Advice on slow payments?

[almondxjoy.livejournal.com]

So I'm looking for a bit of advice.

A user on FA was interested in buying a set of characters from me for the price of $226. 

I received the first payment of $26 the day they approached me (May 5th), and another $30 a few weeks later (May 24th) after I sent them a note asking if they were still interested. 

They've been posting journals frequently and I think they're still buying art (not entirely sure, but I do see stuff popping up with their name attached to it) so I'm not really sure if I should approach them again or not. 

At the moment they still owe $170. I'm not expecting the entire amount at once, of course, but a little contact would be nice since it's been almost a month since I heard from them.

I guess I'm just wondering if I should continue to be patient or send them another note asking if they're still interested. 

Comments

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest politely contacting the buyer once again, saying it's been almost a month, and you just wanted to check in and see if they're still interested.

If they still want to buy the characters, I'd set up a set schedule of dates by which they'll make each payment (and how many payments of how much money). You say you're not in a hurry, so you could tell them you can be flexible and make the payments correspond with their paycheck (or other income) schedule.

That way you have a specific date that they agree to make each payment, and you know when to contact them again if you haven't received a payment.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

You can also create invoices in PayPal (if that's what you're using) and send them on the scheduled dates if they haven't paid by then.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I would recommend sending them another note asking if they are still interested in the set and if they are, then set up a stricter payment schedule than you've been doing, say a certain amount every couple of weeks. If they're not interested, then you should be aware of that so you're not out 170 bucks.

[edit] And all the Kerstin said!

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Sounds like someone I had the joy of waiting on for weeks and weeks. In my customer's case, she was so scatterbrained and so purchase-happy that she literally couldn't keep track of what she had purchased and who she owed money to. I had to send constant notes to get the owed money out of her -- I didn't get the impression that she was trying to scam, just that she had a terrible memory for it.

If your person strikes you as similar, contacting them once a week or so if necessary seems fair.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Hey there, screening this because this was an advice post and there's no need to "out yourself". The OP can still see your post, so they know you're cool with being contacted.