A Rant to People Who Buy on Etsy.

I deserve to rant every now and then right? Well I have to say, I totally want to bitch right now. I have had a few customers lately who are just so obnoxious. Seriously! Let me first of all say that I work full time in sales and marketing, which also means I am getting calls at weird hours and sometimes I just have to run off at the drop of a hat. We also are amidst painting our kitchen cabinets, which is a task in itself. AND I had the blackout last weekend which means no power, which means no getting any orders done for that whole weekend. I try, every chance I get, to get out every order I can. I assure you that I am not simply spending upwards of 6 hours a day in my home office on Etsy for nothing.

That being said, I have been getting messages from customers that are lightweight harassing. I love my shop and store and it's my livelihood. Hell, sometimes it's more important than anything else in my life! And yes, it's a LOT to take on so much business without hiring an assistant, but I love money and don't want to pay anyone. 

So when I get a message from a customer that says "Hi, it's been a couple weeks and just wanted to check in and see when I can expect my order?" I'm like "Sure, no problem let me check!" But when I get a "Are you purposely not responding? You are lying about shipping my order! I am filing a formal complaint against you!" my first instinct is to want to punch them in the face. Sorry about it. What ever happened to manners? First of all, I am always upfront with my customers to let them know my turnaround time. Secondly, if I sent you a PayPal invoice, it means you have my email address, so send me a private message instead of harassing me publicly on my Instagram. That's just called being super immature. Sometimes things get lost in the mail! It happens, and I don't charge for replacements because I AM A NICE PERSON. So I let the woman know I would be happy to replace her lost items and she continued with the horrific comments. So instead of refunding her, OF COURSE I sent her a brand new tshirt. I hate being nice sometimes. UGH.

Other times I do things like not charge people for major upgrades or custom designs. So I am giving them my time and energy for free and designing something custom that I can never use again, and when they get it and it's SLIGHTLY different than what they wanted,  they want both items replaced. For free. Immediately. Seriously? The design still looks great, I didn't charge a custom fee, and you're going to end up with 3 onesies for $20. And I have 48 orders waiting for my attention, but I have to jump on yours because I am afraid you'll leave me negative feedback. KILL ME.

Okay, that's all I wanted to share. Please don't think I hate my customers, just realize that when you purchase something from Etsy or something handmade, you are likely purchasing from one woman running a shop out of her spare bedroom, which is covered in scraps and glitter and trash and she is probably not charging you for the amount of time she's spending on your order. So be a nice human and give her the benefit of the doubt before attacking her. Just saying.