Terms of service
Last updated: 18 September 2026
These terms govern the use of totemnairobi.com and enquiries, purchases and services arranged through Totem Nairobi.
Totem Nairobi is a trading name of Artisanal Fifty Five Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya.
1. The website
The website presents Totem Nairobi's Collection and its project sourcing, scent and gifting services. It is a catalogue and point of enquiry.
The inclusion of a piece or service on the website does not constitute a binding offer, confirm availability or oblige either party to proceed.
Submitting an enquiry does not create a contract. A project or purchase begins only after the relevant scope, price and terms have been confirmed in writing, accepted and any payment required at that stage has been received.
Where Totem issues a quotation, proposal, order confirmation, scope of work or separate project agreement, that document forms part of the agreement and will govern the particular project where it differs from these general terms.
2. Project Sourcing
Project Sourcing is developed from the client's brief and may cover a single piece or category, several categories, or a wider sourcing assignment.
Depending on the project, Totem may source from its own stock, existing suppliers and makers, independent workshops, galleries, artists and other sources in Kenya and internationally.
Order quantities vary according to the project and the source. A purchase may involve one artwork, a small production run or a larger commercial order. Supplier minimum quantities will be communicated where they apply.
3. Totem's role in purchases
Totem may act in different capacities depending on the transaction.
Where Totem sells an item from its own stock or expressly purchases and resells goods as principal, the client purchases the item from Totem.
For project-sourced goods, Totem may instead act as the client's sourcing or procurement agent. In those circumstances, the supplier may contract with and invoice the client directly, while Totem manages sourcing, coordination and procurement under its separate agreement with the client.
The applicable structure will be stated in the quotation, proposal or order documents.
Unless Totem expressly agrees otherwise in writing, acting as sourcing or procurement agent does not make Totem responsible for financing the client's purchase, guaranteeing the client's payment obligations to a supplier, becoming importer of record, or taking ownership or possession of goods because the client cannot pay for, clear or receive them.
4. Fees, quotations and payments
Totem's sourcing, procurement or other professional fees will be stated before the relevant work begins.
Supplier prices and Totem's professional fees may be shown separately where appropriate.
A quotation remains valid for the period stated in it. Unless expressly described as fixed, pricing may change before commitment because of supplier price changes, exchange-rate movements, freight, insurance, duties, taxes, statutory charges, certification requirements or other third-party costs.
Any material change known before commitment will be communicated to the client before Totem proceeds wherever reasonably possible.
Supplier deposits, production balances and other payment stages vary by order. The applicable schedule will be communicated before commitment.
Totem will not commit its own funds in reliance on a client's promise to reimburse later.
Where Totem is due to make a supplier payment on the client's behalf, the corresponding client funds must have cleared before Totem becomes liable for that payment.
5. Client approvals and changes
Specifications, quantities, materials, finishes, samples, proofs, prototypes and other project decisions may require written client approval.
Approval given through the communication channel agreed for the project may be relied upon by Totem in placing an order or authorising production.
Changes requested after approval may result in revised pricing, additional sampling or development costs, altered lead times, supplier cancellation charges, loss of deposits, freight or storage charges, or payment for work and materials already committed.
Totem will communicate the known consequences of a requested change before proceeding wherever reasonably possible.
6. Client failure or delay in payment
If a client does not make a required payment when due, Totem may suspend sourcing, ordering, production coordination, shipment, clearance or delivery until the outstanding funds have cleared.
Totem is not required to use its own funds to prevent production delays, storage costs, demurrage, supplier charges or other consequences caused by late or missing client payment.
Where the client's default causes additional supplier, freight, port, storage, re-routing, return or similar charges, those charges remain the client's responsibility to the extent permitted by law and the applicable project agreement.
Where Totem is acting only as agent, Totem is not required to take ownership, possession or storage of goods because a client cannot or will not pay for them.
For high-value or imported orders, Totem may require the client to contract with or pay the supplier, freight provider or other service provider directly.
7. The Collection and product information
The Collection may include pieces available immediately, limited or one-off works, pieces available to order and pieces made to order.
Availability to order remains subject to confirmation of the maker's or supplier's capacity, materials, pricing and production schedule.
The Collection is not a complete record of Totem's sourcing capability.
Totem takes reasonable care to describe pieces accurately. Measurements, materials, finishes, origin and other specifications are based on information available to Totem and will be confirmed where necessary before commitment.
Photography, lighting and screen settings may affect colour and finish.
Handmade, vintage and natural-material pieces may vary in weave, grain, patina, texture, colour, form, finish and dimensions. Normal variations consistent with the material and method of production are not defects.
Where a particular dimension, finish, performance standard or other characteristic is essential, the client must identify it before ordering.
8. Suitability and technical requirements
The inclusion or recommendation of a piece does not by itself confirm suitability for every residential, hospitality, commercial or outdoor use.
Fire performance, electrical compliance, structural requirements, accessibility, fabric performance, commercial durability and other technical requirements depend on the intended use and destination.
The client and its professional team are responsible for identifying project-specific requirements unless Totem has expressly agreed to verify them as part of its scope.
Totem will not knowingly describe a product as compliant where the necessary evidence is unavailable.
9. Custom, commissioned and made-to-order goods
Custom, personalised, commissioned, made-to-order and specially imported goods are produced or procured against an approved brief.
Once production or procurement has been authorised and a supplier commitment has been made, cancellation may no longer be possible and deposits or committed costs may be non-refundable.
Such goods cannot ordinarily be returned solely because the client changes their mind.
10. Lead times and supplier performance
Lead times begin only after the required specifications, approvals and payments have been received and the supplier has accepted the order.
Lead times are estimates unless expressly guaranteed in writing.
Material availability, maker capacity, transport, customs procedures, regulatory approvals, weather, port congestion and other events may affect production or delivery.
Totem will communicate material delays that become known and, where appropriate, discuss available alternatives.
Totem uses reasonable care when selecting and working with independent suppliers, makers, freight providers and other third parties, but does not guarantee that an independent third party will never default, cease trading, delay production or otherwise fail to perform.
Where a supplier problem arises, Totem will assist with the practical steps available under the relevant purchasing arrangement, but Totem does not automatically assume the supplier's financial obligations merely because Totem introduced or coordinated that supplier.
11. International sourcing, freight and delivery
Before an international order is committed, the relevant documents should identify, as applicable:
- the purchaser;
- the contracting supplier;
- the consignee;
- the importer of record;
- the delivery destination;
- responsibility for freight;
- responsibility for cargo insurance;
- responsibility for customs clearance; and
- responsibility for duties, taxes, storage, demurrage and related charges.
For higher-value imports, Totem may require these obligations to sit directly with the client rather than Totem.
A supplier's inability to provide required export, conformity, origin or other documentation may prevent or delay the purchase.
Totem may decline an item that it reasonably considers unlawful, non-compliant or commercially impractical to import.
Delivery does not include installation, assembly, unpacking, removal of packaging or disposal unless expressly stated.
Additional costs caused by an inaccessible, unsafe or unready site may be charged to the responsible client where permitted under the project agreement.
12. Inspection, damage and claims
Goods should be inspected promptly on receipt.
Visible damage, missing packages or signs of mishandling should be recorded on the carrier's delivery documentation where possible.
Damage, shortage, defect or material difference from the approved specification should be reported promptly with photographs and relevant delivery information.
Packaging, labels, goods and delivery records may need to be retained while a supplier, carrier or insurer investigates a claim.
Any applicable reporting deadlines will be communicated in the relevant order or shipping documents.
Nothing in this section removes statutory rights that cannot legally be excluded.
13. Art, objects and provenance
Where relevant, Totem seeks reasonable information regarding maker, authorship, origin, age, materials, ownership and provenance.
Certain antiquities, cultural objects, wildlife materials and other restricted items may require permits or may be prohibited from export or import.
Totem may decline to procure an item where satisfactory ownership, provenance or export documentation cannot be established.
Purchasing a physical artwork or object does not automatically transfer copyright or reproduction rights.
14. Totem Scent Studio
Totem Scent Studio is a consultative service delivered with specialist fragrance, production and manufacturing partners.
Each commission will identify the scent application, development process, sampling, production quantities, packaging, compliance, formula rights, exclusivity and delivery arrangements.
Commissioning development does not automatically transfer ownership of a fragrance formula or confer exclusivity.
Product-specific regulatory, labelling, safety and transport requirements will be determined according to the intended product and destination.
15. Gifting
Gifting commissions are developed against an agreed brief, quantity, budget and delivery plan.
Personalisation, packaging, samples, proofs and distribution arrangements must be approved before production.
Where recipient information is supplied, it will be used only for the agreed purpose and handled in accordance with Totem's Privacy Policy.
16. Intellectual property and confidential sourcing information
Unless otherwise stated, Totem's original website text, images, graphics, layout and other content belong to Totem or are used with permission.
They may not be reproduced or used commercially without permission.
The appearance of an artist's or maker's work does not grant rights to reproduce that work.
Supplier contacts, quotations, non-public pricing, sourcing information and other confidential commercial information supplied by Totem may not be copied, disclosed or used to bypass Totem in relation to an active project except with Totem's written agreement.
17. Personal information
Personal information submitted to Totem is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
Submitting an enquiry does not automatically subscribe a person to marketing.
Where client projects require Totem to receive personal information concerning other people, the client must have authority to provide that information.
18. Third-party services
Totem may introduce, recommend, coordinate or work with independent makers, suppliers, galleries, freight providers, installers and other third parties.
Unless Totem expressly contracts as principal, such an introduction or coordination does not make the third party an employee or agent of Totem or make Totem responsible for every act or omission of that third party.
Third-party terms may apply directly to the client's purchase or service.
19. Liability
Totem does not guarantee that the website will always be uninterrupted, error-free or completely current.
Project-specific responsibility and liability will be governed by the applicable quotation, order, project agreement and these terms.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where doing so would be prohibited by Kenyan law.
20. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya.
Disputes concerning use of the website are subject to the jurisdiction of the Kenyan courts.
A separate project agreement may provide another dispute-resolution process for that project.
21. Changes to these terms
Totem may update these terms as its services, operations or legal obligations develop.
The version published at the relevant time applies to website use.
An update to these general website terms will not retrospectively change a signed project agreement.
22. Contact
Questions concerning these terms may be submitted through the Contact page at totemnairobi.com.
Artisanal Fifty Five Ltd
Trading as Totem Nairobi
Located at Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: hello@totemnairobi.com