Members particle Posted March 11, 2013 Members Report Posted March 11, 2013 I keep pushing my turnaround time noted on my website further and further out, trying to slow down new orders, but now I'm starting to worry about the legal problems of taking payment up-front. For those of you that require payment up front, do you know what the time-limit is for acceptable delivery times? I'm assuming there is one, and need to know if I need to consider incorporating some way to take deposits up-front instead of full payment. Quote Eric Adamswww.adamsleatherworks.com | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Members Cyberthrasher Posted March 11, 2013 Members Report Posted March 11, 2013 The first thing that comes to my mind is PayPal and the 45 day limit for customers to file a dispute. Other than that I can't say whether there would be anything else. My inclination is to say that when a customer pays you upfront, they're entering into an agreement, knowing how long it will take for them to receive their items. Now, if you took their payment with a promised completion date 4 weeks out and then changed it to 8 weeks without their consent - that may be grounds for legal action (I'm just guessing here). I tried looking around for hard facts, but couldn't figure out a good search term that didn't give results on loan pre-payment penalties. I think as long as you stick to an agreed upon completion date with the customer, everything should be fine. Quote hellhoundkustoms.wordpress.com www.facebook.com/hellhoundkustoms www.etsy.com/shop/HellhoundKustoms
Members bustedlifter Posted March 11, 2013 Members Report Posted March 11, 2013 I usually get 1/2 up front and the rest on delivery. Quote
Members shooter55 Posted March 11, 2013 Members Report Posted March 11, 2013 I don't think there is a legal qualification to this. I know of people that have placed orders for things that are over a year out, so I would believe that as long as your customer is aware of the lead time, there should be no issue. The big issue is when you run into problems and the original anticipated time has been pushed out considerably. The best solution for that would be communicate that to the customer as soon as you are aware, and discuss with them if that is acceptable. Communication gets you out of a lot of problems. I am not an attorney, nor do I play one in any films or TV shows..........but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once. Quote
Members veedub3 Posted March 11, 2013 Members Report Posted March 11, 2013 I am not an attorney, nor do I play one in any films or TV shows..........but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once. Ha,ha,ha,ha, Quote "The only man who makes no mistake, is the man who does nothing." Theodore Roosevelt
Members dfwde Posted March 12, 2013 Members Report Posted March 12, 2013 If your reason for extended the time is the amount of orders coming in you could raise your prices to slow down the orders coming in. Quote
Members dfwde Posted March 12, 2013 Members Report Posted March 12, 2013 You would be getting less orders but not losing money Quote
Members mrdabeetle Posted March 12, 2013 Members Report Posted March 12, 2013 There is no legal issue as long as you stick to your posted deadline time. One thing that I have done to keep customers happy, is to notify them when their order is next in line and give them a more accurate estimate on completion/delivery. As you are working from a website, the text describing the transaction, estimated shipping time/cost, etc. are the contract. In some areas, this becomes legally binding as soon as the customer completes the payment process. If I do not have the item in stock, or it is a custom order, the customer must agree to pay a percentage of the total cost of the item as a non-refundable (to cover cost of production) deposit, upfront. The remainder will be required upon delivery. Quote
Members chiefjason Posted March 12, 2013 Members Report Posted March 12, 2013 As a part timer, this is why I don't do a website. And currently, I'm glad I did not. I have quit taking money at this point. I've got a list of folks that want a holster. When I can work on theirs I told them I would contact them for payment. I've got one about ready to ship. Three about ready to dye. I might mold another tomorrow. Next week I might start on the waiting list. Being one guy with a limited amount of time outside of my real job, it does not take much to get me more behind than I want to be. I'm considering raising the price again to slow things down as well. Busy is a good thing. Hopelessly behind is not. lol Quote
Members DHauser Posted March 12, 2013 Members Report Posted March 12, 2013 I always get something up front. If the customer sends me the item that a piece is created for then I normally forgo the deposit or take 50%. If they do not (or do not need to) I always get 100% up front. I always give an estimate of time but also advise that time in custom leatherwork is relative. I do however ALWAYS communicate with the customer via e-mail while the project is in process. Quote C. David Hauser Leathersmith Dragonthorn Leatherworks http://dragonleather.net 336-655-6233
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