Terms of Payment plans
My shop offers payment plans on all made-to-order. A Payment-Plan is any order that the client requires more than 48 hours to complete.
Each payment on a payment plan can’t be less than $200 USD, unless it is of course the final payment to complete the payment in a plan where the amount does not divide evenly.
Payment plans are in place to allow clients a little time to pay for an order if they require it. Payment plans are only available on made to order items. This means, ready to ship (in-stock) items do not qualify for payment plans. The time period allowed per order is discussed and agreed upon between the client and the artist prior to order placement. Prior to beginning a payment plan the client has no obligations towards the artist or their order, however, once a payment plan begins (with the placement of the first payment) the agreement is treated strictly as a contract with stringent terms and conditions. Backing out of a payment plan after the first payment has been made or by not respecting the bounder of the contract, will mean the client forfeits any amount that may be already paid. I encourage all potential buyers to be absolutely sure that they are willingly committing to an order before making their first payment.
Terms and conditions of a payment plan are as follows irrespective of the duration of the plan or the value of the item. My terms are quite strict so please take them to heart when placing an order. Though they sound rather harsh, the bottom line is that we agree on a plan and both do our best to respect and honor it.
1. Order cancellation and refunds will not be possible after the payment start date.
2. Payments must be paid on time based on previously agreed timeline and amounts. These details will be written out in your contract so please remain mindful of them as I will not be emailing you to remind you of your deadlines. Late payments will terminate your order without warning and compensation.
3. Late payments will effect agreed due date and order status. Late payments are only permissible within the boundaries in Clause 7.
4. Processing time is calculated starting with the payment completion date agreed on before the order is placed; unless payments were delayed. Any permitted delays in payments will delay your due date as stated above. Early payment completion is permissible, however please kindly note, it may not alter your production deadline as we may have scheduled orders around your original deadline. We never delay orders unnecessarily so although we will certainly aim to complete the order sooner rather than later, the original deadline stated in the contract should still be your primary reference.
5. Production begins upon payment completion and will take 20 to 26 weeks on average for most orders. The exact production time will vary from order to order and will be outlined in your sale contract. This may vary depending on the anticipated completion date and the size of the order. If an earlier or later due date is required, it will be something the buyer and seller will have discussed prior to the order placement date.
6. Payments delayed beyond 72 hours (3 days) without advance communication, will void the order entirely. If your order was void due to a payment delay please understand you will not be refunded the amount already paid. I encourage clients to take these timelines very seriously as I expect buyers to respect my time and energy. I will not be sending clients reminders for their payment dates. If your order falls into termination, you will not be sent a notice. All clients are to keep track of their payment dates on their own. I do not offer exceptions irrespective of the reason I may be given after the 3 day deadline, so please take this point to heart. We take them very seriously.
7. If you are unable to meet a payment deadline, you MUST communicate this in advance of your deadline. clients are given grace periods of 30 days maximum for delays with advance communication. Only one grace period will be allowed per order. This means you can only apply a grace period (be it 3 or 30 days) to only one of your multiple payments. Refunds will not be applicable to any order under any conditions. Past the 30 day period, the order is closed and void permanently without compensation. If you’re granted a grace period, you will not be held liable for the permitted delay but this will void any additional exceptions and agreements we may have set in your contract. for example in the rare instance that the Studio agrees to start your production time once 50% of the payment is made, a delay in any of the payments will void this agreement and place you on a standard payment plan agreement meaning production will begin after payment completion.
8. A breach of confidentiality will terminate your order without refunds or warning.
9. All terms and conditions of sales will also be applicable to orders made through payment plans. Where a client is unsure of the terms and conditions in relation to their order, it is the responsibility of the client to ask for clarification prior to placing their order (prior to first payment). Terms & Conditions are stated here.
https://www.easternwindstudio.com/custom-orders-faq
10. Clients are expected to have the details of their order clarified prior to placing their order. I have the right to refuse changes to the design after order placement date. Any accepted changes will be charged accordingly.
11. As Paypal does not currently offer a payment plan option, clients may be asked to place their order through alternative methods (still using Paypal). This will be further highlighted on a case by case basis in the client’s personal contract at the time of order placement. Depending on the case, a client may be sent an invoice for the full amount with partial payment options matching that of their payment plan contract. In this case clients are exclusively responsible for returning to the original invoice on the agreed dates to pay the due amount. We will not send reminders for clients. Failure to do so within 72 hours of agreed payment dates will terminate an order without further warning.
12. longer payment plans may void any discounts a client may have been offered prior to stating that they want to take on a payment plan. I require all clients to state that they require a payment plan in the initial email; not at the end.
13. Any terminated orders will not be up for debate as clients are expected to have reviewed these terms prior to purchase. Clients will always be sent a link to this page to review prior to payment and will always be given a sale contract to sign in advance of payment. Therefore the consequences should not come at a surprise should an order be terminated. You will simply receive an email stating that your order has been terminated.
Q&A regarding payment plans…
1. Why do you require full payment before starting an order? Why not start at the beginning of payment start date?
There are 2 reasons for this. One is that I book 3 to 4 months out and must give priority to fully paid clients. Two is that should the client be late on their payments for various reasons or get cold feet for whatever reason, I'm not left with a half finished project on my hands in limbo as well as lost time on existing orders.
2. Why are payments nonrefundable if the project doesn't start till the end of the payment completion date anyway?
As an independent artist, I place a high value on my time. I expect others to be respectful of my time as well. By the time we've gotten to the payment stage on payment plans, I've already spent a good amount of time planning with my client and have also reserved them a commission slot which would otherwise be available for someone else to take. I have great respect for my clients, I take them and their projects seriously, and I trust them to have the same respect for my time and schedule. I urge everyone to be very sure of their order before going in. I’ve gone through many payment plans with my clients and to date, have only had 2 instances where payment plans have hit a snag. Both were sorted but it does compromise my schedule quite a bit. So it stands, if a client has not adequately budgeted, or walks away from an order either by virtue of delaying payments or continuously delaying responses, or due to any other number of reasons, the order will be void and nonrefundable.
3. What do you mean by late payments will affect the due date?
This is simple. if you have a 3 month payment plan and you take 4 months to pay it, your project completion will be also delayed by at least a month as I do not start a project till the payments are completed.
Two things to keep in mind is that this is only applicable if your order is not in contradictions to term number 6 and 7 above; meaning that your delay was previously communicated and was granted a grace period. Secondly, this is granted your order completion date after this adjustment does conflict with other orders and does not fall into high season. Please always compensate for high season which stretches from June to December. This means if for example, you have been given a 14 day grace period to delay a payment, but this pushes your order completion date into a previously booked queue, then you will be shifted over to a later queue which may be 30 days past the original agreed completion date.
4. How do I make payments for a payment plan?
Once we agree on your design, an estimate for price and time needed to complete it, and the duration of your payment plan, I will write up a contract which you will be required to read and confirm. Upon confirmation, depending on the terms of your contract, you will either be given a Paypal address to make a payment to, or, I will send you a Paypal invoice with a partial payment option. You will need to return to this invoice to make each payment. Please understand that I will not be sending you a new link before each payment deadline. It will be your responsibility to keep track of your payment dates.
5. What if I manage to complete payments before the agreed due date?
This is a bit tricky. Like I mentioned before, I do book fully 3 to 5 months out so if you finish paying early and there's an available slot earlier for your order, then we start working on your order earlier, otherwise we have no choice but to go with the original scheduled time frame. In most instances, we need to go with the contractual deadline due to bookings. Furthermore, If your order requires parts to be shipped in, it may not be possible for us to go with an earlier slot. Generally speaking, please assume your due date will not change even if payments are made earlier.
Again, I know my terms are quite strict but they ensure a smooth progression for payment plans and have proven themselves effective for both parties.
If you have any questions, I'm always more than happy to discuss matters with clients. I do my best to be approachable so please feel free to drop me a line and I will do my best to answer your questions.
6. What if I require more than 4 payments?
Irrespective of your order total, I highly encourage client to save up prior to payments and try to keep the transaction limited to 4 parts. This is not a rock solid policy by any means. We will adjust to your needs.
The reason for this is to do with data and logistics on my end.
If you really require more than 4 payments please get in touch and we'll discuss it. I'm not saying the possibility isn't there, it's more that it becomes a challenge which needs to be more carefully addressed based on the case and order total as well as the number of ongoing payment plans at the time of your order. But by all means, email and speak to me about your specific needs and we'll try to find a solution.
7. What happens after I complete all my payments?
Once your payments are complete, your production time begins. You will generally receive updates beginning 10 to 16 weeks after payment completion depending on your contractual deadline. I ask that throughout your order production time you keep a close eye on your emails. I will only communicate with clients through email and will only send update photos or questions through email for legal reasons. Please know that if your reply is more than 1 week late, this may mean your order due date shifts several weeks. I try to keep a smooth production line going. Orders that are delayed due to clients’ lack of communication get bumped out of line till the next opening. So I kindly ask you respect the order of operation and remain diligent with emails and confirmations. This includes emailing back after an update to confirm you have seen and approve of if.
8. Why is breach of confidentiality such an issue?
Please see “Terms & Conditions” for more details.
9. why is termination so sudden?
A termination is not sudden. We spend a fair amount of time discussing each order with clients individually. Each client that asks about a payment plan will be linked to this page and asked to review the terms prior to purchase. Furthermore, each client is required to review and sign a sale contract prior to purchase which also requires that this page be reviewed prior to payment. We have a no-fine-print approach to our sales but we do expect clients to read what is communicated to them. As such, no termination should come as a surprise or feel sudden if the client fails to comply to the terms and conditions of payment plans and purchases. We highly suggest setting calendar reminders for your payment dates and asking about things you’re unsure about. once an order is terminated, an email will be sent out stating that termination and the reason for it. A termination will not allow room or debate or be revoked with given excuses so please kindly make sure to adhere to the terms of sale.