Good afternoon cuddle club members! I have one more big announcement for today!
I wanted to make this update sooner rather than later so we're all on the same page and all the most pertinent info is in one place.
With the insane amount of success this campaign has seen and the many new add-ons and designs, the timeline will be changed to reflect all the prototyping that needs to be done and the incredible amount of plushies that will need to be manufactured.
The original estimated ship date of February will now be moved to July-August which will give us lots of room to perfect each design, be it a plush or an accessory, as well as make sure you're receiving the highest quality plush possible.
As mentioned previously, I'm actively shopping around for the best fulfillment center to fit our needs. I've spoken to several people already-- some even have warehouses in various countries across the globe that would allow me to offer the cheapest possible shipping fees, especially to my international friends (and don't worry Canadians, I'm looking out for you as well!) More importantly though, this will cut down on shipping delays, errors, and other issues that could slow us down and (hopefully) compensate somewhat for the longer production timeline.
Why the need for such a long production timeline to begin with?
Prototyping can be slow, unfortunately, with each plush taking anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks to fully develop and in some cases even longer. While we can work on some designs simultaneously and some are even perfect on the very first try, I know a project of this scale is still going to require a number of revisions .
The good news is most of the designs simply require a color change, which is (generally speaking) much faster than developing a plush from scratch. Why can't you ship the finished designs first?
This comes down to cost. Consolidating orders and shipping all at once is cheaper than shipping several pallets at different times due to the huge amounts of space, labor, and time involved. I will discuss the logistics with the manufacturer and possibly begin the manufacturing process on some designs before others, but they will still likely all ship at once.
And finally a note on international shipping and the preorder store:
Because of the extended production timeline, the preorder store that opens in October will remain open for a longer period as well. The upside to this is, if we don't meet the 500k goal for the second run of Series 1 in the next 22 days, this gives us a lot more time to do so!
It will also ensure we have a visual on all the new designs so no one has to purchase a plush unseen and hope it comes out to their liking.
The preorder store will also offer international shipping. I am hoping to decide on a fulfillment center by then, which will allow me to put together more accurate shipping estimates for countries outside of North America.
Anyway, I tried to keep this as concise as possible and I hope it all makes sense! If you have any questions or concerns, I invite you to share them here. Even when I don't respond, I read every message and take your feedback to heart 💖
I'm very excited to offer three different opportunities for folks to claim a carewere of their very own!
First up is a twitter giveaway! All you have to do to enter is retweet, and comment with a gif that makes you smile.
Next up we have an instagram giveaway. Again the rules are simple-- a like and tag is all you need to do to enter.
And lastly is a super awesome, ultra special BackerKit giveaway!
The prize is a carewere of your choice from the unlocked designs, as well as a cuddle club pin and bandana. To enter share a picture of your carewere. This can be a drawing, a photograph, or generated via the build-a-were creator. The only requirement is that they are 1) a carewere (new species and creative reimaginings are a-okay) and 2) special to you in some form or fashion! Submitting art you've already drawn is also fine as long as it fits the prompt.
(If you're looking for somewhere to host your image, try https://imgur.com/)
Then share a link to your creation in the comments, and you're done! Winner will be chosen based on creativity and sincerity, so you don't have to be a seasoned artist to win 💖
(PLEASE NOTE this update is in regards to SERIES 2 ONLY. Please make sure your order is from Series 2 before sending any inquiries related to this update. If you have a Pintopia 2024 order, your update is here! )
Happy Monday critters!
It's been a few weeks since the final few dozen orders have gone out and there are currently a few more stragglers lined up to go out this week. It's been an absolute rollercoaster fulfilling one campaign while preparing to fulfill another AND launching something new, but I'm slowly reaching some kind of equilibrium again and doing my best to catch up on all the things that have gotten away from me while I've had my nose to the grindstone.
To that end, I've seen some concerns pop up here and there through non-official channels and so I want to extent another opportunity for folks to come to me directly with issues.
If you have an issue with your order (you haven't received it, you received a damaged plush, etc.) PLEASE send an email to [email protected] with the subject 'SERIES 2 SUPPORT' so I can get that sorted for you asap!
If you already sent an email but have yet to receive a response, please send me another one. The volume of emails I've been receiving between coordinating with fulfillment, dealing with random freight issue and preparing to fulfill Pintopia 2024 has been extraordinary and unfortunately some things have fallen through the cracks.
I'm committed to making sure everyone is satisfied though, and would like another chance to respond to you if I haven't already 💖
Additionally, I've had a handful of emails I wasn't able to reply to due to my replies bouncing. Please make sure I can respond to you if you reach out.
After weeks of illness (double ear infections, yippee!!!), fulfillment hiccups, and other issues that led to things dragging on much longer than they should have, I'm so thrilled to announce we're finally (or as close as we can get to) 100% fulfillment.
As of right now there are roughly 15 orders that have outstanding balances that I can't ship yet, so if you have yet to receive your shipping notification that could be why. If it's not a balance issue, or you're not sure how to check, please shoot me an email at [email protected] so I can investigate.
I am still handling some outstanding support requests and delivery issues, so if you received your package or received a shipping notification but there was a problem and you've already reached out about it-- sit tight just a little longer! I'm working as quickly as possible to relay everything to the fulfillment team so we can get those replacements sent out asap.
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For folks who haven't reached out yet:
If you received a shipping notification and are having issues with a delivery, damaged item, or missing item, please email [email protected] with:
1) the email address associated with the order 2) name 3) order number if you have it (this will be on your shopify tracking email)
so the fulfillment team will be able to look you up and handle your request shortly! Only do this if you have received a shipping notification!!! They can't help you if your item hasn't shipped yet-- you need to reach out to me about that.
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✨ Now that we're just about wrapped up, I'm also excited to announce that a restock will be coming to the Tiny Teeth store on 4/18 at 4pm CT! ✨
(if you saw the false alarm earlier, I'm so sorry 😭 I didn't mean to trigger the in stock notifications yet)
I've reserved a substantial amount of stock for the purpose of replacements so don't stress if you're items are still in transit. We will still be able to replace damaged and missing plushies as necessary.
2024 Pintopia preorders should also begin shipping next week and I hope to have them all fulfilled by the end of May, at which point those plushies and accessories will hit the Tiny Teeth store as well!
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I believe that covers just about everything, but if you have any additional questions the quickest way to reach me is via email 💖
I come bearing good news. As of today, 75% of ALL orders are shipped! The number jumped dramatically today, which is awesome to see and means fulfillment should be wrapping up very soon (which in turn means the remaining plushies can be sold in the tiny teeth store!!)
Please don't panic if your order hasn't shipped yet. 1000 orders is no small sum so there will still be a lot of people who have yet to receive a tracking email-- this is totally normal and expected. Your email should arrive within the next 1 to 2 weeks.
When all orders and emails have been sent out I'll be back with another update. If you haven't received your tracking email at that point then by all means send me an email and I'll make sure everything is sorted out 💖
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Now for a note about support requests: I've received an influx of emails in the past 1-2 weeks due to the massive amount of packages going out all at once. Even a 5% error rate at this scale means 200+ support requests to juggle (we're not quite at 5% thankfully, but just throwing a number out there as an example) and that's a lot for one person to work through!
In addition to that I started a new medication last week that makes me very sleepy while I'm still adjusting to the change, so I'm not moving as quickly as I would like. The timing is terrible, but I'll keep trucking, all I'm asking for is a little patience if you sent in an email 🙏 I will get to you, I promise!
For misdelivered 'ghouls, wrong addresses, missing items, and MIA packages, you will also get your plushies. There isn't even a remote chance I will run out of stock before all issues are addressed. There is plenty to go around.
