FAQs
- About our handmade Italian goods
- Orders and payments
- Shipping charges and other fees
- Returns and refunds
All Italian dinnerware, serveware, and kitchenware at thatsArte.com are guaranteed to be 100% food safe. They are in compliance with FDA standards and the U.S. import regulations for lead and cadmium.
Italian decorative ceramics, tiles, and favors are not meant to have contact with food unless otherwise specified.
The colors are permanently glazed on, so sun fading is not an issue. Depending on how thick is the item, resistance to chips and cracks varies. In extremely cold regions (i.e.: below 0s Fahrenheit) these items should be brought in during winter.
A little frost or a blanket of snow is not harmful in any way.
Tempering means gently warming your ceramics to avoid thermal shock, which can result in cracking or in excessive glaze crackling (crazing).
The best way to temper a piece of ceramic is to put it under hot tap water before serving very hot foods or liquids. You can also put a metal spoon in your ceramic while pouring a hot liquid to deflect the heat. Crazing has no significant effects on ceramics, it is mainly cosmetic.
Soak your ceramics in soapy, lukewarm water for a few moments, and use a plastic scrubber for the worst bits. To remove tea stains in cups use a solution of 2 tablespoons chlorine bleach per quart of water; soak 1-2 minutes; rinse promptly. Black marks left by tarnished cutlery can be removed from pottery with good quality, non-abrasive metal cleaner.
Never use scouring powders or harsh scourers on Italian pottery as they will damage the glaze.
Since every piece of our Italian ceramics is handmade, it is impossible for each item to be identical... that’s the wonderful nature of handcrafted work!
Actual colors may differ from what you see on your computer screen since each piece is unique. This is the highly desirable side effect of handmade items! Additionally, different computer screens reproduce colors in different ways. Some of our decoration products are hand finished with an “Antique patina”, which features heavily distressed glazing, very often with evident glaze smudges and splits. This is a valuable characteristic of some regional pieces and a considerable part of their premium value. It definitely cannot be considered a manufacturing defect!
Slight changes in the size or shape of the items is also a result of their being totally handmade, either thrown on a wheel or slip cast. Plates are an exception: they are usually pressed to obtain regular shapes and sizes.
The amount of decoration on a piece is related to its size. The bigger the size, the richer its decoration. Most of thatsArte.com photos are taken from medium-sized pieces. On occasion, you may notice a slight indentation, design or glaze variation, or perhaps a tiny smudge, a small dimple, a paint spot, or a loose-fitting lid. These variances and imperfections are not considered manufacturing defects. They are evidence of original, handcrafted artwork.
If a product purchased at thatsArte.com is not in line with your expectations, you can return it in unused condition. For more info, please view our Return Policy .
You can join our Mailing List and we’ll keep you posted on new products and special offers.
No, you don’t. You can place your order as a guest, and the personal information you are requested to provide us with will solely be used to deliver your order.
However, we recommend you to create an account on thatsArte.com in order to be able to use our additional services:
- see your order status and a complete history of all orders made while signed
- create a wishlist of things you can't wait to have and share it with your friends and family
- save your billing and shipping information - you won't ever need to re-enter your information
Create your account on thatsArte.com and choose between two options:
1 – add all the items to your cart. They’ll still be there the next time you log in
2 – add all the items to your wishlist and they’ll be there as long as you wish.
You’ll have the additional benefit of being able to share your list with your dearest ones and ask for advice!
We offer a Free Personalization service on all our handmade Italian ceramics. The other goods cannot be personalized, if not otherwise stated.
We also offer a special order service for Bespoke Goods.
Our identity is certified by Let's Encrypt, a certificate authority (CA), run for the public’s benefit. It is a service provided by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).
Your personal information is stored in our secure databases and is only accessible to a limited number of employees who have special access rights to those systems.
To know more, view our Privacy Policy.
We accept most major credit cards for transactions in US Dollars, Euro and British Pounds. You can pay with your credit card directly, or use the Paypal payment option. You don’t need to be a PayPal member to use their payment services.
For more info visit our How to Order page.
We use a certificate issued by Let's Encrypt, a certificate authority by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) that protects the operations of over 260M websites worldwide, thus creating a more secure and privacy-respecting Web.
The certificate protects the credit card data submitted to thatsArte.com through the use of encryption. Should any information be intercepted, it will be unintelligible without the unique key used for decryption. We do not store your credit card information on our servers. Your payment is processed by STRIPE.
Payment is debited from your card when the order is confirmed.
For more info visit our How to Order page.
We currently ship to the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
For more info view our Shipping Policy.
If your items are in stock, we will ship them out right away. If they are not in stock, the lead time depends on the artists you have chosen.
Artists have different production lead times: always check them on the product page.
For more info view our Shipping Policy.
When your order ships, we’ll send you an email with your tracking information, so you can follow your order’s progress all the way to the shipping address you have provided.
If you have an account at thatsArte.com you can log in any time to check the status of your order and track your shipment.
For more info read our Shipping Policy.
thatsArte.com strictly applies a “no surprise at delivery” policy. All you need to pay for your handmade Italian goods is ALWAYS in the bottom line of the order review page.
No Customs duties and fees are due for shipments to the US, Australia, UK, and European Union member countries. A contribution to the Customs duties and fees and local taxes are due for shipments to all the other countries.
For orders over $2500 shipped to the USA, the carrier may ask you to fill in a Formal Entry form with your personal information, including either the EIN/tax identification number assigned by the IRS or your social security number. It is a standard procedure required by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) when an individual or company purchases goods from an overseas supplier. Filing the form doesn't imply you will be charged for Customs duties and fees: they are always on us.
Yes, you can. We do want you to be fully happy with your purchase. If for any reason you are less than fully satisfied, you can return your purchase to us in its original condition within 10 days of the purchase delivery date.
For more info view our Return Policy .
Yes, we will. Our Return and refund policy apply to all the items in our online catalog that have not been personalized or made-to-order for you (Bespoke Goods)
You are free to exchange your product with another one, to ask for a store credit or a full reimbursement of your purchase.
For more info and to learn how to apply for a refund view our Return Policy.
No, you can’t. Personalized ceramics and special orders will be fully reimbursed only if damaged or incorrect.
For more info view our Return Policy.
In case of a damaged item, you’re entitled to have a new item shipped, store credit, or the full reimbursement of the original price, including the shipping charges. To apply for your favorite option, please follow the simple steps listed below:
- please inform immediately UPS of the damage by checking the Customer Service contacts at www.ups.com and quoting the shipment reference number. Please keep the original packing material for a possible UPS inspection;
- contact us within 24 hours of merchandise arrival, mentioning your Name, Order Number, the Product Code, or description of the damaged items and attaching detailed pictures of the damaged items and of the packing material;
- do not ship the damaged items back to us until we give you proper instructions.
Once these steps are taken, you can choose the refund option that better suits your needs.
A good practice to speed up a refund process is to inspect all deliveries upon arrival if possible, and make written exceptions on the Delivery Receipt of every discrepancy or irregularity. Please, sign always the delivery receipt “subject to inspection for concealed damage”.
To know more, view our Return Policy.
Our return policy applies to all incorrect purchases from thatsArte.com. You can return your purchase in exchange for other items or ask for a store credit or a full reimbursement of the original price, including the shipping charges.
To know more, view our Return Policy.