Choosing A Product To Fit You
The products we make vary in the amount of work it takes to make them. Many people ask for a simple product to start. People with some experience with miniatures or crafts often ask for more complicated products that we buy for more. People work from home at their own skill level. We have products that can be assembled by just about everyone.
"Working for Tiny Details allows me to pay for my family's medication." - Tracy C., Phoenix, AZ
In general, the more work required to make the product the more we will buy it for. To say it another way, the amount we buy a product for is an indicator of the amount of time it takes to make the product.
For example, kits that we buy for $50 take about half the time of kits that we buy for $100.
The Kit
Each of our work at home items comes as a kit. The kit contains everything needed to make the product including: assembly materials, detailed directions, any necessary tools, a payment request form (to get your money), an extra materials request form (to get free additional materials if you need them) and even a finished product sample (except for very new products). We do include extra materials beyond what you need to complete the kit, in case you make a few mistakes.
The only thing not included in a kit is a stapler and staples that are used to close the little plastic bags that each finished item is put in.
There is a $55 fully refundable deposit for the kit and an optional $5.99 non-refundable fee if you would like Priority Mail used to send your kit. It takes us 2-3 days to process kit orders and put them into the mail.
We normally send kits by First Class mail which takes from 1 to 9 days to get anywhere in the USA. The $5.99 Priority Mail option makes the shipping time 1-3 days according to the post office, once they are in the mail.
The box the kit comes in is about the size of a book, so it generally fits in most mail boxes and you won't have to make a trip to the post office to get it!
Assembly
The instructions explain, step by step, how to assemble the materials, using the tools, into the final product. Each kit is designed to make a set of the product. A set is a certain number of finished items that we buy.
Our products are assembled in sets of 20, 50, or 100 items, depending upon the product. Each item may have one or more pieces that are placed in the little plastic bags when the item is finished. For example, there are 4 pieces that go into each bag of the Chinese Take Out Set product. There is one piece that goes into each bag of most of the book products. The detailed descriptions of the products tell how many pieces go in the bag for each product.
Each kit has extra materials to allow you to learn to make the product and in case you make mistakes. If you run out of materials before completing a set, then you can send in the Extra Materials Request Form, which is included with every kit, and we will send you additional materials, free of charge, to use to complete the set.
To be sure you are making the product correctly, you will send us a sample of the product you are making. We will check your sample and tell you if there are any problems so that you won't be wasting your time making the whole set incorrectly. The samples are returned to you after they are checked. We include a letter that tells you that the sample was made correctly or that it needs changes to be made. You do not have to wait for Tiny Details to examine the sample to continue working but, if changes are called for, you may have to fix some of the items you already made.
Sending in the Set
You have 60 days from the postmark on the package we send to you to assemble a whole set of the product and send it in to Tiny Details for payment. You must assemble a complete set. We do not accept partial sets. You must provide the box. Any sturdy box will do. Many people use the one we shipped the kit to them in. Under certain circumstances, we will give you additional time to complete your work if you can't complete it in 60 days.
Payment
When your complete product set is accepted by Tiny Details, you receive a check for three things:
The amount we agreed to buy the assembled product for,
Your $55 deposit refund if you paid it by check or money order (it is refunded to your credit card if you paid by credit card), and
Up to $5 to cover the postage to send the product in to Tiny Details. (We figure out how much it is by reading it off the package!) This amount more than covers shipping as the products are miniatures and quite light when finished.
"Even though I've only got a few hours to work while the baby is sleeping, I can do that with your products." - Robin B. - Kansas City, MO
We send you a check on the day your complete product set is accepted by Tiny Details. We write checks every day. We believe in prompt payment! If you decide you want to assemble another kit, you can "roll over" the $55 deposit to cover the new kit and will not have to send us an additional deposit. New kits are generally shipped one or two days after the check is sent.
There is no limit to the number of kits you can have at one time. So, there is no limit to the amount of money you can make!
Even if you decide that home assembly is not for you, and whether you've used up none or all of the kit, we will give you a partial refund of your deposit. Click on the Terms & Conditions link at the top for the deposit refund policy.
How much can I make?
There is no limit on the amount of money you can make! We allow anyone to make as many kits as they would like. Our home assemblers are sometimes asked to make more than one type of item, but we always have things for home assembly.
We will buy from you as many correctly assembled product sets as you care to make from our kits!
Since some of our kits are more time consuming than others, they fetch a higher price. We currently have kits that we will buy for $50 to $200. So, the amount of money you make can be more if you make kits that take more time.
We estimate that you should be making about $10 per hour once you get up to speed making an item. Though most of our assemblers work part-time and make under $200/week, there is the potential to make $400-500 per 40-hour week or more if you work more.
Remember that you can work on as many kits as you like at one time. You can be working on one, two or 10 kits at a time!
However, if you've never made miniatures before, we encourage you to start with 5 or fewer kits to be sure that making miniatures is something you will enjoy. After all, having kits out that are not being assembled does not make money for you or Tiny Details.
If you want to make more than 5 kits at a time, we ask that you make products that are in high demand. High demand products are any book (our biggest sellers) and any product marked "new" on the Product page.
What special skills are needed to make your products?
It is likely that you have all the skills to make any of our products:
How fast do I get paid?
Most people are eager to get going and to get paid!
Tiny Details buys products every business day. The checks are sent out on the same day or the next day after the kit has been accepted. It can take from 1 to 10 days for us to accept a kit depending upon the workload at the time. Sometimes it is faster and sometimes slower. Remember that it will take some additional time for the check to reach you in the mail. We strive to make the time as short as possible for our home assemblers.
How long does it take to get a kit?
It usually takes us 1 to 5 business days to process a kit request and get it into the mail to you. Occasionally, a part for a kit will be out of stock and that can cause a delay in shipping. If the delay will be a long one, we will ship you a similar kit to the one you ordered, if a similar one is available.
Tiny Details uses the U. S. Post Office to send our kits, so there may be delays which we cannot control. All kits come from the Syracuse, New York area. Thus, kits going to the far west may take a week or more to go through the mail.
If you pay the $5.99 fee to use Priority Mail for the shipping of a kit, then the post office says that it takes from 2 to 3 days to get anywhere in the continental U.S. Our experience with this is that it is usually very fast. We have had a few occasions (about 1 in 500 packages) where it took longer than the 2 to 3 days once we have shipped your package.
How are mistakes handled?
No one works error free. That is why we supply extra materials with each kit. So, a kit that makes 100 pieces will contain enough materials to make 104 to 162 pieces. There is also an order form in each kit to order free extra materials if you need them!
How long do I have to complete a set?
You have 60 days from the postmark date on the kit we send you. You must send your final completed set(s) postmarked no later than 60 days from our postmark. We have wholesale distributors and retailers that are depending on us to fill their orders in a timely manner. The 60-day limit allows us to plan on having stock when we say we will and to provide other assemblers with the opportunity to assemble products that others choose not to assemble. If you are going to have trouble meeting this deadline, for some reason, we ask that you contact us and ask for additional time so that we can plan our inventory accordingly. In most cases, we will be able to give you some additional assembly time.
What are the limits on how much money I can make?
There is no limit to the number of kits you can have at one time! We will buy one correctly assembled product set that you make from each kit!
How long does it take to make a kit?
It really depends upon the individual doing the work.
"I wouldn't assemble minatures for any one else!" - Peter T., Orlando, FL
Many people can complete a set in a few hours. That's a lot better than a minimum wage job, and you have the ease and flexibility of working any time of the day or night right at home.
Generally, we believe that any of our kits can be assembled in a day. But, some people do take more time. Remember that you do have 60 days to complete a kit, so it doesn't have to be done in one sitting.
How do these $55 deposits work?
The $55 deposit is confusing to many people because we do things a little differently than most work-at-home companies.
The $55 is a deposit, meaning that it is returned to you when you complete the work correctly. It is NOT a FEE, which is what many other companies require. We don't sell you the materials to make our products. Rather, we charge a deposit which insures that we'll get them back.
To go a bit further, say that you want to assemble one of our books that we buy for $50 for a correctly completed set of 50 books. You send us $55. We send you the materials and anything else needed to complete the work. You send us back the beautifully made books. We send you back your $55 deposit, PLUS the $50 for the books, PLUS up to $4 for your postage.
If you wish to make more products, you can tell us to keep your deposit on file when you send in your completed set. Then, we send you a new kit of your choice to make.
You can think of the $55 deposits just like the security deposits when you rent an apartment. If you rent two apartments you have to have two security deposits. If you rent an apartment for one year, you can use that deposit for the next year. So, when you have two of our kits out at the same time, you have to have two deposits. And, when you complete a kit and want another one, you can use the deposit for the completed kit for the new kit.
How are products checked for quality?
When your products come back to Tiny Details, we open your package and pull out a hand-full of them to check. We do not examine each and every one. If these check out fine, then a request is made for your check and deposit refund or new kit(s) to be sent out. The checks are usually written the next day and the new kits are treated just like another order for a kit.
When a kit has problems that need correction, the checker may take one or more bags of the products that have the problems and attach them to a "Product Submission Evaluation Report" that gives the details about what is wrong. Then you will be able to look at the attached bags and understand what to do to make corrections. You only need to correct any problems. You do not need to remake or fix any of the good ones! You can then send the kit in again. If you need any additional materials to fix the problem, remember that they are FREE!
What about taxes?
There are no taxes withheld by Tiny Details. Federal law requires us to obtain your Social Security Number before we can buy more than $600 from you in a single year. The law requires us to use that Social Security Number to report the total we bought from you for the year to the IRS at the end of the year.
Why don't you have this work done overseas?
It would be cheaper, wouldn't it? We have attempted that in the past, however there are several factors that have made us choose to use only American workers:
