Thread: Bella asking me to pay BEFORE she starts my order?

I placed an order with Bella on Sunday. Today I got this email:

Hello Catherine,
thank you for your mail.
We will make your order ready within 6 weeks after your transfers arrival.
For payments we have bank transfer and/or Western Union
Bank details :;

and then bank details blahblahblah

I was under the impression that you paid AFTER your order was complete.

What's up?

I think she does ask for advance payment on the models from her website. I've heard of her doing it before. I've also heard of her asking for advance payment from first time customers.

I custom ordered and she didn't ask me to pay until after it was finished. It's my first Bella order. But it was also finished only a month after I ordered it.

I am new with ordering from Bella but I have heard of her asking for money before. I made a custom order 4 months ago and she said I could pay when it was ready to ship, but I haven't heard anything from her so I am not sure if it is even being made. Hope that helps!

maybe she is having problems with people disappearing after ordering. Maybe she has had to change her policies. It's sad but true. Sometime people just never complete their orders. I think deposits are great. It makes both sides get serious about the project.

i ask for half before i start.

My experience - back in the summer I had asked for a costume style like she has online. I emailed her my measurements and the style and I never heard from her. I sent another message to her and she never responded. I never got my costume (of course) an invoice or/and I never heard from her. :-(

man shaharazad , that is sooo sad !

I would never start on a custom piece without at least a deposit upfront. I'm surprised that in the past she has done so!

if you pay her the whole thing, what do you get as a guarantee ? hmmmmm ?

the first time i ordered from her i had to pay upfront, the other orders (I think 3 or 4) i've paid after... right now she's ignoring my sister's emails...i wonder why she does that. i haven't had a need to place an order in awhile (want??? oh yes...but not need) but i'm slightly afraid in case she ignores me!!!

Well, if you order from Dahlal you have to pay a deposit - makes sense - I wouldn't do a commission without a deposit - half probably.

Things might be going up and down economically over there too, this might be confusing the issue.

I had to pay up front to Dahlal. Also for Eman when I had custom made. I also sent cash to Egypt for friend to collect my order from Amira . Oh and up front for Legend. I don't know anyone who would send you a custom made costume on approval If you hear of one, let me know!

I gave her half before for a down payment and half after she emailed costume was done. on custom order that is. Ive never bought one from her website though.
For Dahlal I paid a little each month untill the costume was finished 6 months later.

custom orders i dont think paying up front is that off

if it helps a bit, i use to pay a part when ordering, the rest when Bella is ready to ship.
It seems to me it is fair, don't you think so ?

In my experience, I think if you asked for a custom order that's REALLY vague in nature and you don't ask for a price quote , she won't ask you to pay up front. How could she when she doesn't even know how much materiel, crystals, and hours is going into something she doesn't have a template for? I actually told Bella I could pay her upfront the first time I was ordering from her but she told me I could pay afterwards since the design was something completely new. I've ordered three costumes from her and never had to pay anything until she was finished. A friend of mine ordered four and she never had to pay beforehand either.

But if you're ordering a model off the website or the two of you agree to a price, then I could see why she would ask you to pay upfront. My friend ordered a model off her website and she had to pay upfront.

As for putting down a security deposit for Bella, I don't think she has to worry about people not paying her for their finished costumes since she has two physical stores and being an established designer, people would buy it in a flash! And seriously...whoever doesn't pay are going to be blacklisted forever.

The first time my dance partner ordered, she wasn't asked to pay up anything front... but i was, for website model or special orders.
So it may be different, maybe according to Bella bank account at the time of the order... ;)

Well, I assumed she wouldn't charge me until my order was complete because that's what I'd heard of her doing with other dancers. I don't have a problem with it - I mean, I do, because I can't actually afford the costume right now, I though I'd have more time to get the last of my funds together, so now I have to cancel my order. But I do understand why she would ask for payment up front. I'd just never heard of that being the case before.

Originally Posted by Shaharazad

My experience - back in the summer I had asked for a costume style like she has online. I emailed her my measurements and the style and I never heard from her. I sent another message to her and she never responded. I never got my costume (of course) an invoice or/and I never heard from her. :-(

I bet she is so busy! It can be really hard to get to everyone when your inbox is bursting at the seams. I bet it wasn't intentional. You probably just ended up in spam. I would try her again.