Buying/selling on sites like Etsy has made it quite easy to shop online and buy from people around the world. It's quite nice, actually. Especially if you're into a lot of all natural things. Or custom items. These people put a lot of time and effort into their projects. Their passion really comes through and it's great that they can make some extra money, or even a full income, doing something they love. A lot of people just sell via Facebook, through a specific page of theirs (like I've done). The perks of this are great. It's easy, it's extra money, and you can end up meeting some great people.
I've had customers hug me, for a hat they ordered.
I've had a customer tell me to believe in myself.
I've had great customers.
Granted, I don't necessarily do all this for the money, but it's a great way to justify my craft spending (*coughHUSBANDcough*). However, a recent custom order had me about pulling my hair out. And then I got to thinking, "What would I have done differently as a buyer?"
Hence, this blog post.
So, let's have it. MY personal do's and don't list for buying from a crafter.
DO
1. Make your custom idea as vivid as can be. Use specifics.
2. Be polite.
3. Be forgiving. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes they're out of the crafter's hands (i.e. mail gets lost).
4. Be realistic. There are just some things that your imagination can come up with that we can't get out of our fingertips.
5. Get all the details (final price, shipping price [if applicable], colors, etc.) worked out before the project is worked on.
DON'T
1. Be rude. That goes without saying, really.
2. Expect the crafter to read your mind. You have to tell them exactly what you want, or else they'll go about doing their own thing. You may not end up happy.
3. Back out of an order. A custom order isn't something that can always be resold easily.
4. Get ahold of them the day you're supposed to get your order and complain about the price. A lot of buyers have you pay up front, where as others have you pay after a piece is done. Either way, you should already know what the price will be (unless special circumstances arise).
5. Get ahold of them the day before pick up wanting something differently done to your order.
I may end up adding to this as time goes on, I'm not sure. I'm also going to end up making a list of Do's and Don'ts for Sellers. This is just a very basic list of things that you would think are givens. You'd be shocked at how many adults forget the one rule that I think is the most important.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
