Tickled Pink Designs has always taken pride in being able to answer customers' questions on an individual basis. We LOVE meeting and talking with each customer. However, with our new baby and an increase of business, we feel the need to create a page that addresses our most Frequently Asked Questions. We hope our customers will understand and appreciate the one-on-one care and attention that we will continue to offer in other ways!

• How safe is this "safety bead"? Will it wear down over time?
• Why do you use Spectra Fibre cord rather than other materials?
• How can I pay? Do you accept credit cards?
• Do you have a "Design Your Own Necklace" option?
• With all these vintage beads, does that mean that if I don't buy the necklace that I like now, that I might never be able to get a necklace with those beads?
• What kind of discount do you give for large orders? Do you have discounts for orders in numbers of 50, 75, 100?
• What if I don't like my necklace? I'm weary about buying a product that I can't see or feel directly. Can I return it? What is your whole policy on that?
• I have read other websites that sound an awful lot like this site. The text is the same. I'd rather not support a company that copies the marketing and innovations of another company. Can you explain this?
• What if my custom handmade bracelet / necklace doesn't fit?

How safe is this "safety bead"? Will it wear down over time? TOP
Tickled Pink Designs was the first company to introduce the safety bead. It took a while for our competitors to follow suit, but most did, because the safety bead allows for a clear weak point on the necklace, where it can come apart without beads scattering about. If this happens, you can simply put the two parts back together. Tickled Pink Designs has made hundreds of nursing necklaces over the years and customers have reported that their necklace and safety bead have held up nicely, just as nicely as when they first started using it. The safety bead has the added benefit of allowing you to string a teething toy onto your necklace. If your baby is getting in the habit of biting, your best defense is to quickly respond with a toy to bite on, so that your baby comes to understand that you are not for biting on! :-) You can simply pry the two halves of the safety bead apart and add your toy, so that it is always with you when you are nursing.

Why do you use Spectra Fibre cord rather than other materials? TOP
IF a baby is allowed to teeth and play with a hemp nursing neckace, or the necklace gets wet with milk, the fibres will be weakened and could get smelly over time. Nylon-coated, stainless steel wire (also referred to as Tiger Tail) does wear down over time. In fact, it doesn't take long at all for the nylong coating to wear down and from there, the wire breaks quite easily. Tickled Pink Designs has inquired with various jewelry designers and all are in agreement: stainless steel wire is for jewelry and should be treated very delicately. The Spectra cording allows for smaller beads to go on, like the unique and vintage plastic beads that only Tickled Pink Designs uses, with no loss of strength and safety. It is a synthetic fibre, meaning that it allows for washing of your necklace without rotting or a breakdown of fibres. This cord allows your nursing necklace to be in it for the long haul! Tickled Pink Designs was also the first nursing necklace company to use Spectra cording. As always, the safety of your baby's nursing necklace begins with Tickled Pink Designs!

How can I pay? Do you accept credit cards? TOP
2Checkout.com,Inc. is an authorized retailer of goods and services provided by Tickled Pink Designs. You can use your credit cards directy through our shopping cart with the 2Checkout service.
We also accept credit cards through Paypal. If you don't have a Paypal account, we can invoice you through Paypal and you can make a one-time payment, without having to set up an account. It would be like putting your credit card information in a website shopping cart, one time only. OR, you are welcome to pay by money order (if you are in the US, make sure that it is an International money order) or cheque (or "check" if you are American ;-). All cheques will have to clear before shipping.

Do you have a "Design Your Own Necklace" option? TOP
Well, that is basically what our Custom Necklaces ARE! You tell us what animal/transportation etc. beads you want, what colours, what vintage beads on our site that have caught your eye and we will email you the finished product to approve or tweak. You can find Custom Necklaces priced much higher, and without all the costly vintage beads that TPD uses

With all these vintage beads, does that mean that if I don't buy the necklace that I like now, that I might never be able to get a necklace with those beads? TOP
Well, we have a good supply of some of the vintage beads, enough to last a year or so. But most of our unique, vintage beads are in very short supply. It's always sad when we run out, but it also promises that your nursing necklace will never be exactly duplicated. It is unique to you and your sweet baby. Anyone can go to Walmart and pick up the plastic Beadery beads that some of our competition uses exclusively, but many of our beads come from one wholesale store that is not online, and allows us to keep a unique supply of colourful, plastic beads. We have many different sources for obscure beads that your baby will love to feel and play with and MANY that have not made it to the website yet because we are too busy making nursing necklaces! :-)

What kind of discount do you give for large orders? Do you have discounts for orders in numbers of 50, 75, 100? TOP
We have had inquiries for wholesale orders that high and we understand that most companies can afford to give huge discounts for such large amounts of product being ordered at once. However, you need to understand that ordering 100 nursing necklaces doesn't save us money on production, like with some products that you can get from other companies. The cost-per-necklace doesn't change and we still have to hand-make each nursing necklace. As well, you would need to allow 4-6 weeks for such a large order to be shipped. As of yet, our policy on large order discounts are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Thank you for understanding.

What if I don't like my necklace? I'm weary about buying a product that I can't see or feel directly. Can I return it? What is your whole policy on that? TOP
We experiemented briefly with an open return policy that would refund handling but not shipping costs. Then, we wondered WHY? We have never had a return, so why the stingy return policy? So, we went back to our original policy whereby if you don't like your necklace, you can return it and receive a full refund including shipping BOTH WAYS! So, it's a no-risk purchase. And really, there's no risk to us either, because we've never had a customer tell us that they were unhappy with their necklace! ;-)

I have read other websites that sound an awful lot like this site. The text is the same. I'd rather not support a company that copies the marketing and innovations of another company. Can you explain this? TOP
You know, we have heard this a few times and we understand the turn-off that this can be for a customer. It is a turn-off for us, too, to see our ideas and marketing, sometimes word-for-word, on another website as though it originated there. Rest assured that Tickled Pink Designs has always been able to create new designs, policies, and procedures without looking anywhere but home. Since Tickled Pink Designs came onto the scene, many other nursing necklace makers have popped up, some of them are even former customers of ours! :-) But we have been online since September of 2003, and were making necklaces before that. Some ideas that originated here are:

• our safety bead!
• our Spectra cording.
• our Signature Rainbow bead.
• our Toddler ABC Necklace.
• our Extra-sensory Exploration Necklace.
• our glow-in-the dark Sweet Dreams Necklace.
• our Free Re-stringing policy
• our No-Hassle, No-Cost Return policy.
• our Free Personalization policy.

What if my custom handmade bracelet / necklace doesn't fit? TOP
If there is an error in length made on our part according to the length you ordered (plus or minus 1/8 inch), we will resize your bracelet for free and ship it back to you for free. Handmade necklaces or bracelets that need resized due to a measurement error by the client, will incur a resizing charge. Resizing charges for bracelets are $10.00. For multi-strand bracelets there will be an additional $5.00 charge per strand charge (plus return shipping) Please contact me by telephone or e-mail for return instructions or questions.