Terms of Service

01Who you are dealing with

Branded Elegance™ is a brand of SME Marketing LLC, a Georgia limited liability company. In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” mean SME Marketing LLC trading as Branded Elegance. “You” means the person placing an order or using this site.

Mailing address: [INSERT MAILING ADDRESS], Georgia, USA.
General enquiries: info@brandedelegance.com
Artwork: artwork@brandedelegance.com

02Acceptance of these terms

By browsing this site, placing an order, or approving a proof, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site or order from us.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract to place an order.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force is the one published here on the date you place your order, and the “last updated” date above tells you when it last changed. Changes are not retroactive to orders already placed.

03Our products

Every piece is cut, wrapped, stitched and branded by hand in the United States from full-grain leather. Leather is a natural material.

• Grain, colour depth and markings vary between hides and between pieces from the same hide. Small scars, wrinkles and tonal shifts are characteristic of full-grain leather, not defects.
• Colours shown on screen are a guide. Monitors differ, and leather darkens and develops a patina with handling and light.
• Product photographs and the on-screen branding preview are representations. They are not a guarantee of exact appearance.
• Dimensions are approximate and subject to normal manufacturing tolerance.

Glassware is not dishwasher safe and leather must not be submerged. Care guidance is supplied with your order. Damage caused by dishwashers, soaking, solvents, or heat is not a defect and is not covered.

04Custom branding and your artwork

When you supply a monogram, logo, or artwork file for us to laser-brand, you make the following promises to us, and they matter:

• You own the artwork, or you have permission from the owner to have it reproduced on merchandise.
• The artwork does not infringe anyone's copyright, trademark, trade dress, publicity rights, or privacy rights.
• The artwork is not unlawful, defamatory, obscene, hateful, or intended to deceive anyone about the source of goods.

We do not verify ownership of anything you send us, and we rely entirely on those promises. If a claim is made against us over artwork you supplied, section 16 applies.

We may decline any artwork or monogram, for any reason, without explaining why. If we decline before production, we refund you in full. We are more likely to decline third-party logos, sports and entertainment marks, currency, and government insignia.

File requirements

• Vector formats only: .ai, .eps, .svg, or vector .pdf. Maximum 5 MB per file.
• Raster images (JPG, PNG, screenshots, photographs) cannot be laser-branded cleanly and will be rejected.
• Your file is scaled to fit the brand area for the item you ordered. We do not redraw, trace, or recreate artwork as part of the order price.
• Monograms are limited to three characters and are set in our house typeface. We do not substitute other fonts.

We keep your artwork so you can reorder without resending it. You can ask us to delete it at any time — see the Privacy Policy.

05Proofs and approval

Before anything is cut, we email you a proof showing your branding as it will be produced. Nothing goes into production until you approve it in writing, by replying to that email.

If we do not hear from you within 14 days of sending a proof, we may hold your order or cancel it and refund you.

06Orders, pricing and payment

Your order is an offer to buy. A contract forms only when we accept it, which happens when we email you an order confirmation. We may decline any order, including after payment has been authorised, in which case we refund you in full.

Prices are in US dollars and exclude shipping and tax, which are shown before you pay. We collect Georgia sales tax where required.

Prices, product descriptions and availability can change without notice. Occasionally an item may be mispriced or misdescribed through error. If the correct price is higher than the price shown, we will contact you before doing anything — you can confirm at the correct price or cancel for a full refund. We are not obliged to sell at an incorrect price.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. By paying you also accept Stripe's terms. Payment is taken in full when the order is placed, including for custom work.

Volume, corporate and reseller orders may be quoted separately; a signed quote overrides conflicting parts of these terms.

07Production and lead times

Any lead time we quote is an estimate made in good faith, measured from the day you approve your proof, not from the day you order. Time is not of the essence.

If you need an order for a specific date, tell us in the order notes before you buy and wait for us to confirm in writing that we can meet it. We are not liable for a missed occasion where we have not confirmed a date in writing.

08Shipping and risk of loss

We ship within the United States. Shipping is quoted at checkout and is not refundable once an order has shipped.

Title and risk of loss pass to you when we hand your order to the carrier. Once shipped, delivery is between you and the carrier, and carrier tracking is the record of delivery. We will help you open a carrier claim, but a package the carrier records as delivered is not our responsibility.

You are responsible for giving us a correct, complete address. We are not liable for orders delivered to an address you supplied incorrectly, and reshipping is at your cost.

09Returns and the 7-day notice

Notifying us within 7 days makes you eligible to request a return. It is not by itself an authorisation to send anything back.

Items we cannot take back

Personalised goods are made to your order and cannot be resold. Any item carrying a monogram or custom artwork is final sale and is not returnable or refundable unless it is defective or we made an error against your approved proof.

Items we can take back

Unbranded items may be returned if all of the following apply:

• You notified us within 7 days of delivery and we issued a return authorisation.
• The item is unused, unwashed and in its original packaging, including the gift box.
• It reaches us within 14 days of the authorisation being issued.

Approved refunds go to the original payment method within 10 business days of us receiving and inspecting the item. Original shipping is not refunded, and return postage is yours unless the item was defective or we shipped the wrong thing. Items that arrive back used, damaged, or without authorisation may be refused or refunded in part.

10Damaged or defective goods

The same 7-day notice applies. Email us within 7 days of delivery with your order number, a description of the problem, and clear photographs of both the item and the shipping carton. Keep the packaging — carrier claims usually fail without it.

Where an item is genuinely defective or does not match your approved proof, we will repair it, remake it, or refund it. That choice is ours, and it is your sole remedy.

11Changes and cancellations

You may cancel or change an order at no cost at any point before you approve your proof. After proof approval, production may already have started and cancellation is at our discretion; where we allow it, we may keep a reasonable amount to cover work and materials already committed.

Unbranded stock items may be cancelled any time before they ship.

12Intellectual property

The Branded Elegance name and logo, this site's design, text, photography and code are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by US and international law. You may not copy, reproduce, scrape, or reuse them without our written permission.

You keep all rights in the artwork you send us. By sending it, you grant us a limited licence to reproduce and modify it to the extent needed to produce your order, to keep it on file for reorders, and — unless you tell us otherwise in writing — to show finished work in our portfolio and marketing. Tell us and we will not use your work publicly.

13Acceptable use of this site

You agree not to attempt to interfere with the site or its security. Specifically, you will not probe or scan the site or its systems, attempt to gain unauthorised access, upload malware or files designed to disrupt, submit false or automated orders, scrape content, or use the artwork upload facility for anything other than artwork for a genuine order.

We may suspend or refuse service to anyone who does.

14Disclaimer of warranties

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing here limits any right you have under applicable consumer protection law that cannot be waived.

15Limitation of liability

Some states do not allow these limitations, so they may not apply to you in full. This section does not exclude liability for fraud, or for anything that cannot lawfully be excluded.

16Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless SME Marketing LLC and its members, officers, employees and suppliers from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of:

• artwork, logos, monograms or instructions you supplied, including any claim that they infringe someone's rights;
• your breach of these terms; or
• your misuse of this site.

We will notify you of any such claim and may participate in its defence with counsel of our choosing at our own cost. You may not settle a claim in a way that imposes any obligation on us without our written consent.

17Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to its conflict of law rules. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Before filing anything, please email us and give us 30 days to resolve the problem informally. Most issues end there.

If we cannot resolve it, you and we agree that any dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hall County, Georgia, and both of us consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

To the extent permitted by law, any claim must be brought within one year of the event giving rise to it, and both of us waive any right to bring or participate in a class or representative action.

18Events outside our control

We are not liable for delay or failure to perform caused by anything beyond our reasonable control, including material or equipment shortages, laser or machinery failure, carrier delay, utility or network outage, fire, flood, severe weather, labour dispute, epidemic, war, civil unrest, or act of government. Where such an event materially delays your order, we will contact you and you may cancel unstarted work for a full refund.

19General

Severability. If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, that part is limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary and the rest stays in force.

No waiver. If we do not enforce a right, that is not a waiver of it.

Assignment. You may not assign these terms without our consent. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a sale of the business.

Entire agreement. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about this subject and replace any earlier understanding, except where a signed quote or written agreement says otherwise.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience and do not affect interpretation.

20How to reach us

Branded Elegance — a brand of SME Marketing LLC
[INSERT MAILING ADDRESS], Georgia, USA
info@brandedelegance.com

For anything about a return, please include your order number and email within 7 days of delivery.