Shipping and return policies for The Lowest of Low

Shipping Info

Everything you could possibly want to know about buying stuff from The Lowest of Low


First of all,

If you have any questions, concerns, troubles, etc., before, during or after the buying process, please do contact me. You can write to me in English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified or traditional) or Japanese, and I will try to respond in the language in which you’ve written. If you write to me in other languages, I will probably need to use a translation program to understand, and then write back to you in English (unless you specify a preference for one of the above-listed languages other than English). Communication is important, so I will always do my best to write back quickly and coherently.

All my designs are printed on demand when you order. This helps me out a lot, because it means that I can always have the *right* products ready to roll as quickly as is humanly possible to make them and still have a little money for food to survive (after all, if I spent all my money on, say, weird and wonderful cyclops sleeping masks, I wouldn’t gain much nutrition from eating those, and I’d be too weak to design other things…).

How does it work?

Confirmation

When you place an order for an item with me here, I forward it to the manufacturers, and they confirm it with me (generally asking at least 3 times to make sure your mailing address is correct, so please make sure your shipping address is correct!).

Once I have confirmation from the manufacturers that your item is being made, I’ll let you know — this is usually the same day, or the day after your purchase (like, if we’re in bed at 3am here in Sicily when you place an order, I’ll confirm it the next day… probably when you’re sleeping!) Weekends might take longer for us to get confirmation, since even the wonderful, hard-working people in the workshop need a break sometimes, too.

Lead Time

Once you’ve had the initial confirmation that your order is being processed, we’re into something called “Lead Time”. Lead Time is the time required for the item to actually be made. The general rule is to allow for 3-7 business days, but in practice, it is often shorter than this. Little things like watches, clocks, mugs, pillows, scarves, phone cases etc., take between 2-3 days. Bags, Backpacks, laptop sleeves and those kinds of things take anywhere between 3-5 days. Clothing items take between 4-6 days, especially the ones with all-over print designs. Shoes, complicated beasties that they are, can take 5-7 days (because they need to be properly printed and then assembled into something you can actually wear on your feet).

Shipping Out

Once your item(s) is/are ready, they will be shipped directly to you from the manufacturer. That’s in China, and (by default) things are shipped out via EMS & 4PX (China Post), which we’ve found to be very efficient. It’s also FREE for every order, no matter how many items you buy, which is fantastic and simple. Shipping takes (after "lead time) between 7-15 days (often less than that, depending on your own country’s postal services and the time of year), guaranteed delivery, with tracking numbers from the workshop all the way to your door.

You can also choose to have your packages delivered more quickly, by DHL. This costs money, but you do get your stuff in a shorter amount of time (3-5 business days). DHL charges have fluctuated wildly during the Covid Pandemic, so please get in touch about pricing if you need this. It’s definitely a lot steeper than free, and may or may not be worth it to you, depending on how quickly you need, or impatient you are, to receive your stuff. DHL also guarantees delivery and provides tracking from the workshop to your door.

No matter which shipping option you choose, I will send you the tracking number(s) so you can track your order, and so you can liaise with the delivery company to keep them on track if necessary. (Where I live in Sicily, some delivery companies don’t even bother, because I live in the mountains well outside of town, and I have to chase them down and make it embarrassing for them not to deliver, so having a tracking number can be really important! Keep hold of your tracking number! If any problems do arise, I’ll do my best to help sort things out and get your stuff to you, though, so don’t hesitate to contact me.)

For normal-sized orders, customs or duties charges tend to be rare or nonexistent, but if any do arise, you will have to be responsible for those (as with any other international package), so do be aware of what your country may charge you for the privilege of taking the initiative to prop up the world’s economy by buying something directly across the arbitrary international trade borders imposed by high-falootin’ trade agreements and supporting artists directly. I know, I know… you’re only just doing your bit and enriching your life with awesome and unusual stuff from all over the place, but the nations of this free world of ours have to pay for their leaders’ over-inflated salaries and their padded pet-projects somehow. Imposing an excise on millions of little people is one way they can do that, kind of like a pyramid scam. What packages get slapped with a customs charge or import duty seems to be fairly arbitrary, so the main thing to be aware of is that it can happen, and if it does, it will be your responsibility to cover those charges. I wish it was different, but unfortunately, that’s how it works.

Happy Happy Time

You can contact me at any stage of your order to ask questions, find out where we’re at in the whole process, or even just to say hello. I aim to reply to everybody within a day, and really, much sooner than that if I’m awake. I try to check in on these things at least twice a day (like when I’m out and about or painting or deep into recording), but since I’m very often at the computer anyway (doing design work and recording music), in practice it’s a little more often than that.

...

Bulk Orders

Because all the items I design are print-on-demand, and because the workshop I’ve chosen are talented and flexible, there are no minimum order sizes, and no maximums, either. If you want 1,000 eyeball drinks coasters (say) for a special event, that’s perfectly possible. Please contact me for special rates, etc. in that case.

Likewise, I’m not averse to creating special designs for special occasions. If this is something you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate for a second to drop me a line and explain what you have in mind. That’s all part of the fun and excitement for me.

Who Are "We", Anyway?

Without getting too existential all of a sudden, we (that’s a Royal we, technically, it’s really just me right now, although my life partner is really supportive of all the crazy stuff I get up to, so it’s also kinda inclusive because of that), when it comes to art and design, “we” are Studio Montagna. That’s an art and recording studio I’ve created here in Avola Antica, Sicily (Italy) where I live, for my painting, pottery, design and music stuff. Some of it is charming and traditional — oil paintings of beautiful Sicilian landscapes and animals, and some of it is…. something else!

A large part of the design work I do is support for my electronic music, all or most of which you can find right here in Bandcamp.

You can also find the music for download or streaming on pretty much any service you like to use, but this is the point: if we’re honest, a lot of band merch is… kind of disappointing, from a design standpoint. I mean, I’ve been to quite a few concerts and festivals, and I usually end up buying a t-shirt as a souvenir. But they’re rarely appealing enough (apart from the experience/nostalgia factor) to actually want to wear very often. And I didn’t want that for my music-inspired designs.

Sometimes, you’ll see old guys who listened to the Ramones or whatever back in the day getting all upset when they see younger folks walking around in a Ramones shirt, but don’t know anything about the band who graces their clothing. But I don’t see a problem with that at all. Maybe the music speaks to younger generations directly, and maybe it doesn’t — but somewhere along the line, someone came up with a design that does speak to people across time, and I think that’s awesome. Because that means that something of the spirit that inspired those people to make music also passed through into the designs, and continues to appeal to people who live and breathe and have their being in a very different world today. And if that reminds people about music they once knew, or still enjoy, or turns new people onto it eventually, then that lives on. To my mind, all the arts, all expressions of humanity of a creative type — from music, to writing, to cooking — are one big amazing outpouring, not always 100% distinct from one another (except, insofar, of course, that you can’t eat, say, cyclops sleeping masks…. vide supra).

So it’s been my idea from the start to make FutureRetro Electro style goods and clothing that do spring out of my music and musical ideas and themes, but hopefully are also visually appealing enough, in their own strange way, to stand on their own, whether you listen to, or have even heard the music, or not. So whether it’s a band or a brand or a greeting across the ages from some (hopefully not) post-apocalyptic future time doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it appeals to you in your own way, for your own reasons. If that gets you interested in the music, that’s fantastic! If it doesn’t, well that’s quite all right too. And if it was the music that brought you here … Yay!!! Thank you!! I will continue to do both the music and this design stuff until I cast off this mortal coil once and for all.

So… uh… that’s what this is. And I appreciate any and every form in which you’re moved to support me in these things. Thank you!!!

The "merch" here in Bandcamp is a small subset of what I design and put into my webshop. If you are interested, please come see more stuff at:

www.thelowestoflow.com/futureretro-electro-shop-stuff

And again, many, many thinks for your kind support.

Return Policy

When you get your stuff, I hope you’re really pleased! If there’s anything damaged, or if your shipment takes longer than 45 days to arrive, however, please contact me immediately, and we’ll start the process of refunding you the cost of the item(s) or getting a gorgeous and pristine replacement sent out to you. PLEASE NOTE: Shipping times to the US have become protracted in recent weeks due to Covid19 and the slow collapse of the US Postal Service. Times may exceed the 45 days now. Some shipments sit in customs for 2 weeks waiting to be processed. Please use the tracking number I will provide you when your order is placed to see what's happening.

N.B. (Nota Bene, Achtung, Important)!!!!

Unfortunately, because of this whole print-on-demand model we use, our workshop doesn’t accept returns for things like wrong sizes or “Well, I changed my mind” or “I wore it once and some dude puked all over me and made a stain” kind of stuff, so I can’t really help with that, but when stuff gets damaged or *actually lost* in transit, I will leap in like a tiger/ninja to set things right.

To minimise disappointments, please take measurements and be sure that you request the right size when you order. A good way (especially for shirts and other wearables) is to pick out your own most comfortable shirt (or whatever), lay it flat and measure it carefully. Compare that measurement with the size chart measurements listed for the item, and pick the one that matches best. Clothing sizes tend to be standard US sizes, and shoe sizes tend to be the international ones (the ones that look like “38” or “45”), but measurements are always more precise than blanket terms like “Small” or “XXXL”, which seem to mean vastly different things to different manufacturers. When in doubt, measure for yourself before ordering. If items run big or small (compared to the measurement charts kindly provided by the workshop) and I know about it, it will be mentioned in the listing.