Effective Date: July 3, 2026
Welcome to The Smoldering Tome. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and share your information when you visit our website, purchase our bookish merchandise and real books, or interact with our services.
1. Information We Collect
When you interact with our shop, we may collect the following types of information:
- Order Information: To fulfill your purchases of merchandise, stationery, or books, we collect your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information, email address, and phone number.
- Account Information: If you create an account with us, we store your login credentials and purchase history.
- Device and Usage Information: We automatically collect certain details about your device, including your IP address, web browser, time zone, and cookies, to help optimize and improve our site experience.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to power your magical shopping experience, specifically to:
- Fulfill and ship your orders (including processing payments, arranging shipping, and sending invoices/order confirmations).
- Communicate with you directly regarding customer support inquiries, order updates, or shop announcements.
- Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud.
- Provide you with targeted marketing communications or promotional offers, if you have opted in to receive them.
3. Sharing Your Information
We only share your personal information with trusted third-party service providers to help us run our shop effectively. For example:
- We use e-commerce platforms (like Shopify or Squarespace or Big Cartel) to power our online storefront.
- We use payment processors (like Stripe or PayPal) to securely handle transactions.
- We share your shipping details with postal carriers and fulfillment services to deliver your packages.
- We may also share your information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, respond to a lawful subpoena, or otherwise protect our rights.
4. Data Retention
When you place an order through the site, we will maintain your order information for our business records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
5. Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, correct, update, or delete the personal information we hold about you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below.
6. Cookies
We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, remember your shopping cart items, and analyze our website traffic. You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser settings, though doing so may affect some website functionalities.
7. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
8. Contact Us
For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us via email at thesmolderingtome@gmail.com.