Friend ordered something from business and hasn’t paid

[SmallWorrier]

This is a really awkward situation! I recently started my own business where I sell goods that I’ve made. Im lucky it took off quickly and am managing to make it work so far. I mostly sell to strangers as I knew I’d struggle to sell and take money from friends if they ordered. These items are for children.

a couple of friends have ordered for their children and I’ve always sold them much lower than I would to strangers, not making a profit but breaking even on materials. A friend asked about ordering 3 items for her daughter for Christmas, which would usually have come to £30. I told her £10 would be ok. She took the items and her daughter got them for Christmas and has been wearing them however she didn’t pay for them. At the time I offered bank details and she said she’d pay cash. I’ve seen her a few times and last time I mentioned her daughter looked nice in what I’d made and her reply was “oh I’ll pay you at some point.” The woman is usually complaining about being skint however books nice holidays etc. I feel awkward but frustrated as I did them at a cheap price anyway and taking on her order before Christmas meant I couldn’t take on as many other ones (I only take so many a month to make sure they get done in good time and I don’t overwhelm myself). This is the reason I don’t want to take orders from friends!! I’ve asked a couple of times now with no reply. I don’t want to lose the friendship or people think ill of me by pushing it, especially in our small community. WIBU to ask again for the money or should I just let it go?

She is a cf and a user..

Say it’s my month end and I need to get my account straight so could I have that cash please.

So what happened?

I would not be able to let this go, bloody cheek of her. I understand you not wanting to rock the boat in your friendship group but I wouldn't like this person any more and would struggle to hide my disdain when socialising in future.

Not everyone is cut out for business, especially a lot of small business owners.

you have come to mumsnet to get advice about a tenner on a job you took on which apparently prevented you from selling more items at full price.
this is not business and does not make any sense.
you have no kind of business if you’re now considering not selling to friends and family.
you can offer discounts to friends if you absolutely have to but that doesn’t mean they must pay whenever and when you charge stupidly low prices you lose legitimacy and people will not respect your work, whatever it is you’re making.

She’s no friend of yours, cheeky cow. ‘Mates rates’ to that extent is a pisstake as well, speaking as a business owner (albeit a very different one!), why would you want to, essentially, take advantage of friends or family? A small discount, fine, whatever but you’re doing yourself a massive disservice by basically giving stuff away! Stop yourself, your work is worth more, your time is worth more!!

I’d let it go but learn the lesson. No one walks into a shop and says to the staff “I’ll pay at some point”, so don’t accept that for your business. Customers - even if friends - pay at the point of sale.

It's not about the money here, it's the principle and the fact she is a cheeky miserly piss taking fucker. I probably wouldn't give her the satisfaction of chasing her tbh and she sounds like the kind of narcissistic bitch who would bad mouth you. Chalk it down to experience and if she asks again just say 'oh I've had to change company policy on payments, bad debtors have to pay in advance with order. I've been stung a few times and I have to do what's best for my business. My accountants insist on this going forward as it looks suspicious on the books when people don't pay'. 😜

She is NOT your friend....
Ask for the money and set clear terms i.e. Hi cheapskate friend, just a gentle reminder that you still owe £10 for the gift that you purchased on (date). As a small business I do not offer credit. I would therefore be most grateful if you could please make payment within 48hrs of receipt of this message.
If she takes offence then you've not lost a friendship, you've dodged a bullet!

This is really not a friend of yours. If she were, she would see the value in the items you have made and pay you accordingly. I have a friend who is a hairdresser, she trys to give me mates rates but I respect her, her skill and friendship too much to underpay her! Don't let people take advanatage of you. And yes defiantly ask for the money!

Invoice her towards pay day with a message about needing to cover your stock.

Formal email invoice. If the amount isn't paid by X date then the full amount for the items will be payable. Failure to pay will also result in being asked to return the goods...

A friend wouldn't put you in this situation, sorry.

I would tell everyone , put it on Facebook etc that she’s a non payer .
shame her into paying you.
These people hope that u will go away and just stop pestering them for the money they owe u.
I would invoice her , put invoice on social media, tell mutual friends she’s a non payer and show her in her true light. She’ll soon pay up and not order again, then everyone will know what she’s like

It isn’t only a tenner though, is it? You could have done another job and earned £30. And you spent £10 on this one for which you haven’t been paid.

This exact thing happened to me except it was a parent who lived in the next road. I eventually went and knocked on her door and directly asked for it otherwise I would have been fuming every time I saw her. Very bizarre behaviour.

She’s not your friend. Right the money off as she probably won’t pay you anyway. But drop this ‘friendship’.

Like others have said I wouldn't be giving random people I know a 60%+ discount. If you feel it's necessary, give them a 10-20% discount but get payment upfront. If they want the item and are decent genuine people they should be happy with these arrangements. Otherwise they are likely time wasters. If you are desperate to do stuff basically for free, keep the 60% discounts for your true inner circle, like very close family members, your best friend etc but ask them not to share the details of the discount more widely.

Update?

You are not being unreasonable and you should insist on being paid.

However you have behaved unprofessionally by blurring the line between business and friendship and then expecting your friends to understand where the new lines lay which presumably has only ever been articulated inside your head.

Tell your friend “I need payment by x date” and stick to it. Next time she wants something tell her you would love to make it for her and tell her the normal price. You don’t need to explain anything.

Learn the lesson and let it go. Next time take payment first from all customers, friends or otherwise. Next time do not give her the friends and family discount. She is no friend.

Please start charging properly for your time and materials - even £30 for three items of clothings seems far too cheap. Look at Etsy and Handmade Children's clothing Facebook pages. I buy a lot for my children - a pair of baby rompers is nearly £30, sleepsuit IS £30!! You pay for handmade because it is unique. Your friend is NOT being fair. If you want to give them discount, give them first dibs on "discounts" and offers - of 20% or so. Good luck - and let us know when you start advertising xx

Forgot about this thread and clicked on and just went to the last page. Haven’t read all the replies but this made me laugh. It’s a small business recently started and I have that many requests from strangers I can’t take them all on! However when friends ask me to make things I do for cost especially when I know their financial background. It’s already succeeding and doing far better than I imagined. I haven’t messaged my friend no

Ridiculous all the people saying send a message saying please pay by x or else it's full price. She's never going to pay a penny.

The best way around this is to quote your friends cost and only when they pay do you say ‘nah that’s ok I know I quoted 30 but this time I’ll only charge you 10’. This way it’s ’same rules for everyone upfront’ but you can still discount when you want to.

At some point it won’t be a non-payer but a PITA that makes you miserable or someone with a dispute trying to wear you down, or a great person who pays promptly but has an ill timed order that jeopardizes a full price order.

Msg your friend and let her own the awkwardness.

“Sally, was just going over my books and clearing up outstanding invoices. Here’s my bank details for the £10. I know you’d said you’d pay cash but I need to get this taken care of now. Oh are you bringing in a cake to Stan’s party on Tuesday?”

Actually I've found that people frequently pay up if you embarrass them by sending an email and/or suggesting they will need to pay more.

I run a small business and clients sometimes forget to pay. A simple "we've been doing the accounts and you need to pay x" has worked even with people who've decided to no longer use my business.