DryBones wrote:
I've seen this exact same situation on another message board relating to custom musical instruments(mandolins to be exact). The current way of doing business is to just require a deposit to hold your place in line. usually just $100 or so. When it is your turn to get into the building process another deposit, usually bringing the total up to 50% is required. You are never required to pay all up front on a custom build, only when it is finished and before it is shipped is final payment required. Now granted some of these mandolin builders have a wait list of over a year but still anything custom built and that makes you wait for it should probably follow similar rules of engagement.
my 2 cents.
That is how anyone taking pre-orders or custom orders should be operating. In all honesty, if anyone who did custom work or was taking pre-orders knew the first thing aobut business, is that you have to invest capital into your business first before providing a product, or find someone else who will invest capital (money for the layman) into your business so that you can develop and deliver the product.
Having your customers provide that investment capital is a surefire way to plunge your business and yourself into a drowning pool of issues, both service and legal related. If I were to come up with a product I would want to have it ready to be shipped out the moment the customer orders it. There is a difference between custom work and rare items. I think a lot of vendors nowadays (not just the ones on here, but many other forums I have been to) feel that just because they only make 20 of one item, that makes it "custom" when in reality it is simply a limited run.
Custom means each item is specifically tailored to each individual buyer. If you make 20 bumpers that are exactly the same, that is a limited run, not a custom product. If you make 20 bumpers and each one is different in one way or another, then that is a custom job. Even if you make 20 bumpers that are different only because one has a stinger, another a winch mount, etc, then they are still a limited run item but with optional accessories. the bumpers themselves are not different. You pay more for the optional items, but it doesn't change the cost of making the bumper itself.
At any rate, people need to learn how to operate a business before even thinking about offering to sell more than one item. Odds are the people who start these businesses are good people, but they make some very poor choices and get in way over their heads. I talked to suncoast when I bought my tires and wheels from him. He is a good guy. But clearly he has gotten in over his head and made some poor choices for his business. It's too bad really, because this is what makes it so difficult to find stuff for the KJ's.
So to add to the Caveat Emptor thought, if a vendor wants you to pay for the entire order up front and it is not ready to be shipped out, you are gambling your own money. If you lose that gamble you really don't have anyone else to blame. Businesses fail all the time, especailly small businesses. Instead of paying up front for soemthing that isn't ready to be shipped (and it is not a company that already has a long established track record and won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future), offer to pay a deposit up front and the remainder when the item is ready to be shipped. This protects both the buyer and the seller. The buyer is protected because instead of losing $900, they might only be out $100 or so. The seller is protected because they have a good garuantee that the buyer won't pay, and if they don't then the seller makes $100 and can still sell the product for full price to someone else.
If the seller refuses to that arrangement, then I would walk away because that means the company is eiter manageed by someone who has no idea what they are doing, or they don't have the financial stability to produce the product in the first place.
I have to close with a reminder though, the rules change if you are dealing with a long established company that has established a solid record of delivering on its promises. Then you might be more willing to cough up the money upfront for an item because you have a relatively sure garauntee that they will deliver on their promises.
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and they (the customer) did not have a ton of money out there with nothing to show for it,
2011 Ford F-150 XLT 4X4
