Koto Online Store FAQ
About Koto
Q: What is Koto?
A: Koto was born from the friendship of two women who live in Italy (Milan) and Japan (Kyoto). They shared the wish to share unique items that would connect people with those they love through the Japanese culture.
Q: How do I place an order?
A: It is a straightforward process:
- Browse through the site until you find an item that strikes your fancy
- Select the color or size from the pulldown menu, then click "Add to Cart."
- Do this for each item you would like to buy.
Once you've added all the items, click "My Cart" to review your shopping cart. The checkout process consists of 4 steps:
- Inputting your billing and/or shipping address
- Selecting a shipping method
- Selecting a payment method (PayPal balance or credit card)
- Purchase confirmation
After your purchase is completed, we'll send you a confirmation notice via email.
Payments
Q: How do I pay for an order?
A: Our store uses PayPal to accept payments. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can input your credit card details. If you have a PayPal account, you can pay with your PayPal balance or your credit card.
Q: Is the site secure?
A: Your credit card information is fully protected by PayPal. Koto doesn't have access to your credit card information or PayPal account login details at any time.
Q: When will my credit card be charged?
A: PayPal will charge your credit card or PayPal account as soon as your order has been confirmed
Shipping
Q: Do you ship worldwide?
A: Yes, we ship worldwide. If your country is not listed during the checkout process, please contact us because we can ship in every country in the world.
Q: How much does the shipping cost? How long will it take?
A: We offer free shipping for orders over 100 USD to most countries. To confirm the shipping cost on a particular order, simply add your items to the cart, and shipping cost choices will be displayed under the section "Get shipping estimates" after entering your country and zip code.
Q: Where will you ship my order from?
A: We are located in beautiful Kyoto, Japan. Your order will be shipped directly from here.
Q: Will I have to pay taxes and customs fees?
A: The import of a product from Japan may be subject to taxes and custom fees in the delivery country. These supplementary costs are the customer's responsibility. The price of the products, excluding the shipping cost, will be displayed on your package.
Returns & Cancellations
Q: I'd like to cancel my order, how can I do that?
A: If your order hasn't been shipped yet (i.e., you haven't received the shipment confirmation), please notify us as soon as possible. We will refund you the total amount of your order.
If your order has already been sent, we cannot cancel it. You can return the products. Unfortunately, we cannot refund the shipping cost, and you will be responsible for the return shipping fees.
Q: I'd like to send my order back, how can I do that?
A: Above all, we want you to be satisfied, so if you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can return the items and ask for a refund, an exchange, or a voucher. Returns must be within 7 days of delivery.
All returned items must be in the original condition you received them in. The shipping cost cannot be reimbursed. Before sending back the products, please send us an email indicating what you're returning and why. We are not able to pay for the cost of shipping the products back to us.
Please be aware that in all cases, the customer is responsible for paying customs fees and providing any and all documents required by Customs in your country.
If the customer refuses to pay those taxes, packages will be sent back to us. We'll then refund you the amount of your order after having withdrawn the real shipping cost that the carrier charged to us.
Express shipments can't be sent back to us as return fees are too high (usually exceed the order value). In that case, the order will be destroyed, and no refund will be possible. Postal service ordering and related issues
Q: What should I do if I don't receive my order?
A: For Economy and Registered shipments, it is possible that in some cases, shipments can take up to 45 days, so we will take action on undelivered packages only after this period.
If your package seems to be taking a long time and you chose Economy or Registered as the shipping method, first go to your local post office and ask if a parcel is waiting for you. If 45 days have elapsed since the order was sent, and you still haven't received it, please contact us.
For Express shipments, DHL, or EMS shipments, please go to the online tracking service to see the status. Contact us if you have any issues with tracking your parcel at info@Koto-km.com.
Q: One or several items have been broken during the delivery. Can you replace them?
A: If you have damaged items during delivery, please email us within 48 hours after receiving your order and include pictures of your damaged item.
Q: One item was missing in my parcel. Can you make this right?
A: If this happened to you, please accept our apologies. Contact us, and we will fix it ASAP.
Koto's Products
Q: What kind of kimonos do you sell?
A: We sell various types of kimonos:
- Tomesode: The first dress of a married woman. There is only a pattern from the waist to the bottom; the family crest enters the upper body.
- Furisode: The first dress of a single woman. There are kimono sleeve, medium sleeves sleeve, and small kimono sleeve depending on its length.
- Homongi: When spread, it is a pattern like a picture. Cut the fabric and make a temporary stitch and add a handle (tsukesage). The pattern is attached so that the pattern faces upward when worn.
- Iromuji: A kimono with no handle. You can wear it as a ceremonial dress with a crest.
- Komon: A repetition of the same pattern at intervals of about 60 cm.
- Edo Komon: Seems to be plain when looking at the far eye, and you can wear a casual dress if you put on a crest.
Q: What is the difference between the lacquer coating and urethane coating?
A: Lacquer paint is sewn with natural lacquer, urethane paint is painted urethane paint of chemical paint.
Q: What is the wood powder?
A: Wood powder processed product is a material that molded a mixture of wood flour and resin.
Q: How do I contact customer service?
A: Do you have a question, remark, photo, or a funny story? You can get in touch with the Koto team via info@koto-km.com.
Wholesale
Q: We are interested in reselling Koto's products. How do we discuss arrangements?
A: We welcome inquiries regarding wholesale orders for our products. Please contact us at info@koto-km.com with your shop's name, address, and tell us what products you are interested in.