Ive got a mate over in washington who is setting up a shop and making his own sups and mals plus a few shortboards and is wondering what people do in the industry along the lines of deposits for custom surfboards, he is the only handshaper for 300 odd kms from him and is not sure on how to approach this subject, any advise that I can pass onto him would be appreciated.
Cheers
Cover the cost of your materials, might be a good place to start. If not that, then no less then 20%
I’m always wanting to make some stock boards but never find the time so I don’t get too concerned about a big deposit. If the customer wants some thing particularly unique I would be more likely to ask for more. I am reluctant to write their name on the board if I feel they are a bit dodgy or even if they are super fussy and likely to complain unduly about something or other. Had very few negative instances in the 16 years I have had the shop
50 % deposit , balance before delivery Digger....Its not about the customer , its about maintaining adequate cashflow , so you can stay in business........under a no deposit policy, there will always be a percentage who order and never follow through because of unforeseen circumstances...........also , IMO, its bad policy to get paid before you finish , because its seems to subcontiously remove the motivation to finish the job in an acceptable time frame........
are you talking about a guy named todd? and theres tons of handshapers in washington…just not many good ones.
no mate, a guy called ross, he is my mate on facebook.....