HOW PREORDERS WORK

Preorders are the time-period in which you can purchase/place your order on a specific doll. I know many people asking for the dolls’ delivery time and the questions are often similar to each other. I will try to explain how the preorder works for me so you can look here and for yourself count the time-estimate for your doll. 💙

The preorder timeline

1. When the preorder starts:
   The preorder starts at a set date and usually goes on for around 1 month. It is during this month that you can place your order on the doll on preorder. To know which doll will be on preorder next, you can usually ask in the Facebook Group. The active preorders are always listed under the “preorders” on this website. During this month nothing happens with the doll production, orders are only taken in.

2. When the preorder ends:
   When the preorder closes, I count the dolls ordered and send the order to the casting company. I often do this 2-3 days after the preorder’s last date, so I have time to fix peoples’ “mistakes”: for example, people who write they chose the wrong doll or wrong face-up, those who forgot it was last day, or those who make last minute-changes .... Some of these kind of mistakes always happen and a lot of messaging occurs 🙂

3. After-preorder contact with the factory:
   The factory confirms the order to me, and I pay for the production of the dolls. It takes a couple of days and often after that I can’t do any more changes to the order.
   Now the factory places the order in line behind all orders they already have from me and other artists. We are approximately one week after the preorder closed now.

4. The casting of the dolls by the factory:
   The factory casts the dolls. This process takes between 3 - 6 months, depending on the size of the order and wherein the production line we get - The factory cast dolls for many other artists so we need to share the timeline :) (bigger orders - longer time).

5. The painting of the dolls by the factory:
   When all the dolls are cast the factory begins painting them. This is the production part which takes time. Big orders take a longer time to paint, dark dolls are more sensitive to weather conditions and sometimes the order takes 2-3 months to get all the dolls painted. After faceup the dolls is ready to be shipped. Now all the laywas should be paid full so we can go to next stepp.

6. The dolls outside the EU are shipped directly from the factory.
   The order that the factory shipped will be faster than inside the EU. But you may have to pay taxes and fees.
   You can choose the direct factory shippment, just let uss know.

7. The dolls in the EU are shipped to me:
   The factory ships the order to me in Sweden - this takes at least 4 weeks to ship if they don’t get stuck in customs. Four weeks is really fast. But you don’t have to pay taxes and fees because I pay for that inside the EU.

8. I ship the dolls out:
   I ship them in batches of colors and countries in the EU. The reason for this is the way I write the shipping address in the postal system we have. Writing all packages to the same country together is easier, and I make fewer mistakes that way.
   Often I manage to ship one whole order out in two weeks.
   The dolls for artist face-up going to Charlene.

9. Your doll arrives!
   When I’ve shipped out the dolls some short time afterward, you should get a notification from your post office that you can pick up your doll package. Now your doll is home with you!

The resulting PREORDEr Time-Frame

If everything goes smoothly and the order is small, Meadowdolls can usually ship the dolls about 8 months after the preorder ends. However, the most common time frame is 9–12 months, because there are always factors that can slow down the process.
Examples include bad weather affecting painting, exhibitions that take place during the shipping period, time needed for sculpting when shipping cannot be prioritized, the Christmas season when shipping becomes a disaster, customs holding packages for weeks, or the factory closing temporarily – all of which can easily cause another month of delay.
The timeline description above represents the optimal situation when everything runs perfectly. But life is not always that smooth, which is why we give an approximate delivery time of 9–12 months.
This also means that if a preorder was placed only 3 months ago, it is far too early to ask about delivery. At that stage, shipping is simply not possible yet.

Tracking-numbers

When the dolls are shipped, and you would like to receive your tracking information, please contact our tracking helpers for assistance.
You can also track your package directly through the shipping carrier’s app. By downloading the carrier’s app to your phone, you will receive tracking updates automatically if your phone number or email address is registered with the shipment.
If you are in Russia, you can write to Olga Krasnova ( olgalv06@mail.ru).

For the USA and Canada tracking, there is Sherrye Burrows ( spudwunkles@yahoo.com ).

For Europe, Australia, and other countries, you can write to Anne Marie ( sylnivini@yahoo.com ).
You may contact the helpers if you need your tracking information.
Please note that they cannot assist with other matters such as payment issues, delays, address changes, or similar requests. For those cases, please use the contact form on our website.

If There Is a Problem With Your Order

If you notice that something is wrong with your order, please contact us.
If 12 months have passed and others have already received their dolls while yours is still missing, it is very important that you reach out to us. Mistakes can happen, and we want to make sure you are taken care of.
You can contact us directly through the form here: www.meadowdolls.org/contact-2

the preorder-setup is for maintaining high quality

The setup described above is the way Meadowdolls works. Other artists may choose different approaches – for example using different services, working with smaller orders, selling dolls directly from stock, or offering only one color at a time.
For Meadowdolls, the most important truth is that we trust our casting company. We will never compromise on quality for the sake of faster delivery. Since it is not possible for us to keep dolls in stock, the preorder system is the only way we can make the dolls available to everyone.
Sometimes there may be extra dolls or dolls offered after exhibitions. However, preorders – even with the long waiting time – remain the safest and most affordable way to secure the doll you want.

IF YOU NEED TO CANCEL THE PREORDER

You can cancel your order and get a full refund as long as the preorder is still open.
When the preorder is closed, the production process has already started. At that point, the $150 handling fee (included in your order price) is non-refundable.
So: if you cancel after the preorder has closed, $150 will always be deducted from your refund.

I hope this was helpful in understanding the preorder-process! 🧡🙂