Customers not following shop policies?!

[Former_Member]

I have been getting very frustrated as of late, customers have been completely disregarding my shop policies and then griping at me!

I clearly state in both my listings and my policies that
1. I require TIME to create pieces, if they want things done ASAP they need to message me first to see if I have time to accommodate.

"All necklaces in this shop are a Home Baby Crafts original design, 100% handmade to order. Please allow up to 1 week for creation before shipping. If you need your piece sooner please contact me before making your purchase."

2. I do NOT guarantee post arriving by certain dates.

Yet it seems with every other order I get a note to seller....

"Please ship ASAP" or "Need this done by this date" or " Can you upgrade shipping and bill me?"

ARG!!!!!!

Then I get messages 2-3 days after the order, "Didn't you get my note?!? I needed this necklace for something! If you don't get tit shipped I want to cancel...."

WHY NOT JUST FOLLOW SHOP POLICY AND SAVE US ALL THE HASSLE?!

I am one person. My pieces can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours to make (not including packaging) and when you get 15 or so orders each week that is a lot of time! Especially being 30 weeks pregnant, a mother of 2 small children and having a farm to tend to. If instant gratification is needed there are other shops that can accommodate, but unfortunately I cannot. :/

How do I make my policies clear? I am so frustrated with having to apologize for something that is plainly written just to save face for feedback.

[QuirkyUniverse]

The only thing I could think of would be to move the part about how long it takes to the very top of the listing. I strongly suspect a lot of people don't read all the way down.

[HBMUSE]

I don't think most of us read shop policies per se...I buy and sell on Etsy and I know I personally don't pay attention to them.

Since your shop is closed temporarily, I took a peek at your sold items. You do have a niche shop with some really creative pieces! I am sure people are just excited to get their item to use as a gift.

Once you reopen, I would just really make a point in the top of your shop announcement to state your processing times. Even though you do mention it again in the item description, it's at the very bottom of the listing.

Since you do have your hands full with a baby on the way, small children and a farm and successful Etsy shop...maybe stop offering customization or raise your prices (if you are selling to fast)? Just make up what you can a head of time to have available to ship within 3 days.

I think because your items are unique for gift giving, most are just anxious to receive before the baby due date...your shop will always be under pressure more so than other shops to have by a certain time.

[Former_Member]

I agree... put your poliy at the top- you just need 1 line stating "NOT ready made; this item will be CREATED just for YOU and will be ready to ship in x days. Ship dates are not guaranteed, pleasee shop oolicy for further information: (link for shop policies).

I wouldn't worry about your google results not pulling up or it affecting your shop views; I've done it in a different site and everything is fine still; my tags and title drive more business for me!

Such cute goodies; I can't wait to see what your shop really looks like! :-D

[Former_Member]

You could also add it to the top of the email that is sent after a purchase. It probably wouldn't hurt to repeat it.

[MaxplanationPhotos]

I hate to say it and I am a seller lol, I dont read the policies

[Former_Member]

Sorry but if an item's shipping states that its 'ready to ship' in 3 - 5 business days, then I would expect it to ship in that time frame.

If you can't have the items ready to ship in that time frame then I would extend your processing time.

Many people never see the shop announcement or the shop policies. They find your item via a search, like what they see and make the purchase.

So if the information isn't in the listing they probably don't even see it.

Are you sending any sort of order confirmation to your customers? I've found that if I send a 'thanks for your purchase' note as soon as I see the sale that the customers really appreciate it.

In my note I thank them for their purchase, let them know when their item(s) will ship and roughly when to expect delivery.

What you may also want to do is have the 'base' part of your best sellers made in advance so that all is required is any customization. And if you have any items that can be made and be ready to ship, that can help too.

[Former_Member]

I would definitely increase your processing time like crochetgal suggested. Even past what you think will actually take you to finish the piece. That way customers will receive it earlier than expected and be even happier.
Put your processing time everywhere, in your policies, intro paragraph, listings, note to purchaser. ect. It will help it to be seen better.

[Former_Member]

A majority of my listings do have the updated time frame. Thank you for bringing to my attention that my waterbirth babe pendant did not. Almost all my listing say 5-7 business days. I just did a major shop overhaul giving myself more time to complete orders because it was getting too difficult to keep up and it is hard on me some days. I also changed my message to buyers. Do you think this is clear enough or should I add in there something about how writing "Ship ASAP" doesn't help tings get made faster?

Thank you so much for your order from Home Baby Crafts!
Orders ship via first class post by their scheduled ship date unless otherwise stated in the shop announcement. Please check your receipt to find out when your order will ship.

Your purchase means a lot to me! Home Baby Crafts donates 25% of every sale to charity. Your purchase is helping support the health of mothers and children, birth options, and the training of birth workers around the globe. I am a firm believer that every mother in the world deserves the BEST of care during one of the most precious occasions of her life.

Please accept 10% off your next purchase as thanks by using the coupon code GRAT10.

With love and appreciation,
-Cassandra

[CurlicueCreations]

I think it may also be helpful to you to address customer notes added to your orders by sending them a convo when you receive the order, stating how long it will be before you can custom make and ship their item. Not everyone reads the shop policies, unfortunately. You will likely have to continue to deal with this problem. I know it is difficult raising children, taking care of home and garden, and running shop. I'm doing the same.
Have a super day!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

I had a look at your sold orders and didn't see any personalized ones on the first pages.
So, why are these made to order?
Why not stock up your shop, as shops usually do, so customers can simply buy what is there?
I do it and my items all ship within one business day.

I have never walked in a shop to see empty shelves with pictures of items that could be made for me, if I was willing to wait.
I would NOT be willing to wait. I am shopping NOW.
Only if items needed to be personalized or otherwise custom made, would I be willing to wait a certain amount of days.

And since I'm in Europe, I also inform people of shipping times (for the US that is 'usually 5-12 days'), so buyers know when they can expect their packages to arrive. All of my customers are fine with that.

[Inugurumi]

@Cassandra
All of my dogs are made to order, so I understand what you are going through. I state my dogs are made to order in my policy, shop announcement, and I send each customer message stating the process time. I still have customers tell me "need it by XX" after they place an order. I think it doesn't matter how many times you write it on your policy/shop announcement etc. There are always some people who don't read them. When I receive a note like "need it by XX" from a customer, I make sure to send them convos letting them know I need to upgrade shipping to Express mail etc. You will be surprised how many people are willing to pay for shipping upgrade and how many people can actually wait. I don't think I ever had any customers who canceled their orders because they didn't want to pay for shipping upgrade. They either payed or waited. Of course, you should say "no" if your customer is not willing to pay shipping upgrade or wait.

@BeaG
I understand what you mean but it is difficult when you receive many orders. Also, some items sell more than the other, and this month's best seller may not sell at all next month. Since your customers are willing to wait 5 to 12 days for the package to arrive, I'm sure they would wait for 1 week plus shipping (normally 2 to 5 days within the US, so still up to 12 day just like yours) for their order.

[LoveJewelryByJ]

i think you should state in EACH LISTING that it is handmade upon order and it will take 1 week to ship.

Either that or provide a link to your policy and state to check that for processing times. I think a majority of customers only read the listings and some of them don't even read all of THAT!

i personally also create a listing that includes a rush fee and state that this one will be expedited and will ship within 3 business days. On the picture for the listing, I have "rush" on it as well as in the listing. This listing also includes priority mail shipping.

perhaps you can add that?

[RadicalWorks]

I agree with the others in saying to include that section in your listings as well.

But also keep in mind: People do not read. For a long time, my samples have been understood to be the size of a half-dollar or a golf ball cut in half.

Until recently, when a couple of people made a big fuss over being dissatisfied with the size of my samples (and calling me 'deceitful' because of the photos). So I can no longer use the several pretty photos of soap bars for the listing due to less than a handful of people not reading the listing.

I understand the frustration, but try making the changes and see where it goes. If it improves, and there are still people complaining, then you can chuck it up to the "people do not read" method of understanding. :)

[TheSalvagedEdge]

I have seen people put in their variations "item ships in 5-7 days" or something to that effect so that nearly every customer has to acknowledge the processing time because they have to choose. you could put "5-7 days" as one and "no rush" for another. I'm not sure if it etsy legal or even works, but it could be worth a try to get something like that done so that at least you know they have clicked on it.

[Former_Member]

In my automated "message to buyers" I re-state my turn around time frame. If they have any issues they need to convo me. Other wise it will be processed within that time frame. I've had a few who inquired about my time frame and gave them my "current" turnaround time and they were fine with it.

As some stated I would put your time frame and Made to order at the beginning of the listing. Also put it in caps and maybe the listing itself.

[Former_Member]

Thanks all for the advice! I think what I may do is if I get behind instead of closing everything down I will only offer my items that are ready to ship and use that time to stock/ build up.

BeaG- Like Miyuki many of my items may be popular one minute and stagnant the next. One day I may get 5 orders for an olive tree, the next day a willow, it is too costly and time consuming to try to guess what people "may" want. I have done that a few times and had pieces sit for quite some time before anyone finally bought it. I have trees now that are currently ready to go. :)

I think that with Etsy's new listings (When it finally permanently gets changed over) Will make things nice. Shipping and policies are right there in a tab.