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Eshu, Ogun, Oshoosi’s shop

No, we don’t have a physical store.
No, we don’t have a catalog yet
Yes! The Spanish language site is coming soon!

Long-winded answers to the top-ten questions about Orisha Accessories! **Just click on a question to show/hide the answer.

PROBLEMS ORDERING? I sure hope not, but just in case;

If you should click on a product and a link not work, email us immediately at Orishagifts@hotmail.com.

If you’ve tried to check out and your credit card wasn’t approved - don’t go down like that! Call us (917) 657-4400 and perhaps we can take a check or money order and send your order immediately with proof of mailing.

If the item you are trying to order is out of stock, there may not be anything we can do to get it again. It’s hard to convince the artists to make 2-3 of the same item. Once their "design" is done, they usually won’t make anymore unless I do some serious begging. Even that, has failed at times. If you see something you love, I recommend you buy it as soon as you can. Like all original art, supplies are not guaranteed.

No email confirmation on your order within 24 hours? It didn’t go through. Call us to check. All orders are confirmed by email and even our shipping is confirmed by email. Make sure your email address is correct.

DO YOU SELL WHOLESALE? Please don’t encourage my adolescent visions of an Orisha Accessories “kiosk” in every Botanica coast to coast and “house to house” Orisha Accessories “representatives” replacing Avon in all major cities! I want everyone to have this art, EVERYONE, but we currently don’t have the business capacity to offer wholesale purchases.

It’s taken 10 years to develop a workshop of gifted Brazilian artists and stores and I still worry every single night about how to get the art out of the hands of the artists and out of the country of Brazil. We’re almost there but I wouldn’t invite other businesses to join until I can guarantee a steady supply of art. Stay tuned. This may happen faster than I expect. If you’re a business owner interested in selling Orisha Accessories art, email us at Orishagifts@hotmail.com so I can place you on our wholesale alert list. We’ll keep you posted if our supplies (miraculously) grow and enable us to go wholesale.

HOW ARE YOUR ITEMS MADE? Each and every piece of art on our site is hand-made by artists either in Brazil, Nigeria or the USA. We try to specify the materials used in our product descriptions. I want to say a word about the most prevalent material represented-Brazilian sheet metal.

Why are your products made of sheet metal and not real silver or copper?
This is a great question and here's the answer. Bless the Brazilians, they've been making this art for decades and they've worked out the best composite of metals to insure that these articles never rust or lose their shine, are medium-weight and affordable. The same objects in silver would tarnish, be very heavy and cost a fortune.

Copper rusts terribly and needs constant polishing. What they have in Brazil is reasonably priced tin. It’s the addition of this metal with steel that makes their version of sheet metal perfect for these objects. I've had my crowns and swords for ten years and they are still gleaming, without one bit of polishing. So don't take the word sheet metal to mean "cheap" or "flimsy". Their version, with generous amounts of tin, is superior. The same objects made in the USA of US made sheet metal cost FIVE TIMES AS MUCH, and without the right amount of tin, they have no weight. See for yourself. Our return policy is very liberal.

We established a Blog, a little Mystery, to begin showcasing some of our artists and the materials they use. I want people sensitive to price to see the person who spent two weeks with a tiny hammer and chisel pounding out that elaborate beautiful design on a crown. None of our items are mass made and we pay our artists for their time, mastery and materials. If you ever have a question about how something on our site is made, I hope you’ll call (917) 657-4400. I watch the artists work and am amazed at what they do. I’m happy to give you details!

ARE YOUR RITUAL ITEMS “PREPARED” IN ANY WAY? CAN I HAVE AN ITEM “PREPARED” None of our items have had anything added; not herbal remedies, not "blessings of the Baba", not even prayers. We sell heavily to practitioners of the Orisha Tradition and other African spiritual traditions. Most buyers will do their own cleaning and preparing of items if they want to use them spiritually. Others love the items for the beautiful art. Not for ritual. We think its best to leave any "preparations" to our customers. If you want to use an item from this site and you do not know how to "prepare" it, we suggest you wait (patiently) for guidance.

DO YOU SHIP INTERNATIONALLY? We ship anywhere in the world. After ten years of moving boxes between Brazil, Nigeria and the US, we consider shipping to be our “second” business.

If we add the international shipping option to the website using the normal shipping fees charged, you’ll run screaming in horror when you see that your shipping could easily cost more than your purchase. So if you’re outside the US, EMAIL US. Tell us where you are and what you’d like to buy and let us explore ways to get it to you as cheaply as possible! If we need to talk, send us your phone number and we’ll call you using one of our low-cost international calling cards. We value our international customers and will figure out a way to get your order to you in an economical manner.

WHY NO “NEXT DAY” SHIPPING OPTION? What if an item is out of stock or I need it the next day? I so wish we were at the staffing level where we could guarantee overnight delivery but we’re not quite there. I always encourage people to call us (917) 657-4400 because there is a chance that if your needed item is in stock, we can get it to UPS or Fed Ex that afternoon but I wouldn’t want to promise this in every case. Know that we’ll always try to do the best we can to meet your needs.

WHY ONLY BRAZILIAN ARTISTS? I’m so sorry that this is a sore spot with some of our customers! Because Brazil has millions of Orisha practitioners they have a whole segment of artists who work full-time producing art and ritual items. Sometimes items are custom made but there is usually no need for that in Brazil when you have a huge selection to choose from. Artists in the US and Cuba work mostly on a “custom-order” basis that is beautiful but often doesn’t lend itself to online sales.

Between you and me, I haven’t been able to get people to wait even five days for their order let alone three weeks while someone works on the art.

I’m sorry about this reality because my goal is to promote the expressions of all artists in this religion and I would love to carry American and Cuban artists (and others!).

It’s my desire that this website will build an audience and customer base for all artists in this tradition. And I’m open to promoting any artist who has a ready inventory of art specifically geared toward Orisha practitioners.

WHAT’S YOUR RETURN POLICY? Seeing a picture is not the same as touching, holding, feeling a product. This is why we have a very liberal return policy. If it’s not what you wanted after all, send it back within 30 days and your money will be refunded in the same form of original payment. No questions asked.

Shipping fees cannot be refunded.

To return a purchase, just call our customer service line (917) 657-4400. If the reason for your return is that the art was damaged in transit to you, then that call must be made within three (3) days of receiving your package. After this time limit, we won’t accept damaged art.

Undamaged art can be returned anytime within 30 days of receiving it. We expect you to wrap and pack the art appropriately. We’ll have the return picked up from a location of your choice.

If you’d like to handle the return yourself, our return address is:

IAAFC/Penn
P.O Box 3631
New York, NY 10027

You may want to insure your return to prevent it being lost in the mail. Questions? Don’t hesitate to call us at (917) 657-4400.

WHAT’S YOUR PRIVACY POLICY? How about this, we will not share your name, email, shipping address, or even acknowledge your existence, even under threat of water boarding. Not with anyone. Not ever. We’ll send your purchases in unmarked boxes. Your credit card bill and receipt will say “IAAFC”, our parent company.

If you call us, you only have to use your first name, or even make up a fake name. You’re welcome to block your phone number AND wear dark sunglasses while on the phone with us. If we have to call you about an order, we’ll say we’re from “Avon” or that we’re your cousin from Cleveland.

You may think we’re joking, but that’s how seriously we take your privacy.

African spiritual traditions are still not as accepted or respected as they should be. Ordering art from our site should never create a problem for you.

We don’t sell, lend or rent our customer list. We don’t even like bothering you ourselves except to notify you occasionally by email of new art, blog entries, special events or special sales.

HOW DO I TAKE CARE OF MY ART? Here’s the short answer but stay tuned for more extensive written materials;

Metal objects and crowns - polish sparingly with jewelry clothe, please don’t rub so hard that the crystals come off. Be gentle with the beaded veils even if they are sewn with fishing line and are incredibly sturdy. Initiates dance in these crowns and veils so they are made for action but I’d be careful.

Raffia Objects (grass and palm based art) - Water is the evil kryptonite here. No water should touch these pieces whether they are in strand or woven mat format. If they get wet, they will mold. Keep that in mind if you seek to use them for ritual. Let’s hear it for the saran wrap!

Dolls - Beautiful but sometimes fragile. Be gentle and don’t knock them over too often. I wouldn’t put them in the hands of three year olds. Brazilians often hand-sew the clothes onto the doll so don’t depend on being able to remove a dress and clean it. Spot clean if you need to.

All art is worth taking care of and most of our pieces are made to last a lifetime.