Wednesday 26 October 2011

Hand Made Businesses: Are you for them OR against them?

I have to write this blog because I have been discouraged at seeing comments made on other people's hand made business pages regarding wait time and discouragement regarding ordering because of wait time.  Then after reading these comments see that so many other people have so many good things to say about the items they receive and that it is worth the wait!

I personally have a 5 week wait currently and that is just because of the amount of orders we have.  At any given time we have between 80-100 open orders.  We work very hard and I pride myself in the amount of detail and time dedicated to each piece that I create as I know many others do!

Some shops handle things differently.  I know that "Sweet Love Creates" only works on Ready to ship nights and if you miss the item, well then you miss the item.  She does not have her store open, and I honestly can say that I understand why she does things this way!  She has had to remove her wall comment option on her page because so many people have been leaving negative comments on her page and I am just completley sadened by this! 

I read in an article once that "Prop Junkie" put out that the better the vendor the longer you will have to wait.  I was so appreciative to see that someone understood that there are hands that make these items from scratch and if your product is good quality and has superb style....well then you get orders, and you get a lot of them!  Who is going to make it all?  Yes most of the time Mom's....................Mom's who work out of their home and take care of their children, and their families.....so please let's not leave negative comments about how they are choosing not to stretch themselves so far thin that they are no good to the people that LOVE them! 

It is a complete honour to create and make things from scratch to send all over the world for those of you who appreciate it!  And I have just seen too often people making comments that are not necessary to those busy vendors about turnaround time and how they run their shop to manage that turnaround time.

So if your support lands with small businesses who handmake their items, the truth of the matter is  they CANNOT compete with turn around time that some other businesses offer, because they buy their products from overseas!  BUT no matter who you choose to support based on your own personal needs.....their is one thing to keep in mind.......please avoid the public negative comments!  It is not necessary, and discourages those small handmade businesses A.K.A: those Mom's who are at home making those sweet little items for you!

7 comments:

  1. Totally agree with you. Well said!

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  2. I totally agree, but at the same time I think there is a difference between waiting and feeling like you have been forgotten. I have been making things for a long time, and I try really hard to at least let the person know if their item(s) will take longer than expected. I love handmade, and always will more than store bought. But there is something to be said about customer service. If it is going to take a long time...especially longer than expected, let the customer know. And if you are backordered...consider putting things on hold every once in a while to catch up.

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  3. Well said Corrie, your pieces are pure perfection, and beauty! It's a shame some people would say mean things to any small business owner, because of turn around time. Some people just don't have respect, or patients.

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  4. I own two stores, and find that I enjoy my RTS store much better as I find it alot less stressful and rarely do I allow custom orders. Items are one size only. My husband and oldest help out alot with making, cutting sewing washing items etc. So it enables me to work a little faster. I also have a silent shop partner who does alot of items but doesnt want credit. So while they are ready to ship, and you do get them fast there is alot of help behind the scenes. My other store I take 12-16 days to make and ship items. And I do find that I get emails constantly asking eta of item. I haven't gotten feedback yet complaining about wait of time as I am very upfront with the time. I do put love, thought and my time into each item I make, regardless of which shop it comes from :_

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  5. I completely agree with everything that Leisa wrote above. I am a mom of 2 kids under the age of 4. I work part time & have a business like yours where I sell handmade crafts.
    I prefer buying handmade when the quality is to my standards & clearly you make great quality items based on the comments here & on your facebook page.
    I think that from a good customer service stand point though, when a buyer has to pay upfront for an item (like they do at Etsy) and the seller sets expectations of having the item delivered by a specific timeline, when you are going to take longer, the seller should be contacting any buyers to let them know of a delay. They will feel forgotten (as Leisa mentioned) and it will not leave a good taste in their mouths about your company, regardless if your items are of good quality.

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  6. I agree with the power of Customer Service and I know in my own shop for instance it is posted in at least 2 different places what the lead time will be and there are two emails that go out immediately after purchase! When I am speaking about negative comments being publicly put on someone's wall regarding timelines and unfairness to shop policies (which has nothing to do with customer service) I think it is absolutley horrible! Always before judging everyone consider the shoes someone else has to walk in! Common courtesy and just plain being nice to another person! Yes emails should go out about late items but that wasn't really my little issue I had today. It was that someone had to remove their comment option on their wall because people were being so rude! AND that IS sad people! Return the common courtesy that Heidi and Lesia are talking about. A nice email to the seller expressing yourslelf in an appropriate manner would be a much nicer choice.

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  7. Your pieces are well worth the wait. Because I make some of my own stuff, I understand the time required to create an item.

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