How often do people pay deposits, then back out of a build for whatever reason?

[Merlemantel]

I am not contemplating the action mentioned in the title, but I wonder how often this happens causing luthiers to go to a wait list? Is it rare, or more common than one might expect?

[nacluth]

It’s a good question, and one anyone should talk to their builder about when they are getting started on a build. Of course each builder has their own deposit policy.

For our shop (which is all I have info on), people backing out after putting down a deposit has historically been well less than 10% (i.e. less than 1 a year). I wouldn’t characterize it as uncommon as things happen in life (health and home issues/changes in jobs and finances). It’s disappointing from both sides when this happens, but typically there’s no hard feelings about it.

One important caveat: backing out of a deposit happens. However, it is extremely rare for a build to be actively in process and for the client to back out. There’s a lot more on the hook for the luthier once the build is going. While the client may have designed a perfect guitar for themselves, if a builder is now having to sell the instrument on spec, it could be very difficult depending on overall design choices.

Realistically, people do drop out of builds because of cold feet instead of more pressing matters. That’s ok too (please before the build starts). No builder wants a guitar to go to someone that already thinks that the guitar is a burden. But recognize that deposits are typically non-refundable or at least at the builder’s discretion.

[Merlemantel]

Originally Posted by nacluth

It’s a good question, and one anyone should talk to their builder about when they are getting started on a build. Of course each builder has their own deposit policy.

For our shop (which is all I have info on), people backing out after putting down a deposit has historically been well less than 10% (i.e. less than 1 a year). I wouldn’t characterize it as uncommon as things happen in life (health and home issues/changes in jobs and finances). It’s disappointing from both sides when this happens, but typically there’s no hard feelings about it.

One important caveat: backing out of a deposit happens. However, it is extremely rare for a build to be actively in process and for the client to back out. There’s a lot more on the hook for the luthier once the build is going. While the client may have designed a perfect guitar for themselves, if a builder is now having to sell the instrument on spec, it could be very difficult depending on overall design choices.

Realistically, people do drop out of builds because of cold feet instead of more pressing matters. That’s ok too (please before the build starts). No builder wants a guitar to go to someone that already thinks that the guitar is a burden. But recognize that deposits are typically non-refundable or at least at the builder’s discretion.

Mostly, I am wondering what the odds are of getting into a wait list and landing a build earlier than the luthiers initially quoted build time. Sounds like the odds are low.