Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 15 May 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Tale Time Studio.

These Terms and Conditions govern your use of our website, products and services. By accessing our website, placing an order or using any part of our service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with them, please do not use our website or services.

Tale Time Studio creates personalised children's storybooks and colouring-in books for customers in South Africa. Our products may be delivered in digital format, printed format or as part of a bundle, depending on the option selected at checkout.

2. Who may use our service

You must be at least 18 years old to place an order with Tale Time Studio or to create an account on the website.

By using our service, you confirm that:

  • you are legally able to enter into a binding agreement
  • the information you provide is true and accurate
  • you are authorised to provide any personal information, photos or other content submitted through the website
  • where you upload photos or personal details of a child, you have the right and consent to do so

3. Our products and services

Tale Time Studio offers personalised products, which may include:

  • personalised storybooks in digital, softcover or hardcover format
  • personalised colouring-in books in digital or printed format
  • bundle offers that combine two or more personalised products
  • free or promotional digital products from time to time

Each product is created using the details, photos and preferences supplied by the customer. Because every order is personalised, the final product will depend on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided by you.

We may update product features, formats, pricing, materials or availability at any time without prior notice.

4. Personalisation details and customer responsibility

To create your order, we may ask for details such as:

  • the child's name
  • age or age range
  • story theme or preferences
  • illustration style
  • names or descriptions of supporting characters
  • dedication message
  • uploaded photos
  • delivery and contact details

You are responsible for ensuring that all information submitted is correct before completing your order.

Tale Time Studio is not responsible for errors in the final product where those errors result from incorrect, incomplete or misleading information submitted by the customer.

5. Photo uploads and user content

When you upload photos, text or any other content to our website, you confirm that:

  • you own the content or have permission to use it
  • the content does not infringe anyone else's rights
  • the content is not defamatory, unlawful, offensive or inappropriate
  • you have the necessary consent to upload photos of any child shown in the images

You grant Tale Time Studio a limited right to use, process, edit and reproduce that content only for the purpose of creating, reviewing, printing, delivering or supporting your personalised order.

We do not claim ownership of your original photos. However, all layouts, generated illustrations, story compositions and final product designs created by Tale Time Studio remain subject to our intellectual property rights unless stated otherwise in writing.

6. Orders and acceptance

All orders placed through our website are subject to acceptance by Tale Time Studio.

Once payment has been successfully received, we will begin processing your order. We reserve the right to decline, cancel or limit any order where:

  • the product is unavailable
  • the submitted content is unsuitable or unlawful
  • there is a pricing or technical error
  • fraud or misuse is suspected
  • we are unable to fulfil the order as requested

If we cancel an order after payment has been received and no work has yet begun, we will refund the amount paid.

7. Pricing and payment

All prices shown on the website are displayed in South African Rand.

Payment is processed securely through PayFast or any other payment method or gateway made available on the website from time to time.

By placing an order, you authorise the relevant payment provider to charge the full amount due.

Although we aim to keep all pricing accurate, obvious pricing errors may be corrected at any time. If an incorrect price was displayed and you placed an order based on that error, we may contact you to offer the correct price or cancel the order and issue a refund.

8. Digital products

Digital products are delivered electronically to the email address supplied by you or made available through a download link, depending on the product.

You are responsible for providing a valid email address and checking your spam or promotions folder if a digital product does not arrive within the stated timeframe.

Delivery times for digital products are estimates only and may vary depending on order volume, review requirements, technical issues or the completeness of the information provided.

9. Printed products and delivery

Printed products are delivered to the shipping address provided at checkout.

We aim to dispatch or arrange delivery within the estimated timeframes shown on the website or at checkout. These timeframes are estimates and may be affected by production schedules, courier delays, public holidays, incorrect delivery details or events outside our control.

Where free delivery is advertised, this applies only to qualifying printed products and only within the delivery area specified on the website.

Risk in printed products passes to you on delivery.

10. Preview, approval and changes

For personalised storybooks and selected personalised printed products, Tale Time Studio may provide a digital preview before the order is finalised for print.

Where a preview is provided:

  • you must review the preview carefully
  • you must approve it or request changes within the timeframe stated in your order communication
  • if you do not respond within that timeframe, we may treat the preview as approved and proceed with production

A change request is intended to correct issues such as:

  • text mistakes
  • layout or illustration issues
  • content that does not reasonably reflect the brief submitted by you

A change request does not include a full redesign or a new order. If you want to change key choices after production work has started, such as the child's name, illustration style, theme, uploaded photos or major story direction, we may charge an additional fee or require a new order.

We may limit the number of revisions where this is necessary to keep the process fair and commercially workable.

11. Personalised nature of products

Because our products are personalised and made to order, they are created specifically for you and cannot usually be resold.

For that reason, once a personalised product has been approved for production, printed, delivered digitally or otherwise finalised, it is generally not eligible for return or refund for change of mind.

This does not affect any rights you may have under applicable South African consumer law where a product is defective, materially different from what was ordered or supplied in a way that does not meet legal standards.

12. Refunds, replacements and cancellations

12.1 Before work begins

If you contact us quickly after placing an order and we have not yet started work, we may allow a cancellation and issue a refund at our discretion.

12.2 During the preview stage

If your order includes a preview stage and there is a genuine production issue, we may offer a correction, revision or refund before printing.

12.3 After digital delivery or print approval

Once a digital product has been delivered, or once a personalised printed product has been approved for print, refunds will usually not be available unless required by law or unless we agree that the product is materially faulty.

12.4 Damaged or incorrect printed products

If a printed product arrives damaged, defective or materially different from the approved version, please contact us within 7 days of delivery and provide clear photos of the issue. We may offer a replacement, partial refund or full refund depending on the circumstances.

13. Intellectual property

All content on the website, including branding, copy, graphics, illustrations, layouts, designs and generated storybook compositions, belongs to Tale Time Studio or is used under licence.

When you purchase a product, you receive a personal, non-commercial right to use and enjoy that finished product for private use.

You may not, without our written permission:

  • reproduce or sell the product commercially
  • copy our designs, layouts or generated book structures
  • remove branding or copyright notices where they appear
  • use our website content, product layouts or generated assets for commercial exploitation

14. Website use and prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

  • misuse the website
  • interfere with the website's functionality or security
  • upload harmful code
  • use the service for unlawful purposes
  • impersonate another person
  • attempt to access restricted areas without permission
  • reproduce, scrape or reverse engineer the platform or its underlying systems

We may suspend or block access where misuse is suspected.

15. Privacy and personal information

Your privacy matters to us. Our handling of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

By using our service, you acknowledge that we need to collect and process personal information, uploaded photos and personalisation data to create and deliver your order, communicate with you and operate the business.

Where required, we process personal information in line with applicable South African law, including POPIA.

16. Service providers and third parties

We may use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate the business, including providers involved in:

  • payment processing
  • website hosting
  • customer communication
  • file storage
  • printing
  • courier delivery
  • analytics
  • artificial intelligence tools used to help create personalised content

We only share information where reasonably necessary to provide the service or comply with the law.

17. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

We work hard to provide a high quality service and meaningful personalised products. However, the website and services are provided on an as-is and as-available basis to the extent permitted by law.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Tale Time Studio will not be liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from:

  • your use of the website
  • delays in delivery
  • technical interruptions
  • inaccuracies in customer-supplied information
  • third-party service failures outside our reasonable control

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes any rights or remedies that cannot legally be excluded under South African law.

18. Force majeure

We will not be liable for delays or failure to perform where caused by events outside our reasonable control, including power failures, internet outages, courier disruption, strikes, floods, fire, severe weather, government action or supplier failure.

19. Changes to these Terms and Conditions

We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time. Any changes will take effect once published on the website.

Your continued use of the website or service after updated terms are published means you accept the revised version.

20. Governing law

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of South Africa.

Any dispute arising from the use of our website or services will be subject to the jurisdiction of the South African courts, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

21. Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact Tale Time Studio through the contact details or contact form published on the website.