of the non-waitlisted scents. If you need more time (moving money from your bank account to PayPal, etc) to pay the invoice, tell me as soon as possible. I will take eChecks and credit-card-funded payments through PayPal; if the package arrives from the Lab before your eCheck clears, I will hold your package for shipping until it does.
5a. I will only ship to the address associated with your PayPal address. Doublecheck to make sure that's the correct address before paying the invoice, please!
6. I will almost always accept orders for half-bottles and full bottles. Half-bottles will be sent in the original Lab bottle as long as there's at least one Lab bottle left over for me to keep, andin a new, clean, amber bottle (either 1/5 oz (about 6mL) or 1 dram (about 3.7mL) -- I have both) if not as three decants if not -- I'm out of the 1/5oz bottles and the 1-dram bottles I had are having leak problems. (If I need to send something out in a non-Lab bottle, I check for volunteers first, and several of my usual half-bottle buyers doesn't mind new bottles, so if you're really worried, mention that the original Lab bottle is important to you.) Full bottles will always be sent in the original, unopened Lab bottle.
7. If you want to add unrelated items (GC or LE bottles or imps) onto your order, check with me first (or check the "operating parameters" section of the signup post; it'll be listed there). I'll usually say yes, but I do charge a small fee for it.
8. I do not charge PayPal fees or require you to send payment as a gift. (In fact, please don't send payment as a gift; it makes it impossible for me to print postage from PayPal.)
9. I do all my calculations assuming 6 decants per bottle. (In practice, bottles usually contain between 6.5 and 7.5 decants.) I usually need at least 2 people to sign up for a particular scent before I'll order it, unless it's one I want myself. I will add a new bottle of a particular scent once there are 2 people on the waitlist. (So, if there's one bottle listed for a particular scent, and you see one person on the waitlist before you, asking for a decant of it will mean I order another bottle of it.) If you are on the waitlist for a particular scent, and there isn't another signup by the time I place the order, I'll still invoice you for it, and refund you if I can't get an extra decant out of what's been ordered. (This hasnever happened only happened twice in the entire time I've been decanting. See above re: bottles having more than 6 decants.)
10. If a bottle and its associated waitlist fills, I'll keep adding additional bottles, as long as I haven't placed the order from the Lab yet. (I used to place an upper boundary on the number of bottles I'd order in a particular circle, but by this point I have the system down pretty well and I'm pretty comfortable with megacircles. Especially since a lot of people are now ordering half and full bottles, which are much less work and which drives up the bottle count pretty quickly.)
11. Even if you've paid your invoice, you can add more decants to your order up until the point the order arrives from the Lab and I'm beginning the decanting process. Once I've begun the decanting process, I won't accept more orders for that circle. (However, if you want to add something to your order, and you haven't paid your invoice yet, it's a LOT easier on me if you ask to add the extra decant and wait for me to edit the invoice!)
12. I don't do half decants or quarter decants -- full decants only.
13. I keep one empty bottle of each scent in a particular circle. If the circle signups mean that more than one bottle of a particular scent was ordered, I will distribute the other empties. (I used to try to give the empty of a particular scent to someone who ordered that particular scent, but process changes have meant that's less feasable: if you get an empty, it may not be an empty for something you ordered. Sometimes it's not even an empty from that particular circle.) Priority on empties goes to people who ordered the most decants in a particular circle, people who are regulars, and people who asked for particular bottles -- if you know there's a scent you'll want the empty bottle for, go ahead and ask! (With the understanding that I may not be able to meet the request.) If I send the empties, the decant you ordered of that scent will not be in the bottle -- my process means that I pull the decant well before the packing-up part in the process. Empties will usually be labelled with circular labels on the top of the bottle, although they're easily removed.
14. If the Lab sends freebies, I distribute them to circle participants. Unless otherwise specified, I will always include at least one free imp aka 'frimp' per package. I pull from the box of GC imps I've been collecting from other sources, so your frimps may not be full and may have stained or rolled labels based on how they came to me. If the Lab includes free bottles, I keep one bottle and distribute the rest more-or-less at random among participants, with priority going to people who ordered the most decants in a particular circle, people who are regulars, and people who have that scent on their wishlist. If you have a wishlist of GC scents you want to try, give me a link as part of your signup! I pull frimps that are on people's wishlists first. If you don't have a wishlist, I'll try to match what I know of your tastes, but you'll probably just get "what I had the most of". (I have a lot of things in the frimp box.) I'm not able to match frimps to wishlists for every circle, especially if there are a lot of circles open or things are hectic in my life, but I do try.
15. Unless you tell me otherwise (ie, you have food allergies, dietary restrictions, etc, etc, and you don't want to risk it) in most circles each package will usually include a teabag -- usually from Eastern Shore Tea -- and some interesting candy. I don't accept requests for specific flavors, sorry! Some circles might not include freebies if I'm busy, running behind, or the circle is very quick, but I do always try to include something.
16. The standard shipping rates post explains my current shipping policy. If your order goes over 13oz, it will need to be sent Priority -- first class mail can't be over 13oz.
17.I fill out customs forms as 'commercial samples' for the category of goods, and 'cosmetics samples' as the individual detail. I use the amount you paid me (minus any shipping fees) as the cost of the goods. I will not fill out a customs form indicating that the contents are a gift or that they cost less than what you paid me for them -- however unlikely it is that I'd get caught, lying on customs forms is a felony. People in the UK, take note: participants in past circles have reported that anything with a customs form indicating a package value of over 15 pounds means having to pay VAT on the package value plus a handling fee when the package gets there! After a bit more research into enforcement et al, I have gone ahead and started marking customs forms as gifts. This may change in the future, but for now, disregard the above.
18. Once I've closed a circle (which I do when the order from the Lab arrives) I will generally no longer accept orders for that circle. If you want a decant from a previous circle, though, you can mention it as part of your signup for the next circle, and I'll let you know if there are any available.
19. I generally aim for a 3-to-4 day turnaround between the package from the Lab arriving to me and packaging up the shipments to you and getting them out the door and to the post office. (Obviously there's no mail pickup on Sunday, so that affects things slightly.) If there's going to be a delay, I'll do my best to let you know, and let you know the reasons for it. Because I can't guarantee when an order will arrive from the Lab, and because sometimes there's a significant delay between placing the order and the order shipping, I'll mention anything happening in my life in the next month (travel plans, life events, etc) that might slow down the turnaround time in the signup post. If a circle is very large, it may take me longer to get it out the door.
20. This is obviously not a guarantee, since it's well out of my control, but: we live very near one of the East Coast postal hubs, so first-class packages, even international ones, are usually lightning-fast out of here; in my experience, even first-class packages get to their destination within 2 days. Still, if you're domestic and you want to upgrade to Priority shipping, ask. (International priority is a lot more expensive, but still, if you're willing to pay for it, go ahead and ask.)
21. For each circle, I will post updates (as entries in this community) for at least each of the following: order placed with Lab (with order #), order shipped from Lab (with tracking info), shipment received, packages brought to the post office/picked up by the mailman. I print postage for domestic packages through PayPal and international packages through the USPS's website; both send email notifications to you, and that will include your tracking number. For international packages, the tracking number is the customs number. Not all countries update tracking once it clears your customs.
22. If there are several circles open at once, I'll sometimes combine shipping and sometimes ship them separately -- it depends on the Lab's current turnaround time, what's going on in my life, how much energy I have for doing the work to combine shipping, etc. The signup post for each individual circle will include information on my shipping plans.
If you're interested, I wrote up a Guide to Decanting that includes my process in detail.
Last edited: 9 Dec 2015
Unless otherwise specified at the time of signup, these are the assumptions all of my decant circles run with:
1. Decants are 1/5 dram vials (the size the Lab uses for imps) filled as close as I can get to the top of the cap without overflow. Caps are wand caps without the pen clip. Both vials and caps are always new and unused; I do not recycle vials or caps. Labels are Avery 8160 (1" by 2 5/8", also the size the Lab uses). I use bottle art for labels when available and include the Lab's description of the scent's notes. You can see sample labels from the Kabuki/Gatekeeper decant circle.
2. Bottles are gently rolled to blend the oil before opening them, then mixed via drawing with the pipette. Each scent decanted gets a clean fresh pipette and pipettes are never re-used.
3. I do not secure imp vials with plumber's tape before shipping. (I do check for leaks before packing.)
4. All orders are shipped in new bubble mailers, using first class mail with tracking and delivery confirmation. Vials are wrapped in bubble wrap before being placed in the bubble mailer. (Sometimes the bubble wrap is recycled from orders I've received from the Lab or elsewhere; the mailers are always new.)
5. All orders must be paid via PayPal. I send out invoices through PayPal to the address you give me when you sign up. Unless you let me know you need to do otherwise, PayPal invoices must be paid within 72 hours -- after that point, if there's a waitlist for any of the scents you want, I reserve the right to drop you from the list and give your slot to the first person on the waitlist, although you can still have any of the non-waitlisted scents. If you need more time (moving money from your bank account to PayPal, etc) to pay the invoice, tell me as soon as possible. I will take eChecks and credit-card-funded payments through PayPal; if the package arrives from the Lab before your eCheck clears, I will hold your package for shipping until it does.
5a. I will only ship to the address associated with your PayPal address. Doublecheck to make sure that's the correct address before paying the invoice, please!
6. I will almost always accept orders for half-bottles and full bottles. Half-bottles will be sent in the original Lab bottle as long as there's at least one Lab bottle left over for me to keep, and
7. If you want to add unrelated items (GC or LE bottles or imps) onto your order, check with me first (or check the "operating parameters" section of the signup post; it'll be listed there). I'll usually say yes, but I do charge a small fee for it.
8. I do not charge PayPal fees or require you to send payment as a gift. (In fact, please don't send payment as a gift; it makes it impossible for me to print postage from PayPal.)
9. I do all my calculations assuming 6 decants per bottle. (In practice, bottles usually contain between 6.5 and 7.5 decants.) I usually need at least 2 people to sign up for a particular scent before I'll order it, unless it's one I want myself. I will add a new bottle of a particular scent once there are 2 people on the waitlist. (So, if there's one bottle listed for a particular scent, and you see one person on the waitlist before you, asking for a decant of it will mean I order another bottle of it.) If you are on the waitlist for a particular scent, and there isn't another signup by the time I place the order, I'll still invoice you for it, and refund you if I can't get an extra decant out of what's been ordered. (This has
10. If a bottle and its associated waitlist fills, I'll keep adding additional bottles, as long as I haven't placed the order from the Lab yet. (I used to place an upper boundary on the number of bottles I'd order in a particular circle, but by this point I have the system down pretty well and I'm pretty comfortable with megacircles. Especially since a lot of people are now ordering half and full bottles, which are much less work and which drives up the bottle count pretty quickly.)
11. Even if you've paid your invoice, you can add more decants to your order up until the point the order arrives from the Lab and I'm beginning the decanting process. Once I've begun the decanting process, I won't accept more orders for that circle. (However, if you want to add something to your order, and you haven't paid your invoice yet, it's a LOT easier on me if you ask to add the extra decant and wait for me to edit the invoice!)
12. I don't do half decants or quarter decants -- full decants only.
13. I keep one empty bottle of each scent in a particular circle. If the circle signups mean that more than one bottle of a particular scent was ordered, I will distribute the other empties. (I used to try to give the empty of a particular scent to someone who ordered that particular scent, but process changes have meant that's less feasable: if you get an empty, it may not be an empty for something you ordered. Sometimes it's not even an empty from that particular circle.) Priority on empties goes to people who ordered the most decants in a particular circle, people who are regulars, and people who asked for particular bottles -- if you know there's a scent you'll want the empty bottle for, go ahead and ask! (With the understanding that I may not be able to meet the request.) If I send the empties, the decant you ordered of that scent will not be in the bottle -- my process means that I pull the decant well before the packing-up part in the process. Empties will usually be labelled with circular labels on the top of the bottle, although they're easily removed.
14. If the Lab sends freebies, I distribute them to circle participants. Unless otherwise specified, I will always include at least one free imp aka 'frimp' per package. I pull from the box of GC imps I've been collecting from other sources, so your frimps may not be full and may have stained or rolled labels based on how they came to me. If the Lab includes free bottles, I keep one bottle and distribute the rest more-or-less at random among participants, with priority going to people who ordered the most decants in a particular circle, people who are regulars, and people who have that scent on their wishlist. If you have a wishlist of GC scents you want to try, give me a link as part of your signup! I pull frimps that are on people's wishlists first. If you don't have a wishlist, I'll try to match what I know of your tastes, but you'll probably just get "what I had the most of". (I have a lot of things in the frimp box.) I'm not able to match frimps to wishlists for every circle, especially if there are a lot of circles open or things are hectic in my life, but I do try.
15. Unless you tell me otherwise (ie, you have food allergies, dietary restrictions, etc, etc, and you don't want to risk it) in most circles each package will usually include a teabag -- usually from Eastern Shore Tea -- and some interesting candy. I don't accept requests for specific flavors, sorry! Some circles might not include freebies if I'm busy, running behind, or the circle is very quick, but I do always try to include something.
16. The standard shipping rates post explains my current shipping policy. If your order goes over 13oz, it will need to be sent Priority -- first class mail can't be over 13oz.
17.
18. Once I've closed a circle (which I do when the order from the Lab arrives) I will generally no longer accept orders for that circle. If you want a decant from a previous circle, though, you can mention it as part of your signup for the next circle, and I'll let you know if there are any available.
19. I generally aim for a 3-to-4 day turnaround between the package from the Lab arriving to me and packaging up the shipments to you and getting them out the door and to the post office. (Obviously there's no mail pickup on Sunday, so that affects things slightly.) If there's going to be a delay, I'll do my best to let you know, and let you know the reasons for it. Because I can't guarantee when an order will arrive from the Lab, and because sometimes there's a significant delay between placing the order and the order shipping, I'll mention anything happening in my life in the next month (travel plans, life events, etc) that might slow down the turnaround time in the signup post. If a circle is very large, it may take me longer to get it out the door.
20. This is obviously not a guarantee, since it's well out of my control, but: we live very near one of the East Coast postal hubs, so first-class packages, even international ones, are usually lightning-fast out of here; in my experience, even first-class packages get to their destination within 2 days. Still, if you're domestic and you want to upgrade to Priority shipping, ask. (International priority is a lot more expensive, but still, if you're willing to pay for it, go ahead and ask.)
21. For each circle, I will post updates (as entries in this community) for at least each of the following: order placed with Lab (with order #), order shipped from Lab (with tracking info), shipment received, packages brought to the post office/picked up by the mailman. I print postage for domestic packages through PayPal and international packages through the USPS's website; both send email notifications to you, and that will include your tracking number. For international packages, the tracking number is the customs number. Not all countries update tracking once it clears your customs.
22. If there are several circles open at once, I'll sometimes combine shipping and sometimes ship them separately -- it depends on the Lab's current turnaround time, what's going on in my life, how much energy I have for doing the work to combine shipping, etc. The signup post for each individual circle will include information on my shipping plans.
If you're interested, I wrote up a Guide to Decanting that includes my process in detail.
Last edited: 9 Dec 2015