Who we are
MerchMadhouse is a small independent brand based in the United Kingdom. We design original graphic t-shirts and sell them through our Etsy shop. Orders are printed and shipped by a third-party print-on-demand partner.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, MerchMadhouse is the data controller for the limited personal information described below.
Information we handle
We deliberately handle as little personal information as possible. We do not operate a public storefront of our own, so most customer data never reaches us directly.
| Category | What it includes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Order details | Item, size, colour, quantity, order value and order date | Etsy |
| Delivery details | Recipient name and postal address, passed to our print partner so your order can be shipped | Etsy |
| Messages | Anything you choose to write to us about an order | Etsy or email |
| Shop statistics | Aggregate views and favourites per listing. These are counts only and identify no one | Etsy |
| Our own account credentials | Access tokens for the business accounts we operate, such as Etsy and Pinterest | Us |
We never see or store your payment card details. Payment is taken by Etsy, and card data never passes through our systems.
Why we handle it
- To fulfil your order — your name and delivery address are passed to our print partner for the sole purpose of printing and posting your item. Our lawful basis is performance of a contract.
- To provide customer service — answering questions, resolving problems and handling returns. Our lawful basis is performance of a contract.
- To meet legal obligations — retaining transaction records for tax and accounting purposes.
- To understand what people like — reviewing which designs get views and favourites, so we know what to make next. This uses aggregate counts only, never individual browsing behaviour. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to anyone, and we do not use it for advertising or profiling.
Services we rely on
Running the shop means using a small number of third-party services. Each one is an independent data controller for the information it holds, and each has its own privacy policy that we would encourage you to read.
| Service | What it does for us |
|---|---|
| Etsy | Hosts our shop, processes payments, and handles the customer relationship. Etsy is where your order is placed and where your payment is taken. |
| Printify | Prints and ships orders. Receives the recipient name and delivery address needed to post your item. |
| Used for marketing our own designs. See section 5 below. |
Our Pinterest integration
We operate an internal tool that connects to our own Pinterest business account in order to publish images of our own products to our own boards. It exists purely to save us posting each pin by hand.
- It accesses only the MerchMadhouse Pinterest account, which we own and have authorised.
- It reads and writes our own boards and pins, and reads our own account details.
- It does not access, collect, store or process the data of any other Pinterest user.
- It does not follow, message, or interact with other Pinterest accounts.
- The access token authorising this is stored privately on our own systems, is never shared with anyone, and can be revoked by us at any time from our Pinterest account settings.
If you interact with a MerchMadhouse pin on Pinterest, that interaction is governed by Pinterest’s own privacy policy, not this one.
How long we keep it
- Order and transaction records — retained for six years after the end of the relevant tax year, as UK tax law requires.
- Delivery addresses — held only for as long as needed to fulfil the order and handle any return or dispute.
- Messages — kept while your query is open and for a reasonable period afterwards in case you get back in touch.
- Aggregate shop statistics — kept indefinitely, as they identify no one.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to ask us to give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you, correct it if it is wrong, delete it, restrict how we use it, or object to our using it. You may also ask us to transfer it to another provider.
To exercise any of these, contact us using the details in section 10. We will respond within one month. There is no charge.
Because most customer data lives with Etsy rather than with us, a request about your order history or account may need to go to Etsy directly — we will tell you if that is the case and point you to the right place.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal information we will update this page and revise the date shown at the top. Material changes will be made clear rather than quietly folded in.
Contact us
For any question about this policy, or to make a request about your information, message us through our Etsy shop.
Messages sent there are linked to your order automatically, which makes anything order-related quicker to resolve.