Clear expectations for every piece you take home.

Paying online

Originals and prints are paid for at a secure Stripe checkout, in New Zealand dollars. Your card details go to Stripe and never reach Echt Arts. Stripe emails you a receipt.

An original is one of a kind

When you start paying for an original, it is held for you for 30 minutes. If two payments for the same painting ever cross, the second is refunded in full, automatically. A print is made for you after you order it, and Echt Arts lets you know when it is on its way.

Postage

Any postage that can be set in advance is shown before you pay. Where it cannot — usually for an original, because size and destination vary so much — Echt Arts will email you a quote after your purchase. Nothing more is charged until you agree on the quote. A collecting in person arrangement is always an option too. Duties, taxes and customs charges at your destination are yours to pay.

Collecting in person

Choose Collect in person at checkout, and pick-up arrangements will be made by email.

Returns

Change-of-mind returns are not offered on originals or prints. If something is not right, send an email to Echt Arts so we can discuss options. While transit issues must be addressed directly with the carrier, Echt Arts is glad to report the issue to the courier as well to support your inquiry. None of this affects your rights under applicable consumer law if an item is faulty or not as described.

How bidding works

You bid the most you would pay — your maximum. The website then bids for you, only as much as it takes to keep you in the lead, and never more than your maximum. Bids rise in set steps that grow with the price. Nobody else sees your maximum, and Echt Arts does not see it either while bidding is open.

A bid is a promise to pay

If you win, you agree to pay your winning bid, in New Zealand dollars, within three days, through the secure Stripe payment link emailed to you. Your card details go to Stripe and never reach Echt Arts.

When bidding closes

Bidding closes at the time shown on the painting’s page, in New Zealand time. A bid in the last two minutes adds two minutes, so everyone has a fair chance to answer it. Where no closing time is shown, Echt Arts closes the bidding, and every bidder is told by email.

If the winner does not pay

Echt Arts may offer the painting to the next highest bidder, at the most that bidder offered, or end the bidding without a sale.

Withdrawing and removing bids

Every bid confirmation email has a link to withdraw your bids if you did not place them. Echt Arts may remove a bid that does not appear to be genuine, and may end bidding early without a sale.

Postage and your details

Postage for a painting won by bidding is arranged after payment, by email, just as for any original — or you can collect it in person.

Your name and email are kept by Stripe, which handles payment for Echt Arts, and are used only to run the bidding and the sale. Other bidders see you only as “Bidder 1”, “Bidder 2”, and so on.

Photo permission and artist review

By submitting a request, you confirm that you own the photo or have permission to use it. A request is not an accepted commission. Echt Arts first reviews whether the image can translate successfully to the gelli plate and confirms the scope, timing, and price with you.

Handmade variation

A Memory Print is an artistic and emotive interpretation, not an exact photographic reproduction. Gelli printing creates unique marks, texture, colour shifts, and surprises. Additional handmade pulls from the same source photo are made separately and never identical.

Payment and timing

Work begins after the photo and order details are accepted and cleared payment is received. Turnaround estimates begin at that point. A deadline is only confirmed when Echt Arts accepts it in writing. Payment instructions are sent personally after approval; never send card details by email.

Shipping and import costs

Shipping is quoted separately after the destination, paper size, packaging, and service are known. Parcels are sent with tracking, with signature service where available and appropriate. The client is responsible for destination duties, taxes, and customs charges unless the written quote says otherwise.

Delivery problems

Before sending, Echt Arts will send you photos of the original order, of the packed order just before sending, and the tracking information. If a parcel is delayed, damaged, or missing, firstly contact the carrier using your tracking number. Always inform Echt Arts about any delivery issues as well. Please keep the packaging and provide photographs if damage is visible. Echt Arts is glad to report the issue to the courier as well to support your inquiry.

Changes, cancellation, and returns

Once the order is agreed and payment received, production starts. A change of mind once production has started can be discussed; however, Echt Arts will add a separate quote, which needs to be agreed and paid before moving forward. Cancellations or returns may not be available after production has begun. This does not remove any rights you have when work is faulty or not as described.

Privacy and sharing

Original customer photos and failed test pulls stay private by default. Public sharing of source photos, process material, or finished work only happens with the customer’s clear permission. More detail is available in the Privacy notice.

To be considered: sharing a unique print, though, is a warm invitation to others to pause, look closely, and feel. Your printed memory might inspire others through what deeply matters to you. That is unique. That is Echt.