Custom Orders cover any time you want to order something that your piercer doesn’t stock. This could be something as simple as a size they don’t carry or it can go all the way into custom designing a new piece of jewellery just for you. A lot of the utterly stunning jewellery that you see on social media will have been custom ordered to the exact specification of the customer. This weeks blog will try to help you understand the process of custom ordering with your piercer as well as what happens once your piercer has placed your order. We will explain how we work at Rogue but other piercers may work in different ways.
Placing Your Order
The first step to custom ordering is getting in touch with your piercer. The best way to go about this is to have a face to face consultation. We offer free jewellery consultations at Rogue so that we have time to sit together and discuss what you want. You can book a free jewellery consultation here. In person is best so that your piercer can assess your anatomy, take any measurements required and check that the piece you are thinking of will work for that location. Your piercer may come up with some ideas that you hadn’t thought of too. As custom orders cannot be returned it is important to ensure that all sizing and colours are correct. Distance consultations can be carried out by email and/or messenger but your piercer will not be able to guarantee that the sizing is correct or that the jewellery is appropriate for the location. Here at Rogue we fill out a custom order form with you so that we can all check that the details are correct and that no information gets lost before your order arrives.
Deposit
Once you have finalised the piece of jewellery you require you will then need to place a deposit before your piercer will place the order. A deposit is required because custom orders may be made from colour or sizing combinations that suit your style well but may not sell well in store. As custom ordered jewellery cannot be returned to the supplier, a deposit ensures your piercer doesn’t lose out if you never pay off the balance and collect your jewellery. At Rogue we take a 50% deposit but we have been known to be flexible to help out our regulars who are working towards larger jewellery set ups. At Rogue you have 6 months from the date of order to pay off the total balance on your jewellery. If the total balance is not paid off in this time you may lose your deposit and your jewellery.
Ordering
Once you have had your consultation and paid your deposit your piercer will then add your order to their order list. Shipping on a single order costs an average of $75 plus VAT, because of this your piercer will group orders together to spread out the shipping cost over multiple pieces of jewellery. This means your order may not be placed straight away. At Rogue we place orders every other month with different suppliers. If you want your order to be rushed then you always have the option of paying the shipping fee in full.
Manufacture
Our body jewellery manufacturers are currently under a lot of strain and are doing their very best to keep up with demand but due to the explosion of popularity for high quality jewellery their wait times have increased. Some manufacturers currently have lead times of up to 4 months! YOur piercer will have given you an estimate of manufacture time during your consultation. Your piercer will do everything then can to get your jewellery to you ASAP but once it is with the manufacturer there is very little we can do other than wait. If you have a specific event you want your jewellery for e.g. a wedding, then let your piercer know as sometimes our jewellery manufacturers will be able to rush 1 or 2 pieces to help make your day extra special.
Shipping
Once your jewellery is complete it will packaged and sent via courier to your piercer. As most of our jewellery manufacturers are currently based in North America this means that import charges will occur. Your piercer will have already factored these in to the cost so don’t worry there won’t be anything extra to pay but there may be an extra delay if customs decide to hold the order. This has happened to us in the past at Rogue but it has only ever added 1 week maximum delay.
Arrival
Your jewellery will then arrive with your piercer. They will check that the order is correct and that there are no defects from the manufacture. Once Quality Control is complete your piercer will then process your jewellery so that it is sterile and ready to go into your piercing. Your piercer will then contact you to let you know that your jewellery has arrived! If you have any of your balance left to pay then your piercer will arrange for you to pay either in person when you collect your jewellery or via a different method e.g. via our webshop.
Installation
The final step! At this stage you head to your piercer and they install your brand new, custom ordered jewellery! This is a special moment as all of the work that has gone into custom ordering comes to fruition. Your piercer will probably be just as excited you are and want to take ALL of the photos.
Conclusion
So that’s how custom orders work! If you would like to custom order your own jewellery then head to our book now page and book a free jewellery consultation to get the ball rolling. What will you design for yourself! If you have any questions about today’s blog then leave a comment below.
That’s it for this week. We will be back next week to discuss studio design. A well designed studio can make the difference between a good and bad studio.