Selling to Bahamas?

[caterina]

Hello.
I need your wise help, kind ladies.

I am quite confused as a guy contacted me initially to buy one piece for a wedding anniversary gift, and now he says that he actually fancies ten for his office as well! (I think my lowish prices startled him) He mentioned some urgency, then does not answer to my asking about his deadline.

He mentioned that he is in Bahamas: is there anything that I need to know about deliveries in Bahamas from UK, is it normal or a nightmare or anything that I need to know about it? What do you write in the custom declaration, just artwork, or picture or any kind of particular stuff?

Well, I am not going to send out stuff if I don't see proof of payment, anyway.
Has anything of the sort happened to you?

I was wondering if I should ask for payment directly on my account or through my website (maybe creating a product just for him?), as the website will make checks on cards. What do you think? Or would it look bad, like complicating things?

Also, how do you pack 10 middle sized (let's say 20x16inches) framed pieces? I have some telescopic boxes for paintings, but that would mean having ten boxes : maybe I should group them in one big box? Or in a couple of smaller boxes? What do you do in these cases?

And another thing: I told him that framing is not included, so now how do I go about taking that big payment for framing to give to the framer? The framer asks me for half upfront and half on completion, how should I go about it with the client? Should I ask the client to deal with the framer directly, or through me or just ask for the total sum before sending my delivery, and paying the upfront half myself to the framer?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Congratulations on the sales.

I can't say I know anything about selling abroad. However I do suggest that as far as the price + framing costs is concerned you get the total price up front. If it transpires that your framer does a "quantity discount" because you want so many done at the same time, you can make a repayment after the event - but don't tell your buyer that this might happen before-hand otherwise if your framer doesn't make a discount your buyer may say that there was a contract for a repayment. Just keep quiet until or unless a discount is made and then decide if and how much you might repay.

I hope some of the others can come up with better answers for you.  🤞

[MTRuth]

Caterina, I would be very careful with this inquiry. It sounds like a scam. I have gotten many of these and if I don't agree to some weird form of payment, they disappear. It always starts with the anniversary present for "my wife". I would not give him any bank account information at all. I would make sure that it goes through a credit card processor such as your website. That is not complicating things, that is protecting yourself.

I hate to say it, but I don't think you should even be considering this until you see payment. Then you can worry about shipping/packing etc.

[caterina]

Thank you, Ruth and Ann.
Both suggestions are sensible: I also was smelling something dodgy, as it seemed quite abrupt, this change from one to tenp pieces on a whim. Anyway, people might buy more than one piece to grace an office, so I hoped that it were true. As they say, if it is too good to be true, it often is not.

I will ask payment upfront through the website system, and if it is not accepted I will not go on at all.
If he pays, then I will consider logistics. it's good to split a daunting task in easy yes-or-no steps.

[Shepherdess]

Yep, I was going to say it's a scam, don't do it. Proceed with extreme caution.

[caterina]

Well, I told the guy that he can pay me upfront through my website, and that I will go on only after payment.
He asked me about my return policies, and said that he is afraid as it's his first time buying art online. I pointed to my return policies on my website, and the fact that there is more protection if paying by card through my website. I suggested he tried with one piece, before committing to ten in one go, and he said that he wanted ten to cut on delivery costs.

And here we are, I have not heard from him, and he has not made payment. I am not holding my breath, to be sure!
If he will contact me again, I will keep you posted, and thanks for your help.

[afiberartist]

Dec 19, 2023 14:53:23 GMT caterina said:

Hello.
I need your wise help, kind ladies.

I am quite confused as a guy contacted me initially to buy one piece for a wedding anniversary gift, and now he says that he actually fancies ten for his office as well! (I think my lowish prices startled him) He mentioned some urgency, then does not answer to my asking about his deadline.

He mentioned that he is in Bahamas: is there anything that I need to know about deliveries in Bahamas from UK, is it normal or a nightmare or anything that I need to know about it? What do you write in the custom declaration, just artwork, or picture or any kind of particular stuff?

Well, I am not going to send out stuff if I don't see proof of payment, anyway.
Has anything of the sort happened to you?

I was wondering if I should ask for payment directly on my account or through my website (maybe creating a product just for him?), as the website will make checks on cards. What do you think? Or would it look bad, like complicating things?

Also, how do you pack 10 middle sized (let's say 20x16inches) framed pieces? I have some telescopic boxes for paintings, but that would mean having ten boxes : maybe I should group them in one big box? Or in a couple of smaller boxes? What do you do in these cases?

And another thing: I told him that framing is not included, so now how do I go about taking that big payment for framing to give to the framer? The framer asks me for half upfront and half on completion, how should I go about it with the client? Should I ask the client to deal with the framer directly, or through me or just ask for the total sum before sending my delivery, and paying the upfront half myself to the framer?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

[afiberartist]

Be careful it could be a scam.

[caterina]

Jan 12, 2024 23:15:32 GMT afiberartist said:

Be careful it could be a scam.

Yes, thanks for pointing it out. The guy just disappeared after a while, but it was not too vexing, as I had not sent anything before seeing payment, so I did not lose anything.
I used this experience to give more thought to all the practical matters linked to selling my pieces: in a few weeks, another person asked me about delivering two pieces to US, and I was not panicking anymore! It turned out to be probably another scam, but anyway I had some of my replies ready!

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

There are some lovely people in the world, aren't there?