WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
We are a small team, this makes that we can give all our personal attention to the items we make, but also to you as our client! Further more, we care a lot about:
Care for craftspeople
We work with local, gifted artisans and developed a relentless discipline to create the best products on the market, using fairtrade principles. Each of our artisans uses their unique talents to hand-make your items, which in turn allows them to provide for their families. Our business is not just about making a high-quality product, but about giving honour and dignity to those we work with!
Care for community
We are delighted to use the majority of our profits to contribute towards alleviating the needs of the vulnerable. This includes supporting local orphanages and single elderly women.
Care for the country
You can be certain that all our artisans pay their social fund, and that we in turn pay our taxes. By making use of only regional materials as leather, Ikat Adras and Marino-felt, SiRo stimulates the local economy. In this way, we contribute to the development and maintenance of this wonderful country.
Care for you
Last but not least: we do care about you, our customer! We do our very best to provide you with a great value hand-made masterpiece, using only the best materials around, including real leather (and no synthetic or fake leather). And we master the smallest details and test every zipper, rivet, fastening and stitching before we ship!
I AM HAVING PROBLEMS WITH PAYMENT. WHAT TO DO?
Living and working in a developing-country can sometimes give some challenges. Just to name one: the payment-systems – like PayPal and/or iDEAL (Dutch) – we are used to in our Western countries don’t work here in Kyrgyzstan. Interesting, how then can you, as customer, pay? It’s been a challange, but we found a solution!
The order can be paid in (€ )Euro, ($) Dollar or (KGS) Som. Accepted payment methods are:
VISA or MASTERCARD: For this we make use of Pay Box Money: this is a convenient, reliable and worlwide payment-system which we have been using with great satisfaction for years now! Some things though might work a bit different then you are used to.
- Keep the following in mind when filling in the bank card info: the card holder name MUST be ONLY LATIN LETTERS WITHOUT ANY SYMBOLS as [.] . For example don’t write [L.E. ATHER] but [LE ATHER]. ALso where your phonenumber is asked ONLY NUMBERS WITHOUT ANY SYMBOLS as [+] and [-] are allowed. For example don’t write: [+31 53-1234567], but: [0031531234567]
- As our business is based in Kyrgyzstan please note that the amount in the end will be shown in KYRGISH COM [C] and not in the Euro’s or Dollars. This amount corresponds exactly with the value you have seen in Euro (or Dollars) when you placed your order. So please don’t worry when suddenly this – for you – unknown valuta pops up on your screen 🙂
- For more information about PayBox Money you can have a look at: www.paybox.money/us_en
BACS: Apart from paying by Visa or Mastercard, we wanted to give our customers the option to make the payment DIRECTLY into our business-bank-account. Please use your Order ID as the payment reference. IMPORTANT: by using BACS extra bank transfer costs can be charged by your bank. Please contact your bank for any further charges or fees.
Payment must be made in full and have cleared before the item is shipped. If you are having any issues with payment please do not hesitate to contact us and we will assist you in any way that we can!
VOOR ONZE NEDERLANDSE KLANTEN:
Vanwege het feit dat iDeal niet werkt in Kirgizië en betalen via BACS (banktransactie) extra (transactie) kosten met zich meebrengt is er de mogelijkheid om met Visa en Mastercard te kunnen betalen. Voor deze service maken mij gebruik van PayBox Money. Dit is een eenvoudig en betrouwbaar betalingssysteem dat wereldwijd werkt. Een aantal zaken werkt echter net wat anders dan u gewend bent met b.v. iDeal. Onderstaande punten helpen u zodat de betaling zonder probleem verloopt:
- Hou bij het invullen van de bankgegevens rekening met het volgende: de naam van de kaarthouder mag ALLEEN LATIJNSE LETTERS ZONDER ENIGE SYMBOLEN zijn als [.]. Bijvoorbeeld niet [L.E. ATHER] maar [LE ATHER]. Ook waar het telefoonnummer gevraagd wordt, gebruik daar geen symbolen als + en – . Dus niet: [+31 53-1234567], maar [0031531234567].
- Daar ons bedrijf gevestigd is in Kirgizië, wordt het uiteindelijke geldbedrag in Kirgizische valuta, com [C], weergegeven en niet in Euro’s (of indien van toepassing in Dollars). Dit geldbedrag in COM komt echter exact overeen met het door u eerder geziene bedrag in Euro (of Dollar) welke ook van uw rekening wordt afgeschreven. Dus geen nood als u het geldbedrag daar plotseling in de lokale valuta ziet staan!
- Meer informatie over PayBox Money kunt u zien op: www.paybox.money/us_en
Toch nog vragen? Schroom niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Een mailtje kan gestuurd worden naar info@siro-silkroad.com
WHAT KIND OF LEATHER ARE YOU USING?
We take no shortcuts, we make no compromises! Using European standards all our leather originates from cow-hides which are carefully selected and purchased within Kyrgyzstan.
The official name is as follows: Top Grain – Aniline Plus Leather. Simply put, top grain leather is the real deal, one of the best you can get. The kind of richness, depth and character is only possible with top grain leather. Aninline Plus, also called Semi-Aniline, refers to leather thas has been aniline dyed and finished with a clear topcoat to ensure more protection against spills and stains and to enhance durability while maintaining the original character of the hide.
During the tanning process – which takes around a month from start to finish – only these chemicals are being used which are approved by EU regulations. The same substances are being used for example in Italy and Germany to tan leather.
While others may make use of fake leather or low quality bonded leather while still calling themselves ‘genuine’ we are NOT making use of ‘genuine leather’ which sounds like ‘real leather’ but infact is artificially made and therefore regarded as inferior to the top grain leather we are using.
We are proud we only use this kind of high quality and real leather!
Hope this was helpful!
HOW DO I TAKE CARE OF MY BAG? And other Product Care questions!
Good questions! Please take a look at our PRODUCT CARE & WARRANTY page.
There you’ll find all the information you need to know how to treat leather, felt or Ikat Adras.
DO YOU SHIP ALL AROUND THE WORLD?
Yes, we do! Straight from the Silk Road (Kyrgyzstan) delivered on your doorstep!
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO RECEIVE MY ORDER?
All items on the website are basically in stock and are ready for shipping within 3-5 working days. Customized items like an additional shoulder strap are made after you’ve placed the order. In that case it takes 5-7 working days for an item to be made and another 3-5 days to ship. If your order is ready SiRo will inform you by email. When SiRo confirms your payment, a notification by email will be send with a copy of the shipping documents.
All our items are shipped with standard Priority Mail by Kyrgyz Express Post (KEP). This has proven to be a reliable, low cost way to ship internationally. Usually the delivery time is around 10-14 days. The official delivery time for KEP products is 10-30 business days. Considering the worldwide shipping process, several days of delay are possible.
ARE THE PRICES INCLUSIVE OR EXCLUSIVE TAX AND / OR DUTY?
We tried, but as it is quite impossible for us to know exactly every DUTY and / or TAX rate of every country of the world… prices given on the website are exclusive VAT and / or DUTY TAX.
All our items do include Kyrgyz sales tax. Please be aware that you might be charged DUTY and/or VAT TAX (Dutch: BTW) on your package. Please check your country’s customs Duty Rules. SiRo is NOT responsible for any extra CUSTOMS fees or impounding from your country customs on INTERNATIONAL orders, nor any Taxes the package incurs due to your country’s customs or Vat.
VOOR ONZE NEDERLANDSE KLANTEN:
- Invoer- cq douanerechten: items worden per stuk verzonden met een gewicht tot 5 kilo en een maximum waarde van €150,-. Hierdoor is er in geen geval een plicht om invoerrechten/douanerechten te betalen.
- BTW: over items met een waarde boven €0,- kan 21% BTW geheven worden. Om deze BTW daadwerkelijk te innen rekent POST NL €7,- (€4,- bij online betalen) inklaringskosten. De kans dat uw pakket er ter controle door de douane wordt uitgehaald is aanwezig. SiRo heeft daar geen inspraak op en kan er ook niet verantwoordelijk voor worden gehouden. Wel hebben wij met de vaststelling van de prijzen rekening gehouden met deze eventuele BTW-heffing en de prijzen hierop afgestemd (lees: verlaagd).
Meer informatie over een pakket ontvangen uit het buitenland:
www.postnl.nl/ontvangen/pakket-ontvangen/pakket-uit-het-buitenland/
ARE THE PRICES INCLUSIVE OR EXCLUSIVE SHIPPING-COSTS?
Prices given on the website are exclusive shipping-costs. However, when you add your item to the cart the specific shipping-costs will be given.
To give you a honest and transparant insight in the pricing of our items, we decided to seperate the price of the item and the cost of shipping. This construction – based on weight – is also more advantageous to you as the shipping-costs are lower this way when ordering multiple items.
THE PRODUCT I’M LOOKING FOR IS SOLD OUT, CAN I ORDER IT AGAIN?
Do not hesitate to contact us at info@siro-silkroad.com, we will let you know if or when it’s back in stock.
HOW DO YOU SECURE MY PRIVACY?
SiRo is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. We don’t use any of the data collected for profiling or other secondary purposes.
For more info about our Privacy Policy please take a look at: siro-silkroad.com/privacy/
IS ORDERING OVER THE INTERNET SECURE?
Yes. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption is used for every transaction in order to ensure that your order is secure.
HOW DO I CHANGE OR CANCEL AN ORDER?
If for any reason you would like to change or cancel your order, please contact us as soon as possible at info@siro-silkroad.com We will make every effort to cancel.
However, if your order has already been fulfilled (shipped), we will follow the Returns guidelines.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHEN NEW PRODUCTS OR SPECIAL PROMOTIONS ARE ANNOUNCED?
Follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter and you will receive updates on new products, sales, events, and other special announcements.
DO YOU HAVE AN OFFLINE SHOP?
We do! For locations please take a look at this page: siro-silkroad.com/selling-points/
MY QUESTION IS NOT IN THIS LIST, WHAT TO DO?
Do not hesitate to ask us your question! Just send an e-mail to info@siro-silkroad.com and we’ll answer you as soon as possible!