I don't even know what to think about this one.

[spark]

Me again, with more costume-making shenanigans.

I have a customer who is... kind of flaky, I guess is the nicest way to put it. He never responds to e-mails unless I IM him and remind him to check his e-mail. His ideas of what he's wanted changed several times, though at least there were no changes after I actually started work. His "reference" for how his project should look appears to have been made in MS Paint. And he used to put a "z" at the end of every other word when he typed, though thankfully a few months ago he dropped that habit. (Seriously! "Hiz! How youz doing? I wantz to talkz about this ideaz I haz." Like that. Very wtf.)

He owes me a pretty considerable chunk of change, though he did also pay a pretty considerable deposit. (Around $700 in both cases.) Mid December his project was nearly done, so I e-mailed him and let him know that I'd need to be paid the rest before I'd ship it. He said he had no money now, but he would pay me after Christmas, with his gift money.

I gotta say I went like this: at the idea of getting SEVEN HUNDRED BUCKS for Christmas. But apparently this was as wildly optimistic as it sounded, since he didn't have the money the next time I contacted him, a few days after Christmas. He told me then that he would be getting his money for college on January 18th, and would pay me then.

Cue the again. He's going to pay me with his COLLEGE TUITION? Or even if it's with his living expense money, or the money his momma gives him to buy pizza or whatever, this is just... ludicrous, frankly.

But... I'm not his mother, so I'm not going to say he can't do this. I'd pretty much finished his project at that point and I wanted to be paid for my time, so I didn't say anything. I just sent him the photos of his finished product and told him I'd ship it as soon as it was paid for.

You may notice that it's now the 19th. He hasn't paid me. I've sent him a reminder e-mail, (and an IM so that he'll read the e-mail) but I gotta admit I almost kind of hope sanity prevailed here and he's not spending his tuition money on a costume! On the other hand, though, if I don't get the money, this month is going to be really tight, financially speaking... so I have no idea what to think about this one.

Edit: Yeah, he just got back to me. :P In addition to telling me his tail was "backwards" (real life translation for that turned out to be that the bright green I'd used on top should have been on the bottom, the white I used on the bottom shouldn't have been there at all, and the top should have been gray, communication is not his strong suit) he told me he hadn't gotten the hoped-for school money, and could only send me a tiny fraction of the amount owed, and would send the rest along in small payments as his school funds arrive *sigh* Worst of both worlds. He's still spending his school funds on this thing AND I don't get the money I need this month. Now instead of having plenty for rent and enough left over to buy some needed supplies and maybe get the rainbow boa I've been eying, I get to scramble desperately for rent, put off getting the supplies until next month, and kiss the boa goodbye.

[RootedPhoenix]

Auggghh. *offers cookies and hugs*

[Betweenshades]

That sucks!

Could you ask for more up front for a deposit, maybe? Then if they bulk, you know something's fishy? I don't have any experience with the costume-making world, so I have no idea if that would work or not.

[LillFilly]

That really sucks; it seems like the custom-made-item business is risky. What happens if he never comes through with what he owes? How about a contract stating that it must be paid in full no later than X-date?

[Darkforge]

I suppose the problem is that if you ask for lots up front people will shy away from you as they might think you are pulling a fast one, or may want to see the finished product first.

If you ask for little up front you get people who delay and delay payments you need to live on.

it's a fine balance thats impossible to get perfect, there will always be times peopel will balk at paying the final amount and there are always people who will complain the deposit is too much.

end thing is, customer is sucky, he should have gotten all the money together before he made the order and gave you the deposit, so that when it was complete he only needed to give the pics a once over to confirm it was good and then pay up witht he money set aside.

Some of my friends who do tailoring in the larp scene have similar issues. heck the only reason i now get a "mates deal" of pay when it's done is cos they've got 5 years of me paying on time without fault and will only order when I can afford to.

also, I HATE people who type with extra letters, I understand the occasional typo, or abbreviation if you're IM'ing and trying to type fast, but to put effort into typing things specifically wrong... ARGH!

[zombiequeen]

Aww how sad!
I have to say, I doubt I'd be buying a costume with my tuition money, or much of anything right now, but that takes dedication to the hobby to spend tuition on that...
I hope you can get the money together all right this month, I'm sending you happy thoughts.

[AnaKhouri]

I have ordered custom costumes from a couple different people (got a Mary Marvel costume on the way, yay!) and every time I have paid everything up front. I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to ask the same. I mean, what if someone orders a costume and never pays? Then you're stuck with a custom-sized costume you probably can't sell. Maybe other customers would be unreasonable about paying up front, but it always seemed perfectly practical to me.

[Krandor]

That really sucks; it seems like the custom-made-item business is risky. What happens if he never comes through with what he owes? How about a contract stating that it must be paid in full no later than X-date?

I am sure the person could be taken to small caims court for the money since here would be am implied contract even if not a written one, but the process would take time and if he doesn't have money collecting on a judgement would be tough to impossible anyway.

As for taking his college money, I would worry about that. If he is willing to spend his college money on one thing non-college related, he would spend it on something else frivilous if he didn't give it to you.

[spark]

I know I'll get the money eventually, one way or another. I was just planning on having it now. If I knew he didn't have the money right now, I wouldn't have bothered to finish his costume yet, I'd have worked on somebody else's! I've got plenty of other customers!

Fursuit making is rife with people who think their hobby will make them rich without having to work, and who take the money, then realize that making costumes all day every day is just like a job, and never end up meeting their commitments. So a legit maker just can't ask for the full price up front, people are too wary. I'd cut the number of customers I get in half, at least, if I started doing that.

I have told him if he doesn't pay me by a a certain date I sell the suit to somebody else. But it's his specific, "unique," special snowflake character. Finding somebody who wants a suit that looks like that will be hard, and I'll almost certainly end up losing money, so that's very much a last resort.

[zombiequeen]

Oh my, special snowflake?
Does it have rainbow stripes or something (though I would totally buy that)?
Or is it like a copyright character of his?

[spark]

It has neon green markings, including a radiation symbol.

[zombiequeen]

If I had the money, I'd buy it.

[spark]

You have no idea how many times I've heard that...

[Sapphire Silk]

I am sure the person could be taken to small caims court for the money since here would be am implied contract even if not a written one, but the process would take time and if he doesn't have money collecting on a judgement would be tough to impossible anyway.

spark even has proof: she has correspondence in which the customer promised to pay. That in itself is evidence of a contractual agreement.

I know I'll get the money eventually, one way or another. I was just planning on having it now. If I knew he didn't have the money right now, I wouldn't have bothered to finish his costume yet, I'd have worked on somebody else's! I've got plenty of other customers!

I definitely think you should get a formal contract from people who can't pay up front, with the warning their costume will not be finished until it is paid for in full.

For example: 1/3rd up front. 1/3rd when you get the costume about 1/3rd done. 1/6th when it is half done. Final 1/6th when it is 75% done.

It's a little complicated, but you get most of your money by the halfway point, which will weed out the non-serious.

[Merriweather]

I know I'll get the money eventually, one way or another. I was just planning on having it now. If I knew he didn't have the money right now, I wouldn't have bothered to finish his costume yet, I'd have worked on somebody else's! I've got plenty of other customers!


I have told him if he doesn't pay me by a a certain date I sell the suit to somebody else. But it's his specific, "unique," special snowflake character. Finding somebody who wants a suit that looks like that will be hard, and I'll almost certainly end up losing money, so that's very much a last resort.

At least tack on an extra charge every week or month that it sits there after the original date he had asked it to be done by. A "storage fee" or "handling fee" for payments (or both).