All your questions about Sugar and Vice answered and if there’s anything else you want to know, contact us here:
Call Natalie: OR E-mail:
FAQ’S:
1.) What does the making process entail and what materials are used?
For the Sugar & Vice ceramics:
The designs all originate from illustrations by Sugar & Vice founder Natalie Van Dijk. The designs are printed on special ceramic decals. She uses a small Cape Town based ceramic factory, where each piece of our bisque ware is slip casted by hand, using moulds made from plaster of paris. The greenware is then fettled by hand and fired in a kiln at 1000 degrees, which takes 3 days. The bisque ware is hand-glazed and re-fired at 1200 degrees. It is at this stage where the product becomes vitrified and robust and the process takes 4 days. The decals are used to decorate each ceramic piece, which are applied by hand. These pieces are re-fired for the third time. The factory employs 18 staff members. They work in a machine-free environment where all their products are lovingly made by hand. The ceramics are durable and of high quality, microwave and dishwasher safe, unless stated otherwise. As each product is handcrafted, slight variations might occur. The firing systems and techniques are very different to those from the larger overseas factories. Small defaults are to be expected, such as pinholes in glazing, but this is what makes our products handmade and unique.
2.) How are the products packaged for shipping?
All our products are wrapped in bubblewrap and then placed in boxes. We use newspaper as a filler inside the box, which we encourage you to recycle, along with the boxes. We offer custom gift wrapping for R35 per item too. Our gift wrapping service is only for items bought in our Sugar & Vice online shop.
3.) Who can I contact for press enquiries?
Contact Natalie on or .
4.) Do you have a retail outlet or stockists?
We do not have a physical store, but we stock various shops around the globe. See where your closest store is here.
5.) Which forms of payments do you accept?
Safety first is our motto when it comes to online privacy and security. At Sugar & Vice we have all the necessary procedures and best practices in place to ensure the confidentiality of your personal details. See which forms of payment gateways we accept here.
6.) Do you wholesale?
No we don’t offer wholesale anymore.
7.) What is your shipping & delivery policy?
Once payment is received, it takes between 1 to 2 working days to dispatch your order. Thereafter you add on the shipping time, depending on which option you choose:
Within South Africa:
a.) Shipping options available at the checkout:
1.) Overnight (only on weekdays) or Economic (2 – 3 days), Courier with the Courier Guy depending on the weight of your items. Please note that these shipping costs are for major cities only, if you live in an outer-lining area there could be a location surcharge and we will invoice this separately.
* Your product will only be shipped once the surcharge has been paid. Location charges include Farm/Plot, Government Building, Mine, Power Station, Trust Area, Township, Game Reserve/Resort, Embassy/Consulate, and Chain Store.
2.) FREE for any orders over the value of R1000 and within South Africa.
URGENT orders – Please send us an email at and we will do our best to ship your order the following day with overnight courier.
b.) Damaged Items:
Should your purchase arrive and in the unlikely event that the item is damaged, please contact us on .
c.) Undelivered Package:
Should a package not be delivered through no fault of ours (for example: no one on the premises to take delivery, you are unable to answer calls or an invalid or incomplete delivery address is provided) we will contact you to ask if you want to pay for a second delivery attempt or if you would like a refund. Should you request a refund, you will be refunded the price of the products less the delivery costs.
8.) What is your returns & refund policy?
a.) Returning Goods:
We are more than happy to offer a full refund and / or exchange in the unlikely event of you being displeased with your purchase or if you feel it to be of inferior quality. Please bear in mind that our ceramic products are handmade and small imperfections might occur, which makes our products unique and does not qualify for a refund. If you are really unhappy, please email us immediately at with a photo of the product. After we have been in touch with you, you will need to return / send the products back (at your own expense) to us within 30 days of the date of purchase. We review each return individually before making a decision to refund. All items need to be returned unused and in their original packaging and we cannot refund shipping costs. If you would like a replacement product, we will send it to you and cover the shipping costs of the following criteria is met: we do have stock of the item and we are in agreement that the product is of inferior quality. Unfortunately, customised or personalised orders cannot be refunded and / or an exchanged, due to the nature of the specific order.
b.) Refunds:
If you have changed your mind and you want to reverse your order, we will gladly refund you. It takes 7-10 working days for these funds to reflect back to the bank account / credit card.
c.) Damaged Goods:
We always package your parcel with the utmost care but sometimes things can go wrong. We are extremely sorry if your goods arrive damaged in any way. Please email us immediately at with a photo of the product. After we have been in touch with you, you will need to return / send the products back to us within 7 working days of the date of purchase. We review each return individually before replacing it. All items need to be returned unused and in their original packaging. Please note that unfortunately shipping costs cannot be refunded. If you would like a replacement product, we will send it to you if we have stock of the item and the shipping costs would be for our account.
d.) Missing Goods:
Extraordinary delays caused by postal strikes, extreme weather conditions, political unrest or customs clearance are a huge pain but are sadly a part of the word we live in. If your parcel doesn’t arrive within 30 days of sending, and it is not due to one of the reasons listed above, please let us know immediately. In such circumstances, we are happy to offer a once-off replacement of the entire parcel.
We are always open to customer queries and will do our utmost to ensure that our valued customers enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience with Sugar & Vice. As a rule of thumb, we advise customers to email us first, before sending us anything in the post.
9.) Out of stock items:
If a product is out of stock or cannot be supplied for some reason, Sugar & Vice reserves the right to cancel the order and refund the payment.
10.) Digital Downloads:
If you purchased a digital download, be sure to download it in one of the following two places:
1.) On the “order received page”
2.) On the “Sugar & Vice order receipt e-mail”
You can only download your print once, so be sure to copy it from your downloads folder on your computer and save it somewhere where you can find it at a later stage.
3.) Please note that digital downloads aren’t refundable.
11.) Custom Orders:
Ceramics: We only do custom orders of a minimum of 10 of the SAME design, but it can be on various products. The decals that are placed onto the ceramics is screen printed on a minimum of 10 sheets.
I have created custom illustrations for various brands to print on an array of products. Please contact me with a clear brief and minimum quantities and I will work out a quote for you.