How Not to Get Screwed Selling Online

I remember my first problem client like it was yesterday. I'd made my first few sales, had gotten a few commissions, and I was feeling pretty good about my new side gig selling custom dolls. And then HE messaged me.

There was nothing wrong at first. He was blowing up my inbox, but that's fine. He's a paying customer, and he's saying that he's willing to spend a couple hundred on the job he has for me. Anyway, his instructions were all over the place, he kept asking for more and more, and by the time I finished the doll, I'd spent $80 on materials and most of my weekends on this project. And when it came time to pay, he said he changed his mind because he'd commissioned a doll from another artist.

So there I was, annoyed and 80 bucks lighter, but at the end of the day, I learned a lot about covering my butt when it comes to selling online.

Get Clients Invested

It's safest to never buy a doll or figure for a client. Dolls and action figures (especially action figures) can be really expensive. Have your client send it to you. That way, you have some collateral to ensure they will pay. They don't get their collectible back unless they do. If you bought it and say "you can't have this until you pay," they can say "so what" and move on because it was never theirs to begin with. They didn't put any money in.

This only failed twice for me, but out of 130 sales, that's not bad.

In addition, if you have to purchase materials for an order you can ask for a down payment. This is the same concept as making them buy the doll for their custom. It will increase the chance that they actually pay for the order.

Keep in mind, if you don't have any reviews at this point in your career as a toy artist, they might be hesitant to send you money for materials. For all they know, that money could go straight into your pocket, and they'll never get their collectible. Instead, you can tell them that you'll include the price of the materials in the cost of the order. Whenever I buy saran to reroot a doll, I make sure to let the client know that the cost of the reroot will include the price of the saran. I like to give an approximate price if I don't have a specific one yet.

Cover Your Bases

In my experience, customers rarely, if ever, read your descriptions and disclaimers. If you send something like the above images to a client beforehand, you have a certain level of safety when it comes to being reported on whatever selling platform you use (even if they don't read it).

For example, if a client were to complain about acetone damage and ask for a refund, I can point back to the green image I sent which says that there is a risk of acetone damage on action figures. By making this information abundantly available, the client has accepted the risk and chose to order anyway.

You want to make your boundaries and disclaimers clear so that you are not at fault. Some customers will come at you if you're not careful. If they are mad that there is chipping on their doll's body paint, but you made it clear to them in several ways that this could occur, they are at fault for ordering a body recolor despite the warning.

If in this instance, they try to force a refund out of you by going to the selling platform, you will have proof that they were warned in your correspondence. If you are going to offer commissions, I wouldn't stop at sending clients an info sheet via messages. Have your commission guidelines listed out in your page's about section, make a listing that advertises your customs, and have your info in the descriptions. If a risky procedure (like the acetone chipping or body repaint) comes up in conversation, make sure to specifically warn of the risks in case the client didn't read your info sheet (because they probably didn't). Cover all bases; it's not worth the risk.

Another thing is, you want to make sure the client tells you exactly what they want. That way, if they change their mind on something when you're halfway through the project, you can point to their instructions and charge them extra for having to redo what has already been done. This happened to me a few times when a customer wanted a different color than the one I used, even though he already specified the color I used at the start. You're not a jerk for charging extra. You're spending time and materials on a job for them.

General Disclaimers

Shipping

One important disclaimer to use across the board is about shipping. Clients will complain about things that happen to your product in the shipping process when you have no control over that. It's your responsibility to package it so as to prevent damage, but after that, there's nothing you can do. And yet, you're still open to being reported and your selling platform forcing a refund, which is unfair for many reasons. I use the following disclaimer in all of my online listings. Feel free to use it for yourself:

I package my products as best as I am able so that they do not sustain damage. I am not responsible for any damage which might occur during the shipping process. Everything is shipped as shown in the pictures.

Refunds

If you don't take refunds, make that very clear. It's typically an option for different selling platforms to select that you don't take refunds, and the platform will usually display this on your shop and somewhere on your listing. The first step is to make sure this is selected, so the platform will have your back when a customer changes their mind on a purchase and decides to complain. To be doubly sure, I also add a disclaimer to my listing description. Again, feel free to use the one that I use:

If you have any questions, please message me prior to purchase. I do not accept returns or refunds.

Avoiding Copyright Infringement

Yes, this can happen to online listings. It has happened to me twice now, totally by mistake. Big corporations come in, see your small business, and decide that the way you worded your listing is just enough of a technicality for them to get it taken down.

I know that Etsy specifically is required to deactivate your listing if a complaint is made, regardless of its validity, and the only way you can relist that item is if the complaining company emails Etsy to say that you are allowed to relist your item. They take forever to reply (if at all), and your account gets penalized and can be taken down in the meantime.

What I've learned from these experiences is that you have to make sure you're not suggesting in the slightest that your product is associated with any brand. For example, I was selling custom wigs for Barbie dolls, and Mattel said that I was selling these wigs under the pretense that they were Barbie/Mattel brand. I have since been adding the following disclaimer to the descriptions of all of my listings (modified as needed):

This is a one-of-a-kind, artist-created/modified doll/action figure/item, not endorsed by, affiliated with, nor sold by _____ brand

In Conclusion...

As you sell your art, you'll start to learn what does and doesn't work for you and your clients. In the meantime, feel free to learn from my experience and take some pointers from my info sheets. Good luck!

Love,

Haley

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