I have had the pleasure in the last week of being very thrilled to run out of things I loved! First the soap I kept in my upstairs bathroom for hand washing got down to nibblets, so it was time to debut a new soap. Then it came time to replace my wax tart in my burner. Lucky for me, I had replacements for both from Simply Sweet Confections!
Then, to my horror, I discovered that after making an awesome name for themselves with initial reviews like mine, they screwed over a bunch of customers and got kicked off of Etsy..... I wasn't the only one disappointed to find this out. After doing a lot of looking across the internet's vast handmade and beauty community- before they became flakes, their products thrilled.
I understand how this happens. I don't think a lot of consumers who are dealing with cottage businesses for the first time realize that they are NOT dealing with Target or Sephora. One kink in your personal life can completely throw off your home business and we can't control things quite as well when the entire company is 'me myself and I'. I supported myself and a loser boyfriend for 2 years running a fairly successful vintage doll restoration/resell business online. All it took was one tiny thing to throw the whole business off balance. Many's the time I had to grovel to keep in good graces simply because the average consumer didn't understand that I didn't come with a team of customer service reps and assistants.
What the seller should have done was to bend over backwards to fix the problems, even if at a financial stalemate and communicate with those waiting for their product. Honesty is the best policy in these cases, and usually reminds the anonymous person on the other end of the computer that you are, after all, just a regular person trying to share your passion but that sometimes life creates speed bumps. There will always be some folks who there is just no pleasing, but it's too bad this seller had to shut down their entire store and lose the good reviews their products had gotten. While I'm sure they probably just renamed themselves and started over, why not just hold your head high and try to work through it? I'm all for second chances, if warranted.
I imagine the artisan is fairly young and bit off more than they could chew, listing items that weren't ready or making promises they couldn't keep.
Too bad- because this would have been a rave review of the super creamy Kumquat soap that leaves my hands soft enough to forgo lotion and a scent tart that has lasted many many hours and makes it a joy to open my bedroom door. Simply Sweet Confections- R.I.P. I hope you learned from your mistakes and can move on with some experience and knowledge and hopefully start back up with a deeper understanding of how to handle unexpected success. Your stuff sold out for a reason! Get back on that horse and learn from your mistakes and invest in some spreadsheet software to keep track of your orders next time!
This has been a Beauty Pirate After School Special.
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