Halloween Graveyard Garden Stakes

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you really making plastic products in this day and age?

The "plastic" we use for our 3D printed goods is not oil based. It is rather a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources -- typically made from fermented plant starch such as from corn, cassava, sugarcane or sugar beet pulp. You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid

What about your environmental impact?

We try to limit our waste and energy use as much as possible. For our paper and vinyl products, all waste materials and recycled with the city. All our 3D printed waste either gets ground down into the smallest pieces we can and then either melted down into fun decor items or sent to a facility that turns 3D printed waste into new rolls of filament. The filament we use also comes without the wasteful ABS plastic spool which saves about 200 grams of oil-based plastic waste per 1kg of material. All of our machines are set to use as little energy as possible; turning off heating and running in power saving mode where applicable.

Where do you make all your wickedly awesome stuff?

It all gets designed and created in our highrise home in the east end of downtown Toronto. Our living room is our design studio and packaging centre, our dining room is our printing and cutting room, and our guest bedroom is our 3D printing and storage room.

How long does it take to ship my order of that awesomely wicked stuff?

Where/when we can, we try to have at least a little stock of our most common items. In those cases we ship either next day or, if you order at the right time, the same day. Everything else is made when the order is placed. It can take a day to a week depending on your order.

How do you ship and how long will it take?

We ship 5 days a week using a service called ChitChats. This allows us to have international tracking at regular non-tracked postal rates. To Canada, it is normal shipping. To the US, it is brought across the border and shipped through USPS so it is normal shipping times plus a day or two to get across the border. To international addresses there are two options, untracked (which is actually tracked) takes anywhere from 4-75 days through Ascendia and tracked (also tracked) ships through USPS International which is faster but more expensive.

I live in Toronto too! Can I just pick it up from you instead of paying for shipping?

Of course you can and we would love to see you! We are in the Leslieville, Cabbagetown, Corktown, Riverdale side of the city and if you use coupon code TORONTO then it will waive the shipping charge and we will let you know where you can pick it up from. We are available basically 24 hours a day -- either at our "day job" office or home which are only 2 blocks from each other.

Do you do markets as well where I can see and touch all of the things?

We sure do! We try to do 6-12 a year throughout the Toronto, Hamilton, and London areas. From the Punk Rock Flea Market to Bazaar of the Bizarre to Geeky Craftoriums, we try to hit as many as our schedule permits. Keep tabs on our latest upcoming events at https://www.cursedbydesign.com/blogs/news

Are there any delays due to the pandemic?

On the production side, there are no delays -- we buy in bulk from a Canadian supplier and usually stock at least 6 months worth of supplies. On the shipping side, there are delays depending on where you are ordering from. The mail system is overwhelmed with everything going on, so packages are moving a lot slower. We are still getting your items to the post office right away, but then it slows down from there. Canada Post also does not guarantee any delivery speeds at the moment, so choosing a faster method might not help get an item to you faster.