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[Varanara]

I am having another user of cosplay.com make me Link's belt and gloves from "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess". I messaged them about 3 weeks ago asking if they would do this, to which they replied yes. (We talked for awhile, confirmed the color and everything, and I sent all the money already through Paypal). Is been almost 2 weeks since I last talked to the commissioner. I last emailed them about 2-3 days ago but have not recieved a reply yet.

Anyway,

How long (on average) does it take to recieve commissioned cosplay parts, provided that:
1) They are well-known and have lots of business.
2) They are only making 2 small parts.
3) We live in the same country.

Just curious. I really need the item before the end of March, and these cosplay parts are the FINAL parts I need to complete my cosplay. I really want to try it on and see how everything looks...

Also, I know this user isnt a scammer. They are very well-known and do tons of commissions. Thats not the question, the question is how long does it take to recieve commissioned cosplay parts on average.

Bonus Question: Anyone have any good wig-styling tutorials?

[Manwariel]

It depends on how many orders they have and how they prioritize them. They could have anywhere from days to months of work scheduled before you. I recommend always asking someone how long they think it will be until they send you your costume piece(s) before you commission them.

[PSY-chan]

You could ask for some WIP pics to see how things are going.

As for wig styling tips, check YouTube and deviantArt for wig spiking tutorials, as those will work for Link. Good luck!

[Lithium Flower]

Originally Posted by Manwariel

It depends on how many orders they have and how they prioritize them. They could have anywhere from days to months of work scheduled before you. I recommend always asking someone how long they think it will be until they send you your costume piece(s) before you commission them.

Wise words from Manwariel over here.

Keep in mind that if you had a specific date you needed them by and didn't let the commissioner know then their answer could have been very different. Never assume that the commissioner has a completely open schedule and can dedicate all their time on your commission. Very few people work solely on commissions and may have one or multiple jobs to live on and may not have the kind of time to sit down and answer messages right away.

Did you give a deadline? Did they agree on the deadline? Where you given a completion date?

[Starlit Rose]

Seems unusual to either not have the commissioner give you an ETA of when he/she expects to have it finished, or for you to supply the commissioner with your deadline and him/her agree to it BEFORE money is exchanged. As others have said, if you didn't specify your need-by date and just assumed what you requested wouldn't take long, there could be some trouble. But yeah, generally a commissioner isn't going to accept a project if he/she doesn't think s/he'll get it done on time.

[SA2R]

As a commissioner, I ALWAYS ask when they need it by. Like other have said~ they should have given you a time frame, and perhaps you should have told them when you needed/wanted them by.

As for Wig styling tutorials: Check out DA. Seriously~ everything under the sun.

[Seraphy]

Pretty much everything everyone else has said. If you did confirm a need by date, I'd start to worry if they take more than a week to answer back. Hope for the best and just assume that they've been too busy to reply.

As for wig styling (specifically spiking), http://malindachan.deviantart.com/ar...king-336344128 is something I thought was rather neat. And may work especially well for you if you're asking in regards to Link.

[FuntomKitten]

My commissioner gave me an average of 2 or 2 1/2 months to make sure she was able to do it well, since she had another costume for a friend of ours to complete a bit earlier.
Then again, we're at least acquaintances/friends so she tends to tell me how things are going and if or why there might be any delay for progress pictures or finishing.
Everyone else has pretty much said anything I could say, if you need it by a specific date but never specified that beforehand, then ask for an estimated time to completion. Just remember commissioners are people too, and they'll have jobs, families, and everything else to focus on on top of other commissions people could have hired from them earlier than you did. Try not to get angry if it'll take a while, but (politely) ask why it would if it'll help you feel better about it.

[CapsuleCorp]

As a commissioner - yes, it's utmost that both I and the customer are aware of any deadlines. It's specified in the contract. If your commissioner didn't know of your deadline, now might be a good time to tell them. If they do know, and the only promise is that you'll get it by your deadline, then sitting tight is all you can do.

There is no such thing as an average wait time on commissions. It's as variable as the individuals who take commissions. I do it full time so I specifically request customers give me at least 6 weeks lead time, more for larger projects or during busy season/before Halloween. It may seem like a simple project to you, but the commissioner may need to acquire specific materials, wait for stock to be delivered, create in several steps that take more time than you would think, etc. If there's anything like painting, dyeing leather, jewelry making, etc, you can't just whip it out in an afternoon no matter how good you are, it takes time for things to dry, cure, get sanded, go through multiple steps, etc.

As long as you are up-front about your deadline and the commissioner has given you some kind of written guarantee that your purchase will be in your hands by a certain date, that's all you can go on. The rest is waiting. We commissioners understand the urgent desire to have your costume - on time, ready to go, doesn't need any fitting adjustments, right the first time. We know. We go through the same thing ourselves. We're not dragging our feet because we don't care about your costume, we're getting to it according to our schedules. Anyone who does promise a commission by a certain date (especially with only three weeks to go, not counting shipping time) and then tosses it aside to go play video games tends to end up with bad reviews and less business.

[Shirayuki~Chan]

Yeah, it really depends on what you're getting commissioned. I just commissioned Katara's dress, boot covers, and arm warmers but it only took about 3 months. Your's sounds like it really shouldn't take too long.