Is anyone familiar with Custom Labs?

[thunderbolt]

He's closed up "forever" a couple times.

[The Toyroom]

^

[Megospidey]

I said it "looks like". But you're right tbolt, time will tell.

[thunderbolt]

I know he ain't around here too much, but has he ever considered farming out the site to someone else? Seems like he does a pretty good business based on posts here that give credit for heads and such.

[Neutron X]

Just a comment. I think it is very difficult for many people to understand creative projects take a lot of time and effort on items that are made special to order. Life gets in the way of deadlines.

[The Toyroom]

^ I'm tired of hearing about businesses "being behind" because of "life". Life may get in the way of deadlines but when cash changes hands you still have an obligation to get the stuff out in a timely manner. If no cash is involved, yes it's a "hobby"...when cash comes in to play it becomes a "business". Just my 2-cents.

[AJ Collector]

I agree! Quality work or not, unless you plan to take payment after you deliver your product you should have a little more consideration for your customers! What disappointed me the most is the multiple times I was told my order shipped when in fact it did not! In the end it took almost three months for my order to reach me.

Business is business....money is transferred resulting in the buyer expecting the product he paid for to be delivered in a timely manner!

I will also say this.... I have not seen such great detail on other casts with these reasonable prices out there, so maybe an extra staff member or two would help what seems to be the best casting head maker out there!

Just my three cents! Bad economy!

[thunderbolt]

^ I'm tired of hearing about businesses "being behind" because of "life". Life may get in the way of deadlines but when cash changes hands you still have an obligation to get the stuff out in a timely manner. If no cash is involved, yes it's a "hobby"...when cash comes in to play it becomes a "business". Just my 2-cents.

Amen, brother!!! And when these businesses do get behind, they probably should suspend order taking until they are caught up. This might not be Russ's issue, it could be the opposite, that its not worth it or he isn't clearing a decent profit.

[marbkwds]

Not that it is anyone's business but Russ had a recent loss in his family so cut the guy some slack , I know that I never had to wait long for an order to come from Russ ............. Nuff said . Roy

[Dave Mc]

I am totally guilty of taking weeks to fill orders. When I get an order, I fill them in the order they are recieved. So if someone places an order for say 5 painted heads right now, they may be 4 or 5 orders for 5 painted heads each in front of that person. I've taken up to 2 months to get caught up. It's pretty common for me really, although I'm usually pretty upfront about the time it takes, and if I'm later than I originally guessed, I try to email the people waiting to let them know what's up. 99% of the time people are way cool about it.

I do understand it's a "business" of sorts. But really, for me, not much of one. It's still my hobby and back when I was sewing clothes I let it get to the point where I was sewing clothes in every moment of my spare time. It burned me out and I swore I'd not let that happen again. So I gave that up and now just paint. Still, I wont let it become "work" for me. It still needs to be my hobby, even though I get a few bucks for it.

I know a lot of the other guys that do this kind of custom work for hire are in the same boat. Work, family, then hobby. That's just the way it is, especially with items that are made to order.

It comes down to this, and I'm speaking not just as someone who sells, but someone who buys, if you want someone to do this stuff for you, you've got to play by their rules and work with their schedule. If you don't, they they go away and you've got NO ONE to provide these items and services you seek. No one here is getting rich working Mego custom parts for others, so there is only so much priority it can take in a persons life.

Both parties need to be understanding. A seller should try to do his best to get things out in a timely manner, especially once the items have been paid for. A buyer be understanding that some things take time and they need to be patient.

[fallensaviour]

Amen!!!
Now lock this sucker up!!!

[The Bat]

I am totally guilty of taking weeks to fill orders. When I get an order, I fill them in the order they are recieved. So if someone places an order for say 5 painted heads right now, they may be 4 or 5 orders for 5 painted heads each in front of that person. I've taken up to 2 months to get caught up. It's pretty common for me really, although I'm usually pretty upfront about the time it takes, and if I'm later than I originally guessed, I try to email the people waiting to let them know what's up. 99% of the time people are way cool about it.

I do understand it's a "business" of sorts. But really, for me, not much of one. It's still my hobby and back when I was sewing clothes I let it get to the point where I was sewing clothes in every moment of my spare time. It burned me out and I swore I'd not let that happen again. So I gave that up and now just paint. Still, I wont let it become "work" for me. It still needs to be my hobby, even though I get a few bucks for it.

I know a lot of the other guys that do this kind of custom work for hire are in the same boat. Work, family, then hobby. That's just the way it is, especially with items that are made to order.

It comes down to this, and I'm speaking not just as someone who sells, but someone who buys, if you want someone to do this stuff for you, you've got to play by their rules and work with their schedule. If you don't, they they go away and you've got NO ONE to provide these items and services you seek. No one here is getting rich working Mego custom parts for others, so there is only so much priority it can take in a persons life.

Both parties need to be understanding. A seller should try to do his best to get things out in a timely manner, especially once the items have been paid for. A buyer be understanding that some things take time and they need to be patient.

Well said Davey!! As always...Your wisdom is "spot on"!!

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

I hope I'm not too late to get word in here.

Okay, now this casserole, if I understand takes one to two weeks to arrive?

Kidding. I always have this problem when I'm in a restaurant and the service is bad and people say, "Well, the waitress is really busy," well, yeah, but I'm part of that busy and my food doesn't cost less because she's busy.

I've waited for parts so long that I lost interest in the project I bought them for.

On the other hand, I got my parts from Black Kryptonite so freakin' fast that I actually thought they were from another person I'd ordered from. I was stunned. Ditto with Doc Mego.

I don't understand how somebody can have a LASTING reputation for slowness or poor quality (ctvt). Some people who order stuff aren't these people's best pals from Megomeet.

It would be cool (if Russ was leaving the game) if it could be somehow folded into one of the other suppliers.

Besides, we are adults who play with dolls, we spend out free time sewing tiny clothes and painting doll heads, but money is money.

I don't understand flat shipping fees, though.

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

Oh, and the heads I bought from Customslab were just amazing. Really.

[huedell]

It may not be fair...but if you realllllly want something you'll be patient
so you can get it.

Even I lose it after about 6 months though!