Elegant Insights Braille Creations

Ordering, shipping, and frequently asked questions.

Revised October, 2023.

Please read this page for general ordering and shipping information. You may also want to review our complete Terms of Service page for more detailed information. If you have any questions, please call 702-605-1265.

Ordering

Revised November, 2019

Ordering

Once you find a piece of jewelry or an accessory item that you love, you may have several choices to make when ordering. You can choose from a variety of charm shapes, metals, embellishment types or bead colors, and initials or words desired. You can even choose, in some cases, from Grade 1 or Grade 2 Braille. See our FAQ for more info on Grades 1 and 2 Braille embossing.

Review your order before completing your purchase. If you have any questions about a product, please feel free to fill out the accessible contact form. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. While in the checkout process, you’ll notice there is an edit field for notes. If you have any special instructions for us, feel free to write a note there. Please also review our return policy, as we do not provide cash refunds for our products.

We use Pay Pal and other third party payment gateways. That way, your information is protected. We do not collect any of your personal financial information, nor do we sell, rent, lease, trade or carelessly give away your purchase data. We want you all to ourselves! However, if you care about privacy, please read our privacy policy, as some aggregate data is collected for the purpose of maintaining our gateway services, such as new product notifications, order verifications and shipping confirmations. We value our privacy, and in turn we value yours. Since we do use outside services such as Pay Pal, you may want to review their terms of service and privacy policies for information on how they conduct their business.

Return Policy

Revised November, 2019

At Elegant Insights, we work hard to craft beautiful, handmade jewelry and accessories that are unique and enduring. However, due to the handcrafted nature of our assembly, stamping and finishing work, sometimes inconsistencies can occur. We are, after all, not machines, nor do we use any in the creation of our products.

We are proud of what we do, and we stand behind our work. We want you to be happy, and if you are not satisfied, we will do all we can to make it right.

We do not offer cash refunds for our jewelry, since most of our products are personalized. However, if you are not pleased with your purchase, you may exchange it for another product of equal value, or receive a store credit. When ordering, please carefully review your order before you continue to the payment screen. check to see if the initials, quantities and other preferences are all correct before you complete the transaction. If we make a mistake filling your order, we will fix it promptly. We carefully examine each piece before we lovingly package our products and ship them, but of course something may be overlooked. If a product has been damaged in shipping, please let us know and we will replace it with the identical product once we receive the damaged item. Should anything you buy from us require adjustment or repair, we will repair any item at no charge for up to 90 days after purchase. Just write or call, and we’ll take good care of you.

Elegant Insights values your feedback. Tell us what you think! Drop us a note to let us know how much you love our jewelry. We want to earn your trust, and your repeat business! Select this link to send us a testimonial!

Shipping

Revised October, 2023.

Upon checkout, you will receive a series of confirmation emails regarding order processing and shipping. These messages are generated from our customer.service at elegantinsightsjewelry.com email address. To ensure that you do not miss your order confirmation and tracking number, please white list this address so these important notifications do not end up in your junk mail folder.

We ship using USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation for your satisfaction and protection. Our flat rate for domestic shipping is $9.95 for everything that will fit in the standard 8-5/8″ x 5-3/8″ x 1-5/8″ box. You will receive an email notice with the tracking number as soon as we complete our packaging of your custom jewelry items. However, it may take up to 48 hours for your information to appear in the USPS tracking system. Tracking numbers are generated automatically at a particular point in our order fulfillment process, and receipt of this information may not reflect the actual time your package was shipped. For information on international orders, see below.

Holiday orders and shipping time

With the ever-growing popularity of online shopping, package delivery service becomes much slower and less reliable around holidays. Therefore, we usually post order deadlines for on-time holiday delivery, depending upon the actual day on which a holiday occurs. The cut-off date may be as long as ten days in advance of the actual holiday day. For example, if Christmas falls on a Monday, that means that we want your package to arrive on the Friday prior, requiring we ship the item no later than the previous Monday. Allowing for time to finish and package your purchase, that means your order must be in our office no later than the previous week, or even sooner if you have placed an order that requires customization. Please check with us if you are concerned about when your package will arrive. We will let you know if it will not be possible to get your item to you on time. All Elegant Insights Braille jewelry and accessories items are entirely handcrafted, and we need time to inspect the item, make any necessary adjustments, polish, and package your purchase. So, if you want to confirm a possible delivery date prior to placing an order, feel free to contact us.

Share the love and save!

Take advantage of our domestic USPS flat rate shipping. Get a bunch of your friends together and place a group order, and as long as we can fit it into the box, going to one address, up to 10 items, we’ll only charge you $9.95. That’s $9.95 for 1 item, $9.95 for 3 items, $9.95 for 5 items…As long as we can get it into the box without risking damage to your purchase, we’ll do our best to save you money on shipping. Please note that shipping charges may change without notice.

International orders

We do offer worldwide shipping, although only options for the US, Canada, and the UK are available at checkout. International orders will be shipped USPS Priority Mail at rates determined by location. Guaranteed express delivery is also available via a courier service, such as FedEx. Please contact us via phone, email, or our contact form to request international courier shipping.

Shipping charges vary widely, depending upon whether you choose a preferred in-country mail service or a global courier service such as Federal Express. Just to give you an example, the standard rate for a package to the UK costs around $25.00 to $30.00 USD, with no estimated delivery date and with no tracking once the package has left the US. For USPS International Express Mail, the same package will cost about $60.00, with tracking and a delivery time of 6 to 10 days. This is the option available to you at checkout. A courier such as FedEx would cost around $150 for door-to-door service with international tracking and a guaranteed delivery date.

Elegant Insights cannot be held responsible for merchandise that is not accepted through customs, is delayed, or that is sent back to us as undeliverable for whatever reason. If you do not live in the US, or want us to ship your package to a recipient outside the US, you are responsible for any VAT taxes or customs charges that may be incurred. We’re sorry, but for security reasons we cannot ship a package to an address that is not a residence. If your package is sent back to us, we will be happy to re-ship your item, but you will be required to pay for shipping the package again. Additionally, we cannot make any estimates as to when your package will be delivered, as we have no control over what happens once the package leaves the country. We don’t want to make a promise we can’t keep!

Lost packages and incorrect delivery

It is a sad sign of our times that we must acknowledge the growing problem of “porch pirates,” those opportunists who steal packages from a front doorstep. Elegant Insights cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen packages. We are very sorry if this happens to your beautiful Elegant Insights purchases, but other than tracking your package and hoping it may have been delivered to the wrong address, which may increase the chances your package could be recovered, there’s just nothing we can do. Most postal carriers and other delivery services offer minimal insurance for a lost package, but we have attempted to intervene on behalf of customers lost merchandise in the past, and the postal service has been unhelpful at best. Elegant Insights cannot offer refunds if your package is lost in transit, or is misdelivered. We will be happy to replace your item, and ship via a shipping service of your choice, but all applicable payments and shipping charges are required. If you are concerned about delivery issues, please either purchase extra insurance for your item, and/or make special arrangements to ensure delivery of your package, such as requesting we ship to a work address with a mail room or reception desk, where someone can accept the package.

Delivery time

Because the Elegant Insights product line is made to order, entirely hand crafted, hand embossed and hand finished, please allow 2 – 4 weeks for delivery. We’d rather under-promise and over-deliver than to disappoint you when we know you are anxiously awaiting your purchase. We promise to do our very best to get it to you sooner. However, we’re perfectionists here at Elegant Insights, and we care very much about creating quality products that you’ll love. If there is a holiday or special event for which your purchase is intended, please let us know, either in the aforementioned notes area on the checkout page, via email, phone, or our contact form. Keep in mind that shipping times must be considered, so if you want your package to arrive before you leave town for the Christmas holiday, or for the weekend prior to Valentine’s Day, or in time for you to add your purchase to your own box you will be sending on to a loved one, let us know your special circumstances, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Elegant Insights is a small but growing business, and we are committed to providing the best possible customer service. We can’t work miracles, but we’ll try!

Frequently Asked Questions

Revised July, 2024.

Where do the materials used to make my jewelry come from?

Unless otherwise specified, all of our jewelry is made in the USA. However, not every jewelry component used is manufactured in the USA. For example, even though we buy our leather products from a U.S. vendor, he cannot guarantee that the animals weren’t at some point wandering elsewhere! Animal hides are generally sourced from all over the world, but all of our suppliers are based in the U.S. and we hand craft all of our merchandise in the beautiful U.S. of A. If a significant component of any item is made elsewhere, we’ll let you know in the product description.

How do I care for the materials used in my jewelry?

Most gentle jewelry cleaners work just fine. You can also use a soft polishing cloth, such as an old t-shirt or lint-free towel. since brass, copper and silver patina over time, you will notice that the metal takes on a beautiful luster that enhances the look. You can use a brass, copper, or silver polishing liquid to shine up the charms, if you wish, but frequent or aggressive polishing may interfere with the sharpness or integrity of the Braille dots, thereby reducing the readability. If you purchase a product which combines metals and leather, we do not recommend submerging the leather. This will either stain or alter the dyes used to color the leather, and it can cause the leather to degrade. remember, leather is a natural material, and should it need to be cleaned, take it to a professional leather cleaner.

Am I required to choose Braille letter embossing?

No. If you like, you can ask that a charm be left blank. As you make your selection, you will see that a few choices are available, such as the number of letters desired, the use of Grade 1 or grade 2 Braille, and on some items, an option to choose no Braille. You will also see that on a few choices, alpha letter characters are available, as we can engrave some items.

How many letters can fit on a charm?

That depends upon the size of the charm. Each item does have a limit as to how many cells we can fit and still make the Braille readable. Each item description will contain a note about the space available, although your choice of Grade 2 Braille may allow for more letters. See the question below. As a general rule, 4 Braille cells per inch seems to be what we can fit on most charms. Due to the placement of the hole drilled into the charm for attaching, or the shape of the letter or charm itself, sometimes it can be a tight squeeze. If you are particular about the capital letter dot, punctuation marks, or other symbols, please make your preference known in the “special instructions” field when ordering. If you have more questions, please contact us.

Do you use Grade 1 or Grade 2 Braille?

By default, we use Grade 2 Braille. However, we want to give you the option to state your preference. fluent Braille readers will likely prefer Grade 2, but children or new Braille readers might prefer Grade 1. Using Grade 2 Braille saves space where the number of cells available is limited. if you have a longer name, or want to use a longer word, choosing Grade 2 will ensure your message can be embossed in full. When ordering, be sure to make your selection of either Grade 1 or Grade 2 from the menu. If you can be flexible with a name or message, it may be ideal to shorten a name such as “Jessica” to “Jess,” if space is limited. If you want to be certain that your message will fit, please don’t hesitate to ask us, and we’ll advise you as to your best options.

What does “Grade 1 or Grade 2 braille” mean?

There are several forms of Braille, and the terms “Grade 1” and “Grade 2” have nothing to do with grades in school. Grade 1 Braille is the “long form” of Braille where each letter needed is used to complete a word. Grade 2 Braille is a form of contracted Braille, whereby certain common letter pairs or common words are written in a shorthand. For example, in Grade 1 Braille, the word ‘dream,” would be spelled out in five letter characters. In Grade 2 Braille, the same word would be contracted, so that the common letter pair “ea” would be combined into a single character representing both letters. Therefore, in grade 2 Braille, “dream” would be reduced to just four Braille characters. Other common letter pairs include double letters such as “bb,” or “ff,” as well as letters typically used in sequence such as “ch,” “th,” “ed,” and “or.” Some common short words are also contracted, such as the word, “the,” or “and.” Both of these words can be reduced to a single Braille character representing the entire word.

I’m giving my jewelry purchase as a gift. If they don’t like it, can they return it?

Due to the personalization on our charms, we cannot offer a cash refund. However, we want our customers to be happy, and we’ll gladly exchange it for something they might prefer, if it is of equal value to the item returned. Please review our return policy for more details.

Why don’t you ship using free matter for the blind?

When Elegant Insights first launched in 2011, I investigated the use of the “free matter” stamp. According to postal regulations, free matter privileges are granted to non-commercial entities, such as blindness related organizations, not for commercial enterprises. There are also a number of other eligibility requirements that we do not meet, such as a restriction on advertising, size and package content, and more. Also, we offer our products to everyone, and we have no way to know who is blind or low vision, and who is not. Each customer would have to self-identify, and this involves filling out eligibility forms and submitting them for approval from the USPS.

Additionally, there is really no such thing as free shipping. Even Amazon does not get shipping for free, although they do get a discounted rate for their huge shipping volume. Typically, a small business does not have access to discounts offered to large resellers. Most establishments that claim to offer free shipping build delivery costs into the product price, and then promote free shipping. Alternatively, a business will often require a minimum purchase in order to qualify for free shipping. I prefer to keep my policies simple, honest, and transparent to my customers.

Another issue with a “free matter” label is that all packages are subject to scrutiny by the postal inspectors. They may open any package labeled as “free matter for the blind” to ensure the contents are in either large print or braille, and not all of our products are embossed in braille. While most are, we also offer engraving, and we also sell products with no braille at all. Therefore, if any package was opened and determined to be in violation of the free matter terms, this could be problematic for all concerned.

Finally, all free matter items are treated as first class mail, which means longer shipping times, as well as limitations on what sort of packaging we could use. We choose to ship USPS priority Mail, because we can ship in a small box that protects our beautiful products, limits the possibility of damage, and the box fits into most mailboxes, which also minimizes the opportunity for “porch pirates” to steal packages from front doorsteps. Also, since all of our products are entirely handcrafted, our turnaround time is not as fast as you might wish, therefore, the best shipping method for us is priority mail, so that once your items are finished, we can ship ASAP.

We do offer a means by which to encourage shoppers to get together on shipping and save, as we allow for up to ten items per box, so long as they are a single order, and shipped to one address. Our shipping charges do not fluctuate based upon size, weight, or number of items per order. We offer one flat rate.

How is Elegant Insights jewelry packaged?

We don’t always know if our customers are buying for themselves or as a gift, but even if you are buying for yourself, it should look like a gift! Our jewelry and accessories are placed in a fabric jewelry bag that you can use to store your items in so as to keep them scratch-free, or to present as a gift. We also include a business card so your gift recipient will know your gift came from elegant Insights.

Can I make a product suggestion?

Absolutely! We are interested in your suggestions, and you will find an accessible contact form on the site where you can share your thoughts. We’ll do our best to make it happen.