Due to the nature of our massive catalog, we have generally decided to avoid printing large quantities of our covers and holding stock—instead, opting to go the route of printing our covers to-order.
For economical reasons, we currently print in two to three batches a month, which allows us to take advantage of bulk pricing from our printer.
Purchases made in a given order period will typically be shipped out 30-45 days after a batch's closing, but this is not a guarantee. Holiday seasons, world events, or even just an unexpected spike in orders can cause minor disruptions to our shipping estimates. You can view a brief overview of our current monthly batches on our Order Status page.
We appreciate your patience in receiving your order! If you ever have any questions about current shipping or delivery windows, please feel free to send your questions to support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com!
Unfortunately, this tends to happen more than we would like. The reason we frequently see declined charges is because our business (and thus our merchant account) is registered in the Netherlands. When you make a purchase on our site, your bank/credit card company sees that you're making a transaction in the Netherlands. Unless you're a frequent international traveler, this might set off alarms on your financial instituation's fraud prevention radar.
The solution to this kind of problem is usually quite simple. In many cases, your bank will contact you asking you to confirm that you were the individual making the purchase. Simply respond in the affirmative and attempt to checkout again. If your bank doesn't contact you, give the customer service number on the back of your card a quick call and tell them that you're trying to make a purchase, but you think your card is getting declined. If it is, they'll ask you to confirm that the purchases are coming from you.
If, for some reason, your financial institution is unable to help and you still can't checkout, please feel free to contact our support e-mail at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com. We'll try to figure out what's going on and assist you as fast as possible.
We apologize for any inconveniences this causes!
As stated above, we currently batch send orders to our printer two to three times a month. After your order has been sent to our printer, they will commence printing, quality checking, packing, sending it to our warehouse, and then finally having it shipped to you.
As our business continues to grow, so do our estimates for how long your order will take to get shipped. We try to provide as accurate of estimates as possible, but we're very sensitive to unscheduled events causing delays in our processing of orders. Unfortunately, these delays are frequently out of our hands and we have no control over the effects that they have.
To this end, we ask largely for your patience as we are working to get your order processed and shipped as quickly as possible. We will send a tracking number for your order as soon as we receive confirmation that your order has shipped.
To help you keep track of our current printing status, we have created a page we will be updating throughout the month with information about where we are in the printing, quality checking, packing, and shipping phase. Please check this page for information and then contact us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com with your order number if you have further questions.
Our covers typically ship from China using ePacket, but if you opt for expedited shipping we'll usually use DHL, China Post Express (ETK), or FedEx, based on the contents of your order and the country of delivery.
While ePacket can be an amazingly economical shipping method (though its prices have been recently raised by the Coronavirus pandemic), it is not fast. Delivery estimates for ePacket are usually around 25-35+ days from the date of shipping, but we have seen rare instances where delivery has taken more than 100+ days, especially around holiday seasons or happenchance global pandemics. If you find yourself in this situation, feel free to reach out to us about the status of your package.
If long delivery times are unacceptable, you can usually upgrade your shipping to an express method. Expedited shipping is typically delivered within within 14 days, but can take longer due to circumstances outside of our control. If expedited shipping isn't already an option for you at checkout, then please give us an e-mail at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com!
Yes, all of our packages ship in nondescript boxes or bags. There is no indication of what the package contains beyond the legally-mandated customs declaration form, which lists the contents of our dakimakura covers as "pillowcases." The sender is not listed as Cuddly Octopus, nor do we include any cute illustrations of octopi on the box. There may, however, be some cute octopi hidden safely inside your box!
You are soley responsible for knowing your own country's importation laws. We cannot be held responsible for any potential troubles that may arise ordering a design from us which is not legal in your territory. However, we can safely say that we have not ever been informed or heard about anyone having an issue ordering a particular design from our store.
We ship to a large number of countries. To determine if we currently have shipping rates for your country, add an item to your cart and proceed to the checkout. Once you've put in your address, check the shipping section. If it states that there is an error and you need to contact us, we do not have a shipping rate calculated for your country. Simply give us an e-mail at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com with your order information, and we will input a shipping price for your country into the system.
Yes, you may cancel any order containing non-customized products at any point up until it is shipped.
Due to the nature of our customized products, please note that once your order has been sent for printing, it will no longer be possible to cancel your these items. Customized products include Custom Prints and Mix-and-Match designs.
If you would like to start the order cancellation process, please contact us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com receive a refund.
As for order modifications, a similar stance applies. Orders containing non-customized products can be modified until they are shipped (however, depending on how late you contact us it may end up delaying your order). Additionally, customized products cannot be modified after they are sent for printing.
If you need to modify your shipping address, we can assist you with that up until your order has shipped. Once an order has been shipped it is no longer possible to intercept and change the delivery address of the package.
We print on 2-Way Tricot (2WT), which is generally considered the best type of material out there, at least in comparison to peach skin, natural velvet, and smooth knit, which are the more commonly used materials by bootleggers. However, we understand that 2-Way Tricot can vary largely from manufacturer to manufacturer, too. While we consider our covers to be very nice, they are not as good as those from the most common Japanese printers such as A&J, P80, and Fules. Hence, we have priced our covers at what we believe to be a fair amount for the quality.
If you're interested in testimonials for our covers, we highly recommend checking out some of the posts on reddit's /r/dakimakuras. Many of the users there have purchased and posted about our covers, or you could also join in the monthly Q&A thread and ask for some testimonials yourself!
If you receive a cover that has a defect, please reach out to us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com immediately. Typically, depending on the type and severity of the defect, we will arrange a reprint at no additional cost to you. However, we reserve the right to determine the best course of action on a case-by-case basis.
If you change your mind after receiving one of our covers, you may return it for up to 14-days after delivery, provided that the cover is unopened, and receive a full refund including the original shipping fee. You will need to provide your own return shipping label, however. Please e-mail us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com to begin your return process.
No, we are not responsible for charging tax or any form of import duty for your country, if applicable. You are wholly responsible for knowing your countries importation laws and ask that you please take those possible additional fees into account before ordering. Please contact us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com if you have any additional questions regarding import duties.
Yes! Please read the instructions found on the Mix-and-Match product page to facilitate your request.
Sure thing!
We will help you print whatever you like (so long as you own the rights to print it, of course). You can find all the necessary information on our Custom Product page.
Yep to this as well! We can offer plain white covers and solid color covers of your choice. Just head to our Custom Print page to read more about the service and place your order.
Sure thing! Our partner program is designed to help independent artists and VTubing personalities with the sales, production, and international logistics of taking your dakimakura design public. Typically, we do not help our partners actually acquire the artwork for their designs.
Exact details—such as our revenue sharing agreement—can change over time. So if you are interested in selling your merchandise through our store's partner program, please e-mail us at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com for the most up-to-date information.
Our recommended pillow right now is... ours! The Cuddly Octopus pillow inner is a 50x160cm inner designed specifically for use with dakimakura covers.
We recommend hand-washing your dakimakura in cold water with a bleach-free detergent. After soaking your cover for a bit in the cold, soapy water, you may use a toothbrush to gently brush out any stains you might have. After you're done, gently wring it out a little bit then hang the cover up to dry and put a bucket underneath because it's probably going to drip water for some time!
We don't particularly recommend the use of a washing machine, but if you want to go that route, standard precautions for delicates apply.
Finally, we do not recommend tumble drying.
We can be reached at support [-at-] cuddlyoctopus.com. We will try to respond to any inquiries as quickly as possible.
There is a subreddit dedicated to dakimakuras that provides some helpful guides about finding and purchasing body pillows and other dakimakura covers. They also have a monthly question and answers thread where you can ask whatever additional questions may be on your mind.
Certainly! You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter and never miss a release! Our reddit account is also /u/CuddlyOctopus and posts frequently to /r/dakimakuras.