Setting your products to sold - custom orders available

[CurlySue]

Id be interested to know where admin and others thoughts lie on this..

Ive sold quite a few of the pieces I have listed since I started here and have changed the status to 'sold - now accepting custom orders' in other words I am happy to replicate the item but I may not have the stock on hand straight away.

My question is twofold...

1) Is it off putting to see a lot of things in a shop that aren't immediatley available? Should I just delete them?

2) How long does a customer expect to wait for a custom order? If I dont have the exact materials on hand it could be a 2 - 3 week turnaround by the time I order and receive the supplies, make it and then ship it back out.

Look forward to you thoughts

Thanks Carla

[CanadianRockiesArt]

I've just been deleting them, but I don't make the same item twice (except for a couple of hand forged simple wire earrings that I sell on another site, everything I make is one of a kind).

I used to keep some items showing as 'Sold', for awhile, on another site where I sell my jewelry, and I've found that most often than not, buyers wanted a copy of a design I had already sold and I didn't have enough or all of the components to make it and it would be a good 3 weeks turnaround time for me to receive the parts and make a piece fairly similar, that often, they didn't want to wait that long, and often, they didn't want a similar design, they wanted the exact same item, which is often hard to do (using gemstones and/or lampwork beads, as the beads are all unique in some way or I was unable to find the same shape or same color)...

As much as I like to show my past work, I find that it backfires, so now I list what I currently have for sale, if they want something, they can choose amongst my available pieces or I can design something entirely customized for them, a brand new design.

This is my own experience, others may have a different point of view.

I hope this helps,
Cheers,
Nathalie  

[iCraft Updates]

My question is twofold...

1) Is it off putting to see a lot of things in a shop that aren't immediatley available? Should I just delete them?

2) How long does a customer expect to wait for a custom order? If I dont have the exact materials on hand it could be a 2 - 3 week turnaround by the time I order and receive the supplies, make it and then ship it back out.

1) If the product is something you would be interested in making again for an interested buyer, I say to keep it on! There's always a chance that a potential buyer would be more willing to "close the deal" if they could influence some variables of the piece, such as colour, size, etc. whether they are buying it for themselves or as a gift. Customers love having a chance to customize their purchases, so why not give them the option?

2) Different customers might have different expectations on how long they are willing to wait for an order. For complicated pieces such as clothing it could take several weeks, whereas something less intricate could be turned around in a few days. It really depends on the Creator, his/her products, and how complicated the Custom Order is. What's important is that you chat with your interested buyer upfront before beginning any work, understand their request completely and give them a time estimate that is reasonable for what they are expecting.

Hope this helps, and the best of luck!