Etsy - Pay For Custom Items?

[Basically Bob]

I will soon be using Etsy as a marketing vehicle and plan to take payments by Etsy Direct and Paypal.

The guitar straps I sell and plan to offer are all "cut-to-measure" - custom made.

I am hoping that someone with Etsy experience would explain the proper payment etiquette/process for custom items?

Thank y'all!

Bob

[25b]

I get payment upfront on all custom orders. This eliminates the problem of the customer suddenly not being able to pay for the custom item they ordered once they're finished.

The downside is they will nag you to death with "AREN'T YOU FINISHED YET????" questions constantly. That's even after I've already given them a timeframe of how long it will take to make their item...they don't care.

My favorite is when they order a custom item, make me wait two weeks for them to pay for that item...then they want it done and shipped the day after they pay.

Edited February 4, 2015 by 25b

[MonicaJacobson]

I've had pretty good experiences with people on etsy wanting custom items. I make it clear to them that I have a waiting list, tell them when I hope to be starting, and take payment in advance (or half, if it's something I can easily sell if they back out) when I'm ready to start. I tell them it'll take 1-2 weeks, send them pictures as I go along (people love that), and send it the day after they get completion pictures.

Granted, I do only as much business as I can do in 2-3 work hours a day, so all that talking back and forth works fine for me. Someone with more customers might not be able to spend that much time.

The fees are a pain, though. You'll have to pay both etsy and paypall fees, so you get something like a 7% fee. Etsy charges 3.5% of the price, and paypal is basically the same.

[lightingale]

This is tricky. I have well over 300 sales on Etsy (in addition to a hundred or so outside Etsy) so I'll weigh in with my experiences.

All of my dog collars, like your guitar straps, are custom made to the customer's size specifications. Usually, they'll pick a design from my Etsy storefront (with occasional changes in colour) and specify their desired size. No problem. I keep a whiteboard with all my current orders and I'm able to gauge when an item will be complete and ready to ship out. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is COMMUNICATION with your customer. As soon as you see that a sale has been made, or even if you're still in the communication part and feel you're about to close the sale, be up-front about your turnaround time. Overestimate by a week or two, as it's much better to be pleasantly early than disappointingly late. YOU get to set this date, so be realistic to yourself!

Last year, there were a few of months during which I could not humanly complete orders for dog collars as quickly as they were coming in. To help mitigate issues with shipping expectations (rather than closing the shop), I maintained a chart on a page of my blog where I listed every order I had (with vague details like order date, size, and design, so that each customer would know which one was theirs without making their details public), and update it as each batch of orders was completed and shipped out. Every customer got a message/email within a day of their initial order date with a link to this chart and a reasonable range of time during which their order would be completed. They could check it any time to see when their order came up on my queue. I only had one customer ask to cancel the purchase. Better to cancel/refund early than deal with an irate customer later on. So far, no one has complained about my wait times, although one of my feedback (which is still perfect score) mentions a long transit time... though this was for a package going from Canada to Australia.

I only accepted Paypal, as Etsy direct wasn't available for Canadians at when I started, and when they did release it, I saw that they took a larger cut than Paypal did, so I never offered it.

I did offer custom designs, and would draw/create the design with revisions before being paid for the item, which I would do in my spare time. Sometimes I would even craft the item before being paid. Even if the customer liked the item, not all these sales followed through, in which case I'd be stuck with a custom-sized item with a custom design that would be difficult to sell. Don't make this mistake.

For the first few months after opening an Etsy shop in early 2012, custom designs were very welcome, as sales were not too frequent, and I had time in between to tinker with them, plus these designs could become new Etsy listings and/or show pieces later on. After my shop got some traction, it would sometimes take a few weeks (up to a month) to finalize a (free, no money was exchanged) design, because I prioritized my time to paid orders first. The (free!) design time ruffled some feathers too, so I've decided going forward not to offer custom designs unless paid up front (at which point if would go into my queue and become a priority). I'm still debating what I should charge for custom design services - what a reasonable hourly rate should be.

I know this next bit isn't very relevant to your question, but this has been my experience and may help you sometime... my Etsy shop has been on "vacation" for the last 2 months, because I developed a pinched nerve in my shoulder in October (after a months-long bout of crazy amounts of collar orders) that I ignored until I couldn't ignore it anymore. The nerve has only gotten worse since, so I'm now seeking professional help with it (I had thought it would get better on it's own.. I'm still in my 20s and I've never before had health problem like this that hasn't resolved itself). So this is a word of caution for you... don't burn yourself out! I've been extremely lucky in that my Etsy shop took off, and hopefully yours will too. There's a HUGE market for folks who want custom crafted leather items to their specification and design. If so, if at some point you feel overwhelmed, you need to sit back, see what you're making per hour of work, and what your body can physically take. Raise your prices and/or take a break if you start to get in over your head! You love your craft, and there are few things more gratifying than having someone express their appreciation by paying you for an item you've made. However... be kind to yourself and remember that your health comes first!

[Studio-N]

I'm going to answer the question with the following story that happened today:

I got contacted with an email from someone who wants a custom engraved (and personalized with name) wallet. Ok, quoted price and delivery time. Comes back with wanting me to make it and IF she likes it she'll buy it. I explained it is custom work and I'm happy to do a mock up of the artwork and once approved then I'll make it and invoice it. Came back again with the same BS. So I declined the job and she got all butt-hurt over it. Good luck finding someone that wants to get stuck with a wallet they can't sell. and especially at the low price I quoted.

I told you this story so I can tell you this story: I don't have these problems on etsy. When I get contacted for a custom order, I roll a custom order for them. Etsy's tool is much better than ebay for custom orders.

Yes, they pay upfront to get the order going - no different than if it is a retail order. The customer ALWAYS has right of refusal after seeing the pictures. They always have buyer protection from paypal. so getting them to pay for the order up front has never been a problem. And because I care about my reputation, I'm always happy to take it back with a full refund (only happened once in 15 years). The key is communication. If it is taking longer than expected, drop them an email. send them a picture on where you're at. Most people (except the woman from my story) are understanding. So I say go for it. Cheers!

[Basically Bob]

Wow, really good info from all of you. Thanks so much!

[NVLeatherWorx]

I too use Etsy for my online presence and have had no issues with customers and the ordering process. I accept both Direct Checkout and PayPal (and when you add it all up through both systems the difference is only .5% from one to the next) and all orders are paid for in advance. As mentioned by others before me communication is the most important thing within the Etsy world and as long as you are clear and concise in your information and manage all of it through their Convo system you will be much better off. The other key thing is to put your processes, time frames, and shipping methods into your policies because if your policies are lacking (and there are a large number of sellers who have none at all) then Etsy will leave you hanging because you didn't follow protocol. Make sure that you provide an approximate time frame for each project/item and always add a little extra for that "just in case" moment. I utilize the item options as much as possible but they are very limited if you have complex projects.

Back to the policies side of the house; I make it clear in my policies that work will begin upon verification and receipt of payment (not when they sit back and wait for it and decide to get around to it) and I also use this same tactic for any "external from Etsy" orders where I have to send them an invoice via PayPal or Square. I don't start anything until the payment has processed and it is in my account because I am not going to be left holding the bag on anything. And when you do get that "special" customer who wants you to make something for them before they pay for it, just kindly remind them of what your policies are and invite them to take their business elsewhere if they disagree with them. There is nothing wrong with saying "no" to a difficult customer; it just hasn't been done enough so they don't understand what it means.

Good luck with your ventures and hope to see your shop soon.

[CrazedLemming]

Exactly what those folks said:

-Money upfront for all custom projects.

-Be upfront about production times and pad the time with an extra week or more just in case. You might know you can do something in two days, but it doesn't hurt to quote a week just in case something goes wrong.

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There are a couple different ways of running custom orders on etsy:

1. Make a normal listing and mark it "Made to Order". Fill in all your item details. Depending on how complicated the specs are for the straps, you can either include a menu of specific preset size options ("60in", "60.5in", etc [sorry I don't have a clue what's normal for guitar straps]) or get the buyer to send you the details you need. If possible, I would rather have them pick what they want from a menu on the listing page so the specs are included in the order info and are required for them to proceed to checkout.

2. When people contact you about one of your listings, there's a "Make This A Custom Order" button in the conversation screen. Click that, fill in the details, they pay, you make the stuff. easy.

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Other thoughts on etsy:

-The fees aren't bad. For roughly 8%, you're getting payment processing and being in a high traffic environment. Back when I sold a lot of stuff on ebay, I counted on an average of about 15%. Selling things on consignment in local shops is running around 30% plus being at the mercy of their foot traffic. Running your own shopping website could be anywhere from 3% for payment processing to really expensive plus having to build your own traffic.

-There are crafters on etsy who can't do math and price their items entirely too low. I've heard people complain that they sold a lot of stuff on etsy for 6 months and couldn't make money. It's like any other marketplace you have to consider supplies, time (production, dealing with customers, shipping, etc), fees, shipping supplies, and everything else. There are way too many people who just look at what they have invested in supplies.

-It's a decent sized market. If you have something people are searching for, it's definitely a good way to expand beyond a home range.

[raysouth]

Great topic. It seems as though Etsy is the place to go for custom goods but I often wonder why more folks don't use some of the new free sites that seem to be up and coming places to post and sell.

I am not an expert but one could begin by listing a few items to get thing going and then add or stop using the free service if not able to wait for site to produce results.

Perhaps many of you have made an attempt to use the sites and found them lacking in some way but I have found them to be responsive to adjustments and needs of the users.

So many places we could go and makes choices difficult.

www.ecrater.com is one site that is free and the other that I am familiar with is, www.webstore.com , one I find easy to work with.

Just passing along this information and not intended to question ones selection/s of sites used. Perhaps some will become aware of something new.

God Bless.

Ray