Hi, here I am again! With another customer related problem. Sorted yesterdays drama out. Thank you everyone
Soooo… todays problem
I’ve been working on a custom for around 4 months, the lady has been lovely. We have had regular contact, ive enjoyed the whole process of making and buying for this baby and it was finally ready on the 20th September. (All along she has been saying the money is ready waiting and she will pay in full) I messaged the customer and she was very happy and excited, I sent lots of photos and a video, she was over the moon and said she would pay on the 21st, she didn’t pay and didn’t contact me so I contacted her on the 23rd, she read the message but didn’t reply untill the 25th saying she would pay tomorrow (26th) still nothing. I’ve sent her a polite message asking her if she still wants the baby, ive offered a payment plan if she’s struggling. She’s not read the message. But has been online, How much longer should I wait before listing?
I mean this in the kindest possible way, perhaps you should not take custom orders. From your posts, it sounds like you are fairly inexperienced selling. Customs are exciting because you get the money up front to create a baby which is what we all really love, but perhaps some research into the business side of things would help you avoid these troubles. There are some basic policies you can put in place to protect yourself:
Don’t ship until you’ve been paid in full.
Do not move money from PayPal until your. customer is happy with their doll in their possession.
If you take custom orders, have them pay in stages and do not do work beyond the stage that is paid for.
Alternately, take payment for custom orders upfront and do not use any funds besides what you need for materials. That serves as your non-refundable deposit and worst-case you refund your customer and send them what their money bought.
There is a reason most high-level artists eventually stop doing customs and it is because they are precarious and aggravating.
" (All along she has been saying the money is ready waiting and she will pay in full) "
I am assuming you didn’t get a down payment?
I do not do customs anymore because of the stress of dealing with duds…
When I DID do them I required a 1/3 NON REFUNDABLE down payment…which…at least
helped to pay for the kit and supplies so that when I had to deal with said “duds”…I didn’t lose an arm and a leg in the deal.
She has had almost 2 weeks to come through with payment…I would send her a notice saying the doll has been listed and if she still wants it she will have to purchase it from your sales site.
I require a 50% down payment up front for any custom order or hold. Then the balance plus shipping due no later than 30 days out. They can pay weekly or pay it off in 30 days but at the 30 day mark the deal is over one way or another. I state the down payment is non-refundable. Technically they can get that back if they file with PP and thankfully I have not had anyone to back out. Usually anyone who pays 50% down is serious enough to follow through. That is why I do it that way.
Thank you for the replies, I didn’t take a deposit and I will have no trouble selling this baby on. Its not about the money, I’m worried I will list and sell and then this lady will come back to me with a really genuine reason she hasnt been in touch. I will type another message telling her I can hold untill Monday. Thats another 4 days, so i think I’m being very generous there?
Thanks everyone
If you do sell the doll to someone else and the original customer comes back upset, you could offer to make another doll of the kit she wanted with a 50% deposit? That way you don’t feel you’re putting her out if she does have a reason for her lack of contact that you feel is legitimate.
I would also really urge you to post her name in time waster groups if things don’t work out. I’m glad you don’t mind having to sell the custom as a premade doll, but for some new artists who don’t know how important a deposit is, putting their own money into a custom and not being paid could be extremely detrimental to their finances. People who “order” customs with no intent of paying just to string artists along are fairly common and almost always repeat offenders.
