CUSTOM ORDER & VERY DEMANDING CUSTOMER

[AncientBrand]

Over the weekend I started receiving a lot more custom orders and 1 customer requesting that they receive the item within 2 days, but not wanting to pay for express or priorty shipping. How do I explain that this is not possible without on of those options.

[PinchtheMuse]

You just have to be firm. If buyer has written and refused to upgrade shipping...

just nicely something like, I see you have decided not to upgrade shipping. From there just let her know you can mail it regular and the the estimated arrival date, stressing you cannot guarantee delivery time.

I would offer to refund if she doesn't want to upgrade shipping and does not want regular mail.

If buyer has not outright stated they will not upgrade, I would send them a PayPal invoice for the upgrade and follow up with-- if payment is received for upgrade by X date, then item will ship Y date with expedited shipping. If this does not suit your needs let me know and I can either ship regular mail or cancel the order and issue a refund.

Just clearly let the buyer know what the options are.

Personally, I would not ship until I received payment for expedited shipping or confirmation from buyer regular mail is okay. Be sure to let the buyer know that too.

Good luck with it.

[SCelesteDesigns]

WOW! That's beyond unreasonable! If you haven't given your customer a quote on the order, i would probably add the shipping cost into the cost of the item. There's no other way to explain it. If they want expedited shipping, they MUST pay for it.

[Former_Member]

I agree with Pinch. Nice firm email response.

[Former_Member]

Pinch gave the perfect answer to this situation. I agree. I have had many customers wanting a custom order within two days and not willing to pay the extra cost for shipping. ( I offer the priority mail in the cost of shipping for my listings.) I'm still waiting for one customer to give me the initials for their personalized order. I sent them two messages and no response. It is holding up their order. I hope to hear from them soon.

[FORTRESSco]

We would not expect to purchase anything online from a company and get it shipped to us super fast without paying more for that shipping option, so people should not expect that from our businesses either.

[Former_Member]

Good point Elle, All good advice Sorry AncientBrand, I've not had experience with this so hope you don't mind me making mental notes on all the advice for future reference.

[AncientBrand]

Take it all in! I am. I really appreciate all of the feedback and advice from everyone! I really do, I know it was really off topic. :)