Hello everyone and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe. I know I was supposed to be starting on the interviews but have been a little behind on things lately, I will start soon. I thought I would take a moment and do this and it’s another rant! Yes, another one and this time with cosplay it’s being honest with your customers!

As you know in the last rant I mentioned how that Lolita dressmaker hasn’t contacted me and my friend Tobi about mine and Vivi’s dresses since June? Well, last night I found a reply from her and man she pissed me off and lied to make herself look good when she isn’t professional. So she said that we didn’t pay for materials and how I used my disability to be important than others to make things done for me. Here are some points that I remembered:

1. She didn’t ask for a payment throughout the time of contact we had, she only told us that she is charging $30 because of being friends with ManChii and never asked due to ignoring us due to asking me to never contact her ever again.
2. I don’t use my disability for special privileges when it comes to getting cosplays made over other commissions. The thing is I can’t make my own stuff due to being blind and with my .hack cosplay, I had to rely on my fiance and dad to get the patches and props done while I got the rest of the parts together. And also, another thing is that I don’t use my Characters Unite finalist title (was a finalist back in 2012 for the Blind Experience) for celebrity status for those privileges either! I understand there are other commissions but still she had our stuff to do as well!

So yeah! Completely dishonest with it in the first place and trust me I wasn’t a happy kitty while replying to her pointing out that she never asked for the payment and should be honest with us in the first place.

Knowing a lot of you that do make cosplays for others know that honesty is the best policy when it comes to having a business. Whether it’s making props, plushies, or even the entire outfit, being honest with your customers is important. As said in the last rant, time is important with making cosplays for other people since there are deadlines and conventions come up fast and if you can’t meet the deadline due to other things tell your customers up right or even at the beginning if you have to meet a deadline at the same time go with someone else. If you wait until last minute, it would cause problems, especially for your business because we as customers put our trust in you guys to make the items we are waiting for. Knowing with what happened after getting the reply two weeks after we were supposed to get the dresses, I think karma will be biting her badly. Oh so BADLY!

Another thing is that don’t blame your customers for anything, which felt she did that lying bit towards me, because it really makes your business bad and makes yourself more unprofessional as a business. As said above, if you can’t do the commission, tell them early on and not pull this as well, because most of us will understand and able to get something else in time for the convention. Plus, lying to your customers and pulling the blame on them won’t look good for you as someone making things. It is not our fault that you can’t get the item done on time and there instances that we are worried about is getting made for us, which you shouldn’t ignore anyone if they message you about it and if it’s not done then say it isn’t and that try to get it done for the next convention if the customer decides to use it then.

And finally, when it comes to payment, be sure on when you want to be paid. This is also important since there are times when cosplays or comissions that don’t get paid because there are times when payment is made at the end or not made, which I remembered it happening when I made lanyards to sell. Here is the thing, should be honest in knowing when you want to be paid, if you want to be paid upfront then say I need the payment upfront and if you need the person to pay at a certain point so you can get the materials to make the item, then ask for the payment for the materials. If you want to wait until you’re done and use the money from other comissions you’ve done to get materials, which I know people tend to do that with any money they make for cloth, art supplies, and other things to pay for their materials. Looking back on the situation, I thought with the wedding commission, if there was one to begin with, that money should’ve been used to get the materials for our commission but as said above, never asked for the payment upfront nor before March or May. Yeah, that part of the blame was placed on me. Back to the point, just specify when you want to be paid, even at conventions you can ask for it upfront if need be.

What happened to us if you’re wondering? Well, Vivi did go to a Lolita panel and found out about a Facebook group for Lolita here in Central Florida and glad about it since we met nice people who are willing to help us in getting dresses done for next year.

Yet again cosplay makers, please be honest with your customers because we trust you when we commission to make something cosplay related for a convention. Plus don’t turn the blame on your customers either because it will cause bad things. Also, if you need payment right away, especially for materials if a previous commission didn’t pay or don’t have enough money, ask for a payment need be, especially if it’s made at a convention.

Well, that is it for this short rant! I know this is in between my Metro posts but thought it would be appropriate and get it off my chest since it pissed me off and also Vivi! I am still mad at the fact that my disability was pulled into all of this and it’s not easy being blind and can’t sew like my dad does. Sooo yeahhh! Stay tuned for my interview with Dante Basco.