Category Archives: Martinets

How to Order Something From Mojave Outliers Whipmakers

by

Yes, I am now accepting custom orders again, yay! However, I’ve made changes from how I was doing it before, so read carefully.

I’ve invented what I call my “Interested Parties” list. On this list I take down your contact information and a description of the whip you’d like me to build for you. Then, when I’m ready to start your build, I contact you to find out if you’re still interested. No money changes hands, and in the meantime, you’re free to shop with other whip makers if you like. Once I’ve completed your build, THEN I will send you a PayPal invoice.

My queue is longish, varying between 8 months to a year (and sometimes longer, especially during the holiday season for instance), which is actually pretty normal for whip makers. Part of the time I spend in my shop I build smaller spec items, because this helps me even out the cash flow in between custom orders. The idea behind the “Interested Parties” list is to keep us both flexible. I need to be able to control my work flow, and naturally you need to control your cash flow, so not having a debt between us until I’m ready to ship seems to me the best way to go. What this translates to is that if you’re on my “Interested Parties” list, that doesn’t mean there’s a contract between us such that I’m going to build your whip by a specific date, it just means that I’ll check that list FIRST before I do my next build. The advantage to you is that you’re not out a bunch of cash at the outset (some folks use the wait time to save up for their whip, which I think is quite clever), and you’re not “locked in” to your purchase with me–you can shop if you like, as I said above.

Naturally if you have questions about this, send me an email at desert.minx@mojaveoutliers.com. And if you’d like to place a custom order, why, then send me an email at desert.minx@mojaveoutliers.com, and we’ll get your details sorted!

Copy and paste version: desert.minx@mojaveoutliers.com

Payments and Shipping

by

Payment is via PayPal, so don’t worry about sending a payment until after you and I have talked and sorted out all the details. I can give you a quote for your build, of course, but typically I don’t send an invoice until I’m ready to start your build. I can also give you an idea of what the shipping will be, but since the post office tends to raise its rates pretty much by surprise, then when I actually send you the invoice, I will re-calculate the shipping at that time. If there is a change in shipping costs, I’ll make sure you’re aware of it. Naturally, the invoice needs to be paid in full before I ship your whip to you.

As for shipping, domestically so far I use the United States Postal Service (USPS) exclusively. For tiny items (like the Baby Basilisk) I can ship First Class, but for most everything else I use Priority Mail, which includes tracking and tends to be a lot faster.

For international shipping, I use USPS Priority Mail International, which takes about 6 to 10 days to deliver. While the package is traveling in the US, you can track it using the USPS postal tracking site. Once it crosses the border, then in MOST cases you can simply use that country’s postal service to track the package using the same tracking number (which also happens to be the customs form number). I do NOT use First Class for international shipping, because they HAVE lost packages when I’ve done so.

International shipping also entails customs and other taxes for you, the receiver, based on the declared value of the item you’re receiving, payment of which is between you and your customs officials. Please do not ask me to risk my livelihood by fudging the numbers on the customs form for your order.

As always, if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!