Advice needed, thanks!

[sleepywarlord.livejournal.com]

I asked someone on etsy if it was possible to custom order a cup, and how long it would take, since I was participating in an random themed online exchange that needed to be mailed in early February. The person responded that it was possible and it would take about a week from when they finalized the design. Great! So I continued with my questions of if this would design would be possible, or not, and would it cost more for it being custom because if it wasn't ok, or it did cost more I would easily go with one of their pre-made cups.

Conversations continued, images were designed and nobody answered if it was an extra cost (the image was designed before I replied again so even if I had asked again, which I admit I forgot to do, there would've been some work done before I could've stopped it). Now, this is probably where I am being stupid for thinking that since there was no mention of an extra cost when I asked I thought there wasn't going to be one. This isn't outrageous as I've bought from other etsy sellers before and requested custom orders at no extra cost, but I completely understand why they would add on an extra cost too.

However, because I asked, and it was never answered, I was a bit surprised when the cost was 150% of the original price, not including shipping to Canada which is another $10. It makes the cup more than $40 which is more than I wanted to spend on this random exchange (I was hoping for $30 or less) and now I'm stuck. Was I stupid for not pestering them about a response earlier? Was it bad_service that they never answered my question? I feel kind of stuck because they've done the work and it's not right not to pay them for that work but they also weren't upfront about whether it was going to cost more or how much more it may cost.

Do I have a leg to stand on to back out of the deal now that I've learned it's out of budget, or should I just suck it up and just not do business with them in the future? Or am I being a horrible customer? Sorry.

Also, to clarify, it was a graphical image that was made, the physical cup has not been printed (I understand that time=money too, I just know when I posted to bad_service (asking for advice) there was some confusion as to whether physical materials were involved or not.)

Comments

[theblackdragon.livejournal.com]

Bottom line, it's their fault for not having answered your original question about whether there was an upcharge for custom work and proceeding with the project without getting the OK on a quote from the customer. Had you okayed their quote and then not been able to pony up, the fault would've been yours, but as it seems there was no mention of extra cost from the artist and they went ahead with it, the fault is theirs.

If it were me, if I had the money to make the purchase and still wanted the item I'd go ahead and pay it and be much more wary of this sort of thing in the future; i'd chalk it up as a lesson learned and hope maybe it'd come back to me in the random exchange as a particularly nice gift. I'm kind of a doormat, though, and you are under no obligation whatsoever to be one yourself, haha. If I was in your situation and the new price was way out of my budget, though, I'd explain to them that because the original question was never answered and they went on with the project, I'd thought the item would cost the same as their other items (that there was no extra fee for the custom design work). I'd tell them I was prepared to pay the usual going price for the item (or whatever beyond that amount I could possibly come up with) and see what they had to say about it. Maybe they'll eat the cost of the custom design work and be more careful next time to quote up front for custom stuff or maybe they'll decide to sell the item to someone else, either way you're not the one in the wrong if you decide not to pay and choose another gift for the exchange.

It's a kinda crappy situation from both sides. However you decide to handle it, I hope things go well for you and the artist involved :(