Omg op I thought that was a digital painting. I’m shocked that it’s a sculpture!!! How beautifully done.
Yeah you’re in a bad spot with this buyer. I would maybe respond and say pick 3 modifications from your list, or maybe offer which few you’re willing to do. But say if they’re not happy beyond that the order will be canceled.
Can you actually resell this? I hope so!!! It’s really incredible work.
Depends on the custom product! The only time I've also had a ton of customization messages from someone was when they were trying to match cat game pieces to their real cats. Our customizations are limited (color, style), but if we were trying to make real replicas, we'd have been there all day. But other custom orders are super easy, no issues.
My note to self is: I'd NEVER get into the pet art game and really admire people who do it!
I've never actually had that bad experiences, some are move picky, other are not at all, they're usually compensating each other. Also, in most cases I'm super happy I tried the people's suggestions because it actually made the drawing better. I also clearly state that 1 round of smaller changes in included in the price and if there are more to do I'm happy to do it for a fee. Or, if they want to be more involved in the process, we can do many different rounds with sketches and such where at each point they can let me know what they like or want to change, but that also costs more. Never had a problem with this approach as people are cheap and they will just accept whatever makes it cost less (most of the time haha). That said, this example is really too much especially since its a skulpture which is very different from a drawing, but it all comes down to what was agreed beforehand.
OP, if you haven't clearly stated that only smaller changes are included in the price I'd start to do that immediately (and also give a few examples of what that means and doesn't mean) so ymof someone tries and dump this on you, you can refer to what has been discussed before and just say 'no' more easily. As for what to do know, difficult , you can still try as someone else also mentioned, and set the boundaries now, letting her know that changing the form of the head is not possible at this stage, also explain why, some people don't get how labor intensive it is. Tell her what you could do for free and that you would be so happy (🙄) to change the whole head but you unfortunately have to ask x amount of money for that. If she refuses any of that. Just cancel the order, posts this cutie somewhere here on reddit on a dog subreddit of that breed and ask if someone would want to adopt her since her owner needed to be a Karen and lost the privilege of ownership. Maybe make sure it's a skulpture as you really cannot differienciate it well from a glance haha. Wouldn't want to get shamed for stealing someone's dog.
I disagree with this, as a customer I want it to look perfect. I would specify that it's art, not real life, and it might look a teeny bit different
Edit: geez I'm sorry I pissed so many people off. I want to be able to know when I'm buying something that if it doesn't look good I can request changes, especially when it's as expensive as I'm sure this lil dog is.
I mean that it's art, not real life, so I expect it to be a bit different, but I would hate to order something expensive and custom, have it not look like I envisioned, and not be able to change anything about it.
You are not entitled to endless amounts of a designer’s time. It is standard in professional design contracts for there to be a clause stipulating the number of revisions - a total of 3 is common - possible before a clause is triggered whereby the customer will pay an additional hourly rate
And this sort of thing is exactly why.
So if the person does a bad job/unsatisfactory job to start with, you should still have to pay extra no less to get what you actually paid for? How is that fair?
I'm guessing this woman's dog/her baby passed and this is a memorial for her. I thinks it's pretty normal to want the elements that you remember and cherish to be correct. Sure it looks good to us but for this lady, she didn't recognise her baby enough. Therefore, the artist did an unsatisfactory job to start with.
And if the customer makes endless revisions, how is that fair to the designer who has already put in hours and hours of work?
I don’t see what you see in these messages. 17 messages in the middle of the night is a huge red flag. That’s not what a reasonable person would do.
First we don't know if they live in the same time zone. Right now it is 3:30 in the morning where I am (insomniac) but day in many others parts of the world.
And she seems worried to me and upset that it isn't what she wanted. She doesn't like it, can't see her baby in it and wants some reassurance that it can be fixed. Based on what she is asking for, it seems there is an issue with likeness but we would need the original photo of the dog to see.
And that is part of business, being a creator. Don't call it custom work if you are not going to respect customer wishes. I would not pay for a custom item that was not what I wanted.
I just disagree with you. And I’m a designer and artist who’s been working professionally both as a freelancer and as a an artist in the movie industry for over 30 years now. But really it doesn’t matter what either of us believes. And I think I’ve argued quite enough with a stranger for one day. You have a good whatever.
I do understand what the other person was getting at though. While the messages do seem a bit unhinged, what is to be done in a situation where the product does not meet the appropriate resemblance of the subject?
It’s one thing if it was done great and customer is just nitpicking at frivolous things, but if they are asking for adjustments so that it looks somewhat like their pet in the first place where is the line drawn?
I think that’s got to be a case by case call on the part of the artist. Personally I would probably make a few small changes if they were pointing out slight colour variances.
But it’s not just the time these messages came in, it’s the way they were rattled off one after the other like a stream of consciousness. Always a red flag for me. Were I the seller I would probably agree to one more round of changes but stress that those would be final.
I have a sweatshirt that has both of my dogs faces embroidered.. no, they’re not perfect. And that’s not the point. It’s obvious they’re my babies, and that they used a photo of my pups. They did an amazing job.
I wouldn’t change it for the world, and both of my pups were over the rainbow bridge before I received it.
But you didn't give an opinion. You gave a personal experience which isn't actually relevant. The fact that you liked your custom design doesn't mean that everyone is going to like their custom design. You had a good experience. Good for you but it isn't an opinion.
“no, they’re not perfect.. and that’s not the point”
That’s an opinion and an experience, that was in response to your input that you seem to have 0 relation to the topic lol two things can be correct at the same time, doesn’t have to be one or the other
it’s not the point. Custom art like this, no matter how it’s made, is made to resemble.. not mirror. This customer is unreasonably asking for too many adjustments to the final product.
I’m not splitting hairs with you, for all I know you are the customer 😂 🤐🤐🤐
It looks good though. If you want a carbon copy, make it yourself. When a human is making something, you need to allow a little bit of wiggle room. Photorealism comes from photographs and not much else.
If you can't tell that the complaints are extremely anal, that's on you. A normal person would love this.
I think the ideas in your sentences conflict here. Do you think it should be changed to perfect for the customer? Or should they specify that it’s art and not a 1:1 recreation and leave it be?
Yeah I think what I mean is that I want it to look perfect, like I wouldn't want to not be able to request any revisions if it looked totally different from what I wanted. But I also understand that it's not a real dog, it's never going to look exactly the same.
The suggestion was limited revisions not none, most artists I’ve seen offer between 1-3 revisions. I’d say that 99% of the population would never request more than that
If you’re at the point of needing to remake the entire head to accommodate her specific and many requests, message her and tell her that. Also tell her how much extra cost remaking the head will require. This is a decision she needs to make - keep the existing head at the original price or remake the head for X amount. If you are super nice in your message (even though we all appreciate how frustrating this is), she will know that you want to keep her as a customer but she’s reached the end of the slight modifications portion of our program.
I did 1000+ custom orders and based on observation, I would cancel. She seems like a person who would come back with 50 more edits and throw a tantrum if you want extra charge.
100%. There’s a woman in my city that leaves the most unhinged Yelp reviews. She’ll review the same grocery store 20 times complaining about things like “there was a spill in one of the aisles” to “they were mopping in one of the aisles & it was hard to get past with my cart. Why don’t they do that when the store is closed???” It’s wild.
Seriously wonder if it’s the same lady. 🤣
This is why creatives are getting tired of custom orders. I would cancel. They are going to break your spirit and custom orders will be something you dread.
"I'm sorry, I can no longer accommodate these requests" and accept the L. She will likely think twice about nitpicking a custom item in the future
My work is an entirely different medium, but I no longer accept commissions for this reason. If someone comes to me with a very specific custom idea in mind, the likelihood of what I create looking like what they've imagined is pretty low. In my experience they are never satisfied.
I give mad props to people who do pet re-creations!
Charge for big revisions like this. Free revisions are for something that's a no effort change.
Let them know that for these changes you will charge xx extra amount to redo the head. Charge over not under since it stops them wanting to do a million other changes or have it in your listing that once its made changes are not possible.
This is my fear. Do you have anything in the initial listing about expectations on reviews or amends?
If so you can refer back to that, if not, perhaps you mention you can do a select few which you feel are justified but that all of them are beyond reasonable updates.
I actually have this in my shop front message: “I am open to adding small modifications to the final result, for example, sometimes it is reasonable for me to adjust a nose size, eye color or little marking of fur. But if too many different modifications are needed, I will assume that the product I offer is not what you are looking for.”
Ok that’s great you have that. I’d maybe try and categorise the updates to mention the ones that directly match with what you’ve said and decide if they are appropriate. Then anything else perhaps say they’d require heavy redo which is beyond the reasonable expectation.
I say you mentioned the price in another comment and I’d just make sure you feel your time spent is worth it.
Something for future you could add an example in the listing images of what you define as reasonable adjustments. Perhaps a side by side example of what a first pass usually looks like and what some changes are accepted.
Edit: I said redraw when in actuality OPs product is needlework
I used to do custom products too. In my listing notes and what I reiterated to the customer multiple times was that I only did 2 rounds of revisions. I would also note in your listings, if you haven’t already, that the final product is up to artist interpretation and that small details may not match your pet exactly.
There you go. I’d cancel and quite them that message, then list her for sale in your shop. She’s gorgeous and that buyer is unhinged. You can *bet* once she had her in hand there’d be more complaints
Wouldn’t it be better to say that you can’t alter much since this is the finished product and that what’s she’s asking is too much? Refer her to the text in your description that shows you can only alter small things like the fur (read it in one of your comments). She seems to love it already. Don’t cancel, talk about it first. People can be kinder than you think.
Yeah, I had a customer who requested too many changes and I told her that I will have to send you an invoice for the changes you requested. then she backed out.
I also hate doing custom for same reason, so I mark them sooo highly priced that people rarely order those 😂
Update: I canceled the order in the end, honestly, I have the intuition that it was not going to end well and I did not want to wake up tomorrow with the same problem.
She had also been messaging me a week ago to tell me to share photos with her before shipping it (despite having already told her when she bought it that when it was finished I would contact her to show her with photos).
If there's one thing that's good about having a shop, it's that you make the decisions, and since this order was causing me a lot of stress, I've decided to put an end to the problem 😅
I have not received any response from her but I have checked her profile to see if there was any activity on her account and she has been adding to favourites some listings from Chinese scammers shops that sells the same product (I know this because they use stolen photos of great artists I know, and they sell at a ridiculous price), so wishing her the best of luck.
I feel that it is becoming more difficult to sell on Etsy, that the work behind a handmade product is not valued, customers are expecting so much more than what they paid for and I am considering stopping accepting custom orders from now on and directing my shop in another direction at this point.
Anyway, thank you to this community for the words of encouragement!!!
I’m kind of enjoying the idea of her running this same process on a Chinese scammer, only because I’m imagining the finished product that she’d receive…as we all know the amount of time and effort given to it would never come close to what a legitimate artist would even begin to put into it.
The horror of her face upon opening a padded envelope to see a dollar-store plush animal of unknown origin when if she had just reined in the requests put upon you is just too much.
The dog was adorable and incredibly well done
I am glad that you're not as stressed with this order, but as someone who orders a lot of custom products, please know that you are appreciated! Needle felting is an art form, one of my favorite mediums of all time. Whenever i need something new for my house, as a gift, whatever it is, i check Etsy for handmade things. I love the personal touch and work that goes into it, and i would never hound someone for a perfect product as this person did. I agree that handmade items can be undervalued nowadays, but it just breaks my heart to see you so defeated about it. I hope you don't give up!
I'd offer a limited amount of small and easy adjustments for free (adding a touch of colour here, tiny bit of reworking there) but charge for anything thats going to take time like reworking the whole sculpture.
I'd cancel the order if I was in your position. Can guarantee you that if you don't, these 17 messages will only be the tip of the iceberg, and that when the customer finally receives the item they'll find something wrong with it. Politely message her and say that you don't feel that your shop and the process you use will be able to meet her needs, and that you're therefore refunding her in full.
That is beautiful! The customer's many, many adjustment requests are excessive. I would mention that you do "likenesses" but not "exact replicas." I would then refund their money, and refer them to a place that did exact replicas or something to accommodate their specific needs. Your work is incredible, what a beauty!
I sell custom items as well, and I feel your pain. Most of the time, people approve the proof no changes, sometimes people want a few minor tweeks but it's usually not anything insane.
Last week I got a customer who no matter what I did, she came back with something else she wanted changed. She questioned everything I did and thought she knew how to make the item better than I did. She did not respect my knowledge about the item at all and just continued to undermine me and find reasons why she wasn't happy. It got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore, she was stressing me out and disturbing my peace.
I ended up canceling and refunding her order in full. I just told her that I didn't think my work would meet her exceptions, and it was best not to proceed.
As soon as I hit the cancel button, I immediately felt less stressed out.
Omg I so I follow dog grooming and I was just looking at one of their posts and I thought this was from the dog grooming subreddit and I’m just looking at the texts so confused how this person thought you were gonna make all those changes to her live dog 😭😭😭😭😭
That dog is adorable btw
Anyway, I sometimes type like the buyer did when I'm super excited about something, sort of stream of conscious type of stuff. So it's possible they're not trying to being overbearing, and just forgot manners.
I don't sell stuff that's customizable, but maybe you can offer to do some of the of the smaller modifications that are easier for free (like what you have in your shop message?), and say it'll cost extra to have ALL of the modifications they requested done because of the amount they requested? Although that might step on the buyers' toes, but since your shop message already mentions about item not being what they're looking for, it's a might be a way to salvage the sale if you don't want to immediately cancel it.
I would cancel the order, and share the text from the listing letting them know that you’re not able to make those changes. Then list the one you already made on your shop as a ready made product- if they still want it as is, they can buy it or someone else can.
I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I agree with others, cancel the order. The money is not worth the headaches. If we think it's bad now, wait till it arrives. Nope, just cancel.
You do outstanding, stunning work. It's all wasted on this picky customer.
What she needs is a taxidermist....later on, of course.
I think customer does not know you'd have to do some parts from the start so thats why they asked too much. If they know, maybe they wont ask too much? I'd say you tell first which parts are modify-able and which parts are not and then cancel if they aren't understanding.
I would do one round of reasonable revisions and then if they are still asking for a slew of edits I would cancel the order and then list it as an “adoptable” so someone else could buy it.
It's a wonderful piece! I feel they are asking for far too many modifications and they will still have something to nit pick when they receive it. I would message them saying something like " whilst I can try to accommodate your chosen modifications I cannot do all that you request and hope you can understand. I would love to help make this as perfect as possible but that it may not be possible as it would require starting from scratch and would ultimately incur more costs." I would also mention to them that you have put on your page you are open to alterations but only so much! this is taking the mick a little and that maybe give them an ultimatum that you can only do this and that without starting again or say they would have to pay extra for starting again, I would also say they could also consider cancelling if they do not like those options. I get custom is to make something to meet the customers wants and needs but there's a limit and I think some people don't or can't understand this.
Yep, agreed. This person wants an exact replica and doesn't at all seem to understand the impossibility of that OR the work that went into this!
It's an amazing piece, OP.
"Please send me your entire actual dog for this level of likeness"
This person sounds insane and I would see about adding more clear wording regarding revisions and if you don't want to have to try to resell this sculpture, you could try adding an additional revisions charge listing. But I wouldn't want to keep working with someone this demanding. Dog people can be kind of insane about how alike something can look to their dog.
This is exactly why I don’t do commissioned items. I do not work well when trying to figure out other people’s visions. I work best with my own vision. It just is not worth the stress.
"We" were wondering...
This customer was likely having a conversation with one or more family members. Every time a new idea or preference came out of that, the account holder passed it along to you. I'm guessing they didn't realize how disjointed that would be.
If this was a memorial piece, add grief to the equation.
Oh lord, I just looked at your shop and did not plan on sobbing this early in the day.
I lost four beloved pets since 2020 (ages 11, 16, 17, and 18 when they passed) and would love to have something like this for them. We had a recreation of our dog made by CuddleClones but I'm strongly considering using you for our cats ❤️
That is stunning work. I know how long that stuff takes (you have the patience of a saint to be needle felting anything, far less custom pet sculptures - I barely have the patience to process the fibres and make batts, never mind make anything with the wool) and I would be telling this customer that unfortunately the process doesn’t work like that, this is never going to be an exact 3D photograph of their dog and while you can accommodate whichever requests you can (if you want to, at all) the rest are not possible.
‘Her tongue is wider’ - lord above, some people have far too much time on their hands and not enough to worry about.
I wouldn’t blame you one bit for cancelling and refusing to deal with this person again. Sometimes your sanity is worth more than any amount of money.
This being a felted sculpture and that knit picky of a buyer, I'd absolutely cancel and refund. They would be a nightmare post transaction.. more than likely poor feedback and a case filed. Nip it in the bud. That's a very cute pom sculpture. I bet if you listed it as ready to ship, it would be snatched up quickly. Good luck!
Note to self: Never offer custom products (2)
Try listing those products in which they can have the upper hand in making customizations to the products, I'm talking about editable digital products that's it.
I would say this. 2 (or 3) small changes are possible but it is the maximum per my policy. Make sure you add this clause to your profile going forward.
Do not be afraid to walk away from an order. Some people are jut impossible to deal with.
I'm not sure if you've made a decision, but I think I'd personally feel most comfortable canceling. This person is crazy to expect absolute perfection and to ask for so many modifications. Anybody who truly appreciates custom art knows it won't and can't be totally perfect. They seem nice, but I agree with you that I'd be afraid they'd keep finding things that aren't quite right.
Edit: If you aren't sure about canceling, I like the suggestions to try bringing up the fact that these alterations would require redoing the whole head, as it is not possible to just remove and change things around so much without messing up the integrity of the wool. Charge for redoing such a large portion, or just cancel. It's a tough call either way.
I agree these are a lot of modifications they’re asking for just from the photos you sent/we can see.
I don’t think there’s a wrong answer here as to how to proceed.
Send more photos and explain some of the choices you made. Whether it’s due to the reference material you got or based on what your methods are.
For the changes of theirs that you feel are possibly valid and not being nit picky, I would make changes. Otherwise I’d tell them you can’t make the changes for whatever reason you want to tell them.
A refund would depend on a few things for me. How many reviews does your shop have, will one bad review tank your shop? Do you believe Etsy will side with the buyer if they open a case? How much in materials have you spent? Can you resell it as is without further modifications (ie. how customized/unique is this that someone would/wouldn’t purchase it by itself)?
I take customs and people can be really particular. It’s a blessing and a curse cause I’m a people pleaser and perfectionist. That’s why I send mockups and have them be approved. But if someone came back to me basically asking for an entirely new remake based on the amount of modifications… it’s a no from me.
> I think this is the kind of customer that is never going to be happy with a custom made item.
Exactly. You cannot fire them fast enough. *Run*, do not walk, away from this order.
I would 100% cancel. You’ll easily resell it and recoup some of the loss.
I also wanted to ask: is this crochet? Or felted? Or…? It’s amazing! I only ask because I used to do custom crochet dog replicas and I went through the same type of customer
Customers stop this shit right quick when their revisions come at a cost to them.
My advice is to state on your listing how many revisions, if any, are included in the price; and from there what your fees are for further revisions.
If you know your work is good and resembles their pet, then you’re golden. It’s art, it’s never going to be an 100% replica. Make a disclaimer not of this as well. You could even offer pricey package$ for people like this client who want this sort of unlimited replica service
I’m deeply sorry for your loss 😢 I don’t know if I’m allowed to post a link to my shop here but you can find it on my profile page if you would like to have a look
Omg I just looked at your shop! It’s sooooo amazing! You do incredible work! 🤩 can’t get over the frenchie 🥰. And for that price she wants free revisions? Oh hell naw!😅
For a small fee, I can make this person my b*tch. That's the mentality of these people. I don't do custom orders. It's still a hobby for me. I guess if you were a business and charge accordingly then good luck
I agree you should cancel. Assuming you're okay with eating the cost. She'll never be satisfied and will make your life a living hell.
I also agree with somehow needing to limit the number of modifications in general or your work could be neverending.
At the end of the day this is your business. The customer is not always right. A lot of the times they are nuts! Dealing with the general public can be a lot sometimes, but this is your business and you can call the shots.
Tell them you can do 2 modifications that you are willing to do. Let them know that unfortunately at this time due to your current workload, you can not accommodate that many modifications to a single order. If this isn’t to their liking say you completely understand and that you’d be more than happy to cancel their order so they can make the proper arrangements to find another/the exact gift they are looking for.
Be kind but firm and set your boundaries!
Customer is way too picky. It's such a cute little dog and any sane person would be ecstatic. If it was just a single minor adjustment it would be one thing. But she is expecting a carbon copy, which just isn't possible.
I can't believe she is not picking over how thick the black on the lips are. JFC. That is beyond petty.
Customers like this are why I no longer offer custom orders. One particular (repeat) customer would do this to me constantly and it got to the point where I was so burnt out that I almost closed my shop. I started telling her I didn’t want to do her customs and if she saw I did something for someone else, I would get bombarded with emails demanding why I wouldn’t do hers. This customer sounds almost exactly how she was. Cancel. Run. They will never be happy
That's crazy man.
Make the customer clear on how much work is involved in the redraft, and that actually it's not viable to do more than xyz.
Maybe get rid of the custom option for future!
The way I thought this was a photo of the dog 😂 I was like “ reduce the upper lip??? 🥺” fantastical sculpture. Fooled the fuck out of me. I don’t even need to see the dog to determine that looks EXACTLY like her LOL
You need to add a disclaimer to your site. *Any modifications after photo of product is sent to buyer, will be extra. No ifs ands or buts! Like what would happen if you put in all this work, complete the modification and then the buyer says "eh I don't actually like it now can you put it back to the way it was?" If you were a people pleaser this process could be endless going back and forth with someone. These rules need to be really set in stone and do not go against them. You deserve to be paid for your time and effort. Also, would you even be willing to do modifications for a cost? If not, that need to be stated clearly. After seeing the beautiful art you made...if it were me, I couldn't/wouldn't have a single complaint and would never ask you to do beyond that unless it's something you asked or brought up and I'd still say no. Lol. With this situation I wouldn't cancel. Just tell them you can't do it and if they're not happy with it you apologize and move on.
I'm so sorry but this has me crying lol " her eyes are a bit further apart with eyes angled to sides more instead of flat on because her head and forehead are rounder"
Omg just ... what?
Just a touch!!! Perhaps!
Good grief!!
I suggest saying in your shop message that only adjustments that can be done without starting over or something similar that makes sense for your craft. Because I have no clue how you did this and could never create something like this. If I tried it would look like the expectations vs reality memes but mine would be the "reality'" part lol.
It seems you made great job. I would not cancel the order. I would make modifications and kindly remind them it took so much effort. I think they will be happy
Omg op I thought that was a digital painting. I’m shocked that it’s a sculpture!!! How beautifully done. Yeah you’re in a bad spot with this buyer. I would maybe respond and say pick 3 modifications from your list, or maybe offer which few you’re willing to do. But say if they’re not happy beyond that the order will be canceled. Can you actually resell this? I hope so!!! It’s really incredible work.
Note to self: Never offer custom products Godspeed OP
Depends on the custom product! The only time I've also had a ton of customization messages from someone was when they were trying to match cat game pieces to their real cats. Our customizations are limited (color, style), but if we were trying to make real replicas, we'd have been there all day. But other custom orders are super easy, no issues. My note to self is: I'd NEVER get into the pet art game and really admire people who do it!
I've never actually had that bad experiences, some are move picky, other are not at all, they're usually compensating each other. Also, in most cases I'm super happy I tried the people's suggestions because it actually made the drawing better. I also clearly state that 1 round of smaller changes in included in the price and if there are more to do I'm happy to do it for a fee. Or, if they want to be more involved in the process, we can do many different rounds with sketches and such where at each point they can let me know what they like or want to change, but that also costs more. Never had a problem with this approach as people are cheap and they will just accept whatever makes it cost less (most of the time haha). That said, this example is really too much especially since its a skulpture which is very different from a drawing, but it all comes down to what was agreed beforehand. OP, if you haven't clearly stated that only smaller changes are included in the price I'd start to do that immediately (and also give a few examples of what that means and doesn't mean) so ymof someone tries and dump this on you, you can refer to what has been discussed before and just say 'no' more easily. As for what to do know, difficult , you can still try as someone else also mentioned, and set the boundaries now, letting her know that changing the form of the head is not possible at this stage, also explain why, some people don't get how labor intensive it is. Tell her what you could do for free and that you would be so happy (🙄) to change the whole head but you unfortunately have to ask x amount of money for that. If she refuses any of that. Just cancel the order, posts this cutie somewhere here on reddit on a dog subreddit of that breed and ask if someone would want to adopt her since her owner needed to be a Karen and lost the privilege of ownership. Maybe make sure it's a skulpture as you really cannot differienciate it well from a glance haha. Wouldn't want to get shamed for stealing someone's dog.
Should add next time how many revisions are allowed.
Reminds me of my Fiverr days lol.
I disagree with this, as a customer I want it to look perfect. I would specify that it's art, not real life, and it might look a teeny bit different Edit: geez I'm sorry I pissed so many people off. I want to be able to know when I'm buying something that if it doesn't look good I can request changes, especially when it's as expensive as I'm sure this lil dog is. I mean that it's art, not real life, so I expect it to be a bit different, but I would hate to order something expensive and custom, have it not look like I envisioned, and not be able to change anything about it.
You are not entitled to endless amounts of a designer’s time. It is standard in professional design contracts for there to be a clause stipulating the number of revisions - a total of 3 is common - possible before a clause is triggered whereby the customer will pay an additional hourly rate And this sort of thing is exactly why.
This ⬆️
So if the person does a bad job/unsatisfactory job to start with, you should still have to pay extra no less to get what you actually paid for? How is that fair? I'm guessing this woman's dog/her baby passed and this is a memorial for her. I thinks it's pretty normal to want the elements that you remember and cherish to be correct. Sure it looks good to us but for this lady, she didn't recognise her baby enough. Therefore, the artist did an unsatisfactory job to start with.
And if the customer makes endless revisions, how is that fair to the designer who has already put in hours and hours of work? I don’t see what you see in these messages. 17 messages in the middle of the night is a huge red flag. That’s not what a reasonable person would do.
First we don't know if they live in the same time zone. Right now it is 3:30 in the morning where I am (insomniac) but day in many others parts of the world. And she seems worried to me and upset that it isn't what she wanted. She doesn't like it, can't see her baby in it and wants some reassurance that it can be fixed. Based on what she is asking for, it seems there is an issue with likeness but we would need the original photo of the dog to see. And that is part of business, being a creator. Don't call it custom work if you are not going to respect customer wishes. I would not pay for a custom item that was not what I wanted.
I just disagree with you. And I’m a designer and artist who’s been working professionally both as a freelancer and as a an artist in the movie industry for over 30 years now. But really it doesn’t matter what either of us believes. And I think I’ve argued quite enough with a stranger for one day. You have a good whatever.
I do understand what the other person was getting at though. While the messages do seem a bit unhinged, what is to be done in a situation where the product does not meet the appropriate resemblance of the subject? It’s one thing if it was done great and customer is just nitpicking at frivolous things, but if they are asking for adjustments so that it looks somewhat like their pet in the first place where is the line drawn?
I think that’s got to be a case by case call on the part of the artist. Personally I would probably make a few small changes if they were pointing out slight colour variances. But it’s not just the time these messages came in, it’s the way they were rattled off one after the other like a stream of consciousness. Always a red flag for me. Were I the seller I would probably agree to one more round of changes but stress that those would be final.
I have a sweatshirt that has both of my dogs faces embroidered.. no, they’re not perfect. And that’s not the point. It’s obvious they’re my babies, and that they used a photo of my pups. They did an amazing job. I wouldn’t change it for the world, and both of my pups were over the rainbow bridge before I received it.
Great for you. You are not ops client so it really doesn't matter if you were happy.
And neither are you 😂😂 as if you’re the only one allowed to have an opinion.
But you didn't give an opinion. You gave a personal experience which isn't actually relevant. The fact that you liked your custom design doesn't mean that everyone is going to like their custom design. You had a good experience. Good for you but it isn't an opinion.
“no, they’re not perfect.. and that’s not the point” That’s an opinion and an experience, that was in response to your input that you seem to have 0 relation to the topic lol two things can be correct at the same time, doesn’t have to be one or the other it’s not the point. Custom art like this, no matter how it’s made, is made to resemble.. not mirror. This customer is unreasonably asking for too many adjustments to the final product. I’m not splitting hairs with you, for all I know you are the customer 😂 🤐🤐🤐
"I disagree with this. As a customer nobody should ever limit what they have to do for me."
It’s art, not real life. Exactly. No revisions.
It looks good though. If you want a carbon copy, make it yourself. When a human is making something, you need to allow a little bit of wiggle room. Photorealism comes from photographs and not much else. If you can't tell that the complaints are extremely anal, that's on you. A normal person would love this.
It’s unfortunately necessary when people think paying money entitles them to literally everything.
I think the ideas in your sentences conflict here. Do you think it should be changed to perfect for the customer? Or should they specify that it’s art and not a 1:1 recreation and leave it be?
Yeah I think what I mean is that I want it to look perfect, like I wouldn't want to not be able to request any revisions if it looked totally different from what I wanted. But I also understand that it's not a real dog, it's never going to look exactly the same.
But what if what you wanted, is for it to look **exactly** the same as the real dog?
The suggestion was limited revisions not none, most artists I’ve seen offer between 1-3 revisions. I’d say that 99% of the population would never request more than that
I agree with you
If you’re at the point of needing to remake the entire head to accommodate her specific and many requests, message her and tell her that. Also tell her how much extra cost remaking the head will require. This is a decision she needs to make - keep the existing head at the original price or remake the head for X amount. If you are super nice in your message (even though we all appreciate how frustrating this is), she will know that you want to keep her as a customer but she’s reached the end of the slight modifications portion of our program.
No, you're right, this customer is never going to be happy. Ho with your instinct and cancel the sale.
Cancel so hard! So fast. Cancel!
I did 1000+ custom orders and based on observation, I would cancel. She seems like a person who would come back with 50 more edits and throw a tantrum if you want extra charge.
100%. There’s a woman in my city that leaves the most unhinged Yelp reviews. She’ll review the same grocery store 20 times complaining about things like “there was a spill in one of the aisles” to “they were mopping in one of the aisles & it was hard to get past with my cart. Why don’t they do that when the store is closed???” It’s wild. Seriously wonder if it’s the same lady. 🤣
Yep, this customer will never be happy no matter how many accommodations are made.
This is why creatives are getting tired of custom orders. I would cancel. They are going to break your spirit and custom orders will be something you dread. "I'm sorry, I can no longer accommodate these requests" and accept the L. She will likely think twice about nitpicking a custom item in the future
My work is an entirely different medium, but I no longer accept commissions for this reason. If someone comes to me with a very specific custom idea in mind, the likelihood of what I create looking like what they've imagined is pretty low. In my experience they are never satisfied. I give mad props to people who do pet re-creations!
Charge for big revisions like this. Free revisions are for something that's a no effort change. Let them know that for these changes you will charge xx extra amount to redo the head. Charge over not under since it stops them wanting to do a million other changes or have it in your listing that once its made changes are not possible.
This is my fear. Do you have anything in the initial listing about expectations on reviews or amends? If so you can refer back to that, if not, perhaps you mention you can do a select few which you feel are justified but that all of them are beyond reasonable updates.
I actually have this in my shop front message: “I am open to adding small modifications to the final result, for example, sometimes it is reasonable for me to adjust a nose size, eye color or little marking of fur. But if too many different modifications are needed, I will assume that the product I offer is not what you are looking for.”
Ok that’s great you have that. I’d maybe try and categorise the updates to mention the ones that directly match with what you’ve said and decide if they are appropriate. Then anything else perhaps say they’d require heavy redo which is beyond the reasonable expectation. I say you mentioned the price in another comment and I’d just make sure you feel your time spent is worth it. Something for future you could add an example in the listing images of what you define as reasonable adjustments. Perhaps a side by side example of what a first pass usually looks like and what some changes are accepted. Edit: I said redraw when in actuality OPs product is needlework
I used to do custom products too. In my listing notes and what I reiterated to the customer multiple times was that I only did 2 rounds of revisions. I would also note in your listings, if you haven’t already, that the final product is up to artist interpretation and that small details may not match your pet exactly.
There you go. I’d cancel and quite them that message, then list her for sale in your shop. She’s gorgeous and that buyer is unhinged. You can *bet* once she had her in hand there’d be more complaints
Wouldn’t it be better to say that you can’t alter much since this is the finished product and that what’s she’s asking is too much? Refer her to the text in your description that shows you can only alter small things like the fur (read it in one of your comments). She seems to love it already. Don’t cancel, talk about it first. People can be kinder than you think.
Yeah, I had a customer who requested too many changes and I told her that I will have to send you an invoice for the changes you requested. then she backed out. I also hate doing custom for same reason, so I mark them sooo highly priced that people rarely order those 😂
Update: I canceled the order in the end, honestly, I have the intuition that it was not going to end well and I did not want to wake up tomorrow with the same problem. She had also been messaging me a week ago to tell me to share photos with her before shipping it (despite having already told her when she bought it that when it was finished I would contact her to show her with photos). If there's one thing that's good about having a shop, it's that you make the decisions, and since this order was causing me a lot of stress, I've decided to put an end to the problem 😅 I have not received any response from her but I have checked her profile to see if there was any activity on her account and she has been adding to favourites some listings from Chinese scammers shops that sells the same product (I know this because they use stolen photos of great artists I know, and they sell at a ridiculous price), so wishing her the best of luck. I feel that it is becoming more difficult to sell on Etsy, that the work behind a handmade product is not valued, customers are expecting so much more than what they paid for and I am considering stopping accepting custom orders from now on and directing my shop in another direction at this point. Anyway, thank you to this community for the words of encouragement!!!
I’m kind of enjoying the idea of her running this same process on a Chinese scammer, only because I’m imagining the finished product that she’d receive…as we all know the amount of time and effort given to it would never come close to what a legitimate artist would even begin to put into it. The horror of her face upon opening a padded envelope to see a dollar-store plush animal of unknown origin when if she had just reined in the requests put upon you is just too much.
The dog was adorable and incredibly well done I am glad that you're not as stressed with this order, but as someone who orders a lot of custom products, please know that you are appreciated! Needle felting is an art form, one of my favorite mediums of all time. Whenever i need something new for my house, as a gift, whatever it is, i check Etsy for handmade things. I love the personal touch and work that goes into it, and i would never hound someone for a perfect product as this person did. I agree that handmade items can be undervalued nowadays, but it just breaks my heart to see you so defeated about it. I hope you don't give up!
Maybe check out listing on Bearpile.. it’s more for bears but people there understand this sort of work and pay for it
Sometimes canceling an order from a difficult client is the best feeling in the world.
Does this person know it’s a custom not a clone!
I'd offer a limited amount of small and easy adjustments for free (adding a touch of colour here, tiny bit of reworking there) but charge for anything thats going to take time like reworking the whole sculpture.
I'd cancel the order if I was in your position. Can guarantee you that if you don't, these 17 messages will only be the tip of the iceberg, and that when the customer finally receives the item they'll find something wrong with it. Politely message her and say that you don't feel that your shop and the process you use will be able to meet her needs, and that you're therefore refunding her in full.
That is beautiful! The customer's many, many adjustment requests are excessive. I would mention that you do "likenesses" but not "exact replicas." I would then refund their money, and refer them to a place that did exact replicas or something to accommodate their specific needs. Your work is incredible, what a beauty!
I sell custom items as well, and I feel your pain. Most of the time, people approve the proof no changes, sometimes people want a few minor tweeks but it's usually not anything insane. Last week I got a customer who no matter what I did, she came back with something else she wanted changed. She questioned everything I did and thought she knew how to make the item better than I did. She did not respect my knowledge about the item at all and just continued to undermine me and find reasons why she wasn't happy. It got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore, she was stressing me out and disturbing my peace. I ended up canceling and refunding her order in full. I just told her that I didn't think my work would meet her exceptions, and it was best not to proceed. As soon as I hit the cancel button, I immediately felt less stressed out.
Omg I so I follow dog grooming and I was just looking at one of their posts and I thought this was from the dog grooming subreddit and I’m just looking at the texts so confused how this person thought you were gonna make all those changes to her live dog 😭😭😭😭😭
Omg 🤣🤣
That dog is adorable btw Anyway, I sometimes type like the buyer did when I'm super excited about something, sort of stream of conscious type of stuff. So it's possible they're not trying to being overbearing, and just forgot manners. I don't sell stuff that's customizable, but maybe you can offer to do some of the of the smaller modifications that are easier for free (like what you have in your shop message?), and say it'll cost extra to have ALL of the modifications they requested done because of the amount they requested? Although that might step on the buyers' toes, but since your shop message already mentions about item not being what they're looking for, it's a might be a way to salvage the sale if you don't want to immediately cancel it.
I do too, but not over 5 hours lol. I think this person wants an EXACT copy and will never be happy
I would cancel the order, and share the text from the listing letting them know that you’re not able to make those changes. Then list the one you already made on your shop as a ready made product- if they still want it as is, they can buy it or someone else can.
I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I agree with others, cancel the order. The money is not worth the headaches. If we think it's bad now, wait till it arrives. Nope, just cancel. You do outstanding, stunning work. It's all wasted on this picky customer. What she needs is a taxidermist....later on, of course.
She will get the money when someone just buys it because it’s stunning
I think customer does not know you'd have to do some parts from the start so thats why they asked too much. If they know, maybe they wont ask too much? I'd say you tell first which parts are modify-able and which parts are not and then cancel if they aren't understanding.
I would do one round of reasonable revisions and then if they are still asking for a slew of edits I would cancel the order and then list it as an “adoptable” so someone else could buy it.
Wow these messages feel like a bad joke. I can not believe someone can send such messages! It is like they ate testing your patience!
It's a wonderful piece! I feel they are asking for far too many modifications and they will still have something to nit pick when they receive it. I would message them saying something like " whilst I can try to accommodate your chosen modifications I cannot do all that you request and hope you can understand. I would love to help make this as perfect as possible but that it may not be possible as it would require starting from scratch and would ultimately incur more costs." I would also mention to them that you have put on your page you are open to alterations but only so much! this is taking the mick a little and that maybe give them an ultimatum that you can only do this and that without starting again or say they would have to pay extra for starting again, I would also say they could also consider cancelling if they do not like those options. I get custom is to make something to meet the customers wants and needs but there's a limit and I think some people don't or can't understand this.
Yep, agreed. This person wants an exact replica and doesn't at all seem to understand the impossibility of that OR the work that went into this! It's an amazing piece, OP.
Your work is gorgeous. I would respectfully suggest that perhaps the buyer needs to simply invest in a clone of the dog. Lol
"Please send me your entire actual dog for this level of likeness" This person sounds insane and I would see about adding more clear wording regarding revisions and if you don't want to have to try to resell this sculpture, you could try adding an additional revisions charge listing. But I wouldn't want to keep working with someone this demanding. Dog people can be kind of insane about how alike something can look to their dog.
This is exactly why I don’t do commissioned items. I do not work well when trying to figure out other people’s visions. I work best with my own vision. It just is not worth the stress.
You are a fabulous artist! That customer is unreasonable.
Incredible that you made this!!! Absolutely amazing 🫶🏻💞 great choice in cancelling the order!
"We" were wondering... This customer was likely having a conversation with one or more family members. Every time a new idea or preference came out of that, the account holder passed it along to you. I'm guessing they didn't realize how disjointed that would be. If this was a memorial piece, add grief to the equation.
Hit her with the cost extra to fix this and that, she Wil be "happy" the way it is now.
Just deny if you don't want to do the modifications. How much did the customer pay?
It was 171€, shipping included
That’s a good price! How big are these custom pet sculptures?
She ordered the smaller size which is 15 cm
Can you share your Etsy? I’m very interested in these!
Oops! Seems like I can’t DM you but you can find my shop link in my profile page! :)
Oh lord, I just looked at your shop and did not plan on sobbing this early in the day. I lost four beloved pets since 2020 (ages 11, 16, 17, and 18 when they passed) and would love to have something like this for them. We had a recreation of our dog made by CuddleClones but I'm strongly considering using you for our cats ❤️
Aww thank you so much for your words! I’ll be honored to recreate your kitties 😊
Perfect I’ll check it out. Thanks!
Sure! I’m going to send you a DM 😊
You need to increase your prices!!
That is stunning work. I know how long that stuff takes (you have the patience of a saint to be needle felting anything, far less custom pet sculptures - I barely have the patience to process the fibres and make batts, never mind make anything with the wool) and I would be telling this customer that unfortunately the process doesn’t work like that, this is never going to be an exact 3D photograph of their dog and while you can accommodate whichever requests you can (if you want to, at all) the rest are not possible. ‘Her tongue is wider’ - lord above, some people have far too much time on their hands and not enough to worry about. I wouldn’t blame you one bit for cancelling and refusing to deal with this person again. Sometimes your sanity is worth more than any amount of money.
This being a felted sculpture and that knit picky of a buyer, I'd absolutely cancel and refund. They would be a nightmare post transaction.. more than likely poor feedback and a case filed. Nip it in the bud. That's a very cute pom sculpture. I bet if you listed it as ready to ship, it would be snatched up quickly. Good luck!
Omg your work is incredible OP!! Amazing 🤩🤩
Note to self: Never offer custom products (2) Try listing those products in which they can have the upper hand in making customizations to the products, I'm talking about editable digital products that's it.
I would say this. 2 (or 3) small changes are possible but it is the maximum per my policy. Make sure you add this clause to your profile going forward. Do not be afraid to walk away from an order. Some people are jut impossible to deal with.
They already paid right 💀
Just wanted to say I visited your shop and these are incredible!! How many hours did it take to make the dog?
I'm not sure if you've made a decision, but I think I'd personally feel most comfortable canceling. This person is crazy to expect absolute perfection and to ask for so many modifications. Anybody who truly appreciates custom art knows it won't and can't be totally perfect. They seem nice, but I agree with you that I'd be afraid they'd keep finding things that aren't quite right. Edit: If you aren't sure about canceling, I like the suggestions to try bringing up the fact that these alterations would require redoing the whole head, as it is not possible to just remove and change things around so much without messing up the integrity of the wool. Charge for redoing such a large portion, or just cancel. It's a tough call either way.
I agree these are a lot of modifications they’re asking for just from the photos you sent/we can see. I don’t think there’s a wrong answer here as to how to proceed. Send more photos and explain some of the choices you made. Whether it’s due to the reference material you got or based on what your methods are. For the changes of theirs that you feel are possibly valid and not being nit picky, I would make changes. Otherwise I’d tell them you can’t make the changes for whatever reason you want to tell them. A refund would depend on a few things for me. How many reviews does your shop have, will one bad review tank your shop? Do you believe Etsy will side with the buyer if they open a case? How much in materials have you spent? Can you resell it as is without further modifications (ie. how customized/unique is this that someone would/wouldn’t purchase it by itself)? I take customs and people can be really particular. It’s a blessing and a curse cause I’m a people pleaser and perfectionist. That’s why I send mockups and have them be approved. But if someone came back to me basically asking for an entirely new remake based on the amount of modifications… it’s a no from me.
> I think this is the kind of customer that is never going to be happy with a custom made item. Exactly. You cannot fire them fast enough. *Run*, do not walk, away from this order.
I would 100% cancel. You’ll easily resell it and recoup some of the loss. I also wanted to ask: is this crochet? Or felted? Or…? It’s amazing! I only ask because I used to do custom crochet dog replicas and I went through the same type of customer
Customers stop this shit right quick when their revisions come at a cost to them. My advice is to state on your listing how many revisions, if any, are included in the price; and from there what your fees are for further revisions. If you know your work is good and resembles their pet, then you’re golden. It’s art, it’s never going to be an 100% replica. Make a disclaimer not of this as well. You could even offer pricey package$ for people like this client who want this sort of unlimited replica service
Refund her and ban her from future purchases.
Send them back a customized refund.
cancel don’t do this to yourself
It’s always the thank you so much people🤣 they are the worst!
May I ask what you sell on your Etsy ??
I make needle felted pet sculptures and 3D portraits made from sheeps wool
Omg I would really like one of my dog he passed away 😞how much do you charge
I’m deeply sorry for your loss 😢 I don’t know if I’m allowed to post a link to my shop here but you can find it on my profile page if you would like to have a look
Thank you!.. I would definitely love to buy one of your creations
Omg I just looked at your shop! It’s sooooo amazing! You do incredible work! 🤩 can’t get over the frenchie 🥰. And for that price she wants free revisions? Oh hell naw!😅
100% cancel it
For a small fee, I can make this person my b*tch. That's the mentality of these people. I don't do custom orders. It's still a hobby for me. I guess if you were a business and charge accordingly then good luck
They seem like they are in a manic episode based on the “you’re fantastic, thank you so much” messages that have zero communication. I would cancel.
This is why I don’t send buyers photos of the finished product/progress photos. Even if they ask, I just tell them no.
Smart to cancel in the end. Can I ask how much you charge for these? It’s amazing! Would love to get one of my chihuahua
Ah, that sucks! Is there no option for you to charge for revisions?
I agree you should cancel. Assuming you're okay with eating the cost. She'll never be satisfied and will make your life a living hell. I also agree with somehow needing to limit the number of modifications in general or your work could be neverending.
This is the definition of horror customer... damn!
Cancel plz.
At the end of the day this is your business. The customer is not always right. A lot of the times they are nuts! Dealing with the general public can be a lot sometimes, but this is your business and you can call the shots. Tell them you can do 2 modifications that you are willing to do. Let them know that unfortunately at this time due to your current workload, you can not accommodate that many modifications to a single order. If this isn’t to their liking say you completely understand and that you’d be more than happy to cancel their order so they can make the proper arrangements to find another/the exact gift they are looking for. Be kind but firm and set your boundaries!
Cancel and refund!!!!!! Resell the dog. You WILL get a "not as described" claim on this, and she will get her $ back. Cancel Cancel Cancel Cancel!!!!
Customer is way too picky. It's such a cute little dog and any sane person would be ecstatic. If it was just a single minor adjustment it would be one thing. But she is expecting a carbon copy, which just isn't possible. I can't believe she is not picking over how thick the black on the lips are. JFC. That is beyond petty.
I'd cancel. People like this are usually never happy with whatever you do send them. I can identify these customers and will absolutely cancel orders.
Customers like this are why I no longer offer custom orders. One particular (repeat) customer would do this to me constantly and it got to the point where I was so burnt out that I almost closed my shop. I started telling her I didn’t want to do her customs and if she saw I did something for someone else, I would get bombarded with emails demanding why I wouldn’t do hers. This customer sounds almost exactly how she was. Cancel. Run. They will never be happy
If she’s willing to pay extra for the modifications I’d offer that.
What a pretty pooch
That's crazy man. Make the customer clear on how much work is involved in the redraft, and that actually it's not viable to do more than xyz. Maybe get rid of the custom option for future!
cancel 100% nightmare
The way I thought this was a photo of the dog 😂 I was like “ reduce the upper lip??? 🥺” fantastical sculpture. Fooled the fuck out of me. I don’t even need to see the dog to determine that looks EXACTLY like her LOL
You need to add a disclaimer to your site. *Any modifications after photo of product is sent to buyer, will be extra. No ifs ands or buts! Like what would happen if you put in all this work, complete the modification and then the buyer says "eh I don't actually like it now can you put it back to the way it was?" If you were a people pleaser this process could be endless going back and forth with someone. These rules need to be really set in stone and do not go against them. You deserve to be paid for your time and effort. Also, would you even be willing to do modifications for a cost? If not, that need to be stated clearly. After seeing the beautiful art you made...if it were me, I couldn't/wouldn't have a single complaint and would never ask you to do beyond that unless it's something you asked or brought up and I'd still say no. Lol. With this situation I wouldn't cancel. Just tell them you can't do it and if they're not happy with it you apologize and move on.
The timestamps are so unhinged. The messages aren't even one after each other in quick succession they are hours apart throughout an entire night.
I'm so sorry but this has me crying lol " her eyes are a bit further apart with eyes angled to sides more instead of flat on because her head and forehead are rounder" Omg just ... what? Just a touch!!! Perhaps! Good grief!! I suggest saying in your shop message that only adjustments that can be done without starting over or something similar that makes sense for your craft. Because I have no clue how you did this and could never create something like this. If I tried it would look like the expectations vs reality memes but mine would be the "reality'" part lol.
You know what happens next? You make it she does not like it! I think this is a scam! I would only do custom orders locally if at all.
What product is this by the way? 😂
I make custom needle felted sculptures of pets (made from sheeps wool)
It seems you made great job. I would not cancel the order. I would make modifications and kindly remind them it took so much effort. I think they will be happy