u/AKendro916

I fulfilled a custom order for 26 items from my shop, totally about $700.

Shipped on 6/27 with expected delivery with priority with USPS of a day or two. It shipped in state (Ca), about 120 miles away.

Somehow it’s in Indianapolis and has been since the 30th & the customer is coming up on the date of the trip that they ordered the items for.

She’s asking about taking out a case against my shop with Etsy in case it is truly “lost”. But as of right now it still shows “in transit, arriving late”.

And I going to be out $700 and a two weeks worth of my time? They’re custom. So I can’t resell the item if they ever make it back to me.

I’ve been doing Etsy for 8 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened. I’ve worked with the USPS and they basically just keep telling me to “wait another day”. I feel terrible about the whole situation but it’s also out of my control… but what are the expectations as a shop owners responsibility for something like this?

TL:DR please give me a your recs for a co2 laser where I primarily plan to cut acrylic. My main reason for not doing diode is I’d like to cut clear and mirror acrylics for the projects I have in mind.

I’ve been in business for about 8 years using various tools such as a sewing machine, cricut and heat press, procreate and photoshop.

As things change in my niche so do my abilities and need to think bigger than those tools available to me.

I primarily want to be able to cut acrylic and press DTF designs I draw in procreate on to the acrylic to add to my already handmade/sewn designs.

I know everyone says get a bigger machine than you think you’ll need, which is why I’ve been looking at Omtech Polar Lite vs the Flux Beamo based on size alone. (Also budget is about $2500 max… I could push to $3 if I really had to, but for what I’m trying to accomplish idk how necessary that is?)

BUT most designs I’ll be working with would be 4 inches or smaller… so is it really necessary to get a bigger machine?

Please help. I’m so tired of wavering back and forth and need some extra insights as to what would be best.