A Guide to Not Being a “Buyer Beware”
I’m so sick and tired of scammers and general bad business. Between the soft mount taxidermy community and furry community I’ve just about reached my limits.
If you want to run a business you need to BE ACCOUNTABLE!
DON’T BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW!
Limit how much you take on.
Even if you really need the money.
Set a strict queue and don’t accept more stuff until your current queue is finished and shipped. You can always take on more later. People will be willing to wait if they really truly like your work. Plus this gives you the option to be more picky: you can choose to only take on commissions that you like, or that you currently feel like working on, or that will pay on a certain schedule, or whatever.
If you really do get in a financial pinch work on a premade or two to sell off quickly instead of taking on new commission work. If you have the base for it, you can always promote personal donation links/a Patreon/Ko-fi/fundraising stream/etc.
Don’t keep your current clientele waiting. All you’ll be doing is making yourself miserable, and making your customers anxious and/or upset.
SITUATE YOURSELF FIRST!
Before you even consider opening up for commissions start with premades and figure out your baseline.
Yes, those mean money out of your pocket up-front as opposed to using money for commissions to buy supplies, but it means you get a chance to realistically gauge how much time it takes you to finish a project, how much time and energy you’ll invest in each project, and what your queue should look like. You’ll know your own limits, and have something to work with when you try to figure out how much you should charge (if nothing else take the minimum wage where you live, and multiply that by about how long each project takes you, plus cost of supplies…I’d say charge more than minimum wage but it’s a starting point at the very least).
You’ll figure yourself out, have a portfolio for people to go off of, and hopefully make some money and a name for yourself. It’s also a great way to try out different things and see what your favorite things are to work on and/or figure out what you want to avoid doing.
RESPOND TO CLIENTS!
Regular updates (without prompting on the client’s end) will win you a golden reputation and make people want to give you better tips!
But even if you’re too busy to do that, just respond to your customers when they message you. It’s the difference between a grumpy customer who puts your name publicly on blast in hopes of getting a hold of you and a happy customer who will feel good about their transaction and maybe return in the future.
Seriously, I can tell you as a customer lack of communication is my #1 biggest pet peeve. No one likes to feel ignored. It is what separates people who I will gladly call out and people who I will defend, even if both keep me waiting for a long time.
Even if you can’t give them any updates on their work, a simple, “Hey, thanks for checking in! Right now I’m working on X but have Y going on so it may be a while. Here’s my plans/timeline for your commission.“ is worth a lot.
Yes, some customers are stupidly needy and impatient. If they keep hounding you for updates when you just gave them some continue to explain how much time things take. If nothing else, consider this as covering your arse if they decide to get snotty. But a lot of what I see in these two communities are people waiting extensive amounts of time and not having their messages answered for months on end. That is NOT okay.
If you can’t personally respond to people, get someone to help you who can.
If you can, I’d also recommend having a public location where your current queue is listed with regular progress updates. This will reassure your customers and keep them off your back, and it’s all in one nice little place to update instead of sending out individual messages. Instead you can just update your social media to let everyone know the queue has been updated, or you can have a set day (like “every Wednesday” or “the first of every month”) that it gets updated.
SAVE YOUR MESSAGES!
Just on a related note to the previous point, save your messages. Make an email account/social media account specifically for your commission work and keep your correspondence until the transactions are complete (preferably a while afterward in case someone gets a stick up their butt later).
Ideally I’d recommend keeping a document (even just a Word Document) keeping track of important details: commission start date, date paid, how payments were sent, when they were received, if you use PayPal take note of the transaction ID #’s for future reference, what the commission is, the agreed-upon timeline, and any other small details that you feel are important to your business transactions.
This is purely to cover your own butt.
Plus, if you keep records this well, it means if something bad does happen with correspondence (messages go missing sometimes, or send in a way that they may not get seen, that is legit a thing that happens) you can easily prove that it’s not just an excuse on your end.
I’ve personally started keeping a Word Document for my purchases and while it is tedious to keep updated it does keep all of my records in one easy-to-see spot which makes it really simple for me to deal with. I know what’s going on at all times.
IT’S OK TO DROP CUSTOMERS!
Someone being an absolute a-hole?
Realized you can’t take on that commission after all?
Have some other reason you no longer want to work on a project?
That’s fine!
Explain to the customer as nicely as you can (and yes, don’t be afraid to tell someone that their attitude was the issue…seriously some people need the wake up call), and refund them. Preferably in full so you can be done and have it over with.
If you have to do payment plans THAT’S OK! Explain it to them, work out a payment plan schedule, and stick to it.
Even if the commissioner throws a fit as long as you have kept good communication with them in the end you’ll come out on top. It’s easy to show other people proof with screen-shots. Even if things hit the fan you can still keep a good reputation and build a good client base.
STOP USING YOUR PROBLEMS AS AN EXCUSE!
Yes, life happens.
Cars break down, pets need to go to the vet for emergencies, family members pass away, children/partners get sick, you get sick, depression/anxiety hits hard, finances get tight, moves happen, disasters happen, and so on and so forth.
Delays happen.
We all understand, and most people are more than happy to wait it out.
But honestly in these two communities I see this happen WAY too often! First it’s one thing, then another, then another then another, then another…lather, rinse, repeat.
If you’re consistently having problems in your life that prevent you from working then DON’T DO COMMISSION WORK! Do premades-only.
Not everyone is cut out for running their own business or side-hustle in this fashion. Don’t for a second let anyone make you feel forced into it. It doesn’t matter if it’s how other people do business. It doesn’t matter if a customer/potential customer is giving you a hard time about it. It doesn’t even matter if it’s what you wanted to do.
If you can’t do commission work, you can’t do commission work.
And that’s perfectly fine.
You need to do what is best for YOU. You need to do what works FOR YOU.
If you were able to do things on commission before but can’t anymore then go ahead and close the curtain on your commission work. Yeah, people will probably complain if they wanted to commission you, but it is worth it. Yes, it means you won’t get the money up-front, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to deal with than pissed off customers who will only compound what problems you have going on in your life already. Would you rather deal with a few sour apples, or the looming threat of people ready to take legal action? Pick your battles.
If you can’t manage both your personal life and you business life then put priority on your personal life and make your business life no longer an issue. Finish what’s on your plate (this is why limiting yourself FIRST is very important!), refund whatever you can’t handle, and get your life on track.
You owe it to your commissioners, but you also owe it to yourself.
BE NICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!
When I say “be nice” I mean be nice. What I don’t mean is bending over backwards for people who don’t deserve your time of day.
Treat people kindly, and don’t go around blaming customers for things, acting like you’re above them, rant at them, be rude, or stuff like that. It’s really easy to be polite and conduct yourself in a business-like fashion.
But if people treat you like yesterday’s garbage then don’t put up with it. See “IT’S OK TO DROP CUSTOMERS!”
I’m lucky to not have had to deal with rude commissioners, but I’ve seen it happen to others. Word of mouth spreads fast once that first person speaks up. Unless your goal is to lose customers and make the community hate you, think before you hit “send”.
These people are paying you so there’s no reason to be mean to them. If they’re mean to you be the bigger person and drop them ASAP.
Lastly, BE REALISTIC!
Not everyone is cut out for taking on commissions, keeping up with customers, keeping track of their current workload, working with set schedules and timelines, the whole 9-yards.
If you need help, GET HELP!
If you can’t do the commission work, DON’T DO IT!
If you can’t keep up with the demands that running your own business entails (remember there’s all sorts of other fun stuff, too, like figuring out your own taxes, and business licenses, and all that legal mumbo-jumbo) then DON’T RUN YOUR OWN BUSINESS/SIDE HUSTLE!
If it’s your dream then make baby steps, ask, learn, and take (actual) constructive criticism in stride. There’s a good reason most of us don’t own our own businesses: it’s a LOT of work! It’s NOT easy! It takes a LOT of dedication, self-motivation, personal accountability, and effort!
It’s ok if you find out it’s not for you.
But don’t learn that lesson at the expense of others.
That’s the difference between a good-hearted person who just couldn’t make it work out, and a scammer/bad businessperson who is catching drama in a buyer beware.
Anyway, feel free to share this and add to it. I just needed to rant for the night, lol.
annaxmalina
baratheonpilled
titsay
vaporwave
jbbartram-illu
