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That craft fair in Austin taught me a brutal lesson about deposits
I did a booth at a weekend craft fair in Austin last spring and took a $1,200 custom order from a woman who seemed super excited. She said she'd pay the full $1,200 on pickup and I was so stoked I didn't even ask for a deposit. Showed up on pickup day and she was gone, no messages, nothing. I lost out on a whole weekend of work and materials. Has anyone else had a buyer ghost like that after a face to face handshake?
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ray_burns1d ago
Well, I'm not sure it's that serious. I've taken plenty of handshake deals in my time and they mostly worked out fine. Maybe she just had an emergency come up, you never know.
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abbyf792d ago
Super excited" and "handshake" are the red flags here, not the deposit thing. lol. People get hyped at fairs all the time but that excitement doesn't pay your bills or buy the materials. Asking for a deposit upfront is basic business sense, not an insult to the customer. If they can't put down at least half, that's a sign they might flake, not a sign you're being unfair.
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